Happy Pride Month, y'all!
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Kit O'Connell
@kitoconnell@kolektiva.social
mastodon 4.6.8They/them type middle-aged queerdo. GLAAD-award nominated journalist. Formerly Digital Editor at the Texas Observer. Disabled with #fibromyalgia.
Also follow @oconnell@federate.social
Pfp: a smiling white person against a dark bg with wavy brown hair, bushy eyebrows, a very light mustache and a big Irish nose and broad forehead. They are wearing a puffy white blouse, dark red and white scarf and green metal wayfarer glasses. Image by Ivan Flores.
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Joined November 05, 2022
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True facts with Kit! Did you know that humans actually invented the em dash and are fully capable of using it without AI?
Just a Sunday afternoon reminder that while you're online using your single life to dunk on fools, there's a world full of grass to touch, trees to hug, books to read, lips to kiss, people to high five, and cats to pet.
Watching Reddit turn on ICE is interesting. Everything from porn to cute cat subreddits posting anti-ICE messages. Sorry, not sorry to ICE nazis who like to look at cats with curled tails or cuckolding or whatever without being reminded that you're evil.
Trans girlies who have had bottom surgery ... what supplies or comfort items did you want during recovery, or would have liked to receive from a friend in a gift basket?
(I'm literally asking for a friend, no surgeries planned for me ...)
#trans #LGBTQIA #transgender #health
New today at Austin Free Press: On Saturday, June 13, Austin #transgender musicians and #drag performers will come together to raise money for gender-affirming surgeries, working to fill a gap in the #healthcare system created by anti-trans sentiment in both the federal and state governments.
Christened Tops and Bottoms, the fundraiser, at Swan Dive on Red River Street, grew out of problems Austin musician Theo Nesland faced when trying to get top surgery, gender-affirming plastic surgery to help their chest better match their gender identity.
Nesland scheduled their surgery for February at a center in Austin that specializes in the procedure. But just before the surgery date, Nesland found out that their insurance company had dropped coverage for the treatment.
The news was devastating. Nesland, who works at Franklin Barbecue, couldn’t hope to pay for the surgery out-of-pocket. Nesland’s friends suggested setting up a GoFundMe, but Nesland struggled with the idea.
“Asking for help is not one of my strong suits,” Nesland said. “What I’m good at is working, so let me work for support. That would make me feel good as a human.”
Read more ... https://austinfreepress.org/trans-formation/
Resisting the urge to write 'Elliott Page,' because I'm Stardew Valley-pilled.
Amazing things happening in the latest episode of the new ("Real") Infowars...
New at The Barbed Wire: Eight years ago, a moment of humor shared between two women blossomed into a movement for weirdos in North #Texas.
In 2018, Haley Ballenger had just moved to Fort Worth from Houston, where her husband had family ties and deep roots but she didn’t know anyone. Casting about for a new social circle, the mother of two joined a book club and hit it off with another mom there like herself.
“We were joking one night,” Ballenger recalled. “Yeah, we're not regular moms, we're cool moms. We were like, yeah, we've got piercings and we've got tattoos and we say bad words. We're not even cool moms, we're weird moms – and it just stuck, right?”
Today, the Fort Worth Weird Moms Club group on Facebook has over 3,000 members, and Ballenger (and her team of volunteer administrators and moderators) have created a space where oddballs, iconoclasts and outcasts can build community ties with one another, and exercise their voices on the political stage. Every member gets to be a “Weird Mom” or just a “Weirdo” regardless of their gender. The Weird Moms host multiple events a year, including the highly anticipated annual ‘Weird Mom Prom’ and a youth Pride Prom, and they’ve just become a formal nonprofit with big plans for the future.
#NorthTexas #weird #culture #women #LGBTQIA #LGBTQ #SocialMedia #parenting
New at The Barbed Wire:
A #TikTok video with more than 100,000 views showed Kaleb Blain, a 35-year old #trans man and pitmaster, standing at a folding table gesturing to a plate of freshly prepared chickens, ready for the BBQ smoker. The caption read “politics and cooking don’t mix.”
But then the video cut away to a series of photos of the late Anthony Bourdain, the infamously outspoken, unapologetically progressive celebrity chef. The text then read, “Momma said it was OK,” as Lukas Graham’s “Mama Said” played in the background.
Beneath the video, Blain wrote, “Mom would burn lots of people with cigarettes rn if he could.” It has more than 28,500 likes since it was posted on Jan. 15.
