Lex McMenamin (they/them)
@lexmcmenamin.com
I have friends everywhere
movement building reporter @us.theguardian.com
writer/editor, member @transjournalists.org
linktr.ee/lexmcmenamin
tips: Lex_mcmenamin.68 on Signal
movement building reporter @us.theguardian.com
writer/editor, member @transjournalists.org
linktr.ee/lexmcmenamin
tips: Lex_mcmenamin.68 on Signal
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
~news~: this week I started at The Guardian US @us.theguardian.com as Movement Building reporter, continuing my coverage of protest, repression and resistance against war, LGBTQ rights, policing, labor, and more under Trump.
organizers, advocates—send me your stories! I’m on Signal lex.mcmenamin.68
organizers, advocates—send me your stories! I’m on Signal lex.mcmenamin.68
January 7, 2026 at 2:07 PM
~news~: this week I started at The Guardian US @us.theguardian.com as Movement Building reporter, continuing my coverage of protest, repression and resistance against war, LGBTQ rights, policing, labor, and more under Trump.
organizers, advocates—send me your stories! I’m on Signal lex.mcmenamin.68
organizers, advocates—send me your stories! I’m on Signal lex.mcmenamin.68
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
The FEDS drugged and shot Fred Hampton in bed.
Philly cops blew up a building in the 1980s and most people don't even know the MOVE bombing happened.
I think you're downplaying how normalized US death is.
Philly cops blew up a building in the 1980s and most people don't even know the MOVE bombing happened.
I think you're downplaying how normalized US death is.
If the DEA had killed 80 innocent Americans in the course of apprehending one drug dealer, there would be riots. But we are so ghoulishly indifferent to the lives and humanity of people abroad that it's barely even part of the conversation.
A reminder that the US killed 80 people in Venezuela, and it would be nice if the US media cared enough to think that the life of a grandmother in Caracas whose building is destroyed by a US bomb matters as much as the life of a person in the US.
January 6, 2026 at 7:26 PM
The FEDS drugged and shot Fred Hampton in bed.
Philly cops blew up a building in the 1980s and most people don't even know the MOVE bombing happened.
I think you're downplaying how normalized US death is.
Philly cops blew up a building in the 1980s and most people don't even know the MOVE bombing happened.
I think you're downplaying how normalized US death is.
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
Really? Wow i had no idea
There’s is no shortage of people to blame for this particular moment in American history
January 7, 2026 at 3:27 PM
Really? Wow i had no idea
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
AP: "Palestinian women across Gaza bake bread as their only source of income."
Conditions remain dire for civilians. They rely on donations to survive. No amount is too small.
Please give to my dear friend Tasneem so she can take care of her children. And to others. ❤️
chuffed.org/project/1587...
Conditions remain dire for civilians. They rely on donations to survive. No amount is too small.
Please give to my dear friend Tasneem so she can take care of her children. And to others. ❤️
chuffed.org/project/1587...
January 7, 2026 at 2:47 PM
AP: "Palestinian women across Gaza bake bread as their only source of income."
Conditions remain dire for civilians. They rely on donations to survive. No amount is too small.
Please give to my dear friend Tasneem so she can take care of her children. And to others. ❤️
chuffed.org/project/1587...
Conditions remain dire for civilians. They rely on donations to survive. No amount is too small.
Please give to my dear friend Tasneem so she can take care of her children. And to others. ❤️
chuffed.org/project/1587...
~news~: this week I started at The Guardian US @us.theguardian.com as Movement Building reporter, continuing my coverage of protest, repression and resistance against war, LGBTQ rights, policing, labor, and more under Trump.
organizers, advocates—send me your stories! I’m on Signal lex.mcmenamin.68
organizers, advocates—send me your stories! I’m on Signal lex.mcmenamin.68
January 7, 2026 at 2:07 PM
~news~: this week I started at The Guardian US @us.theguardian.com as Movement Building reporter, continuing my coverage of protest, repression and resistance against war, LGBTQ rights, policing, labor, and more under Trump.
