Shana Knizhnik
@shanakn.bsky.social
Lawyer at ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. Former public defender & public school kid. Queer & intersex. Seeking justice. Standard disclaimers apply. she/her 🌈
Pinned
Shana Knizhnik
@shanakn.bsky.social
· Jan 23
I am intersex and I exist. I love my trans siblings, who also exist. Our existence, and our resistance, will outlast this administration.
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
All three people arrested by the feds in connection with the protest at the ICE pastor's church — Nekima Levy-Armstrong, Chauntyll Allen, and William Kelly — have now been ordered released.
Judge's order as to the first two: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Judge's order as to the first two: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
January 23, 2026 at 10:04 PM
All three people arrested by the feds in connection with the protest at the ICE pastor's church — Nekima Levy-Armstrong, Chauntyll Allen, and William Kelly — have now been ordered released.
Judge's order as to the first two: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Judge's order as to the first two: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
BREAKING: We just filed an amicus brief challenging a Florida school board's ban of "And Tango Makes Three," a children's book about gay penguins.
School officials can't overrule the First Amendment.
School officials can't overrule the First Amendment.
December 29, 2025 at 10:10 PM
BREAKING: We just filed an amicus brief challenging a Florida school board's ban of "And Tango Makes Three," a children's book about gay penguins.
School officials can't overrule the First Amendment.
School officials can't overrule the First Amendment.
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
I am intersex and I exist. I love my trans siblings, who also exist. Our existence, and our resistance, will outlast this administration.
January 23, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I am intersex and I exist. I love my trans siblings, who also exist. Our existence, and our resistance, will outlast this administration.
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
Video of Columbia Heights residents driving ICE agents out of their area. source: www.instagram.com/reel/DNjkvLQ...
August 20, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Video of Columbia Heights residents driving ICE agents out of their area. source: www.instagram.com/reel/DNjkvLQ...
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
There is so much context missing from the discussion of the Davis cert petition. People are understandably scared. It’s also incredibly dangerous to act like same sex marriage has already been overturned and much of the mainstream reporting is frankly irresponsible.
August 12, 2025 at 8:42 PM
There is so much context missing from the discussion of the Davis cert petition. People are understandably scared. It’s also incredibly dangerous to act like same sex marriage has already been overturned and much of the mainstream reporting is frankly irresponsible.
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
Mahmoud v. Taylor was an awful SCOTUS decision, an attack on the humanity of 🌈 families and on some of the basic premises of public education in a pluralistic society. But it’s not the end of the world or of inclusive education...
August 6, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Mahmoud v. Taylor was an awful SCOTUS decision, an attack on the humanity of 🌈 families and on some of the basic premises of public education in a pluralistic society. But it’s not the end of the world or of inclusive education...
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
wrote this up for @them.us today! www.them.us/story/federa...
June 4, 2025 at 9:09 PM
wrote this up for @them.us today! www.them.us/story/federa...
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
i think it is bad that high level public officials do not respect the offices they hold or the public they are supposed to serve
The Secretary of Homeland Security responds to the voluntary dismissal of an immigration lawsuit: "Suck it."
May 23, 2025 at 12:23 AM
i think it is bad that high level public officials do not respect the offices they hold or the public they are supposed to serve
If you’d told me as a teenager that as an adult I would be publicly advocating for intersex people in my hometown paper, @inquirer.com, I wouldn’t have believed you!
www.inquirer.com/life/interse...
www.inquirer.com/life/interse...
For Philly’s intersex community, Trump administration’s focus on gender and sex is a threat
Intersex people are speaking out in the face of the administration’s efforts to define sex as a biological binary.
www.inquirer.com
May 12, 2025 at 9:27 PM
If you’d told me as a teenager that as an adult I would be publicly advocating for intersex people in my hometown paper, @inquirer.com, I wouldn’t have believed you!
www.inquirer.com/life/interse...
www.inquirer.com/life/interse...
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
What happened to "do no harm"? Several hospitals across the US stopped providing necessary care to consenting transgender patients. Still, they’ve spent decades refusing to stop “normalizing” intersex infants’ bodies without their consent. @transequality.bsky.social www.advocate.com/voices/donal...
First, do no harm—unless you're intersex or trans
Opinion: Hospitals are abandoning transgender and intersex patients, denying them essential care and autonomy. It's time for hospitals to uphold their ethical duty and provide life-saving gender-affir...
www.advocate.com
May 6, 2025 at 2:21 PM
What happened to "do no harm"? Several hospitals across the US stopped providing necessary care to consenting transgender patients. Still, they’ve spent decades refusing to stop “normalizing” intersex infants’ bodies without their consent. @transequality.bsky.social www.advocate.com/voices/donal...
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
NEW: We filed a complaint with the National Guard challenging President Trump's executive order prohibiting transgender people from using restrooms aligned with their gender identity in federal buildings.
Everyone deserves equal access to public facilities.
Everyone deserves equal access to public facilities.
May 5, 2025 at 7:37 PM
NEW: We filed a complaint with the National Guard challenging President Trump's executive order prohibiting transgender people from using restrooms aligned with their gender identity in federal buildings.