The video is a fiery missive from Blain’s BBQ, the pitmaster’s small-scale enterprise in the Waco area. Blain is just getting his start slinging meat, but he’s learning from Bourdain’s legacy as a big name in food who embraced its intersection with #politics.
Read more: https://thebarbedwire.com/2026/01/21/barbecue-saved-his-life-waco-antifascist-trans-pitmaster/
#food #antifa #USpol #news #culture #Texas #transgender #LGBTQIA #queer #SocialMedia
Holden will never forget the discomfort he felt on his second visit to a #Veterans Affairs’ endocrinologist for gender-affirming care.
It was spring of 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic was raging across the globe. The army vet was masked up in a tiny, stuffy exam room, when his endocrinologist asked if she could invite medical students to join them. At first he refused, but he said his medical provider “guilted” him into agreeing:
“She closed the door, and (said) ‘this is kind of like for the benefit of future #trans people coming in, these students are going to become doctors here, etc.”
Two medical students entered the room and began a hands-on examination of Holden, including asking him to remove his face mask so they could study the growth of facial hair, and requesting that he remove his shirt to show his scars from chest masculinization top surgery. (The Barbed Wire agreed to use only Holden’s last name to protect his privacy.)
As illustrated by Holden’s experience, accessing healthcare has long been fraught with challenges for #transgender veterans, even before President Donald #Trump’s second administration when the VA used to offer a wide-array of gender-affirming care services. Supportive practitioners exist within the system, but so do numerous roadblocks. And today, newly transitioned veterans are excluded entirely.
My latest at Big & Bright from The Barbed Wire: https://thebarbedwire.com/2026/06/23/healthcare-for-trans-veterans-was-already-bad/
“The Bible tells us that love is patient and love is kind, and it doesn’t envy, it doesn’t boast, it is slow to anger, it’s not proud … yada yada yada, right? I’m reading this to remind the people that abuse those words, that abuse the words of love … the words of togetherness, that love is the only motherfucking way.”
On Sunday in Austin, 10 couples from around #Texas (& Oklahoma!) got married or renewed their vows in a joyous, defiant act of #queer celebration and resistance, the Big Queer Wedding Party.
For The Barbed Wire and the 19th, with gorgeous photos by Salgu Wissmath: https://thebarbedwire.com/2025/12/10/big-queer-wedding-party-in-texas/
#LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #politics #USpol #news #culture #photography #Oklahoma #Austin #journalism #love
New at The Barbed Wire: All rockstars have at least a little bit of the undead in them, according to Caleb De Casper.
“Musicians, true musicians, are vampires,” the #Austin musician explained during an interview with The Barbed Wire before a recent performance. “We're night people, creatures of the night. We dabble in hedonism, (mind-altering) substances, intense passion and longing that we can't quite put our finger on.”
De Casper is hardly the first person to connect rock stars and vampires, or #queer people with the monstrous. After all, The Vampire Lestat, which depicts Anne Rice’s antihero as a rockstar, has received buckets of praise and even racked up multiple GLAAD Media Awards for its positive representation of #LGBTQ+ characters. And the connection between LGBTQ+ symbolism and #horror has been the subject of much scholarship, but De Casper feels a more personal connection to the bloodsucker than most.
De Casper’s music has transformed stylistically over the years, ranging from the gender-bending glam rock of his 2022 debut album “Femme Boy,” to his current incarnation, a swaggering vampire dude, clad in scarlet and leopard print. He’s risen, as if from the grave, in this new form after several years out of the public eye. Now in his early 30s, he said he’s spent the time refining his sound and maturing as a person.
New from me: A #nonprofit that offers vital sexual health services and gender-affirming care to Austin’s #LGBTQ+ community held an emergency fundraiser this week to stave off layoffs.
#Austin Sexual Health and Wellness, known as ASHwell, plays a crucial role for local queer and #transgender residents. Its services include testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, support groups for people living with HIV, and affordable access to pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, a medication that can prevent HIV infections when taken regularly.
Many patients receive PrEP prescriptions for free from ASHwell’s onsite pharmacy at 3100 Red River St. and can access additional services, such as hormone replacement therapy for transgender patients.
But this week employees discovered that ASHwell was in dire financial straits, jeopardizing the jobs of more than 50 employees. Austin Free Press interviewed multiple team members during an emergency, 24-hour livestream on April 15. ASHwell also held fundraising drag performances and ouija-board seances during the overnight hours.
