🎃 Laurel S. Pumpkins 🎃
@laurelpowell.net
2.3K followers 640 following 1.4K posts
Bible college dropout. Always fighting for trans people to get a fair shake. Director of Communications @hrc.org. 🏳️‍⚧️ Political opinions are mine but probably should be yours too
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Reposted by 🎃 Laurel S. Pumpkins 🎃
NEW: After attacks from Libs Of Tik Tok and Houston-area right-wing activists (including a "trans widow"), a water park Typhoon Texas, dropped local LGBTQ group Katy Pride's event at the last second. I spoke with organizers, who said they're not deterred: www.chron.com/culture/arti...
'Not going anywhere': Houston Pride group defiant after waterpark cancels event
Organizers say they're planning to "come back even stronger and bolder."
www.chron.com
Reposted by 🎃 Laurel S. Pumpkins 🎃
While Trump and Republican politicians try to gerrymander away our power, Californians have the opportunity to ensure that the government remains accountable to the PEOPLE

We’re urging Californians to fight back and vote YES on Prop 50. Take action from anywhere: mobilize.us/hrc
Blue background with text reading "Vote YES on Prop 50 in California," featuring a stylized blue map of California with rainbow colors at the top. HRC logo appears above text.
if you don't like him just do something else
every minute you spend thinking about or being mad at will stancil is a minute you could be spending on literally anything else, including fighting back against the people who are actually sending our country down the toilet
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Response from Sam Lau, Spokesperson, @hrc.org, the nation's largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization:

"Yes, Lt. Gov. Earle-Sears, that is indeed discrimination. Vote for Abigail Spanberger."
AS: My opponent has also previously said that she thinks it’s okay for someone to be fired from their job for being gay. That is discrimination.

WES: That’s not discrimination! (2/2)
National Coming Out Day is this weekend. These days, it seems like it takes more courage than ever to come out - but coming out has been courageous far longer than it was ever mundane. I shared some thoughts on the day with @washblade.bsky.social:
Coming out is more than a concept, it’s a necessity
If it’s safe for you, be bold in defiance of those who want to silence us
www.washingtonblade.com
Reposted by 🎃 Laurel S. Pumpkins 🎃
"WE MAKE NEWS LOUDER. IF STORY GOOD ON ONE SIDE, SHOW OTHER SIDE TOO. OTHER SIDE WRONG? OTHER SIDE WANT BLEACH IN VEINS? ANIMAL RUN BOTH. REPORT BOTH SIDES. EVEN WHEN ONE SIDE THINK HEAD MEDS MAKE QUIET BABIES."
“AAAGGGHHH!!!” A Memo from Animal, Your New Editor-in-Chief
“[Editor-in-chief of CBS News] Bari Weiss told network staffers in a morning editorial call that she wants to ‘win’ before delivering a rallying cr...
buff.ly
Did you know my team puts out a newsletter? We pop into your inbox 3x/week with what you need to know & what we're working on. mailchi.mp/hrc/amread
all I'm saying is you deserve better coffee. we all do. access to ethically sourced, well-made coffee should be a human right.
real classy paper they're running
Keurig coffee is fucking offensive and should be banned by statute
idk really who Hasan is aside from a few mentions here and there. but I can't think of anything, from an optics perspective, that makes people go directly to hating you faster than fucking with animals

hope he has a good crisis comms guy
Reposted by 🎃 Laurel S. Pumpkins 🎃
I'm once again asking anyone else who's trans/gnc affiliated with Brown University who wants to speak on record to please reach out ...

More info here:

www.sandyernestallen.com/announcements

reposts/sharing this with anyone you know is greatly appreciated, thanks!

#brownuniversity
STORY SOURCE CALL: I’m looking for Brown University-affiliated trans/gnc people (especially trans/gnc alumni, students, staff) and any others who feel affected by the university’s transphobic actions and are interested in speaking with me for a potential upcoming reported piece. (If you’ve not read them already, check out my Boston Globe op-ed blasting the university’s administration, as well as my Assigned Media essay about my time as a closeted trans student back when.) For those who want to share their stories and are concerned for whatever reason, you can request anonymity if you like in your initial email. Please write me via my contact form.
Our t-shirt featuring Keith Haring's famous illustration of a person kicking open the closet door is available again for a limited time for National Coming Out Day, which is this coming Saturday the 11th.

Pick it up, it's a good shirt & supports our work:
Keith Haring Coming Out T-Shirt | HRC
Unisex fit Made in the USA 100% fine jersey cotton
shop.hrc.org
Exactly. Just because it's minor for you or for "most people" does not mean that it can't be a debilitating illness for others. We learned thru the 20th century that a system that stonewalls vets trying to get benefits does a grave disservice.
My father suffered a service-related injury in the Navy that kept him out of work for years and years. I can almost hear him spitting angry about this from his grave
didn't we just spend decades recognizing that the things we exposed young men and women to in Iraq & Afghanistan (like burn pits) caused all kinds of hell later in life? There's a good reason the military disability system assumes good intent from vets.
As a person who suddenly developed eczema bad enough to threaten my own job, career, and relationship, and who would not be able to afford to pay out of pocket for meds that would cost thousands each month... it's really low to try and call it "minor" in vets

its causes aren't well understood
Exclusive: Military veterans are swamping the U.S. government with dubious disability claims that are exploiting the country’s sacred commitment to compensate those harmed in the line of duty, according to a Post investigation.
How some veterans exploit $193 billion VA program, due to lax controls
The Department of Veterans Affairs spends billions on dubious and even fraudulent disabilities benefits. Meanwhile, some deserving cases wait.
wapo.st
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Chicago priest Father Michael Pfleger: "The state of emergency is in AMERICA, not Chicago. It's birthed from this president and his admin's reign of terror."

( ht: @mikenellis.bsky.social )
there's gotta be a migration to quibi in there somewhere
Reposted by 🎃 Laurel S. Pumpkins 🎃
I'm also reminded of the "whistleblower" report about abuses at a Missouri gender clinic, the author of which is now just a full-time anti-transgender lobbyist, that fell apart the moment any reporter tried to verify it
perhaps the biggest story TFPever ran was a catastrophically shoddy argument that George Floyd ackshully died of an overdose. When confronted with irrefutable evidence that the piece was simply wrong, Weiss didn’t take it down, she asked her critic, @radleybalko.bsky.social, to come on a podcast.
David Ellison’s note to staff on Paramount’s acquisition of the Free Press
Reposted by 🎃 Laurel S. Pumpkins 🎃
anyway, looking forward to bari weiss restoring “trust in news” where “trust in news” means pumping out propaganda for your oligarch boss
ideological capture strikes again