today i hosted two workshops for dv and sa survivors feeling activated by today’s inauguration. these are some of the prompts we did in case they would be helpful for you in your own time. a common theme was sensitivity to feeling minimized by their loved ones and/or community members. - 1. we set a timer for 5 minutes and each wrote down things that we knew to be true. 2. we set a timer for 3 minutes each to do an uninterrupted rant. at the end of the rant, one could ask for what they needed. most people asked to hear a related story or just wanted to feel heard and not minimized.

i’m helping plan a staff trip to punta del este, uruguay this nov. anyone out here have recommendations for additional excursions or activities we should be considering? i will also be staying in uruguay an extra few days, and am open to suggestions for that :)

Gonna be in Charlotte, NC for the ~2.5 days for a documentary shoot. Any suggestions for favorite foods we should try + particular classic Charlotte imagery we should consider for b-roll? Have been a few times now for this project, but always learning.

I just learned about Australia banning children from using social media. I thought people here might have interesting opinions on this move if you wanna share.

We’re talkin about roadtripping again to go deeper through the US southwest this winter. Any recs for what we should try to do or see?

Hi, I’m co-directing a feature documentary for public television and I NEED YOUR HELP. We are working through a new rough cut (basically a very rough draft of a film) and we are hoping for feedback from people who've never seen it before. And, even better, people who don’t really know me. I figure this is a space with a good pocket of open-minded, critical people. Are you interested? There will be a virtual and in person NYC option sometime over the next two weeks. If yes, a summary of the project is here, flagging! Yes, it does deal with themes of suicide -

ITVS

What Will I Become? - ITVS

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(ITVS is basically a production entity that works with independent films and streamlines the process to get them onto public television). And, if you’re STILL interested after knowing what it’s about - write in the comments here or DM me on Primal. Feel free to share this around as well <3

Today I turned in the anthology, “Meet Me There, Another Time,” full of letters queer and trans people write to places they’ve had to leave behind, to the publisher. We will begin the production process next week. And it only makes sense this overlaps with the 10 year anniversary of finding my first “long term” home as an adult (lol only ~10 months) concluding what I also call, “The Year of 40 Homes,” which is exactly how it sounds. I’ve been reflecting recently that it’s only these ten years later I’ve ever started to wrap my mind around what it means to have a future, or what it even means to stay. I feel impatient sometimes of not knowing the answers. I feel the way in which I’ve lost time, like many people. I am thankful for this atlas of letters, I think, to process more, connect more. And it all scares me, too. Here is the window view of the first place I tried staying, which is to say I didn’t know this version of NYC nor this version of myself existed. As my friend Heather put it, there’s a version of you that fits into a potted plant and there’s a version of you that can plant into the ground. The growth, the seasons are different.

I’m hosting beginner skate classes in nyc again Saturday and Monday mornings. If you or a loved one wanna, or talk about a different time, hmu! Lil video from rehearsal for a fun collab with pal, John Tournas last summer.

WHAT WILL I BECOME? (my debut feature documentary) is en route to public television. ITVS supports storytelling that frequently premieres on programs like Independent Lens, POV, American Masters, and FRONTLINE. We chose to collaborate with them not only because of their reputation for integrity and community-led projects, but also because it will allow this story to be widely accessible, free to different audiences through broadcast and streaming. We will be continuing the post-production process over the next year, and are looking at a premiere likely in 2026. You can learn more here,

ITVS

What Will I Become? - ITVS

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To be candid - this news arrives so bittersweetly after four years of working with the project and four years before that of working up the courage to start it. In many ways, this film should have never had to be made. We making this, people in front of the camera, people behind the camera, and the people lost to suicide we are remembering - Blake and Kyler - are real. It has been incredibly hard up to this point being in the position of having to convince others that this work was important. And, with this breakthrough, there is now no more convincing. We can just do the work. And with that work, I feel the big responsibility, the grief, and the deepened awareness this is all just as much about life as it is about death.  I don't always know why I am alive, but I can say with a certainty I am determined to do the most holding I can with it, in it. My heart breaks every damn day, but I think our community deserves nuance, a fold beyond statistics and news clips and 101s. To trans boys (and enby people navigating your own relationship to masculinity!) reading this, may you continue to surprise yourself. May you not lose the parts of yourself you love in the journey of being affirmed. May you know that you don't gotta go at life as a lone wolf.

