Author | Lightnews

Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH

@mgotto.bsky.social

3.6K followers 820 following 280 posts

Bioethicist, Medical Sociologist, MPH. Repro Justice, bodily autonomy for all, med decision making for teens. Physician Asst educator. Opinions my own.

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Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Jan 26

As things become more bleak, I hope this paper might offer a way to frame what's happening. What's been happening from the start. This was a nugget of an idea I had almost 4 years ago & I'm happy it was published last month in a special post-Dobbs issue of American Studies. 1/

Legislative Terror: Theorizing Laws Against Autonomy - ProQuest

Explore millions of resources from scholarly journals, books, newspapers, videos and more, on the ProQuest Platform.

www.proquest.com

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Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · 17h

It must be an incredible feeling to be a white man like @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social and say with your whole chest that we should vote for people who disagree with our very existence or right to bodily autonomy to win elections. To not acknowledge the absolute oppression of that is astonishing.

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Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · 4d

In his mind, none of this violence is reciprocal, only unidirectional. The ONLY bad actor here is Hamas. And the only remedy is re-education by the “civilized” and “moral” Israeli-led coalition. This is some high-level colonialist “Exterminate The Brutes” rhetoric. It’s horrifying.

Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · 4d

Rather, he blames it on the “education system.” He laments the killing of 2 or 3 Israeli soldiers a week, but has no words of sympathy for the dozens of Palestinian children killed weekly, seeing them as a result of Hamas’ bad behavior.

Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · 4d

The most clarifying thing to come out of this conversation is the utter lack humanity toward the Palestinian people & the seeming infallibility of the Jewish state. It seems incomprehensible to Segal that generations of living under apartheid conditions could be what fuels anger & violence.

Ezra Klein @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social · 6d

Today’s episode of The Ezra Klein Show.

Amit Segal on why most Israelis don’t see the ceasefire as the end of the war between Israel and Hamas and how this conflict is mapping onto Israeli politics—both at present, and as the country looks toward its next elections.

youtu.be/gE44vmR6w_8?...

The Israeli Right’s Plan to Carve Up Gaza | The Ezra Klein Show

YouTube video by The Ezra Klein Show

youtu.be

Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · 17d

I don’t discount this, but the AI Apocalypse is already happening—just not the way you’re focused on. It’s happening in every community within a mile of these data centers, where people are being harmed by the pollution & water scarcity. FOCUS 👏🏼 ON 👏🏼 THAT 👏🏼

Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Oct 3

The only good thing that can possibly come out of this will be a bonus @ifbookspod.bsky.social episode.

Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Sep 30

And again - I also want to win! And I do believe compromises need to be made. But not on people’s basic human dignity, not on the right to bodily autonomy. We can compromise on tax policy, and even climate regulations (within reason). But let people live.

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Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Sep 30

What’s wild is that he’s been openly supportive of abortion, especially after his wife’s very difficult pregnancies. So this turn is really distressing. But it again shows that wealthy white people are willing to sacrifice the lives & safety of others to further their own politics.

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Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Sep 29

Where does being married 3 times with multiple affairs fall on this index?

Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Sep 29

White men (almost) never fight FOR the rights of anyone else. So I am begging you to stop with the pro-life Dem nonsense and the ideas about compromising on trans rights. We can and should be able to win BECAUSE we are the party of equality. We need better messaging, not more compromise.

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Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Sep 29

Also - my dude: we all want to win back power. But only white men are forever ok with doing that at the expense of the rest of us. It’s always the white men who want to compromise the rights of women, of trans people, of Black & brown folks, in order to win w the PROMISE of future rights.

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Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Sep 29

What I find most frustrating is Ezra’s inability to acknowledge that his commentary on CK has whitewashed who CK was. Just admit that you were wrong - it’s fine! Especially when you have so many women, Black folks, LGBTQ+ folks, presumably immigrant folks, telling you. Listen to them.

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Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Sep 16

I got through maybe 4 minutes, and then I was yelling at Ezra too much and had to stop. I cannot with this bullshit. I DO NOT understand how he thinks CK was doing anything other than normalizing violence against trans people, migrants, women, BIPOC, etc. It’s lunacy.

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Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Sep 10

I’ve NEVER been as judged for the tone of my voice the way I’ve been in academia. By peers, students, administrators - my “tone” seems to be an issue. And I don’t know what to say. This is just my voice? I don’t know why I have to change the way I’ve sounded for 50 years to make you comfortable. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Jul 28

My Never-Ending Quest to Find a Bra With Lift: A Memoir

Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Jun 29

On The Bound from “When the Pawn”

Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Jun 29

Loved today’s rainbow, Pride-themed Strands from @nytgames.bsky.social. Very cute! But honestly a bit hard to take when their parent org, @nytimes.com is so consistently wretched to trans folks. If it’s a small act of rebellion, good for them. But the Times ed board needs to get 👏🏼 it 👏🏼 together.

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Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Jun 23

I’ve been saying this for days: this is out of the “we need to compromise on abortion” playbook of the 1990s that led to Dobbs. It is GALLING that she is basically throwing trans kids under a bus for political gain. Have conversations! Absolutely! But do not cede rights. Learn a fucking lesson. 🙄

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Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Jun 20

You cannot compromise with people who want you dead. The evidence of this is LITERALLY all around us, and we must fight for the rights of trans people (especially trans kids) to make decisions about their bodies. If trans folks have bodily autonomy, it assures it for the rest of us.

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Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Jun 20

I tried listening to Ezra Klein’s interview with McBride & it’s honestly painful. Like, ma’am, why are you willing to sacrifice the existence of your community for political gain? Have you leaned nothing from Dobbs? We lost abortion bc we made compromises on bodily autonomy. Learn the lesson!!

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Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Jun 16

I am so tired of managing the feelings of middle-aged men. If it’s going to be required of me at work, put it in my job description and fucking pay me for it.

Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Jun 16

LOL, true, true!

Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Jun 14

Even offering $1000 for “extras” on Craigslist didn’t seem to help. 😂

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Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Jun 8

Has this man ever driven through Boston? Or an Italian neighborhood in *any* American city? Or is it just the brown folks he’s offended by? These man and his entire party can fuck right off.

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Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH @mgotto.bsky.social · Jun 5

No. This is a feckless excuse that Dems can use when they shit the bed during the midterms next year. We can both fight this bullshit AND stand up good candidates to take back the House and make gains in the Senate. But only if the party leaders get off their asses and DO SOMETHING.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Jun 5

Chris Murphy: "We can't be preparing for the 2026 election. It might not come. All of our focus right now has to be on protecting the democracy, about stopping the corruption."