🎃 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 🎃
chrisgeidner.bsky.social
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."
daveweigel.bsky.social
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)
laurelpowell.net
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 🎃
mcsweeneys.net
"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
laurelpowell.net
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
laurelpowell.net
all I'm saying is you deserve better coffee. we all do. access to ethically sourced, well-made coffee should be a human right.
laurelpowell.net
real classy paper they're running
laurelpowell.net
Keurig coffee is fucking offensive and should be banned by statute
laurelpowell.net
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 🎃
sandyernestallen.bsky.social
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.
laurelpowell.net
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
laurelpowell.net
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.
laurelpowell.net
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
laurelpowell.net
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.
laurelpowell.net
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
washingtonpost.com
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
Reposted by 🎃 Laurel S. Pumpkins 🎃
gtconway.bsky.social
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 )
laurelpowell.net
there's gotta be a migration to quibi in there somewhere
Reposted by 🎃 Laurel S. Pumpkins 🎃
gbbranstetter.bsky.social
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
jamellebouie.net
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.
maxtani.bsky.social
David Ellison’s note to staff on Paramount’s acquisition of the Free Press
Reposted by 🎃 Laurel S. Pumpkins 🎃
jamellebouie.net
anyway, looking forward to bari weiss restoring “trust in news” where “trust in news” means pumping out propaganda for your oligarch boss
laurelpowell.net
ideological capture strikes again
laurelpowell.net
Headline malpractice. This glossy, fuzzy uwu bullshit take on a practice internationally known as unethical at best and torture at worst is another dangerous step towards laundering ideas we dismissed as way, way out of bounds just a few years ago.
Christian therapist seeks right to counsel gay teens to change feelings
The Supreme Court will consider whether therapists’ free speech rights outweigh a law that bans therapy that seeks to change sexual identity. Almost 30 states have such bans.
www.washingtonpost.com
laurelpowell.net
long-serving senator vs notorious attorney general with national name recognition vs guy
laurelpowell.net
looks like we all get to test the limits of what a trump endorsement can get you
laurelpowell.net
is there anything more satisfying than getting your table saw dialed in juuuuuuust right

no