I went to the woods because it was a sunny, beautiful day and I was hoping to see colorful fall leaves. My partner and I visited Walden Pond for an afternoon, and decided to listen to the audiobook of Henry David Thoreau's Walden, as we were driving there and

To be honest, I'm struggling to communicate as much as I would like this week. I'm still on the road, in the van with my partner, I've been offline for a good part of the week, and my brain is stressed and overwhelmed.

I did see this

You are amazing. Yes, you. You care about people and about learning and you're interested in cool things. I mean that!

It's easier to see someone else's accomplishment than your own, generally.

Imposter syndrome is a really interesting thing. So many people feel like an imposter when

Okay, I'm frankly shocked I've managed to write so much about LGBTQIA+ topics while completely avoiding talking about sex. Hahaha. I don't even cover relationships all that often - oops.

Luckily, I don't have to start today! I can recommend another queer writer who finds joy in

Mainstream media frequently uses incorrect words to talk about trans people.

Because of this, when I write about trans people, I very often find that even strong allies are confused by the way I describe people's gender.

As part of an essay draft, I wrote about reading a memoir:

I'm really excited to share my conversation with Becky Bullard of Democrasexy with you.

Becky recently emceed a family-friendly Pride event in a small town in rural Texas, and it was lovely to hear about what it means to create that supportive environment.

We also talked about how

I'm sorry this newsletter is reaching you late. I don't have a good excuse - I was trying to do too much last week, including two research heavy articles plus some paid work and didn't get anything finished.

But anyway, as I was hiking yesterday and not writing

I'd never been to a town where so many of the homeless and homeless-adjacent residents seemed to hate each other.

My partner and I are traveling around California in a van this summer, living our lives more in public than you would in an apartment.

After we parked

I started writing this newsletter because I was working on a memoir, a coming-of-age story of coming out as nonbinary and growing up with martial arts. That's still in progress. I don't know whether I'll ever publish a book, but Amplify Respect has taken on

One question that I've heard a few times from parents goes something like: my kid wears dresses/pink/jewelry/etc and says he is a boy. What am I supposed to do with that?

Well, you don't have to look a particular way to have a particular gender.

"Ma'am, take any electronics out of the bag," the female TSA agent instructed as I prepared to go through the security screening at the airport. The person to my left got a "sir" and person to my right got a "ma'am."

"Yeah," I acknowledged, and took out my

When I was a kid, I had crushes on boys I knew. Yeah, it was pretty much boys at that age, and I thought I was a girl at the time. Since I felt genuine attraction to these folks that also aligned with what the world told me was correct,

I really loved being in a room full of trans journalists and allies at a recent industry event hosted by the Trans Journalists Association. I'm definitely inspired by meeting people who are doing the kind of work that I aspire towards!

I was reminded at the event of the

It's been quite a summer, right? Somehow it seems about time for fall, whether the temperature is finally bearable or the kids are finally back to school or you're finally going to take that class or finish that project or start reading that book. I am rooting for

Trans people are unfortunately in the news often, especially in the US. (The Trans News Initiative data visualization shows how many varied articles are out there.)

And you know, if you're reading this, that prestigious news outlets have been willing to publish wrong information about trans people. I'm

We can learn from how trans people respond to each other coming out. It's generally not a big deal, more like, "That's cool, thanks for telling me. Would you like me to use a different name or pronouns for you going forward?"

Wouldn't it be wonderful if

I have good news about cervical cancer screening! (Yes, really!)

Did you know that now there is an alternative to the pap smear for some folks: a self-administered swab HPV test? And it's starting to be covered by insurance.

If you're thinking that this info is not

If you have chronic pain, a long-term health condition, anxiety, grief, or feel overwhelmed, it may feel like there aren’t many supportive resources available. Especially for trans and gender-diverse people, it’s challenging to find inclusive providers and resources.

So I’m excited to learn more about

A friend asked me recently if COVID is still dangerous. I tried to make the case for why I wear a mask in grocery stores, trains, hospitals, etc. Unlike most people I know, I haven't gotten the flu this winter. Like, even if you aren't worried about COVID,