We are not going back to the way things were before Roe v. Wade. We’re going somewhere much worse. — Roe v. Wade is dead. I’ve written that sentence so many times, for so many years, that it barely registers. I’ve been mourning the loss for half a decade. I’m used to mourning now. Still, looking at the actual decision — written by Samuel Alito, leaked to Politico last night…

As the right wing moves to immiserate or kill everyone but cis, straight white guys, the targets don’t even know they’re in the same fight. — Writing about gender as a trans feminist feels like a fool’s errand in 2022. For one thing, our enemies understand the field of play better than we do. As the right mounts a plan to immiserate or kill everyone who isn’t a straight, white guy, starting with the most vulnerable…

On trying to get one tiny child through a culture war unscathed. — I’ve run out of things to say about myself during therapy. This is not to say I don’t still need it. I now spend my sessions talking about one and only one thing: My kid, who is preparing to enter kindergarten. …

Bitch Media is shutting down after a quarter-century. What’s left to take its place? — Last night, like just about everyone I know, I received an email telling me that Bitch Media — an independent feminist publication that had been running for a solid quarter-century, the first feminist magazine I read and one of the first I ever wrote for — would be ceasing operations…

The GOP is labeling every queer or trans person a ‘groomer’ — and childhood sexual abuse survivors will pay the price — For the past week, I’ve been watching as the entire GOP strategy for the midterms slowly consolidates around the claim that existing as a trans or queer person makes one a danger to children; a sexual threat; a pedophile; a “groomer.” The first hints of this strategy began with Florida’s…

I could have gone all day without thinking about Jesse Singal exploring someone’s body, but here we are. — I woke up this morning with a stress headache. It was terrible — one side of my head a rictus of pain, like an ice-cream brain freeze stretched out for eternity. …

I’ve long insisted “cancel culture” doesn’t exist. Then Will Smith smacked Chris Rock and changed the game. — Friends: In the past year, I have used this space, often, to opine on “cancel culture.” You’ve heard me say that it’s not real; that it’s a distraction from more serious issues; that “cancellation” is just a word that selfish people use to decry disagreement, or criticism, or any attempt…

In the face of increasingly dire transphobia, I’m learning that joy can help me survive — For most of my life, whenever anyone wanted to compliment me, they would call me “strong.” It was the go-to piece of praise, from everyone — parents, partners, bosses — and I got sick of it. I wanted to hear that I was smart, funny, kind, insightful; “strong” wasn’t a…

Children are being kidnapped in Texas, Jennifer. It’s not the time. — Let’s take a deep breath and look at where we are, in March of 2022: War is raging abroad. A plague has decimated the population. The state of Texas has begun investigating trans parents and/or supportive parents of trans children, with the ultimate goal of removing children from their homes…