Gillian Branstetter
@gbbranstetter.bsky.social
Opinions are my own //
https://linktr.ee/gbbranstetter
https://linktr.ee/gbbranstetter
Pinned
On January 13, the Supreme Court is going to hear arguments over state laws targeting transgender girls in sports. This from @pablo.show and @motherjones.com is a great explainer on why the right-wing legal movement needs this issue to push trans people out of public life altogether
I really do think if she had waited like five years she (and we) would be in better shape to learn anything from this (assuming anything can be)
“I do not wish to be understood, which no one seems to understand.”
This is what’s missing from the book. It is a 300-page meandering navel-gaze. A Joan Didion impression from someone with nothing to say, vaguely offended that readers would *expect* her to have something to say.
This is what’s missing from the book. It is a 300-page meandering navel-gaze. A Joan Didion impression from someone with nothing to say, vaguely offended that readers would *expect* her to have something to say.
December 8, 2025 at 3:48 PM
I really do think if she had waited like five years she (and we) would be in better shape to learn anything from this (assuming anything can be)
Reposted by Gillian Branstetter
NEW — I put together a list of independent journalism subscriptions that would make great holiday gifts. From music to politics, astronomy to alcohol, tech to social justice, there’s something for [almost] everyone. Support indie media *and* surprise and delight your loved ones!
My guide:
My guide:
Giving the gift of independent journalism: a guide
The Handbasket has subscription suggestions for almost everyone on your list.
www.thehandbasket.co
December 6, 2025 at 3:38 PM
NEW — I put together a list of independent journalism subscriptions that would make great holiday gifts. From music to politics, astronomy to alcohol, tech to social justice, there’s something for [almost] everyone. Support indie media *and* surprise and delight your loved ones!
My guide:
My guide:
The four words every girl wants to hear
December 7, 2025 at 10:31 PM
The four words every girl wants to hear
Second verse same as the first
Freudian slip from Tom Cotton: "I think President Bush has every power under the Constitution to strike boats in international waters"
December 7, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Second verse same as the first
That's right
December 7, 2025 at 5:20 PM
That's right
Et tu Gloria
President Trump with this year’s Kennedy Center honorees which include Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, Gene Simmons, and Gloria Gaynor.
December 7, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Et tu Gloria
I keep returning to Astra Taylor's construction (the title of her fantastic book) "Democracy may not exist, but we'll miss it when it's gone." It's really the perfect way of explaining liberalism's false but necessary promises
December 7, 2025 at 1:41 PM
I keep returning to Astra Taylor's construction (the title of her fantastic book) "Democracy may not exist, but we'll miss it when it's gone." It's really the perfect way of explaining liberalism's false but necessary promises
Something that just occurred to me is for all Hegseth's machismo prostrating it's like a classically cowardly thing to kill defenseless men in war. Like by millennia-old standards of honor.
December 7, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Something that just occurred to me is for all Hegseth's machismo prostrating it's like a classically cowardly thing to kill defenseless men in war. Like by millennia-old standards of honor.
Gender
It may be fake, but it speaks to a deeper truth (I personally agree with what it was supposed to convey)
December 6, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Gender
"Officers were asking everyone what country they were from, and if they said a certain country, they were told to step out of line and that their oath ceremonies were canceled.”
Immigrants kept from Faneuil Hall citizenship ceremony as feds crackdown nationwide
Trump administration is pausing naturalizations for immigrants from 19 countries.
www.wgbh.org
December 6, 2025 at 8:52 PM
"Officers were asking everyone what country they were from, and if they said a certain country, they were told to step out of line and that their oath ceremonies were canceled.”
Reposted by Gillian Branstetter
160 years ago today, the 13th Amendment was ratified to end slavery, with one major exception: punishment for a crime.
The legacy of slavery lives on as people behind bars are still coerced into working for mere pennies or nothing at all.
It's long overdue to abolish slavery in all its forms.
The legacy of slavery lives on as people behind bars are still coerced into working for mere pennies or nothing at all.
It's long overdue to abolish slavery in all its forms.
December 6, 2025 at 4:40 PM
160 years ago today, the 13th Amendment was ratified to end slavery, with one major exception: punishment for a crime.
The legacy of slavery lives on as people behind bars are still coerced into working for mere pennies or nothing at all.
It's long overdue to abolish slavery in all its forms.
The legacy of slavery lives on as people behind bars are still coerced into working for mere pennies or nothing at all.
It's long overdue to abolish slavery in all its forms.
Lazy sick day 🤧👾🔫🏍️
December 6, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Lazy sick day 🤧👾🔫🏍️
Remember the character Diabate from last night's Pluribus? And how he delighted in having all these people treat him like a God? Even though it was obvious to everyone, including him, it was all bullshit?
December 5, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Remember the character Diabate from last night's Pluribus? And how he delighted in having all these people treat him like a God? Even though it was obvious to everyone, including him, it was all bullshit?
