One of the biggest factors discouraging me from using social media these days is seeing how many regular people, journalists, organizations, nonprofits and politicians kept right on using X like it's not a nazi shithole. It really makes me think there's something fundamentally unhealthy about this.
Remote
Mx. Kit O'Connell 🏳️🌈⭐👏
@oconnell@federate.social
mastodon 4.7.3Newsletter Writer & Contributor at Big & Bright from The Barbed Wire. Former Digital Editor at the Texas Observer. GLAAD Media Award and National Magazine Award-nominated editor and journalist. Friend to cats.
This is my serious work account. Follow my personal account @kitoconnell@kolektiva.social
2053 Followers
391 Following
17 Posts
Joined February 26, 2024
Pronouns:
They/Them
Patreon:
About Kit:
Get Big & Bright:
If a candidate can't enthusiastically support my existence and considers my #gender to be abnormal, I will not vote for them.
Ever. I need the #Newsom boosters to understand that no matter how much they protest, they are throwing marginalized people under the bus with their candidate.
https://youtu.be/y-qXbnTeHJU
We All Deserve Better Than Gavin Newsom (with Emma Vigeland and Kat Blaque)
For @TexasObserver@texasobserver.social magazine, I interviewed Juan Miguel Arredondo, the first openly gay man on the San Marcos, #Texas school board, about how this small but surprisingly progressive small town is protecting their most vulnerable students from the culture wars and economic inequality. https://www.texasobserver.org/defending-the-most-vulnerable-in-san-marcos/
#education #politics #USpol #schools #CentralTexas #news #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA
“We just want what everyone else has, which is just regular, mundane lives.”
New from me @TexasObserver@texasobserver.social: Fathers of #trans and #nonbinary kids gather to share their pride, and fight for a better future in this new #documentary that premiered at #SXSW, as a feature length expansion of an Emmy-winning short film: https://www.texasobserver.org/fathers-trans-nonbinary-kids/
#film #movies #culture #LGBTQIA #politics #USpol #news #Texas
If you're a #trans person based in #Austin (or elsewhere in #Texas for that matter) and have struggled to access gender-affirming care due to changes in insurance coverage OR because of trans healthcare bans at Catholic-owned medical centers, please reach out. DM or email kitoconnell at pobox dot com.
“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,”
#LGBTQ+ Texans are part of the fight, organizing with their neighbors to protect immigrants against #ICE. My latest for The Barbed Wire: https://thebarbedwire.com/2026/03/02/lgbtq-texans-in-defense-of-immigrants/
#LGBTQIA #trans #immigration #fascism #Austin #Texas #news #Politics #USPol #Minneapolis
I really appreciate Garrison Davis devoting an episode of It Could Happen Here podcast to pushing back on some clickbait about #trans rights, such as the myth that #ICE is beginning a widespread roundup of transgender people. Garrison doesn't downplay the risks we face but focuses on the actual facts. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-it-could-happen-here-30717896/episode/the-trans-panic-clickbait-economy-328434266
#misinformation #disinformation #immigration #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #SocialMedia #transgender
Despite the fact that a THCA-hemp ban went into effect today, #Austin Police admit they still aren't going after most possession charges, and don't really have the capacity to worry about flower packaged as hemp. https://www.kut.org/business/2026-03-31/austin-tx-hemp-ban-smokable-cannabis-mail-order-online-out-of-state
#Texas #hemp #cannabis #drugs #law #politics #USpol #news
“It’s showing that the government is willing to literally waste billions upon billions of dollars to make these useless walls … instead of taking that exact same money and making sure that everybody has housing or clean water and food and education.”
https://www.texasobserver.org/trump-border-wall-rio-grande-valley/
#Texas #border #politics #USpol #news #immigration #SouthTexas
RE: https://mastodon.social/@EricAlper/116053710804163654
James and I were in theater club together, oddly enough. It's sad that someone my age is gone so young, my condolences to his family and friends.
"On behalf of 25 other member states, #Belgium called for a “no action motion” to block the proposal. Pakistan and Chile were the only two member states to vote with the U.S. against the motion, with 23 countries voting to block the anti-trans proposal and 17 abstaining.'
Hey everyone, life has been pretty stressful and so I've been bad at updating this. But I'm still here, still rolling around Austin and writing. I've got a couple of new pieces coming out next week for The Barbed Wire too!
Here's a little peek at what I've been up to today...
#journalism #LGBTQIA #Austin #Texas #news #media #nonbinary #activism #ICE
What #android keyboard do you use? I used SwiftKey for years but I've recently realized how badly it's gone downhill.
I'm writing a story for The Barbed WIre (thebarbedwire.com) on the intersection between pro-immigrant and pro-LGBTQ+ resistance in #Texas if you have thoughts on that or you're organizing intersectionally please get in touch... DM or I also have Signal or encrypted email (kitoswn@proton.me) if you need.
Obviously, but I'll say it anyway: only share what is safe to share with the media, though we can arrange anonymity.
#LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #news #journalism #immigration #ICE #HumanRights
New at The Barbed Wire for #Trans Day Of Visibility: After meeting at #SXSW, I interviewed #nonbinary assistant teacher Indigo Giles about special #education and how to be out and proud when they're not even allowed, under #Texas law, to discuss their pronouns with students. https://thebarbedwire.com/2026/03/31/what-its-like-to-be-a-nonbinary-educator-in-texas-right-now/
New today at The Barbed Wire: “Trans voters are left vulnerable to being outed, questioned, or turned away, which creates very real barriers to casting a ballot ... This fear & confusion has a purpose in trying to silence our voices & keep #trans people from participating fully in our #democracy.”
https://thebarbedwire.com/2026/03/03/trans-voters-texas-primary-elections/
#midterms #voting #elections #LGBTQIA #LGBTQ #transgender #Texas #politics #USpol #news