Everyone deserves equal access to public facilities.
Everyone deserves equal access to public facilities.
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
Kick off World Pride with us in DC on May 17 as we unveil our Freedom to Be quilt made by trans artists from across the nation.
RSVP today at aclu.org/free-to-be 🏳️⚧️
RSVP today at aclu.org/free-to-be 🏳️⚧️
April 29, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Kick off World Pride with us in DC on May 17 as we unveil our Freedom to Be quilt made by trans artists from across the nation.
RSVP today at aclu.org/free-to-be 🏳️⚧️
RSVP today at aclu.org/free-to-be 🏳️⚧️
It’s been two months.
April 3, 2025 at 9:45 PM
It’s been two months.
My first case as lead attorney at @aclu.org is now on file. As the government tries at all levels to erase LGBTQ people—and transgender people in particular—from public life, the principles we seek to uphold in this case couldn’t be more vital.
BREAKING: We're suing the Greenville Public Library in South Carolina for systematically censoring books about the LGBTQ community.
Alongside @aclusc.bsky.social, we're fighting to protect our freedom to read.
Alongside @aclusc.bsky.social, we're fighting to protect our freedom to read.
March 26, 2025 at 9:36 PM
My first case as lead attorney at @aclu.org is now on file. As the government tries at all levels to erase LGBTQ people—and transgender people in particular—from public life, the principles we seek to uphold in this case couldn’t be more vital.
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
You're going to be tempted to engage in discourse focused on what Mahmoud Khalil said--was it actually antisemitic? Did he endorse Hamas?--and I cannot encourage you enough not to do that. It just doesn't matter what he said because you should not be detained and deported over what you say, period.
March 11, 2025 at 6:21 PM
You're going to be tempted to engage in discourse focused on what Mahmoud Khalil said--was it actually antisemitic? Did he endorse Hamas?--and I cannot encourage you enough not to do that. It just doesn't matter what he said because you should not be detained and deported over what you say, period.
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
We coulda had the free lunches for kids guy
January 28, 2025 at 6:46 PM
We coulda had the free lunches for kids guy
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
Your regular reminder that the first known clinic to offer gender-affirming surgeries was … destroyed by Nazis.
In 1933.
(Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institut für Sexualwissenschaft.)
They always come for trans people first.
In 1933.
(Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institut für Sexualwissenschaft.)
They always come for trans people first.
January 29, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Your regular reminder that the first known clinic to offer gender-affirming surgeries was … destroyed by Nazis.
In 1933.
(Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institut für Sexualwissenschaft.)
They always come for trans people first.
In 1933.
(Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institut für Sexualwissenschaft.)
They always come for trans people first.
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
very excited to see what happens when you make a deeply compromised addict the leader of the department of defense and subordinate to a madman
January 25, 2025 at 2:28 AM
very excited to see what happens when you make a deeply compromised addict the leader of the department of defense and subordinate to a madman
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
Trump's executive order attempts to codify a grade-school understanding of sex and biology defied by the very existence of intersex people--which is probably why it doesn't mention them at all
January 23, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Trump's executive order attempts to codify a grade-school understanding of sex and biology defied by the very existence of intersex people--which is probably why it doesn't mention them at all
I am intersex and I exist. I love my trans siblings, who also exist. Our existence, and our resistance, will outlast this administration.
January 23, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I am intersex and I exist. I love my trans siblings, who also exist. Our existence, and our resistance, will outlast this administration.
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
Big tell in this Trump order targeting trans people: "at conception"
January 21, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Big tell in this Trump order targeting trans people: "at conception"
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
TLDR: There is nothing enforceable for the immediate future. It will take months or years to implement this via rulemaking or bureaucratic changes which are then subject to legal challenge. While it's worrying, there's no immediate change yet for most trans people. Do not comply in advance.
Trump White House's first trans executive order is out. I'll be reading over it here and going through line by line to help you make sense of it.
You can find it here:
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
You can find it here:
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
DEFENDING WOMEN FROM GENDER IDEOLOGY EXTREMISM AND RESTORING BIOLOGICAL TRUTH TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT – The White House
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 7301 of title 5, United
www.whitehouse.gov
January 21, 2025 at 2:57 AM
TLDR: There is nothing enforceable for the immediate future. It will take months or years to implement this via rulemaking or bureaucratic changes which are then subject to legal challenge. While it's worrying, there's no immediate change yet for most trans people. Do not comply in advance.
Reposted by Shana Knizhnik
BREAKING: Here is Trump's unconstitutional order seeking to restrict birthright citizenship.
It takes effect in 30 days, but expect a challenge as early as tonight or tomorrow. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
It takes effect in 30 days, but expect a challenge as early as tonight or tomorrow. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
January 21, 2025 at 1:44 AM
BREAKING: Here is Trump's unconstitutional order seeking to restrict birthright citizenship.
It takes effect in 30 days, but expect a challenge as early as tonight or tomorrow. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
It takes effect in 30 days, but expect a challenge as early as tonight or tomorrow. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...