Riki Wilchins
@rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Author of: "When Texas Came for Our Kids: How evangelical extremists launched a war on transgender teens" & "BAD INK: How the NYTimes sold out transgender teens."
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Riki Wilchins
@rikiwilchins.bsky.social
· Feb 13
Take away my pronouns, my passport, my prison cell, my hormones, & my bathroom, I'm still trans. I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere. And tomorrow there will be more like me. I'm not scared, I'm fighting mad. You can't have my life. It's mine. Because we are #WhatTheFutureOfGenderLooksLike
11 Nov 2025 -- California Supreme Court rules that LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination law protects elderly trans residents in long-term care from being misgendered and mispronouned after a lower CA court held that employees could do so bec. of their 1st Amendment rights @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
California's Supreme Court upholds LGBTQ+ protections for elders in long-term care - LGBTQ Nation
It upheld a state law protecting LGBTQ+ elders' rights to live free from harassment.
www.lgbtqnation.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:05 PM
11 Nov 2025 -- California Supreme Court rules that LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination law protects elderly trans residents in long-term care from being misgendered and mispronouned after a lower CA court held that employees could do so bec. of their 1st Amendment rights @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
11 Nov 2025 -- A group of transgender servicemembers who have served up to 18 years in the Air Force are suing after being promised pensions when the Trump ordered them separated from the military which there later withdrawn. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Transgender troops who served 15 to 18 years sue Air Force over revoked pensions
The Air Force stripped away retirement benefits from transgender airmen with 15 to 18 years of service after they were kicked out of the military.
www.usatoday.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:01 PM
11 Nov 2025 -- A group of transgender servicemembers who have served up to 18 years in the Air Force are suing after being promised pensions when the Trump ordered them separated from the military which there later withdrawn. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Trust Democrats to run the table on election night Monday up and down the ballot and give us one week of joy, and takeaway from that that they should roll-over and cave to Reps just 1 week later. Is there another party like this anywhere?
November 11, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Trust Democrats to run the table on election night Monday up and down the ballot and give us one week of joy, and takeaway from that that they should roll-over and cave to Reps just 1 week later. Is there another party like this anywhere?
The only thing Dems seem to have gotten for 40-day shutdown was agreement to vote on extending Obamacare subsidies. This will be uncomfortable for Reps, but nothing more. That's about all we got. These guys have no reason to be in DC anymore IMHO. They are a hood-ornament on the Rep party.
November 11, 2025 at 10:49 AM
The only thing Dems seem to have gotten for 40-day shutdown was agreement to vote on extending Obamacare subsidies. This will be uncomfortable for Reps, but nothing more. That's about all we got. These guys have no reason to be in DC anymore IMHO. They are a hood-ornament on the Rep party.
10 Nov 2025 -- U.S. Court of Appeals in 10-7 en banc decision finds OH school district's policy barring students from misgendering transgender students and requiring correct rather than “biological pronouns” likely violates 1st Amendment. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner)
BREAKING: A federal appeals court on Thursday issued a decision referring to “biological pronouns” and holding that an Ohio school district's policy barring students from misgendering transgender stud...
substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:17 PM
10 Nov 2025 -- U.S. Court of Appeals in 10-7 en banc decision finds OH school district's policy barring students from misgendering transgender students and requiring correct rather than “biological pronouns” likely violates 1st Amendment. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
10 Nov 2025 -- Supreme Court turns down right-wing appeal to re-visit gay marriage decision Obergefell v Hodges, and potentially carve out exceptions for (mainly Christian conservative) anti-marriage officials. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to landmark gay marriage ruling
The announcement indicates there is not an appetite among the high court’s conservative majority to revisit one of the court’s most significant decisions in recent years.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:59 PM
10 Nov 2025 -- Supreme Court turns down right-wing appeal to re-visit gay marriage decision Obergefell v Hodges, and potentially carve out exceptions for (mainly Christian conservative) anti-marriage officials. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Don't you just _love_ how easy it is to imposes these policies when only cisgender people make all the rules???
November 10, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Don't you just _love_ how easy it is to imposes these policies when only cisgender people make all the rules???
10 Nov 2025 -- IOC reportedly close to agreeing to issuing a blanket ban on trans women from all women's sports events. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
IOC moves closer to ban on transgender women
The International Olympic Committee moves a step closer to introducing a blanket ban on transgender women from female categories across all sports.
www.bbc.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:10 PM
10 Nov 2025 -- IOC reportedly close to agreeing to issuing a blanket ban on trans women from all women's sports events. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
**Breaking News Headline**
Democrats get rolled...again. Shocking!