Inspired by a text-convo I’ve been having recently, curious to know what’s your definition of the suburbs?

Collage inspired by an early draft of “The Ship We Built,” called “In The Bloodstream.” It was inspired by my childhood fantasy that there were whales living inside my bloodstream and bellybuttons were akin to their blowholes. Was special to sneak that nugget into a novel so many years later.

Will go to Brooklyn to sing in a basement Celine Dion choir mashup // ty, Gaia Music Collective

"The Ship We Built" feature film, which I wrote based on my debut middle grade novel, is now in partnership with Randan Productions! A small, but mighty Scotland-based, award winning production company celebrating queer and trans-led content. Thankful as heck to have a more official jump into this with Jack G and Annie R and Reece C after what has already been a several year journey. Together we are taking on big themes such as loneliness, imagination as a tool for survival, incarceration, and what we rely on before we have the words (for a person, a feeling, an identity, a source of abuse, or even our own names). Some of the projects inspiring me the most include "Room," "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Close," "Boyhood," "My Life as a Zucchini," "Perks of Being A Wallflower," etc. Reach out if you wanna know more ⚓

Product Marketing Intern - Go To Market - Nos: The Human Network

Product Marketing Intern - Go To Market - Paid

Nos is seeking a paid product intern to support the app through its public launch! P cool opportunity for any students in your life.

a favorite dance moment from the vault - something i return to when i doubt myself / ft a top 3 contact improv dance partner of my life, cuy cph

gofundme.com

Donate to Support Jihades Relocation to Safety, organized by Zachary Dixon

I cannot stress enough how critical this situation is. Jihade has been deported fro… Zachary Dixon needs your support for Support Jihades Relocat...

A good friend of mine is looking to get out of Morocco asap to escape a dangerous family situation, on top of struggling with employment and safety as a trans person. If you’re able to support or share, here is the link to their fundraiser. They have been tryin real hard to maintain hope, and I just wish them a world with more ease.

a highlight for me from @Patrick Boehler at tonight’s “redefining the future of digital journalism” event in nyc. this section focused on helping journalists in authoritarian regimes get their stories out, and those of us in the usa sure have a lot to learn from him.