organizers, advocates—send me your stories! I’m on Signal lex.mcmenamin.68
organizers, advocates—send me your stories! I’m on Signal lex.mcmenamin.68
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
Just how bad is Grok's nonconsensual porn problem? Musk's AI chatbot is generating another sexualized image of someone without their permission every single minute:
Grok Is Generating About 'One Nonconsensual Sexualized Image Per Minute'
Elon Musk’s chatbot Grok keeps churning out nonconsenual images of women and minors in bikinis and lingerie, outraging users and regulators
www.rollingstone.com
January 6, 2026 at 10:43 PM
Just how bad is Grok's nonconsensual porn problem? Musk's AI chatbot is generating another sexualized image of someone without their permission every single minute:
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
“...how did Black feminism become a longstanding historical tradition? In part, by shedding light on the ways Black women’s bodies have been routinely exploited to preserve white supremacy, and by providing a liberatory framework to build solidarity across communities.”
Black feminist organizers reflect on Trump’s second term & the future of their movements, reports Gracelynne West. In the face of rising fascism & political instability, activists say the liberatory framework offered by Black feminism is more crucial than ever.
Black feminist organizers reflect on Trump’s second term and the future of their movements
In the face of rising fascism and political instability, activists say the liberatory framework offered by Black feminism is more crucial than ever
prismreports.org
January 6, 2026 at 5:04 PM
“...how did Black feminism become a longstanding historical tradition? In part, by shedding light on the ways Black women’s bodies have been routinely exploited to preserve white supremacy, and by providing a liberatory framework to build solidarity across communities.”
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
this article is a good example of what i mean — literal kids work the orchards where the bulk of our oranges/lemons are grown, earning a piece-rate that can work out to less than minimum wage, and i genuinely don’t know what you or i can do about it even if it disgusts us. that’s shame
January 6, 2026 at 4:46 PM
this article is a good example of what i mean — literal kids work the orchards where the bulk of our oranges/lemons are grown, earning a piece-rate that can work out to less than minimum wage, and i genuinely don’t know what you or i can do about it even if it disgusts us. that’s shame
in February 2023, the nation's first openly nonbinary state legislator described the death of 16-year-old Oklahoman Nex Benedict, and the policy and rhetorical attacks on trans life, as part of a "transgenocide." Mauree Turner stepped down from public office the following year.
![On Feb. 19, State Rep. Mauree Turner, Oklahoma’s only nonbinary representative, held a moment of silence for Benedict on the state house floor. In a video of the moment, Quorum Call reporter Tyler Talley observed that “while many members did quiet, some [members] continued with their conversations.” Last spring, Rep. Turner was censured within the Oklahoma state legislature for allowing a protester at a trans rights protest in the House to shelter in their office.
“Every day I get more angry that we, politicians, no matter your party affiliation are aiding in a transgenocide,” Rep. Turner wrote in a statement posted to their Instagram. “I think about how after I read Nex’s obituary on the house floor, a Democrat came to me and said well we don’t know if they actually died because of the beating… But we absolutely do. Nex’ death is a direct result of a failed administration in a public school that didn’t value the life of a trans student. A failed administration that was empowered by a failed local government who has created open season, and more specifically a transgenocide in Oklahoma.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:tabiejtbwtcxuc2vxmk63uwj/bafkreiehj43jumzgg46hpw4lm35iyhfy3kr3bfm3gexaoloc4pay344s4m@jpeg)
January 6, 2026 at 4:44 PM
in February 2023, the nation's first openly nonbinary state legislator described the death of 16-year-old Oklahoman Nex Benedict, and the policy and rhetorical attacks on trans life, as part of a "transgenocide." Mauree Turner stepped down from public office the following year.
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
“These viruses are serious, dangerous, and life-threatening. We are seeing children who are seriously ill, families grieving devastating losses, and hospitals under capacity strain.”
www.cnn.com/2026/01/05/h...
www.cnn.com/2026/01/05/h...
Flu reaches highest levels in the US in 25 years | CNN
Flu continues to visit misery across the US, with all but four states showing high or very high levels of activity as a new virus strain called subclade K continues to spread.
www.cnn.com
January 6, 2026 at 12:12 PM
“These viruses are serious, dangerous, and life-threatening. We are seeing children who are seriously ill, families grieving devastating losses, and hospitals under capacity strain.”
www.cnn.com/2026/01/05/h...
www.cnn.com/2026/01/05/h...