Read more ... https://austinfreepress.org/ailing-ashwell-vital-lgbtq-nonprofit-holds-emergency-fundraiser/
My latest at The Barbed Wire:
It’s hard to ignore Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents when they come crashing into your neighborhood.
It’s become the topic of conversation in #Austin’s North Loop, Reilly, a 42-year-old #transgender resident, told The Barbed Wire one February evening from a graffiti-covered picnic table in the grass behind Epoch, the neighborhood’s beloved 24-hour coffee shop.
“I think when people are confronted with the realities — in their face — of what our immigrant neighbors are facing, there’s no choice but to respond,” Reilly said, adding that it becomes harder to “stay in your home and try to remain ambivalent to it when you’re watching people get yanked out of their cars and thrown into the back of a van and disappeared off to God knows where.”
As reported by KUT’s Greta Díaz González Vázquez, a car chase involving #ICE ended on Feb. 2 when the driver agents were pursuing crashed onto the front lawn of an area home. An Austin Police Department spokesperson confirmed the incident to KUT and told the outlet none of the vehicles involved in the chase were marked as law enforcement vehicles. A social media video shows armed men with covered faces pinning another man to the ground.
North Loop is a bustling, popular destination for events as varied as a workshop on “romantic rope restraint” at sex toy shop Forbidden Fruit to history presentations by the Democratic Socialists of America in the backyard of Barrett’s Too, a bar and eatery serving vegan powerbowls and hemp THC-laced seltzer on tap.
It’s important to recognize, Reilly said, that people who live in neighborhoods like North Loop “are recognizing that it’s about their ability to use (their) privilege to protect their neighbors.”
Read more ... https://thebarbedwire.com/2026/03/02/lgbtq-texans-in-defense-of-immigrants/
#activism #antifa #fascism #Trump #Texas #politics #USpol #immigration #racism #HumanRights #extremism #Minneapolis #zines
Do you ever think about the fact that YouTube is a horrid platform (from a technical and policy perspective) for watching 4 hour long deep dives into anything, and yet.
New today: Juan Miguel Arredondo believes there’s a spirit of solidarity in San Marcos that sets his Central #Texas college town apart, even as right-wing culture warriors seek to force a wedge between neighbors.
“When there’s a crisis, Superman isn’t coming,” Arredondo, 34, told the Texas Observer during a phone interview late last year. “We have to save ourselves, and so that’s what we do.”
A fifth-generation native of the region, Arredondo served on the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District from 2015 to 2023, and he was again elected to the board in 2024 after a year spent working as the chief of staff for state Representative Erin Zweiner, an outspoken progressive legislator and member of the LGBTQ Caucus. In addition, he’s president and CEO of the United Way of Hays and Caldwell Counties.
Beyond those achievements, he’s also the only openly gay member of the San Marcos school board. Arredondo came out publicly in 2017 during Pride month, about two years into his first term.
“I had one of my biggest supporters call me, compliment me on my bravery, and then immediately pivot to say, ‘It’s just so unfortunate that you’ll never get reelected,’” he recalled. “That was the first experience, right out of the gate, of folks’ perceptions of what it means to be queer or gay or #LGBTQ in Texas.”
From @TexasObserver@texasobserver.social magazine, and available online now ... https://www.texasobserver.org/defending-the-most-vulnerable-in-san-marcos/
#education #schools #CentralTexas #politics #USpol #news #LGBTQIA
Artist Carter St. Hogan starts all of his performances with an unexpected bit: asking the audience to choose between two mustaches.
“I’m a #trans person who still cannot grow a mustache. It’s not in me. I don’t have the genetics,” Hogan explained during an unofficial #SXSW showcase last week at the White Horse, a historic country #music venue and the oldest club in Austin.
Hogan, who performs country and folk music as Creekbed Carter, had everyone present vote by applause on two highly specific choices of mustache.
“We’re going to remember what democracy feels like, just for a moment, here in this dive bar,” Hogan told the laughing audience. That afternoon, the choice was between the mustache of “a very gay tennis instructor” and his Uncle Mark’s mustache. The White Horse crowd voted for the latter — which turned out to be big, broad, and bushy — and Hogan drew it on his face using a makeup mirror and an eyeliner pencil from Walgreens.
