Hesse Phillips
@hessephillips.com
🏳️🌈 Historical fiction | Queer history | Theatre history | Early modernist | USian in Spain.
Debut novel LIGHTBORNE out now.
Rep: Brianlangan.bsky.social.
More at hessephillips.com
Debut novel LIGHTBORNE out now.
Rep: Brianlangan.bsky.social.
More at hessephillips.com
Pinned
Hesse Phillips
@hessephillips.com
· Feb 27
Coming to the UK 6th March 2025, the gorgeous new trade paperback edition of #Lightborne, from @atlanticbooks.bsky.social
"A stunning debut on queer love, betrayal and survival in Elizabethan England. Perfect for fans of Hilary Mantel and Maggie O'Farrell." uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ligh...
🌈📚⌛📚💙
"A stunning debut on queer love, betrayal and survival in Elizabethan England. Perfect for fans of Hilary Mantel and Maggie O'Farrell." uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ligh...
🌈📚⌛📚💙
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
Oh are we doing that whole bit again where we pretend Brianna Ghey died because of social media rather than because of the people who stabbed her 28 times.
Mother of murdered Brianna Ghey urges Starmer to ban social media for under-16s
Mother of murdered Brianna Ghey urges Starmer to ban social media for under-16s
Esther Ghey says daughter’s eating disorder and self-harm had been exacerbated by harmful online content
The mother of the murdered teenager Brianna Ghey has urged Keir Starmer to ban social media for under-16s, adding to growing pressure on the prime minister before a crunch vote on the issue on Wednesday.
Esther Ghey wrote to Starmer on Monday explaining in detail how she felt her daughter’s eating disorder and self-harm had been exacerbated by TikTok influencers with whom she had become obsessed. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
January 19, 2026 at 7:25 PM
Oh are we doing that whole bit again where we pretend Brianna Ghey died because of social media rather than because of the people who stabbed her 28 times.
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
"Can a man become a woman?" is not a question anyone asks in good faith as it's a complete misunderstanding of what being trans is. Absolutely a GOP op.
January 19, 2026 at 3:42 PM
"Can a man become a woman?" is not a question anyone asks in good faith as it's a complete misunderstanding of what being trans is. Absolutely a GOP op.
I'm seeing this one a lot today. Which means a lot of "good" white people out there are reading these words, clicking "like" and "repost," not considering for even a moment that they might be exactly the kind of person he's talking about.
"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good!" 🙃
"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good!" 🙃
January 19, 2026 at 5:28 PM
I'm seeing this one a lot today. Which means a lot of "good" white people out there are reading these words, clicking "like" and "repost," not considering for even a moment that they might be exactly the kind of person he's talking about.
"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good!" 🙃
"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good!" 🙃
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
crazy that the website that I randomly decided to put together at 10AM yesterday has had over 25k unique visitors in 24 hours.
please keep sharing with your networks.
please keep sharing with your networks.
Stand With Minnesota
A directory of places to give to as Minnesota defends itself from ICE occupation
www.standwithminnesota.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:24 PM
crazy that the website that I randomly decided to put together at 10AM yesterday has had over 25k unique visitors in 24 hours.
please keep sharing with your networks.
please keep sharing with your networks.
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
I can't trust politicians who are anti-trans. Not because I'm "only searching for perfection" which is what centrists will be accusing me of for the rest of my life, it's because if you're not pro-trans you'll be garbage on lots of other issues too. Being anti-trans NEVER exists in a vacuum.
January 17, 2026 at 9:42 AM
I can't trust politicians who are anti-trans. Not because I'm "only searching for perfection" which is what centrists will be accusing me of for the rest of my life, it's because if you're not pro-trans you'll be garbage on lots of other issues too. Being anti-trans NEVER exists in a vacuum.
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
A damn fine rabbit hole right here 👇🏽🐰🕳️
Had an intriguing editorial discussion recently: how did people in the past talk about 'minutes' when they didn't have watches or standardised times? How does that affect your thinking?
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
January 17, 2026 at 10:49 AM
A damn fine rabbit hole right here 👇🏽🐰🕳️
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
Please don't ask me why my brain works like this, because I don't have an answer
January 16, 2026 at 9:22 AM
Please don't ask me why my brain works like this, because I don't have an answer
Seriously what do people see in this guy? He's like a stalk of celery standing in a glass of milk.
January 16, 2026 at 7:57 AM
Seriously what do people see in this guy? He's like a stalk of celery standing in a glass of milk.
