Lex McMenamin (they/them)
@lexmcmenamin.com
I have friends everywhere
writer/editor, member @transjournalists.org
lexmcmenamin.com
linktr.ee/lexmcmenamin
writer/editor, member @transjournalists.org
lexmcmenamin.com
linktr.ee/lexmcmenamin
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
Dr Janell Green Smith, CNM a respected midwife, scholar, and advocate has died from complications related to childbirth. She leaves a husband and newborn that need the support of her village.
If you are able, please consider joing me in donating.
www.gofundme.com/f/dr-janell-...
If you are able, please consider joing me in donating.
www.gofundme.com/f/dr-janell-...
Donate to Honoring Dr. Janell Green Smith, CNM, organized by Nichole Wardlaw
Dr Janell Green Smith, CNM a respected midwife, scholar, and advocate has died fr… Nichole Wardlaw needs your support for Honoring Dr. Janell Green Smith, CNM
www.gofundme.com
January 5, 2026 at 2:33 AM
Dr Janell Green Smith, CNM a respected midwife, scholar, and advocate has died from complications related to childbirth. She leaves a husband and newborn that need the support of her village.
If you are able, please consider joing me in donating.
www.gofundme.com/f/dr-janell-...
If you are able, please consider joing me in donating.
www.gofundme.com/f/dr-janell-...
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
once again encouraging you all to support billionaire-free, worker-run, independent newsrooms how and where you are able
The Washington Post editorial board comes out in favor of the Venezuela attack/operation to capture Maduro
January 5, 2026 at 1:40 PM
once again encouraging you all to support billionaire-free, worker-run, independent newsrooms how and where you are able
NYT and WaPo claimed they refused to publish the plan to abduct Maduro when they had it because they feared making soldiers vulnerable, but clearly it wasn’t exactly a secret
Donald Trump acknowledged that he informed oil companies about his plans to attack Venezuela and abduct its leader, despite not bothering to notify Congress.
Billionaire Trump Makes Jaw-Dropping Admission About Who He Tipped Off Before His Invasion
The president didn’t even tell Congress about the plans to attack Venezuela.
trib.al
January 5, 2026 at 1:43 PM
NYT and WaPo claimed they refused to publish the plan to abduct Maduro when they had it because they feared making soldiers vulnerable, but clearly it wasn’t exactly a secret
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
I've been tracking the spread of nonconsensual deepfakes on X for more than two years. Here's a timeline of how Musk's leadership allowed the practice to flourish from a once-underground market to a viral trend, with little recourse for victims or legal enforcement.
spitfirenews.com/p/grok-csam-...
spitfirenews.com/p/grok-csam-...
How Grok's sexual abuse hit a tipping point
Nonconsensual deepfakes on X are nothing new, but now it's built into the platform.
spitfirenews.com
January 2, 2026 at 7:47 PM
I've been tracking the spread of nonconsensual deepfakes on X for more than two years. Here's a timeline of how Musk's leadership allowed the practice to flourish from a once-underground market to a viral trend, with little recourse for victims or legal enforcement.
spitfirenews.com/p/grok-csam-...
spitfirenews.com/p/grok-csam-...
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
NEW: 4 months have passed since a Louisiana oil facility burst apart, spewing black sludge across homes, farms, and waterways as far as 50 miles away.
Yet the black goo still clings to walls, roofs, and soil of more than half of the majority-Black town’s properties
capitalbnews.org/roseland-lou...
Yet the black goo still clings to walls, roofs, and soil of more than half of the majority-Black town’s properties
capitalbnews.org/roseland-lou...
Roseland Fights for Relief After a Billion-Dollar Oil Disaster
Federal and state officials have sued the company behind the blast, but residents say the case won’t bring relief to their town.
capitalbnews.org
December 17, 2025 at 5:38 PM
NEW: 4 months have passed since a Louisiana oil facility burst apart, spewing black sludge across homes, farms, and waterways as far as 50 miles away.
Yet the black goo still clings to walls, roofs, and soil of more than half of the majority-Black town’s properties
capitalbnews.org/roseland-lou...
Yet the black goo still clings to walls, roofs, and soil of more than half of the majority-Black town’s properties
capitalbnews.org/roseland-lou...
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
Calls are growing to release Palestinian protester Leqaa Kordia, who has been detained by ICE for nearly ten months.
Free Leqaa Kordia: Palestinian Woman Who Joined Columbia U. Protest Has Been Detained Since March
Calls are growing to release Palestinian protester Leqaa Kordia, who was arrested at a 2024 Columbia University Gaza solidarity protest. The charges were dismissed, but when she went to her ICE check-...
www.democracynow.org
December 24, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Calls are growing to release Palestinian protester Leqaa Kordia, who has been detained by ICE for nearly ten months.
