CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
@cnlester.bsky.social
Multi-genre musician
Co-lead @TransUnityQuilt
Founder & Artistic Director of Transpose
PhD on Barbara Strozzi - interdisciplinary work is life
’Trans Like Me’, ‘Furies,’ 2 current trans historical WIP
they/them
www.cnlester.com
www.transpose.org.uk
Co-lead @TransUnityQuilt
Founder & Artistic Director of Transpose
PhD on Barbara Strozzi - interdisciplinary work is life
’Trans Like Me’, ‘Furies,’ 2 current trans historical WIP
they/them
www.cnlester.com
www.transpose.org.uk
Pinned
CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
@cnlester.bsky.social
· Jun 23
I'm working so hard on letting other people see me again after some very hard years of fighting the need to defensively hide.
It means so much that I can actually see myself in my new headshots.
It means so much that I can actually see myself in my new headshots.
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
Just remembered a photoshop I had a little fun with.
February 8, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Just remembered a photoshop I had a little fun with.
Small in the grand scheme of things, but not nothing: rehearsing all day at the Royal Opera House for their family shows throughout March, in a way which is genuinely inclusive and compassionate, encouraging little ones to be creative.
There are so many beautiful things to fight for.
There are so many beautiful things to fight for.
February 8, 2026 at 7:20 PM
Small in the grand scheme of things, but not nothing: rehearsing all day at the Royal Opera House for their family shows throughout March, in a way which is genuinely inclusive and compassionate, encouraging little ones to be creative.
There are so many beautiful things to fight for.
There are so many beautiful things to fight for.
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
If there's ever been a time to NOT be incrementalist, this is it. The most political capital you're gonna have is right now. And we got Gestapo death squads in MSP and TB spreading through concentration camps in Texas. If you can't find a win there, get out of politics. The Epstein Class, baby
February 8, 2026 at 4:29 AM
If there's ever been a time to NOT be incrementalist, this is it. The most political capital you're gonna have is right now. And we got Gestapo death squads in MSP and TB spreading through concentration camps in Texas. If you can't find a win there, get out of politics. The Epstein Class, baby
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
BREAKING: The Epstein survivors are releasing this ad on this Super Bowl Sunday to send the message that they will not “move on” from the largest sex trafficking scandal in the world. #standwithsurvivors
February 8, 2026 at 5:07 PM
BREAKING: The Epstein survivors are releasing this ad on this Super Bowl Sunday to send the message that they will not “move on” from the largest sex trafficking scandal in the world. #standwithsurvivors
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
Something beautiful: went for a walk around my neighbourhood yesterday, and someone had put a huge trans flag in their window, looking out over the street.
It all matters.
It all matters.
February 7, 2026 at 11:09 AM
Something beautiful: went for a walk around my neighbourhood yesterday, and someone had put a huge trans flag in their window, looking out over the street.
It all matters.
It all matters.
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
sabrina carpenter singing islands in the stream w the muppets has healed me in ways i did not know i needed
February 6, 2026 at 2:46 AM
sabrina carpenter singing islands in the stream w the muppets has healed me in ways i did not know i needed
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
I'm sorry the guy changing the rules on the fly is named what
I stand with County Executive Calvin Ball as he signs emergency legislation today prohibiting privately owned buildings from being used as ICE detention centers.
Howard County chose dignity, accountability, and its people. Tune into our event now:
bit.ly/4a2VtHw
Howard County chose dignity, accountability, and its people. Tune into our event now:
bit.ly/4a2VtHw
Redirecting...
bit.ly
February 7, 2026 at 2:34 PM
I'm sorry the guy changing the rules on the fly is named what
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
no we don’t have to pretend that the calipers people are sincerely concerned about crime rates, actually
none of them are just asking questions in good faith
none of them are just asking questions in good faith
February 7, 2026 at 4:23 PM
no we don’t have to pretend that the calipers people are sincerely concerned about crime rates, actually
none of them are just asking questions in good faith
none of them are just asking questions in good faith
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
this may be the single most insufferable thing about the radical centrist caucus - not just extending good faith to obviously bad faith people but demanding everyone else do the same and chiding them when they don’t
A lot of our political discourse would be easier if we didn't extend good faith to people who would never extend it back.
February 7, 2026 at 4:22 PM
this may be the single most insufferable thing about the radical centrist caucus - not just extending good faith to obviously bad faith people but demanding everyone else do the same and chiding them when they don’t
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
Concentration camps: stories of as many as 50 people to a cell — men and women in some cases — with no windows and limited airflow, a single camera-monitored toilet, aluminum blankets, no showers and poor quality food.