*opens hood of campaign bus, releasing giant puff of steam*
See, this is yer problem right here 👇
See, this is yer problem right here 👇
GOP: We will come to your home and kidnap you. We will kill you if you object. We will cleanse the streets of you. You are like rodents. We laugh as we squish you beneath our feet. You are not even human. Ours is the Fourth Reich.
Democrats: Ignore that, we are only talking about the economy.
Democrats: Ignore that, we are only talking about the economy.
January 15, 2026 at 9:48 PM
*opens hood of campaign bus, releasing giant puff of steam*
See, this is yer problem right here 👇
See, this is yer problem right here 👇
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
I've seen some folks giving into doomerism by citing the US's history of paramilitary violence shutting down fair elections in the South, and I want to add some historical context to support Jamelle here (as an historian of Reconstruction paramilitary violence)
the question to ask about this is, okay, he wants to cancel the midterms. how does he get the VA state board of elections to cancel the midterms? how does he get the georgia board of elections to do it? how does he convince republican house members to quit their jobs and give up their paychecks?
Trump says a lot of deranged shit, but, per this Reuters article — and the threats of invoking the Insurrection Act in Minnesota this morning — he is very clearly exploring how to cancel the midterms.
www.reuters.com/world/us/fiv...
www.reuters.com/world/us/fiv...
January 15, 2026 at 8:22 PM
I've seen some folks giving into doomerism by citing the US's history of paramilitary violence shutting down fair elections in the South, and I want to add some historical context to support Jamelle here (as an historian of Reconstruction paramilitary violence)
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
Telling her to watch her language because there are children around when these fucking monsters just sent four children to the hospital after fucking tear gassing them has filled with me a whole new kind of rage.
January 15, 2026 at 9:22 PM
Telling her to watch her language because there are children around when these fucking monsters just sent four children to the hospital after fucking tear gassing them has filled with me a whole new kind of rage.
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
Not that we need it anymore, but this is proof positive that this has nothing to do with "legal immigration." It's just about brown and Black people.
Mind-boggling stuff: ICE has detained 4 Oglala men and is apparently demanding the Lakota--a nation of the continent's original inhabitants--“enter into an immigration agreement with ICE." www.twincities.com/2026/01/13/i...
Oglala Sioux Tribe says three tribal members arrested in Minneapolis are in ICE detention
The detained tribal members are experiencing homelessness and living under a bridge in Minneapolis.
www.twincities.com
January 15, 2026 at 7:20 PM
Not that we need it anymore, but this is proof positive that this has nothing to do with "legal immigration." It's just about brown and Black people.
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
when I was working for a crazy person they would wrong-rock me - the whole "bring me a rock. no, not that rock" thing. they'd say "have you planned for this? well what if I suggest something totally nuts happens? have you planned for that?" and there was no satisfying him
lot of that right now.
lot of that right now.
January 15, 2026 at 7:16 PM
when I was working for a crazy person they would wrong-rock me - the whole "bring me a rock. no, not that rock" thing. they'd say "have you planned for this? well what if I suggest something totally nuts happens? have you planned for that?" and there was no satisfying him
lot of that right now.
lot of that right now.
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
They made an infant stop breathing. With three explosives. In a car full of children.
No hell hot enough.
No hell hot enough.
Non-protesting dad just trying to hustle his kids, as young as 6mo, out of the neighborhood. ICE threw a flash-bang INTO HIS car, all 6 kids in the hospital now.
If anyone wondered how things turn against occupying armies there's a case study playing out in front of you.
If anyone wondered how things turn against occupying armies there's a case study playing out in front of you.
That is what was relayed
January 15, 2026 at 5:30 AM
They made an infant stop breathing. With three explosives. In a car full of children.
No hell hot enough.
No hell hot enough.
I don't even know what that shit looks like. (Which means I should probably find out so I don't get bamboozled by a screenshot.)
RT if you've never had a tab of ChatGPT open 'just to do quick research'
January 14, 2026 at 9:52 PM
I don't even know what that shit looks like. (Which means I should probably find out so I don't get bamboozled by a screenshot.)
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
TERFs discovering this post: "let me explain the rationale for my bigotry I believe exonerates me" lol yeah that's what I'm talking about.
If you have “sincere concerns” about trans athletes in sports, all it means is that you have given yourself a rationale for your bigotry that you sincerely believe exonerates you for aligning to a far-right tactic for marginalization and exclusion.
January 14, 2026 at 11:41 AM
TERFs discovering this post: "let me explain the rationale for my bigotry I believe exonerates me" lol yeah that's what I'm talking about.
I am on the most ridiculous rollercoaster of disappointment/ hope these past two days and I would like to get tf off please.