Since I’m new to the Nos Creators’ Residency, I’ll take a few minutes to introduce some of my work and what’s cooking for this summer. I’ve recently learned ChatGPT knows how to write a nicer bio for myself than I can haha! But I’ll say a few of my own words here - I am passionate about generating creative resources relating to bodies, homes, cyclical violence, regionalism, too. In part, it’s finding a way to pay forward some care and nuance after surviving some of the things I’ve survived. Also, I’ll leave my own words for a sec to offer a quote from my pal Heather, “Healing is like being stuck in traffic.” All the cars around ya gotta move if you wanna move. So, here we are amongst risk, and patience, and impatience. In recent years, my work speaks most directly to the cross-section of trans identity and childhood sexual abuse (CSA). I am especially keen on this as so much of the hateful legislation and rhetoric mishandles CSA narratives as a way to punish and further scapegoat the trans community. I’ve explored this and other DV/SA survivor advocacy through universities, books across genres + ages, protests, essays, creative + tool-building + holiday themed workshops, staff + helping professionals teach-ins, prevention education, filmmaking, performances, tours, etc. This werk, of course, intersects with other lived themes (like suicide, migration, addiction) and unexpected emotional realities (like joy, bro) because we are all complex and (again) alive. Anyway. Here are some projects very in motion this month - WHAT WILL I BECOME? - A feature documentary I’m co-directing now in post-production. We have a big announcement related to this project happening this summer. The log line - “More than 50% of transgender boys have attempted suicide. Through two life stories, directors Lexie (hi!) and Logan unravel why their community is particularly vulnerable to living and dying quietly.” THE SHIP WE BUILT - This is a middle-grade novel I wrote with PRH that is already out! It deals with themes of CSA, gender, incarceration, loneliness, Rust Belt living, imagination as a tool for survival - all from a 10 year old lens in the late 90s attaching letters to balloons. However, I wrote a screenplay version of it while doing the book! I’m dyslexic, have a banned book, and I am deeply aware reading can’t be for everyone for several reasons, and want the story to be accessible. Anyway. Last week, we finally found a first production company to hop in!! After so long (over a year!) of looking. Will be glad to share the who’s-who of that later this month. And will be glad to share lil windows into that process of giving something so special to me another way of living. Also, bro, this is the kinda project and stage where if you wanna help make it happen - talk to me! MEET ME THERE, ANOTHER TIME - This is an anthology I’m putting together for JKP (Hachette imprint) and wow it is due end of NEXT MONTH!! ah. This is my second anthology with them. This one is focused on queer and trans people writing places that they’ve had to leave behind. I am excited n curious to think about other shapes this project can take, but gotta finish this step first! There are several other things in different shapes and stages, such as a book relating to tables and a v special roller skate x saxophone collab, and maybe you’ll hear about those. I am also really wanting to develop a documentary about the cross section of CSA and anti-trans rhetoric - talk to me if you wanna get in on that somehow?? I’m feelin a bit on fire with this topic. (Are you?) I’ll close with some things I love - pie (gluten free), feta cheese, feta cheese in pie (spanakopita), my cat (below), risk (the feeling - NOT the board game), surprising myself & being a beginner as often as possible, teaching roller skating and finding other ways to support people in their agency. I’m pretty deep into a dance form called contact improv. Helping out @rabble (they’re the reason we are all here!) part-time is a really neat thing. And, in an alternate life, I probably would have pursued wildlife conservation work and animal welfare. I don’t know. You’ll learn more another time! Or not! Congrats if you read this all the way to the end. Closing out by shouting out a few other groups in this residency cohort who I have admired for a while! @MuckRock Foundation @npub1j4su...tlyh @protest.net

Surprise shout-out in this GLAAD piece brings about complicated feelings. This week, I attended the Community Education Council for NYC’s largest school district - where I arrived as a local babysitting, children’s author. But, most importantly as a former nationally ranked athlete, trans person, and as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. At this event, the council upheld Resolution 248 (originally passed in March) targeting trans people in sports. Like all anti-trans bills, this is done with false narratives of protection. Something underlined even in one of the USA’s most “progressive” cities. After a few students, I spoke with shaky legs and was met with several council members texting on their phones. Namely, Maud Maron and Charles Love. I especially thank the middle schooler who stood up in my defense. My blood boils knowing the same child left only 20 minutes later sobbing when a Mom’s For Liberty person referred to us all - and especially young trans girls - as purely delusional. The council members who texted while we spoke perked up to record such interactions in pleasure. This is not appropriate leadership. This s not about protection. & Absolutely None of this is about sports. It is also worth noting that since this event Maud was asked to step down from her role for inappropriate behavior and mismanaging of past text messages.

GLAAD | GLAAD rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance.

Parents of LGBTQ Youth Defended Trans Students in a Tense NYC Education Council Meeting — Here’s Why That Matters… | GLAAD

For the last three months, New York City parents and LGBTQ youth advocates have shown up in protest of the anti-transgender sports ban, Resolution ...

I am very new to the concept of Nostr! If any of you have links to articles, videos, or other types of tutorials for newbies to get a stronger grasp - drop them in the comments :)