Their reason ? Reps wouldn't budge so "it wasn't working." So they gave away SNAP benefits and Obamacare subsidies for millions and got NOTHING for it. And they did it when the public was blaming Reps more.
So over them.
Democrats get rolled...again. Shocking!
Their reason ? Reps wouldn't budge so "it wasn't working." So they gave away SNAP benefits and Obamacare subsidies for millions and got NOTHING for it. And they did it when the public was blaming Reps more.
So over them.
Democrats fold on biggest government shutdown demand
"It's been six weeks," one senator said.
www.axios.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:34 AM
**Breaking News Headline**
Democrats get rolled...again. Shocking!
Their reason ? Reps wouldn't budge so "it wasn't working." So they gave away SNAP benefits and Obamacare subsidies for millions and got NOTHING for it. And they did it when the public was blaming Reps more.
So over them.
Democrats get rolled...again. Shocking!
Their reason ? Reps wouldn't budge so "it wasn't working." So they gave away SNAP benefits and Obamacare subsidies for millions and got NOTHING for it. And they did it when the public was blaming Reps more.
So over them.
9 Nov 2025 --Heartbreaking op-ed in Teen Vogue by Katelyn Burns --"Politicizing Transgender Athletes Is Dangerous. Lia Smith Deserved Better" @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Politicizing Transgender Athletes Is Dangerous. Lia Smith Deserved Better.
"Let her passing be an inflection point for how you think about trans rights and trans people more generally."
www.teenvogue.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:57 PM
9 Nov 2025 --Heartbreaking op-ed in Teen Vogue by Katelyn Burns --"Politicizing Transgender Athletes Is Dangerous. Lia Smith Deserved Better" @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
I'm still gobsmacked by the Gilded Age obscenity of offering one man $1t while 42m families with hungry children are told to get through Thanksgiving on half food rations only because our govt wasn't allowed to give them nothing. What happened to us?
November 8, 2025 at 5:30 PM
I'm still gobsmacked by the Gilded Age obscenity of offering one man $1t while 42m families with hungry children are told to get through Thanksgiving on half food rations only because our govt wasn't allowed to give them nothing. What happened to us?
What business figure has cost his company $55m in sales, dismantled govt depts providing food & aid to 14m ppl, has the lowest personal approval among 14 top newsmakers, is liked by just 2-in-10 women AND was rewarded with a $1t contract from his company? @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Elon Musk makes himself far-right fixture after White House departure
The Tesla CEO once hinted he was done with politics – but he’s been leaning further into the international far right
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:11 PM
What business figure has cost his company $55m in sales, dismantled govt depts providing food & aid to 14m ppl, has the lowest personal approval among 14 top newsmakers, is liked by just 2-in-10 women AND was rewarded with a $1t contract from his company? @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Someone is sure to write me and say if Gessen wrote the truth about the NYT, they'd get fired, of course. But how WEIRD is it for a Russian to write so courageously about the oppression there, but be unable to mention the oppression of their US editors who won't let them speak the truth?
November 8, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Someone is sure to write me and say if Gessen wrote the truth about the NYT, they'd get fired, of course. But how WEIRD is it for a Russian to write so courageously about the oppression there, but be unable to mention the oppression of their US editors who won't let them speak the truth?
I love M Gessen, but it drives me nuts to see them throw the NYT a tip "As the Times editorial board has pointed out, Trump has undertaken a campaign to force trans people out of public life" w/o ever mentioning the NYT's crusade to eliminate trans kids from public life.
November 8, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I love M Gessen, but it drives me nuts to see them throw the NYT a tip "As the Times editorial board has pointed out, Trump has undertaken a campaign to force trans people out of public life" w/o ever mentioning the NYT's crusade to eliminate trans kids from public life.
Looking at the UK poll, it's hard to understand why both sides of the aisle (and the UK Supreme Court) would rush to enact anti-trans policies backed by a minority except that: a) it was a very loud minority with broad media support & b) there was little or no political cost for appeasing it.
November 8, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Looking at the UK poll, it's hard to understand why both sides of the aisle (and the UK Supreme Court) would rush to enact anti-trans policies backed by a minority except that: a) it was a very loud minority with broad media support & b) there was little or no political cost for appeasing it.
Thankgiving is around the corner, an the Supremes just ruled that 42m American families who rely on SNAP and their children can go hungry altho we have unlimited funds to spend on ICE raids in peaceful cites and for sending warships to Venezuela.
November 8, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Thankgiving is around the corner, an the Supremes just ruled that 42m American families who rely on SNAP and their children can go hungry altho we have unlimited funds to spend on ICE raids in peaceful cites and for sending warships to Venezuela.