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
The judge also ordered that teachers have a right to misgender trans youth even when the parents know of and are supportive of their trans child. Just in case you thought this was actually about parental rights.
24 Dec 2025 @rikiwilchins.bsky.social -- Judge overturns CA school policy on outing trans kids, rules parents have right to know & teachers a right to tell them but no mention of child's rights. Case likely bound for Supremes. Weirdly CA law allows abortion w/o parental notification.
Federal judge rules California teachers are allowed to ‘out’ transgender students to parents
The ruling applies to all public schools in California and is a victory for two teachers who claimed that district policies violated their constitutional free speech and religious rights.
edsource.org
December 24, 2025 at 12:50 PM
The judge also ordered that teachers have a right to misgender trans youth even when the parents know of and are supportive of their trans child. Just in case you thought this was actually about parental rights.
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
“We’ve gotten through some crazy things. Pulse was not that long ago,” said Jenda Envy, a drag queen from Orlando. “It would have to take a lot. Ron DeSantis? Ooh girl, you’d have to show up to my house.”
my first @theguardian.com: I wrote about this year's "Drag Queen Christmas" tour stop in Pensacola, FL, which from the 1950s-70s hosted America's biggest LGBTQ event; the state AG tried to get the "demonic" show canceled.
I talked to Florida drag queens and supporters that refuse to go underground:
I talked to Florida drag queens and supporters that refuse to go underground:
A Florida official wants to cancel a sold-out Christmas drag show. The queens are performing anyway
A Drag Queen Christmas, featuring artists from RuPaul’s Drag Race, will stop in Pensacola despite the state attorney general’s efforts to stop it
www.theguardian.com
December 23, 2025 at 10:27 PM
“We’ve gotten through some crazy things. Pulse was not that long ago,” said Jenda Envy, a drag queen from Orlando. “It would have to take a lot. Ron DeSantis? Ooh girl, you’d have to show up to my house.”
my first @theguardian.com: I wrote about this year's "Drag Queen Christmas" tour stop in Pensacola, FL, which from the 1950s-70s hosted America's biggest LGBTQ event; the state AG tried to get the "demonic" show canceled.
I talked to Florida drag queens and supporters that refuse to go underground:
I talked to Florida drag queens and supporters that refuse to go underground:
A Florida official wants to cancel a sold-out Christmas drag show. The queens are performing anyway
A Drag Queen Christmas, featuring artists from RuPaul’s Drag Race, will stop in Pensacola despite the state attorney general’s efforts to stop it
www.theguardian.com
December 23, 2025 at 10:21 PM
my first @theguardian.com: I wrote about this year's "Drag Queen Christmas" tour stop in Pensacola, FL, which from the 1950s-70s hosted America's biggest LGBTQ event; the state AG tried to get the "demonic" show canceled.
I talked to Florida drag queens and supporters that refuse to go underground:
I talked to Florida drag queens and supporters that refuse to go underground:
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
we, in the United States, through Trump’s mass deportation scheme, have engaged in abductions and torture for the past year, none of it in secret, much of it attested to in legal documents. there is nothing to expose, only to face.
December 22, 2025 at 11:10 PM
we, in the United States, through Trump’s mass deportation scheme, have engaged in abductions and torture for the past year, none of it in secret, much of it attested to in legal documents. there is nothing to expose, only to face.
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
In this sense, she really is the second coming of Bill Buckley! First as tragedy, then as farce
Her whole thing is “No, it is the executives who are actually oppressed.”
Once you view any decision she makes through that lens, everything makes sense, including how she’s gotten to where she is.
Once you view any decision she makes through that lens, everything makes sense, including how she’s gotten to where she is.
In 2022, Bari Weiss ran this viral first-person piece by a top Levi’s executive. She claimed she was hounded out of the company because of her vocal stance on COVID restrictions.
There are no quotes from the company. Or her colleagues.
Not even a “no comment.”
www.thefp.com/p/yesterday-...
There are no quotes from the company. Or her colleagues.
Not even a “no comment.”
www.thefp.com/p/yesterday-...