ICE detainees from Maine being held under ‘inhumane’ conditions in Mass. facility, attorneys say
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said the allegations of overcrowding and lack of access to lawyers are false.
www.pressherald.com
February 7, 2026 at 1:10 PM
Concentration camps: stories of as many as 50 people to a cell — men and women in some cases — with no windows and limited airflow, a single camera-monitored toilet, aluminum blankets, no showers and poor quality food.
Something beautiful: went for a walk around my neighbourhood yesterday, and someone had put a huge trans flag in their window, looking out over the street.
It all matters.
It all matters.
February 7, 2026 at 11:09 AM
Something beautiful: went for a walk around my neighbourhood yesterday, and someone had put a huge trans flag in their window, looking out over the street.
It all matters.
It all matters.
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
one of the greatest human triumphs of my lifetime is the relentless, unceasing, heroic effort by DECADES' worth of doctors and scientists to find a cure for a disease much of the world didn't take seriously for years because it predominantly affected a community they thought kinda deserved it
Just because good news is worth celebrating:
There is now a Prep medication that is an *every six month* injection.
HIV has, effectively, a vaccination.
There is now a Prep medication that is an *every six month* injection.
HIV has, effectively, a vaccination.
February 7, 2026 at 1:37 AM
one of the greatest human triumphs of my lifetime is the relentless, unceasing, heroic effort by DECADES' worth of doctors and scientists to find a cure for a disease much of the world didn't take seriously for years because it predominantly affected a community they thought kinda deserved it
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
i think we all need to step back and realize that peak art was made when neolithic pot in the shape of a pig was fired
February 6, 2026 at 7:46 PM
i think we all need to step back and realize that peak art was made when neolithic pot in the shape of a pig was fired
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
The public made noise for Liam Ramos and it got him released from Dilley.
Now we must make noise for 7 year old Diana Crespo.
Her parents were taking her for emergency medical care when ICE grabbed them, and she’s rotting in the camp sick and exposed to measles.
Get them out!
Now we must make noise for 7 year old Diana Crespo.
Her parents were taking her for emergency medical care when ICE grabbed them, and she’s rotting in the camp sick and exposed to measles.
Get them out!
February 6, 2026 at 12:08 AM
The public made noise for Liam Ramos and it got him released from Dilley.
Now we must make noise for 7 year old Diana Crespo.
Her parents were taking her for emergency medical care when ICE grabbed them, and she’s rotting in the camp sick and exposed to measles.
Get them out!
Now we must make noise for 7 year old Diana Crespo.
Her parents were taking her for emergency medical care when ICE grabbed them, and she’s rotting in the camp sick and exposed to measles.
Get them out!
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
Cowardly and racist is an amazing combination. We all know that wasn't a staffer and that he meant that shit. bsky.app/profile/leba...
POLITICO reporting that the White House has now claimed the ape video was an accident and removed it.
February 6, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Cowardly and racist is an amazing combination. We all know that wasn't a staffer and that he meant that shit. bsky.app/profile/leba...
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
Now that Trump has deleted the post, the defenses will shift from "stop the fake outrage" to "see he deleted it, not a big deal"
February 6, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Now that Trump has deleted the post, the defenses will shift from "stop the fake outrage" to "see he deleted it, not a big deal"
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
The grotesque paradox in music/academia is that the ‘stars’ are made by the press/PR - there are always a dozen more supremely talented people ready to take their place. But then they are *made* indispensable to sales and so must needs be protected.
this is the same argument that protects abusers in classical music, by the way, & is just as wack, & has the same consequences
Academia often protects abusive people (men above all else) by citing how important their work is. That no one else can do it, and what's a few "indiscretions" next to bettering humanity?
Which is grotesque.
But also, every abuser comes at the cost of losing *many* equally talented people.
Which is grotesque.
But also, every abuser comes at the cost of losing *many* equally talented people.
February 6, 2026 at 2:52 PM
The grotesque paradox in music/academia is that the ‘stars’ are made by the press/PR - there are always a dozen more supremely talented people ready to take their place. But then they are *made* indispensable to sales and so must needs be protected.
I always assumed sci-fi wasn't for me, because the only books I was recommend were written by white cis straight men who wrote their prejudices into their works.
Then I sat down and read Butler and Le Guin...
Then I sat down and read Butler and Le Guin...
Yup. This is also why I get annoyed when people start suggesting "golden age" science fiction titles to people who are new the genre and are asking for suggestions. You want to turn a modern 15-year-old off science fiction forever, recommend stories that were old when her grandparents were her age.