I know, I hate vagueposting too, but sometimes that void begs to be shouted into.
I know, I hate vagueposting too, but sometimes that void begs to be shouted into.
January 14, 2026 at 9:26 AM
I am on the most ridiculous rollercoaster of disappointment/ hope these past two days and I would like to get tf off please.
I know, I hate vagueposting too, but sometimes that void begs to be shouted into.
I know, I hate vagueposting too, but sometimes that void begs to be shouted into.
No sleep for ICE
ICE hath murdered sleep
ICE hath murdered sleep
Happening Now: Hundreds of protesters are holding a noise demo outside of the Graduate by Hilton Hotel in Minneapolis where ICE agents are reportedly staying. Drums, guitars, pots and pans are in-tune to "fuck ICE" and "ICE out" chants. Riot police are currently in the lobby.
January 14, 2026 at 8:50 AM
No sleep for ICE
ICE hath murdered sleep
ICE hath murdered sleep
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
Rest in peace and power, Miss Claudette. 🕊️🕊️🕊️
Friends, Claudette Colvin—the 15-year-old who refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus in March 1955 & joined the federal case against bus segregation that went to the Supreme Court — died today at age 86. But there are lots of myths and mis-impressions about her. A short corrective thread:
January 14, 2026 at 5:07 AM
Rest in peace and power, Miss Claudette. 🕊️🕊️🕊️
Me to This Fucking Week:
Look here, Beelzebub, you don’t do it
January 14, 2026 at 8:19 AM
Me to This Fucking Week:
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
The detail that they sold this kid’s phone blocks away after stealing it when illegally detaining him really underscores the fact that these are bounty hunters out to enrich themselves while causing havoc.
This is 10th-grader Arnoldo Bazan.
A citizen.
Immigration agents grabbed him and put him in a chokehold.
"We're from the United States bro!' he screamed.
Agents took and sold his phone
And when he finally got home hours later, his shirt was ripped, he neck had angry, red welts, and he sobbed.
A citizen.
Immigration agents grabbed him and put him in a chokehold.
"We're from the United States bro!' he screamed.
Agents took and sold his phone
And when he finally got home hours later, his shirt was ripped, he neck had angry, red welts, and he sobbed.
January 14, 2026 at 6:09 AM
The detail that they sold this kid’s phone blocks away after stealing it when illegally detaining him really underscores the fact that these are bounty hunters out to enrich themselves while causing havoc.
Jury's out on whether I have ADHD, but it just occurred to me reading this that this is literally how I get through life without laying down and waiting for the dust to cover me 🙃
my therapist now has me doing something that feels completely absurd, but sometimes works, where I just picture the kind of person who doesn’t think about anything before starting a task and then I pretend I’m that person and try to start the task the way they would start it
January 14, 2026 at 7:00 AM
Jury's out on whether I have ADHD, but it just occurred to me reading this that this is literally how I get through life without laying down and waiting for the dust to cover me 🙃
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
Support queer indie publishers (and authors), if you want queer stories to keep being told
Big-brand publishers, like most big corporations, will support us only & ever when it's commercially & politically expedient to do so
Historically: it's small presses (and self-pubs) who've held the line
Big-brand publishers, like most big corporations, will support us only & ever when it's commercially & politically expedient to do so
Historically: it's small presses (and self-pubs) who've held the line
Depressing news reported at @lgbtqnation.com:
Publishers are “stepping back” from LGBTQ+ books amid bans & the current GOP president
www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/01/publ...
#kidlit #queerkidlit #lgbtq #booksky
Publishers are “stepping back” from LGBTQ+ books amid bans & the current GOP president
www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/01/publ...
#kidlit #queerkidlit #lgbtq #booksky
Publishers are “stepping back” from LGBTQ+ books amid bans & the current GOP president - LGBTQ Nation
"In the face of so many book bans and so much concern about decreasing school library sales of queer content" publishers are "passing" on LGBTQ+ books.
www.lgbtqnation.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:21 PM
Support queer indie publishers (and authors), if you want queer stories to keep being told
Big-brand publishers, like most big corporations, will support us only & ever when it's commercially & politically expedient to do so
Historically: it's small presses (and self-pubs) who've held the line
Big-brand publishers, like most big corporations, will support us only & ever when it's commercially & politically expedient to do so
Historically: it's small presses (and self-pubs) who've held the line
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
Please, PLEASE. Read this thread.
just a reminder that we aren’t even seeing the worst of what is happening in Minneapolis from someone detailed at the Whipple Federal Building yesterday
January 13, 2026 at 2:52 PM
Please, PLEASE. Read this thread.