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
Dr Janell Green Smith, CNM a respected midwife, scholar, and advocate has died from complications related to childbirth. She leaves a husband and newborn that need the support of her village.
If you are able, please consider joing me in donating.
www.gofundme.com/f/dr-janell-...
If you are able, please consider joing me in donating.
www.gofundme.com/f/dr-janell-...
Donate to Honoring Dr. Janell Green Smith, CNM, organized by Nichole Wardlaw
Dr Janell Green Smith, CNM a respected midwife, scholar, and advocate has died fr… Nichole Wardlaw needs your support for Honoring Dr. Janell Green Smith, CNM
www.gofundme.com
January 5, 2026 at 2:33 AM
Dr Janell Green Smith, CNM a respected midwife, scholar, and advocate has died from complications related to childbirth. She leaves a husband and newborn that need the support of her village.
If you are able, please consider joing me in donating.
www.gofundme.com/f/dr-janell-...
If you are able, please consider joing me in donating.
www.gofundme.com/f/dr-janell-...
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
once again encouraging you all to support billionaire-free, worker-run, independent newsrooms how and where you are able
The Washington Post editorial board comes out in favor of the Venezuela attack/operation to capture Maduro
January 5, 2026 at 1:40 PM
once again encouraging you all to support billionaire-free, worker-run, independent newsrooms how and where you are able
NYT and WaPo claimed they refused to publish the plan to abduct Maduro when they had it because they feared making soldiers vulnerable, but clearly it wasn’t exactly a secret
Donald Trump acknowledged that he informed oil companies about his plans to attack Venezuela and abduct its leader, despite not bothering to notify Congress.
Billionaire Trump Makes Jaw-Dropping Admission About Who He Tipped Off Before His Invasion
The president didn’t even tell Congress about the plans to attack Venezuela.
trib.al
January 5, 2026 at 1:43 PM
NYT and WaPo claimed they refused to publish the plan to abduct Maduro when they had it because they feared making soldiers vulnerable, but clearly it wasn’t exactly a secret
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
I've been tracking the spread of nonconsensual deepfakes on X for more than two years. Here's a timeline of how Musk's leadership allowed the practice to flourish from a once-underground market to a viral trend, with little recourse for victims or legal enforcement.
spitfirenews.com/p/grok-csam-...
spitfirenews.com/p/grok-csam-...
How Grok's sexual abuse hit a tipping point
Nonconsensual deepfakes on X are nothing new, but now it's built into the platform.
spitfirenews.com
January 2, 2026 at 7:47 PM
I've been tracking the spread of nonconsensual deepfakes on X for more than two years. Here's a timeline of how Musk's leadership allowed the practice to flourish from a once-underground market to a viral trend, with little recourse for victims or legal enforcement.
spitfirenews.com/p/grok-csam-...
spitfirenews.com/p/grok-csam-...
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
NEW: 4 months have passed since a Louisiana oil facility burst apart, spewing black sludge across homes, farms, and waterways as far as 50 miles away.
Yet the black goo still clings to walls, roofs, and soil of more than half of the majority-Black town’s properties
capitalbnews.org/roseland-lou...
Yet the black goo still clings to walls, roofs, and soil of more than half of the majority-Black town’s properties
capitalbnews.org/roseland-lou...
Roseland Fights for Relief After a Billion-Dollar Oil Disaster
Federal and state officials have sued the company behind the blast, but residents say the case won’t bring relief to their town.
capitalbnews.org
December 17, 2025 at 5:38 PM
NEW: 4 months have passed since a Louisiana oil facility burst apart, spewing black sludge across homes, farms, and waterways as far as 50 miles away.
Yet the black goo still clings to walls, roofs, and soil of more than half of the majority-Black town’s properties
capitalbnews.org/roseland-lou...
Yet the black goo still clings to walls, roofs, and soil of more than half of the majority-Black town’s properties
capitalbnews.org/roseland-lou...
