Kit O'Connell

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

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

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. 😭

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

@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/

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.

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

Finch's arch nemesis is the Duolingo owl.

True facts with Kit! Did you know that humans actually invented the em dash and are fully capable of using it without AI?

Y'all were (not) waiting on the edge of your seats so here's my #music top list from #Tidal.

Top 10:
1. Chappell
2. Kesha
3. Marina
4. SOPHIE
5. Sarah, the Illstrumentalist
6. Princess Nokia
7. Orville Peck
8. A Giant Dog
9. Fka Twigs
10. Charli XCX

@Unixbigot@aus.social exactly this!

"Oh it's fine, just the 10th time I lost my place in this Hbomberguy epic" 😒

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.

@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 😳

“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