Happy Turkey Month!
I’ve been toying with ways to make this newsletter seem less like “Read these!” and more narrative or have more explanations. This edition is set up with one possible idea. There’s a poll at the end of this post, so let me know if you like this format better or would rather see ye olde format return.
Articles You Need to Read This Week
At a national level, anti-trans politics is exploding. There’s a national bill being proposed that’s even more harmful than the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill and over $50 MILLION in anti-trans radio ads are airing in at least 25 states.
In America's wang (Florida), they’ve officially banned transition-related care for minors. This means kids will no longer have access to puberty blockers (which pause puberty and are reversible), and will instead be forced to go through the ‘wrong’ puberty. People regret going through that puberty far more often than the one that aligns with their gender identity. DeSantis likened affirming care to chemical castration in discussions of the bill, which shows just how little he knows. Oh, and Florida is also trying to ban LGBTQ+ books, too.
In other shitty news:
An Oklahoma donut shop was firebombed after hosting a drag event
A school in Nebraska “paused” their student newspaper after an LGBTQ pride issue.
Now that he owns Twitter, notorious jerk who ‘doesn’t believe in pronouns’ (and whose wife left him for a trans woman), Elon Musk Might Revisit Twitter’s Anti-Trans Hate Policy
Have you been seeing more queer couples marry lately? There’s a huge reason for that, and the Supreme Court is part of it. Is it playing into me deciding to get married next year instead of further down the line? Abso-fucking-lutely.
If it’s not enough to deal with that ^ BS, folks are assuming they know who is queer and who isn’t - and it’s causing real harm. Add to that how much a lack of community and connection can harm those of us with multiple oppressed identities and, well, things suck.
In good news, same-sex marriage is legal in Mexico!! AND, LGBTQ+ candidates ran for office in every single state this year.
Waaaay back in November of 2020 - before I’d even met my sweet partner in person - I wrote about ways folks can have risk-aware conversations around COVID-19 risk. Turns out, around half of USians have lied about what measures they are taking. Yikes. That no doubt is influencing how full ICUs are with COVID patients across the nation.
Antibody treatments aren’t helping as much with the Omicron subvariants, meaning many of us with crummy immune systems, who don’t mount as much of an immune system response to vaccines, or are otherwise immunocompromised are at even higher risk. Thanks, I hate it.
We’ve learned that 1 in 3 people get COVID-19 rebound symptoms even if they don’t receive Paxlovid, which is enough to get us wondering if Paxlovid was causing any rebounds or if it was solely COVID crap. Through tracking, we’ve also learned that Black and Latinx patients are far less likely to receive Paxlovid. In an effort to help, Uber and DoorDash are happy to deliver Paxlovid from Walgreens for free to vulnerable neighborhoods.
In long COVID news, 15% of US adults who test positive for COVID are going on to develop long COVID conditions. This is up from the 10% that was suggested only months ago.
Here are some steps you can take to protect yourself:
The CDC has finally issued new guidelines on prescribing opioids for pain. These carve out vital exceptions for folks with chronic pain, cancer, and other pain conditions, unlike previous iterations.
BTW, Monkeypox Still a Public Health Emergency. Rural communities are struggling right now, especially with a lack of infrastructure. If you’re in need of an MPX vaccine, click here.
There is a nationwide shortage of Adderal currently. Here’s what to do if that shortage is hitting you.
My home state of Oregon is set to make health care a human right. May more states (and nations) take on such bold measures!
When we talk about disability justice, a lot of folks aren’t aware of the rich history - or how much we’ve had to fight to be able to live in community as opposed to institutions. Thankfully, Stacey Abrams gets it - and wants folks to have the supports to live in community, too.
A pretty common blood pressure drug has shown promise in possibly preventing Alzheimer’s in Black patients. That makes the fact that Black patients are less likely to qualify for Alzheimer’s drugs less starting, but not by much. Did you know Black patients are also less likely to get vital medications after an Afib diagnosis - or even to receive CPR when needed? YIKES.
Surprising no one - or, at least, not me - doctors rarely discuss the sexual side effects of cancer treatments with women. Often, if they discuss it with anyone (men included), that conversation is all about fertility.
According to a recent study, homicide is the top cause of death during pregnancy. Between homicide and a lack of real follow-up for patients, over 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. When we know that forcibly oppressed communities are hit the hardest with high mortality rates, we have to wonder what the mental health implications are of abortion restrictions. Thankfully, there’s already been a study on that.
Now, if we can study who the f**k at the US border agency decided we could ask detained tourists about abortions, that’d be great.
Back in 2018, Floridians voted to return voting rights for folks who had been convicted of a felony but completed their sentences. Around one million folks meeting that criteria still can’t vote this year.
The man who allegedly beat Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul with a hammer was planning to kidnap her and break her kneecaps. Dude was also super into right-wing conspiracy theories and spouted a metric f**kton of bigotry.
The 2022 US Trans Survey is finally out! It takes around 60 minutes or so to complete and should be done in one sitting. The last one, done in 2015, is a major source of research and data on trans well-being, so please take it if you’re trans!
Poll time!
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Love your face!
Grayson