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Amy Harmon

@amyharmon.bsky.social

2.8K followers 890 following 27 posts

New York Times reporter interested in gender, privilege, phylogenetic trees, biogeographic maps. Also interested in people who are interested in ants. Please send me story ideas. she/her https://www.nytimes.com/by/amy-harmon

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Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Nov 9

I wrote a little bit about what it was like for trans people to see transness deployed in Republican campaign ads as a symbol of absurdity and/or disgust, and the fear that more of that is coming. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/07/u...

Transgender Americans Voice New Anxiety About Trump Agenda

President-elect Donald J. Trump has promised to “keep men out of women’s sports” and withhold Medicare and Medicaid funding from hospitals that provide gender transition treatment to minors.

www.nytimes.com

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Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · 18d

Thanks for surfacing that piece, George! Katie Moser, the subject, was the first to send me the news of the study this week.

Reposted by Amy Harmon

George Stanley @georgestanley.bsky.social · 21d

Here’s a powerful Pulitzer Prize winning report on the cruelty of Huntington’s, by @amyharmon.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/h...

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Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Jun 28

On the 10th anniversary of Obergefell, we talked to some of the same-sex marriage pioneers about the post-Skrmetti moment for trans kids. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/28/u...

Marriage Equality and Trans Rights Are Two Sides of the Same Coin for Many

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Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Feb 19

The judge in a case challenging the Trump executive order to end gender-transition treatments for prisoners, and to house trans women inmates in men's prisons, has replaced his temporary restraining order with a preliminary injunction, signaling a more enduring pause. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/02...

Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Jan 29

thank you for flagging!

Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Jan 29

There have been three executive orders on trans issues since Jan 20. I collected some reactions here. Please send me more, if you are able to share. I'm especially looking for specific examples of how they are affecting everyday life.

Transgender Americans say Trump’s orders are even worse than feared.

www.nytimes.com

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Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Dec 6

purchased!

Reposted by Amy Harmon

Catrin Einhorn @catrineinhorn.bsky.social · Dec 5

Hopeful news

www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/c...

Researchers Release Hawaiian Crows Back Into the Wild (Gift Article)

Researchers are trying a new strategy to reintroduce Hawaiian crows, which have been extinct in the wild for two decades.

www.nytimes.com

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Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Dec 5

[...] cannot participate would satisfy intermediate scrutiny? Is that logically possible?
GENERAL PRELOGAR: Oh, yes, definitely.

Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Dec 5

KAVANAUGH: But looking ahead, do you think it's logically possible as a matter of constitutional decision-making to say that laws like the ones at -- the one at issue here do not satisfy intermediate scrutiny, but laws that restrict women's and girls' sports in a way that transgender athletes [...]

Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Dec 5

It also seemed important to Kavanaugh that trans athletes could potentially still be thrown under the bus if he agreed that trans medical bans were subject to heightened review, and Prelogar assured him of that:

Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Dec 5

I guess everyone's writing off Kavanaugh but I was struck that he followed up on the West Virginia-is-actually-like-Europe idea:
JUSTICE KAVANAUGH: Do you think that West Virginia law you mentioned is constitutional?
GENERAL PRELOGAR: I think it would likely satisfy heightened scrutiny.

Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Dec 5

By my count there were 18 challenges filed in federal and state courts across the 26 states that, since 2021, have passed gender-affirming care restrictions. Tried to sum up the state of play a bit here. Map by the great @fparis.bsky.social.

Which States Have Passed Bans on Treatment for Transgender Minors?

Transgender minors and their parents, guardians and doctors have challenged bans in 18 states, with mixed results.

www.nytimes.com

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Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Dec 4

Hi @kredburn.bsky.social - yes he was quite confident about that. Less so on sports and bathrooms (tho those justices were very interested in sports, were they not)? Putting an open access link to my full story here for your followers. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/u...

Supreme Court Decision Could Affect Other Trans Rights Cases (Gift Article)

The ruling could set a precedent for several challenges to state laws regarding sports participation, bathroom use and health care for adults.

www.nytimes.com

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Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Dec 4

The chief counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom told me he thought Skrmetti would dictate the outcome of two cases now on appeal from the Fourth Circuit re: Medicaid and state health coverage for gender transition treatments for adults.

Supreme Court Decision Could Affect Other Trans Rights Cases

The ruling could set a precedent for several challenges to state laws regarding sports participation, bathroom use and health care for adults.

www.nytimes.com

Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Dec 4

There will be lots of recaps of the Skrmetti arguments but for me reading the live-blog helps to capture the details. Plus you get my smart colleagues' smart commentary. I was just getting the hang of it when it finished up. www.nytimes.com/live/2024/12...

Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Transgender Care Case: Live Updates

Assessing the court’s ultimate direction was complicated by the silence of one justice in the conservative majority, Neil M. Gorsuch, the author of a key case on employment discrimination. The court’s...

www.nytimes.com

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Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Dec 3

I plan to walk several hundred miles over the holidays and listen to all of them on audible. jk but maybe several hundred steps/day will do it. TY @ferrisjabr.bsky.social for the curation and wtf why weren't they all on best-of-2024. bsky.app/profile/ferr...

Ferris Jabr @ferrisjabr.bsky.social · Nov 27

I was deeply disappointed by the lack of nature/science/climate/enviro on many major end-of-year book lists—so I decided to make my own!

Introducing: ✨🎁📚 The 2024 Holiday Gift Guide to Nature & Science Books ✨🎁📚

Please share: Let's make this go viral in time for Black Friday / holiday shopping!

A collage of book covers of new nature & science books. Featured here are Atlas Obscura Wild Life, Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party, Every Living Thing, Alien Earths, Becoming Earth, and Deep Water

A collage of book covers of new nature & science books. Featured here are Frostbite, The Inner Clock, How to Kill an Asteroid, The Great River, The Last Fire Season, and Hoof Beats

A collage of book covers of new nature & science books. Featured here are The Serviceberry, Not the End of the World, Nature's Ghosts, Meet the Neighbors, The Light Eaters, and Our Moon

A collage of book covers of new nature & science books. Featured here are Turning to Stone, The Weight of Nature, What If We Get It Right?, Waves in An Impossible Sea, The Tree Collectors, and Why We Remember

Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Dec 1

I haven't read thru all the other state laws on bathroom use, but a provision in the one Ohio's governor signed last week struck me as less-familiar: it explicitly prohibits schools and colleges from providing gender-neutral bathrooms that are multi-occupancy. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/27/u...

Ohio Governor Signs Bathroom Restrictions for Transgender Students

The state is one of at least a dozen states to set restrictions on bathrooms for transgender students at public schools.

www.nytimes.com

Amy Harmon @amyharmon.bsky.social · Nov 23

In case you wondered why Bluesky is good, I put in my profile that I am interested in people who are interested in ants and then I was followed by @dailyant.bsky.social aka, The Daily Ant.

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