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
Calls are growing to release Palestinian protester Leqaa Kordia, who has been detained by ICE for nearly ten months.
Free Leqaa Kordia: Palestinian Woman Who Joined Columbia U. Protest Has Been Detained Since March
Calls are growing to release Palestinian protester Leqaa Kordia, who was arrested at a 2024 Columbia University Gaza solidarity protest. The charges were dismissed, but when she went to her ICE check-...
www.democracynow.org
December 24, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Calls are growing to release Palestinian protester Leqaa Kordia, who has been detained by ICE for nearly ten months.
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
The judge also ordered that teachers have a right to misgender trans youth even when the parents know of and are supportive of their trans child. Just in case you thought this was actually about parental rights.
24 Dec 2025 @rikiwilchins.bsky.social -- Judge overturns CA school policy on outing trans kids, rules parents have right to know & teachers a right to tell them but no mention of child's rights. Case likely bound for Supremes. Weirdly CA law allows abortion w/o parental notification.
Federal judge rules California teachers are allowed to ‘out’ transgender students to parents
The ruling applies to all public schools in California and is a victory for two teachers who claimed that district policies violated their constitutional free speech and religious rights.
edsource.org
December 24, 2025 at 12:50 PM
The judge also ordered that teachers have a right to misgender trans youth even when the parents know of and are supportive of their trans child. Just in case you thought this was actually about parental rights.
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
“We’ve gotten through some crazy things. Pulse was not that long ago,” said Jenda Envy, a drag queen from Orlando. “It would have to take a lot. Ron DeSantis? Ooh girl, you’d have to show up to my house.”
my first @theguardian.com: I wrote about this year's "Drag Queen Christmas" tour stop in Pensacola, FL, which from the 1950s-70s hosted America's biggest LGBTQ event; the state AG tried to get the "demonic" show canceled.
I talked to Florida drag queens and supporters that refuse to go underground:
I talked to Florida drag queens and supporters that refuse to go underground:
A Florida official wants to cancel a sold-out Christmas drag show. The queens are performing anyway
A Drag Queen Christmas, featuring artists from RuPaul’s Drag Race, will stop in Pensacola despite the state attorney general’s efforts to stop it
www.theguardian.com
December 23, 2025 at 10:27 PM
“We’ve gotten through some crazy things. Pulse was not that long ago,” said Jenda Envy, a drag queen from Orlando. “It would have to take a lot. Ron DeSantis? Ooh girl, you’d have to show up to my house.”
my first @theguardian.com: I wrote about this year's "Drag Queen Christmas" tour stop in Pensacola, FL, which from the 1950s-70s hosted America's biggest LGBTQ event; the state AG tried to get the "demonic" show canceled.
I talked to Florida drag queens and supporters that refuse to go underground:
I talked to Florida drag queens and supporters that refuse to go underground:
A Florida official wants to cancel a sold-out Christmas drag show. The queens are performing anyway
A Drag Queen Christmas, featuring artists from RuPaul’s Drag Race, will stop in Pensacola despite the state attorney general’s efforts to stop it
www.theguardian.com
December 23, 2025 at 10:21 PM
my first @theguardian.com: I wrote about this year's "Drag Queen Christmas" tour stop in Pensacola, FL, which from the 1950s-70s hosted America's biggest LGBTQ event; the state AG tried to get the "demonic" show canceled.
I talked to Florida drag queens and supporters that refuse to go underground:
I talked to Florida drag queens and supporters that refuse to go underground:
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
we, in the United States, through Trump’s mass deportation scheme, have engaged in abductions and torture for the past year, none of it in secret, much of it attested to in legal documents. there is nothing to expose, only to face.
December 22, 2025 at 11:10 PM
we, in the United States, through Trump’s mass deportation scheme, have engaged in abductions and torture for the past year, none of it in secret, much of it attested to in legal documents. there is nothing to expose, only to face.
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
In this sense, she really is the second coming of Bill Buckley! First as tragedy, then as farce
Her whole thing is “No, it is the executives who are actually oppressed.”
Once you view any decision she makes through that lens, everything makes sense, including how she’s gotten to where she is.