Read more: Carter St. Hogan Honed His Trans Identity in Texas Before Fighting #ICE in the Twin Cities
https://thebarbedwire.com/2026/03/18/musician-carter-st-hogan-trans-identity-texas-fighting-ice/
#politics #USpol #Texas #music #history #culture #LGBTQIA #activism #trans #Minneapolis #Austin
For The Barbed Wire: Two years after the #Texas anti-DEI law went into effect, I used online research and hours of interviews with nonprofit workers — along with current and former students — to create a broad survey of the damage caused by this law. In brief,
❌ At least 12 resource centers that either specialized in LGBTQ+ student life, or offered services and programs tailored to their needs, have shut down
❌ More than 100 faculty and staff that supported LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized groups were either laid off or transferred to new positions at public universities across the state
❌ LGBTQ+ student groups lost advisors, funding, and well as supportive venues to host events, leaving many to shut down or become newly dependent on donations
❌ Under pressure from state and federal officials, a host of related policies have proliferated, from cutbacks to LGBTQ+ classes to bans on campus drag performances
❌ Students have lost “safe spaces,” including gender-neutral bathrooms
❌ As centers closed, students lost access to STI testing, mammograms, and other health care services — including flu prevention — offered in a supportive, safe environment
❌ The cutbacks and cultural shifts caused by the anti-DEI law created an atmosphere that was more permissive of attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, students said
Read more at The Barbed Wire: https://thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/05/communities-ripped-apart-on-texas-college-campuses-lgbtq-services-have-been-completely-decimated/
#DEI #LGBTQIA #Texas #TXlege #education #politics #USpol #News #fascism #trans #queer #transgender #nonprofit #MutualAid
Reading Heated Rivalry in line to vote and suddenly I'm like oh no I can't get to the phone call from Russia scene in public. 😭
New at The Barbed Wire: In theory, being #transgender shouldn’t matter when it comes to #voting. But when it comes to transgender rights in #Texas, things often don’t go the way they should.
“The way that it’s supposed to work is that no one is supposed to be denied the opportunity to vote based on their appearance,” Ash Hall told The Barbed Wire by phone.
As a policy and advocacy strategist on #LGBTQ+ rights at the ACLU of Texas, it’s Hall’s job to track and oppose attacks on the rights of queer and trans folks in our state, and they’re closely watching the primaries and upcoming #midterms for any signs of trouble.
Primary Election Day is Tuesday. And nonprofits that protect LGBTQ+ rights in our state are monitoring what’s playing out at polling locations. The ACLU of Texas is part of a coalition of hundreds of organizations that operate the national election protection hotline, 866-OUR-VOTE. One major area of concern for Hall is what could happen when a person’s gender presentation clearly doesn’t match the gender marker on their identification.
“Since Texas has made it impossible to change the gender marker on a lot of the ID options that people use to vote, there’s a chance that people are going to face questions from election officials or, in worst case scenarios, harassment and pushback on whether or not they should be allowed to vote,” Hall said.
Read more ... https://thebarbedwire.com/2026/03/03/trans-voters-texas-primary-elections/
#LGBTQIA #news #politics #USpol #elections #midterms #voting #trans
@RandomOxen@hachyderm.io here's one! a bunch of others have reposted this post too. https://www.reddit.com/r/catbongos/comments/1qm2rl2/if_you_still_support_trumpice_even_slightly_youre/
Finch's arch nemesis is the Duolingo owl.
@Unixbigot@aus.social exactly this!
"Oh it's fine, just the 10th time I lost my place in this Hbomberguy epic" 😒
@BernieDoesIt@mstdn.social @oconnell@federate.social sorry I never replied to this! I really appreciate that folks enjoyed this and saw their own experiences mirroed in the piece in whatever way
@fleur_de_LA@mastodon.online I'm still getting over Trump's soft wet hands today, don't remind me of deformed feet 😳
Replying to
@oh_that_courtney@hachyderm.io @evangreer@mastodon.online yea you are not obligated to host kiwifarms. EFF is so off the mark on this, it's tragic
Replying to
@Elememts_of_MA@kolektiva.social looks rad. Maybe we can review at @TexasObserver when it comes out
In the introduction to the July/August 2026 issue of our magazine, Gus Bova shares his remarks from the MOLLYs about why we keep doing what we do, against the odds ...
https://www.texasobserver.org/editors-letter-july-august-2026/