When people ask how to get into GA SF I always say that the right way is via some of those fat "Best Of" short fiction collections
February 6, 2026 at 1:50 PM
I always assumed sci-fi wasn't for me, because the only books I was recommend were written by white cis straight men who wrote their prejudices into their works.
Then I sat down and read Butler and Le Guin...
Then I sat down and read Butler and Le Guin...
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
Thats why when someone says "xxx was bad but without it we wouldn't have yyy", I always encourage them to think of the opportunity cost, to imagine the potential futures lost rather than settle into justifications for suboptimal pasts.
February 6, 2026 at 1:45 AM
Thats why when someone says "xxx was bad but without it we wouldn't have yyy", I always encourage them to think of the opportunity cost, to imagine the potential futures lost rather than settle into justifications for suboptimal pasts.
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
Extrapolating in another direction: I also often think of just how much human potential has been lost because of systemic racism, classism and imperialism. All the joy, innovation, art and more that we didn’t get - the opportunity cost of systems where one or a few men (its usually men) benefit.
This is only related in a sideways manner, but: the story of any small slice of humanity is the story of humanity, just boiled down and distilled. So:
In 2020, we had a lot of conversations about harassment at SF/F conventions, and Isaac Asimov came up several times.
In 2020, we had a lot of conversations about harassment at SF/F conventions, and Isaac Asimov came up several times.
the Epstein files are really devastating because they remind me of how many girls and women miss out on professional opportunities, mentorship and careers because of how many powerful, rich and influential men only view girls and women — and interactions with them — through the lens of sex
February 5, 2026 at 11:27 PM
Extrapolating in another direction: I also often think of just how much human potential has been lost because of systemic racism, classism and imperialism. All the joy, innovation, art and more that we didn’t get - the opportunity cost of systems where one or a few men (its usually men) benefit.
This project looks phenomenal
If you’re Trans+ and love cyberpunk, I want to hear from you!
Share your insights & experiences of anime, The Matrix, video games & more.
First survey below with the rest threaded.
Experiences of playing Cyberpunk 2077 as Trans+ Gamer
🔗 forms.office.com/r/pfvb2m7Jas
(1/2)
Share your insights & experiences of anime, The Matrix, video games & more.
First survey below with the rest threaded.
Experiences of playing Cyberpunk 2077 as Trans+ Gamer
🔗 forms.office.com/r/pfvb2m7Jas
(1/2)
February 6, 2026 at 1:07 PM
This project looks phenomenal
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
The entire anti wokeness nonsense of the past decade was about making this kind of gutter racism broadly acceptable again bsky.app/profile/adam...
Pour one out for every professional political pundit, writer, consultant whatever that has spent the last decade trying to pretend that the Trump phenomenon was about trade or opiates and not a big chunk of white america losing its mind over having a black president bsky.app/profile/kyle...
A screenshot from a video posted on Trump's Truth Social account: truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT...
February 6, 2026 at 10:09 AM
The entire anti wokeness nonsense of the past decade was about making this kind of gutter racism broadly acceptable again bsky.app/profile/adam...
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
It's not just the decision to give public money and public data to a sworn enemy of everything we stand for, appalling though that is. It's also the secrecy and illegal shutting out of any competition. What does Palantir have on Streeting and Starmer - and did Mandelson give it to them?
Calls to halt UK Palantir contracts grow amid ‘lack of transparency’ over deals
Opposition MPs urge Labour to pause public contracts with the US tech firm after attempts to examine deals blocked
www.theguardian.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:46 AM
It's not just the decision to give public money and public data to a sworn enemy of everything we stand for, appalling though that is. It's also the secrecy and illegal shutting out of any competition. What does Palantir have on Streeting and Starmer - and did Mandelson give it to them?
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
Disinformation, lose of trust, and polarisation are symptoms and catalysts of the rot, not the cause.
February 5, 2026 at 10:31 PM
Disinformation, lose of trust, and polarisation are symptoms and catalysts of the rot, not the cause.
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
So when we hear people saying the public has lost trust in institutions and we need the public to trust institutions again, that actually requires institutions to be demonstratably trustworthy in moment of crisis, but it's easier just to blame disinformation or polarisation than fix the real rot.
February 5, 2026 at 10:30 PM
So when we hear people saying the public has lost trust in institutions and we need the public to trust institutions again, that actually requires institutions to be demonstratably trustworthy in moment of crisis, but it's easier just to blame disinformation or polarisation than fix the real rot.