Reposted by Gillian Branstetter
glad that more people are looking back at HERO and how it was the real genesis of anti trans laws
IRW — a Pulitzer-winning nonprofit newsroom at American — and @thebarbedwire.com traced the history of anti-trans legislation. Houston conservatives realized homophobia didn’t fly anymore, weaponized girls’ safety, and parroted segregationist language. It worked.
thebarbedwire.com/2025/12/04/a...
thebarbedwire.com/2025/12/04/a...
Where Did Anti-Trans Laws Start? How a Forgotten Houston Ordinance Turned Into a Massive, Nationwide Culture War
In fighting for bathroom bills in Houston, Texas conservatives provided a blueprint for the rest of the country.
thebarbedwire.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:37 PM
glad that more people are looking back at HERO and how it was the real genesis of anti trans laws
Reposted by Gillian Branstetter
You can go home again, the General Temporal Theory asserts, so long as you understand that home is a place where you have never been.
December 5, 2025 at 12:40 PM
You can go home again, the General Temporal Theory asserts, so long as you understand that home is a place where you have never been.
The only reason not to follow the Prison Rape Elimination Act is if you do not want to eliminate rape
BREAKING: Trump administration plans to end prison rape protections for trans & intersex people, memo says. A DOJ memo says certain standards under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) do not align with Trump’s Jan. 20 anti-trans executive order, @byadamrhodes.bsky.social reports.
Trump administration plans to end prison rape protections for trans and intersex people
A Department of Justice memo says certain standards under the Prison Rape Elimination Act do not align with Trump’s executive order
prismreports.org
December 5, 2025 at 1:16 AM
The only reason not to follow the Prison Rape Elimination Act is if you do not want to eliminate rape
It's because he's so trans inclusive
December 5, 2025 at 12:15 AM
It's because he's so trans inclusive
I would bet the moon this thing is never getting built
Breaking news: President Trump replaced the architect he handpicked to design his $300 million White House ballroom.
It is unclear whether he was fired or resigned.
It is unclear whether he was fired or resigned.
Trump hires new White House ballroom architect
Although the two had clashed over the size of the project, the decisive factor was the small firm’s limited capacity to handle such an enormous project.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 5, 2025 at 12:05 AM
I would bet the moon this thing is never getting built
Reposted by Gillian Branstetter
For Chase Strangio, a transgender rights activist and a lawyer with the A.C.L.U., transitioning “felt like coming home,” he says on this episode of “Interesting Times.
“It felt like resolving a longstanding period of homesickness and then finally getting into your own bed.”
“It felt like resolving a longstanding period of homesickness and then finally getting into your own bed.”
Opinion | The Shifting Politics of Transgender Rights
The lawyer and activist Chase Strangio on cultural divisions and common ground.
nyti.ms
December 4, 2025 at 8:30 PM
For Chase Strangio, a transgender rights activist and a lawyer with the A.C.L.U., transitioning “felt like coming home,” he says on this episode of “Interesting Times.
“It felt like resolving a longstanding period of homesickness and then finally getting into your own bed.”
“It felt like resolving a longstanding period of homesickness and then finally getting into your own bed.”
"Taken together, these results suggest that optimizing persuasiveness may come at some cost to truthfulness" 🤔
NEW: AI chatbots used inaccurate information to change people’s political opinions, study finds www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
AI chatbots used inaccurate information to change people’s political opinions, study finds
A paper published in the journal Science found that chatbots become more persuasive when they share large amounts of information.
www.nbcnews.com
December 4, 2025 at 8:42 PM
"Taken together, these results suggest that optimizing persuasiveness may come at some cost to truthfulness" 🤔
Every excerpt I read of Nuzzi's book stresses me out because I too try and fail to invest every mundane detail of my life with meaning
December 4, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Every excerpt I read of Nuzzi's book stresses me out because I too try and fail to invest every mundane detail of my life with meaning
So there's this thing called Title VII
Chris Rufo—a prominent anti-DEI crusader—-says the “idea that private companies should be able to prioritize hiring married men w/ families is completely within the bounds of rzbl debate, &…it's absurd that individuals cannot hire whomever they want [ie, discriminate] in their own companies…” 1/
December 4, 2025 at 7:50 PM
So there's this thing called Title VII
Reposted by Gillian Branstetter
UPDATE: The Trump-Vance admin admits DOGE likely used AI to rewrite regulations at HUD.
This unreliable technology should not be used to change policies that affect the lives of millions without oversight. We will continue to hold the admin accountable in court.
This unreliable technology should not be used to change policies that affect the lives of millions without oversight. We will continue to hold the admin accountable in court.
December 4, 2025 at 6:13 PM
UPDATE: The Trump-Vance admin admits DOGE likely used AI to rewrite regulations at HUD.
This unreliable technology should not be used to change policies that affect the lives of millions without oversight. We will continue to hold the admin accountable in court.
This unreliable technology should not be used to change policies that affect the lives of millions without oversight. We will continue to hold the admin accountable in court.