8 Nov 2025 -- New UK poll finds 64% agree that culture wars are a serious problem up from 44% in 2020. Belief that trans rights have gone ‘too far’ doubled 17% to 39% -- so despite draconian UK govt anti-trans measures, still just over a third of the public. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Culture wars have left UK more divided than ever, and right-wing extremism is rising
Britain feels more divided than ever, findings which come as new anti-terrorism data shows record referrals for extreme right-wing ideology.
www.thepinknews.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:50 AM
8 Nov 2025 -- New UK poll finds 64% agree that culture wars are a serious problem up from 44% in 2020. Belief that trans rights have gone ‘too far’ doubled 17% to 39% -- so despite draconian UK govt anti-trans measures, still just over a third of the public. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
8 Nov 2025 - Good Advocate piece on how GOP failure in VA Monday. Money quote from State Sen. Danica Roem, 1st trans person in VA legislature: “They thought running nonstop ads was going to be their ticket to ride [but] Loudoun County told them ‘Get that out of here.’" @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Spectacular Republican losses prove MAGA's transphobic playbook doesn't win elections
Across the country, voters chose inclusion, empathy, and competence over cruelty and division.
www.advocate.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:44 AM
8 Nov 2025 - Good Advocate piece on how GOP failure in VA Monday. Money quote from State Sen. Danica Roem, 1st trans person in VA legislature: “They thought running nonstop ads was going to be their ticket to ride [but] Loudoun County told them ‘Get that out of here.’" @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
8 Nov 2025 -- Good explainer from TIME. Money quote from Chase Strangio: "What these Executive Orders do is open the door to sex-based policing that cannot be enforced without subjecting everyone to some sort of scrutiny & invasive process that will harm us all.” @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
SCOTUS Gives Trump Anti-Trans Passport Victory: What to Know
The court is allowing the Administration to enforce its more restrictive policy on gender ID markers pending litigation.
time.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:39 AM
8 Nov 2025 -- Good explainer from TIME. Money quote from Chase Strangio: "What these Executive Orders do is open the door to sex-based policing that cannot be enforced without subjecting everyone to some sort of scrutiny & invasive process that will harm us all.” @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
8 Nov 2025 -- Masha Gessen in the (uck) NYTimes with op-ed titled, "The Ruling About Passports Isn’t About ID. It’s About Social Control." @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:36 AM
8 Nov 2025 -- Masha Gessen in the (uck) NYTimes with op-ed titled, "The Ruling About Passports Isn’t About ID. It’s About Social Control." @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Today's Pop Quiz: what do ALL these images from the
US Labor Department's social medica campaign have in common?
(Answer will be posted next week!)
US Labor Department's social medica campaign have in common?
(Answer will be posted next week!)
November 7, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Today's Pop Quiz: what do ALL these images from the
US Labor Department's social medica campaign have in common?
(Answer will be posted next week!)
US Labor Department's social medica campaign have in common?
(Answer will be posted next week!)
7 Nov 2025 -- Supreme Court today discussing (in private) taking up the appeal by Kim Davis, the former KY clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Her case could lead to protections for other anti-gay Christians & challenge the legality of gay marriage. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Supreme court considering taking up case challenging legality of same-sex marriage
Court could revisit issue in case brought by county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:36 PM
7 Nov 2025 -- Supreme Court today discussing (in private) taking up the appeal by Kim Davis, the former KY clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Her case could lead to protections for other anti-gay Christians & challenge the legality of gay marriage. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Mondays voting results seem to have stiffened Dem Senators spines -- FAA flight cancellations notwithstanding-- and they are digging on Republican Obamacare demands for a deal. Keep it up!
thehill.com/newsletters/...
thehill.com/newsletters/...
thehill.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Mondays voting results seem to have stiffened Dem Senators spines -- FAA flight cancellations notwithstanding-- and they are digging on Republican Obamacare demands for a deal. Keep it up!
thehill.com/newsletters/...
thehill.com/newsletters/...
7 Nov 2025 -- When alt-masc trans man Lucien Bates used Chicago arcade women’s room security showed up, harassed him, forced him out & threated him w/ arrest. Bates says, “I typically feel safer in the women’s restroom, which I guess kind of bit me in the butt this time.” @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Trans man kicked out of women's bathroom at arcade: It was "dehumanizing" - LGBTQ Nation
“I typically feel safer in the women’s restroom, which I guess kind of bit me in the butt this time,” he said.
www.lgbtqnation.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:01 PM
7 Nov 2025 -- When alt-masc trans man Lucien Bates used Chicago arcade women’s room security showed up, harassed him, forced him out & threated him w/ arrest. Bates says, “I typically feel safer in the women’s restroom, which I guess kind of bit me in the butt this time.” @rikiwilchins.bsky.social