December 22, 2025 at 10:09 PM
In this sense, she really is the second coming of Bill Buckley! First as tragedy, then as farce
so much of what's been "newly" released re: Epstein is just confirming past credible assertions made by his victims. I've been re-reading 2019 stories while reading the new coverage and so little has changed about what we know. meanwhile Andrew Tate walks free. people only care about the spectacle
December 22, 2025 at 10:16 PM
so much of what's been "newly" released re: Epstein is just confirming past credible assertions made by his victims. I've been re-reading 2019 stories while reading the new coverage and so little has changed about what we know. meanwhile Andrew Tate walks free. people only care about the spectacle
oh, thank god. no one has asked this before in the last 50 years
"Has feminism failed women brought to you by bank of america" is my MKULTRA sleeper agent activation phrase
December 19, 2025 at 9:45 PM
oh, thank god. no one has asked this before in the last 50 years
missed this the other day because been offline (preparing to share some 2026 ~updates~) —
thank you @evanurquhart.bsky.social and the team @assignedmedia.org for including my story on how LGBTQ and Native Oklahomans healed in the year after Nex Benedict's death in their best trans stories of 2025 ❤️
thank you @evanurquhart.bsky.social and the team @assignedmedia.org for including my story on how LGBTQ and Native Oklahomans healed in the year after Nex Benedict's death in their best trans stories of 2025 ❤️
![4. Nex Benedict Has Been Gone a Year. What Have We Learned? / Lex McMenamin
It can be difficult to know what to say in the face of widespread public apathy towards the harm being done to trans youth by the conservative ideological project.
That’s why Lex McMenamin’s story for Teen Vogue marking the one year anniversary of the death of Oklahoma trans teen Nex Benedict last February was so remarkable. The piece captures both what is being lost and the lack of urgency about recapturing it in a brilliant bit of reporting and analysis.
“Over this past year, there [was] this big reaction, and then it fizzled,” Adams tells Teen Vogue. “I was talking to my [Two Spirit, nonbinary] kid yesterday about what has happened over the past year, and what that feels like, what it looks like, and they said something like, 'It's weird that the world kept turning. It's weird that things just kept going after that.' People just tend to forget.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:tabiejtbwtcxuc2vxmk63uwj/bafkreia7gdhxaxg52zfwfjflauevlcbnigdmdvfpbd6ar367vbccyjephm@jpeg)
December 19, 2025 at 2:24 PM
missed this the other day because been offline (preparing to share some 2026 ~updates~) —
thank you @evanurquhart.bsky.social and the team @assignedmedia.org for including my story on how LGBTQ and Native Oklahomans healed in the year after Nex Benedict's death in their best trans stories of 2025 ❤️
thank you @evanurquhart.bsky.social and the team @assignedmedia.org for including my story on how LGBTQ and Native Oklahomans healed in the year after Nex Benedict's death in their best trans stories of 2025 ❤️
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
The House passed legislation today that would charge doctors with a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for providing transition-related care to minors.
Rep. Sarah McBride strongly condemned the legislation in rare personal remarks ahead of the vote.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
Rep. Sarah McBride strongly condemned the legislation in rare personal remarks ahead of the vote.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
House passes bill to criminalize transition care for minors
The House passed legislation today that would charge doctors with a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for providing transition-related medical care
www.nbcnews.com
December 18, 2025 at 12:09 AM
The House passed legislation today that would charge doctors with a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for providing transition-related care to minors.
Rep. Sarah McBride strongly condemned the legislation in rare personal remarks ahead of the vote.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
Rep. Sarah McBride strongly condemned the legislation in rare personal remarks ahead of the vote.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
For a brief time American workers had a lot of leverage over employers. That power has now evaporated.
1.59 American employee quit their job for each employee fired by their boss in Oct, lowest level since Jan 2018 outside pandemic
This #LaborLeverageRatio proxies for employee bargaining power in jobs cuz workers ⬆️ quits when their outside options improve & bosses ⬆️ firings when theirs do
This #LaborLeverageRatio proxies for employee bargaining power in jobs cuz workers ⬆️ quits when their outside options improve & bosses ⬆️ firings when theirs do
December 9, 2025 at 5:39 PM
For a brief time American workers had a lot of leverage over employers. That power has now evaporated.
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
December 9, 2025 at 5:40 PM
truly terrifying
Jimmy Fallon: "And do you use ChatGPT when raising your baby?"
Sam Altman: "I cannot imagine figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT."
Sam Altman: "I cannot imagine figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT."
December 9, 2025 at 5:33 PM
truly terrifying
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
"Our analysis shows that in the aftermath of extreme weather events, lower-income neighbourhoods are less likely to rebuild and do not return to their pre-disaster state, whereas higher-income areas rebuild and tend to improve...highlighting increasing disparities in their built environments."
Nature research paper: Built environment disparities are amplified during extreme weather recovery
go.nature.com/3YcD2ZS
go.nature.com/3YcD2ZS
Built environment disparities are amplified during extreme weather recovery - Nature
Higher-income neighbourhoods rebuild and improve after disasters while lower-income areas do not return to pre-disaster conditions.
go.nature.com
December 8, 2025 at 12:00 PM
"Our analysis shows that in the aftermath of extreme weather events, lower-income neighbourhoods are less likely to rebuild and do not return to their pre-disaster state, whereas higher-income areas rebuild and tend to improve...highlighting increasing disparities in their built environments."
