Phoebe Petrovic
@phoebepetrovic.bsky.social
investigative reporter & researcher chronicling threats to democracy @ Documented. send me tips about the anti-LGBTQ movement on signal: phoebe.411
In one month, WisEye will go dark without support. wiseye.org/donate/
November 20, 2025 at 10:32 PM
In one month, WisEye will go dark without support. wiseye.org/donate/
this made my eyes pop. there is objectively big news about the politicization of gender medicine out today. journalist Ben Ryan chose to lead his substack post NOT with that news, but instead with a bonkers, snide jab at another journalist/substacker, Erin Reed.
November 19, 2025 at 6:00 PM
this made my eyes pop. there is objectively big news about the politicization of gender medicine out today. journalist Ben Ryan chose to lead his substack post NOT with that news, but instead with a bonkers, snide jab at another journalist/substacker, Erin Reed.
Note this coalition -- powered by Koch and Leo -- asserting the SPLC's designation of them as hate groups is inaccurate. 1792exchange.com/wp-content/u...
October 19, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Note this coalition -- powered by Koch and Leo -- asserting the SPLC's designation of them as hate groups is inaccurate. 1792exchange.com/wp-content/u...
September 15, 2025 at 4:28 PM
The White House lists 12 anti-trans actions the Trump administration has undertaken as "victories for people of faith." www.whitehouse.gov/articles/202...
September 9, 2025 at 3:37 PM
The White House lists 12 anti-trans actions the Trump administration has undertaken as "victories for people of faith." www.whitehouse.gov/articles/202...
Contrast this with the administration and its allies' claims that affirming kids' LGBTQ+ identities constitutes sexual predation or grooming.
August 12, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Contrast this with the administration and its allies' claims that affirming kids' LGBTQ+ identities constitutes sexual predation or grooming.
this paragraph from a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute presented without comment
August 4, 2025 at 4:45 PM
this paragraph from a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute presented without comment
👀👀👀 When the US Dept of Ed's Office of Civil Rights announced it was opening a Title IX investigation into OR's Dept of Ed based on a complaint from America First Policy Institute, the Dept's press release QUOTED AFPI celebrating the investigation. www.ed.gov/about/news/p...
August 1, 2025 at 5:59 PM
👀👀👀 When the US Dept of Ed's Office of Civil Rights announced it was opening a Title IX investigation into OR's Dept of Ed based on a complaint from America First Policy Institute, the Dept's press release QUOTED AFPI celebrating the investigation. www.ed.gov/about/news/p...
everything old is new again
July 28, 2025 at 9:03 PM
everything old is new again
Ogles is also a proponent of an extreme teaching promoted by militant anti-abortion pastor Matthew Trewhella, as I reported on last year for ProPublica and Wisconsin Watch. www.propublica.org/article/matt...
June 27, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Ogles is also a proponent of an extreme teaching promoted by militant anti-abortion pastor Matthew Trewhella, as I reported on last year for ProPublica and Wisconsin Watch. www.propublica.org/article/matt...
really grateful for this coverage, this line. this has always been the goal. most coverage has failed to acknowledge and name that.
June 20, 2025 at 2:41 PM
really grateful for this coverage, this line. this has always been the goal. most coverage has failed to acknowledge and name that.
some people pursue Ivy League educations for the prestige. as for me, circa 1st grade? I had other reasons (being a homebody who would miss their parents)
June 5, 2025 at 5:25 PM
some people pursue Ivy League educations for the prestige. as for me, circa 1st grade? I had other reasons (being a homebody who would miss their parents)
here is a Wisconsin news outlet describing an alleged online relationship between an adult man and then a 14-year-old girl, a minor child, as a "love link," rather than predation. hard to believe they'd describe it that way if she hadn't committed a mass shooting.
May 2, 2025 at 7:24 PM
here is a Wisconsin news outlet describing an alleged online relationship between an adult man and then a 14-year-old girl, a minor child, as a "love link," rather than predation. hard to believe they'd describe it that way if she hadn't committed a mass shooting.
AGAIN, research finds that sunglasses obscure one's identity comparably or better than face-masks. and AGAIN, disability advocates have explained why it's discriminatory and dangerous to prevent people from using PPE unless they can prove a "medical exemption."
April 22, 2025 at 8:21 PM
AGAIN, research finds that sunglasses obscure one's identity comparably or better than face-masks. and AGAIN, disability advocates have explained why it's discriminatory and dangerous to prevent people from using PPE unless they can prove a "medical exemption."
ok obviously the whole interview is a rich text but yet again PPE that makes the world more accessible for disabled people and their caregivers, and safer for everyone, are maligned as symbols of antisemitism or tools of oppression b/c protestors wore them. 😷
April 22, 2025 at 8:16 PM
ok obviously the whole interview is a rich text but yet again PPE that makes the world more accessible for disabled people and their caregivers, and safer for everyone, are maligned as symbols of antisemitism or tools of oppression b/c protestors wore them. 😷
Another key point: a confidential name change results in a new birth certificate with new name only. A public name change can result in an amended birth certificate WITH YOUR DEADNAME on it still! You have to specifically ask a judge for a new one w/o deadname, and they can say no.
