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Earlier this week I was chatting with one of my friends around trans issues, and some of the ways that marginalized communities can be focused more on internecine conflict than working toward more equity for all of us. But the main focus of the discussion was on the many things that we need to have knowledge on that the average person can safely ignore.

Do you know how much it costs to get your name legally changed, or what forms you need to fill out and what the process is in your jurisdiction? Your trans friend probably does and can walk through it with you.

Do you know the history of queer theory, and how to navigate conversations about queer issues and where we’ve come from to point to where we’re going? Your trans friend, even if they don’t have institutional education, is probably an amateur academic who can name some seminal works on the topic, as well as specific critiques of some of the major thinkers.

Do you know which hormones, mineral, and vitamin levels that you should be concerned with for your health, and what an acceptable range is? Your trans friend probably gets more bloodwork done than you do and has some of their ranges memorized to compare against historical levels, along with whatever tools they need to adjust.

Do you know what anti-trans bills are currently going through your local legislature? How about the names and party affiliation of your representatives on the local, state, and federal level? Your trans friend probably knows all of that, even for appointees and elected officials who probably shouldn’t have to concern them at all, like your childless trans friend who has been out of public school for over a decade but has to know if their school board is promoting anti-trans ideology.

Queer communities and queer families are important. We shouldn’t have to be experts in everything, and we shouldn’t have to constantly be advocating for ourselves in spaces where others do not.

Happy Trans Day of Visibility. Whether you are trans or not, whether you think or feel that you are trans or not (I’m not always there admittedly, but that’s a story for another day), you have the ability to lighten the burden of your friends who already have more than enough things going on and being forced upon them.

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📚

AI and the American Smile – jenka

I wouldn’t have even thought of this as a source of AI bias but now I won’t be able to unsee it.

Generating a full-length work of fiction with GPT-4 – Chiara Coetzee

I’m not celebrating or critiquing this so much as marveling at the amount of work that went into it. It feels like as much effort as just writing a book!

Cryptocurrencies add nothing useful to society, says chip-maker Nvidia – Alex Hern, The Guardian

Nvidia can see the future. Or just isn’t buying into hype.

How a Major Toy Company Kept 4chan Online – Justin Link, Wired

Glad to hear that Disney isn’t renewing their contract with Nendroid. What a shock that a toy company that makes anime toys is a major owner of 4chan /s

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📽

Perks of going to the Psych Ward

I agree with Illy, but not just if you are a nurse in a psych ward: try to be a Maria in your life, not a Susan.

Film Theory: This is Disney’s WORST Fear! (Winnie the Pooh)

The world has changed too much, mainly around how quickly and easily people can make and share remixes for Disney’s stranglehold on IP to matter as much.

Rep. Eskamani Files Amendment to Allow Guns in Committee Rooms

Wow, Republicans in the Florida House voted against a gun amendment? Not hypocritical at all 🤣

In Defense of Inefficiency

Zoe Bee nails it again. I spend so much time focused on productivity that I forget sometimes that it is unhealthy for us to always be on.

The Future is a Dead Mall – Decentraland and the Metaverse

The metaverse could well be the future, but not in the money-first/only 3D environment. Text will always have a place, and I prioritize it highest in my media.

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🎧

mascara and peach fun – Queersplaining

I can get using algo-speak as a joke, but I agree that if we allow it to replace frank discussions, we lose the ability to talk and organize. Marginalized communities are resilient, but we shouldn’t have to always be.

T-Pain – Don’t Stop Believin’ (Official Visualizer)

I feel like T-Pain takes himself just as seriously as he should, and I love that for him.

I made a song entirely from artists singing “yeah”

definitely ruined it for me, and I love it 🤣

Banning TikTok would hurt marginalized communities – There Are No Girls on the Internet

If we want to solve the problem that legislators say that TikTok causes, we should focus on comprehensive data privacy laws. Not banning one app because it has foreign owners when we’ve already shown that Facebook has caused real harm in the world.

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If you made it this far, why not share this newsletter with a friend? Or share with me some of the things that you found that you liked this week. Either way, I’m thrilled!