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
Twenty years ago, over 90% of revenue from recorded music came from physical album sales.
Now, streaming accounts for 84% of that money.
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Now, streaming accounts for 84% of that money.
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Musicians push back on dwindling payments from streaming services
Nearly every song ever recorded is available for about $12 a month, or free if you don’t mind the ads. But while the streaming giant Spotify has conquered the music industry, many of the artists respo...
www.pbs.org
December 8, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Twenty years ago, over 90% of revenue from recorded music came from physical album sales.
Now, streaming accounts for 84% of that money.
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Now, streaming accounts for 84% of that money.
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
This year, I set out to chronicle free speech under the Trump admin. No small feat. Trump attacks dissent & leverages the White House to go after critics constantly. But how? Read our bombshell new @freepress.bsky.social report. I'm proud & horrified: www.freepress.net/attack-on-fr...
Chokehold: Donald Trump’s War on Free Speech & the Need for Systemic Resistance
This Free Press report examines the Trump administration’s hostile relationship with dissent and free expression in 2025. It analyzes how Trump and his political enablers have sought to undermine and ...
www.freepress.net
December 8, 2025 at 3:33 PM
This year, I set out to chronicle free speech under the Trump admin. No small feat. Trump attacks dissent & leverages the White House to go after critics constantly. But how? Read our bombshell new @freepress.bsky.social report. I'm proud & horrified: www.freepress.net/attack-on-fr...
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
Folks, this redistricting landscape is as confusing as it is outrageous. The VRA case. CA. TX. UT. FL. VA. IN. NC. MD... So, at Bolts we're doing a reader Q&A to answer some of your questions.
But to do that, we need to know what's perplexing you most, what you're left wondering.
Let me know! (↓)
But to do that, we need to know what's perplexing you most, what you're left wondering.
Let me know! (↓)
December 8, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Folks, this redistricting landscape is as confusing as it is outrageous. The VRA case. CA. TX. UT. FL. VA. IN. NC. MD... So, at Bolts we're doing a reader Q&A to answer some of your questions.
But to do that, we need to know what's perplexing you most, what you're left wondering.
Let me know! (↓)
But to do that, we need to know what's perplexing you most, what you're left wondering.
Let me know! (↓)
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
i'm available for freelance work, bio writing, consulting, anything! for now going to start writing a newsletter over on substack
best way to support me right now is to subscribe!
brittanyspanos.substack.com
best way to support me right now is to subscribe!
brittanyspanos.substack.com
BRIT POP | brittany spanos | Substack
a music & pop culture newsletter by brittany spanos. Click to read BRIT POP, by brittany spanos, a Substack publication. Launched 3 years ago.
brittanyspanos.substack.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:37 PM
i'm available for freelance work, bio writing, consulting, anything! for now going to start writing a newsletter over on substack
best way to support me right now is to subscribe!
brittanyspanos.substack.com
best way to support me right now is to subscribe!
brittanyspanos.substack.com
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
Good morning! I’m currently at Beaverton High School in OR where a mass student walk out has just started to demand a proactive ICE protocol for their school and district.
Students say that similar walkouts were planned at multiple other high schools, including Aloha, Sunset, Southridge & more.
Students say that similar walkouts were planned at multiple other high schools, including Aloha, Sunset, Southridge & more.
December 8, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Good morning! I’m currently at Beaverton High School in OR where a mass student walk out has just started to demand a proactive ICE protocol for their school and district.
Students say that similar walkouts were planned at multiple other high schools, including Aloha, Sunset, Southridge & more.
Students say that similar walkouts were planned at multiple other high schools, including Aloha, Sunset, Southridge & more.
Reposted by Lex McMenamin (they/them)
404 Media is making a print zine! About the surveillance technologies used by ICE. 16 pages, riso printed. Shipping early January. Features reworked versions of our best reporting and a few new things. We're very excited! And hope to do more if people like it:
www.404media.co/404-media-is...
www.404media.co/404-media-is...
404 Media Is Making a Zine
We are publishing a risograph-printed zine about the surveillance technologies used by ICE.
www.404media.co
December 8, 2025 at 3:42 PM
404 Media is making a print zine! About the surveillance technologies used by ICE. 16 pages, riso printed. Shipping early January. Features reworked versions of our best reporting and a few new things. We're very excited! And hope to do more if people like it:
www.404media.co/404-media-is...
www.404media.co/404-media-is...