April 17, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Another key point: a confidential name change results in a new birth certificate with new name only. A public name change can result in an amended birth certificate WITH YOUR DEADNAME on it still! You have to specifically ask a judge for a new one w/o deadname, and they can say no.
KEY: In the ~computer age~ the public change follows you in digital newspaper archives & online court records. WI Dems introduced a bill *this week* that would extend the confidential process to trans people... but it's up to Republicans whether it gets a vote. (27 states have no pub requirement!)
April 17, 2025 at 5:36 PM
KEY: In the ~computer age~ the public change follows you in digital newspaper archives & online court records. WI Dems introduced a bill *this week* that would extend the confidential process to trans people... but it's up to Republicans whether it gets a vote. (27 states have no pub requirement!)
Under Trump, lawyers worry about public disclosures creating a de facto dataset of likely trans people. Here’s what a White House spokesperson said when asked about these concerns:
April 17, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Under Trump, lawyers worry about public disclosures creating a de facto dataset of likely trans people. Here’s what a White House spokesperson said when asked about these concerns:
Even in a case where a judge did grant confidentiality for an 11-year-old trans child, the family still lives in “constant terror.”
“All it takes is one wrong person getting that information,” the child’s mom said. 9/
“All it takes is one wrong person getting that information,” the child’s mom said. 9/
April 17, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Even in a case where a judge did grant confidentiality for an 11-year-old trans child, the family still lives in “constant terror.”
“All it takes is one wrong person getting that information,” the child’s mom said. 9/
“All it takes is one wrong person getting that information,” the child’s mom said. 9/
J.J Koechell asked for a confidential process because he had been harassed and doxxed for his LGBTQ+ advocacy.
A Waukesha County judge denied the request in an order where he addressed Koechell, who has a masculine voice and beard, as “she” and “her.” 7/
A Waukesha County judge denied the request in an order where he addressed Koechell, who has a masculine voice and beard, as “she” and “her.” 7/
April 17, 2025 at 5:10 PM
J.J Koechell asked for a confidential process because he had been harassed and doxxed for his LGBTQ+ advocacy.
A Waukesha County judge denied the request in an order where he addressed Koechell, who has a masculine voice and beard, as “she” and “her.” 7/
A Waukesha County judge denied the request in an order where he addressed Koechell, who has a masculine voice and beard, as “she” and “her.” 7/
One teen changed his name 3 years ago. Searching his new name returns the court case with his deadname, outing him as trans to prospective employers or anyone who looks him up.
He’s trying to retroactively seal his file. 6/
He’s trying to retroactively seal his file. 6/
April 17, 2025 at 5:10 PM
One teen changed his name 3 years ago. Searching his new name returns the court case with his deadname, outing him as trans to prospective employers or anyone who looks him up.
He’s trying to retroactively seal his file. 6/
He’s trying to retroactively seal his file. 6/
The teen argued that the public record created by legal name changes can follow you forever.
But the Court of Appeals let the ruling stand. And, crucially, it set a statewide precedent that only physical harm counted. 4/
But the Court of Appeals let the ruling stand. And, crucially, it set a statewide precedent that only physical harm counted. 4/
![¶39 We therefore agree with the State’s interpretation, and we conclude
that the term “endanger” in WIS. STAT. § 786.37(4) refers to a risk of physical harm. In total, we hold that § 786.37(4)’s requirement that a petitioner prove “by a preponderance of the evidence[] that publication of his or her petition could endanger him or her” means that the petitioner must prove it is more likely than not that the petitioner could be physically endangered if the name change petition is published. In the context of the whole sentence and given the express use of the preponderance of the evidence standard in relation to the term “could,” “could” does not mean that there is merely any possibility of endangerment. “Could” simply denotes a possible future event.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ygnuxklahm4h522idfp7pgmk/bafkreievnlwiy4wr45lvdb25xbatw4w4jgksooq6jkazdjshzwryuyng6i@jpeg)
April 17, 2025 at 5:07 PM
The teen argued that the public record created by legal name changes can follow you forever.
But the Court of Appeals let the ruling stand. And, crucially, it set a statewide precedent that only physical harm counted. 4/
But the Court of Appeals let the ruling stand. And, crucially, it set a statewide precedent that only physical harm counted. 4/