Once you view any decision she makes through that lens, everything makes sense, including how she’s gotten to where she is.
In 2022, Bari Weiss ran this viral first-person piece by a top Levi’s executive. She claimed she was hounded out of the company because of her vocal stance on COVID restrictions.
There are no quotes from the company. Or her colleagues.
Not even a “no comment.”
www.thefp.com/p/yesterday-...
There are no quotes from the company. Or her colleagues.
Not even a “no comment.”
www.thefp.com/p/yesterday-...
December 22, 2025 at 10:09 PM
In this sense, she really is the second coming of Bill Buckley! First as tragedy, then as farce
so much of what's been "newly" released re: Epstein is just confirming past credible assertions made by his victims. I've been re-reading 2019 stories while reading the new coverage and so little has changed about what we know. meanwhile Andrew Tate walks free. people only care about the spectacle
December 22, 2025 at 10:16 PM
so much of what's been "newly" released re: Epstein is just confirming past credible assertions made by his victims. I've been re-reading 2019 stories while reading the new coverage and so little has changed about what we know. meanwhile Andrew Tate walks free. people only care about the spectacle
oh, thank god. no one has asked this before in the last 50 years
"Has feminism failed women brought to you by bank of america" is my MKULTRA sleeper agent activation phrase
December 19, 2025 at 9:45 PM
oh, thank god. no one has asked this before in the last 50 years
missed this the other day because been offline (preparing to share some 2026 ~updates~) —
thank you @evanurquhart.bsky.social and the team @assignedmedia.org for including my story on how LGBTQ and Native Oklahomans healed in the year after Nex Benedict's death in their best trans stories of 2025 ❤️
thank you @evanurquhart.bsky.social and the team @assignedmedia.org for including my story on how LGBTQ and Native Oklahomans healed in the year after Nex Benedict's death in their best trans stories of 2025 ❤️
![4. Nex Benedict Has Been Gone a Year. What Have We Learned? / Lex McMenamin
It can be difficult to know what to say in the face of widespread public apathy towards the harm being done to trans youth by the conservative ideological project.
That’s why Lex McMenamin’s story for Teen Vogue marking the one year anniversary of the death of Oklahoma trans teen Nex Benedict last February was so remarkable. The piece captures both what is being lost and the lack of urgency about recapturing it in a brilliant bit of reporting and analysis.
“Over this past year, there [was] this big reaction, and then it fizzled,” Adams tells Teen Vogue. “I was talking to my [Two Spirit, nonbinary] kid yesterday about what has happened over the past year, and what that feels like, what it looks like, and they said something like, 'It's weird that the world kept turning. It's weird that things just kept going after that.' People just tend to forget.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:tabiejtbwtcxuc2vxmk63uwj/bafkreia7gdhxaxg52zfwfjflauevlcbnigdmdvfpbd6ar367vbccyjephm@jpeg)
December 19, 2025 at 2:24 PM
missed this the other day because been offline (preparing to share some 2026 ~updates~) —
thank you @evanurquhart.bsky.social and the team @assignedmedia.org for including my story on how LGBTQ and Native Oklahomans healed in the year after Nex Benedict's death in their best trans stories of 2025 ❤️
thank you @evanurquhart.bsky.social and the team @assignedmedia.org for including my story on how LGBTQ and Native Oklahomans healed in the year after Nex Benedict's death in their best trans stories of 2025 ❤️
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
The House passed legislation today that would charge doctors with a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for providing transition-related care to minors.
Rep. Sarah McBride strongly condemned the legislation in rare personal remarks ahead of the vote.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
Rep. Sarah McBride strongly condemned the legislation in rare personal remarks ahead of the vote.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
House passes bill to criminalize transition care for minors
The House passed legislation today that would charge doctors with a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for providing transition-related medical care
www.nbcnews.com
December 18, 2025 at 12:09 AM
The House passed legislation today that would charge doctors with a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for providing transition-related care to minors.
Rep. Sarah McBride strongly condemned the legislation in rare personal remarks ahead of the vote.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
Rep. Sarah McBride strongly condemned the legislation in rare personal remarks ahead of the vote.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...