Jessica Kant
@jessdkant.bsky.social
Researcher, therapist, heavily caffeinated. Frequently described as a bit of a handful. 🖤 (She/her) 🏳️⚧️ jessk.org/blog
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Welcome to the anti-trans outrage factory — Jessica Kant
When I first wrote Anatomy of a moral panic in February 2024, I had only a faint glimmer of what was to come.The astronomical rise in stories about trans people that I’d collected over the previous ye...
jessk.org
Part 3: "The astronomical rise in stories about trans people that I’d collected over the previous year told a different story. This massive, messy dataset was brimming with increasingly vile headlines that only seemed to metastasize with time. ... two years later we know how the story turns out."
Reposted by Jessica Kant
Cass dismissed all but the highest “quality” evidence for gender-affirmative healthcare, then failed to hold her own “solutions” to the same standard.
An unreasonably high standard of evidence for GAHT while her proposals were supported by no credible evidence whatsoever.
She has zero credibility.
An unreasonably high standard of evidence for GAHT while her proposals were supported by no credible evidence whatsoever.
She has zero credibility.
February 16, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Cass dismissed all but the highest “quality” evidence for gender-affirmative healthcare, then failed to hold her own “solutions” to the same standard.
An unreasonably high standard of evidence for GAHT while her proposals were supported by no credible evidence whatsoever.
She has zero credibility.
An unreasonably high standard of evidence for GAHT while her proposals were supported by no credible evidence whatsoever.
She has zero credibility.
Juxtaposed against the narrative of some fictional world where being trans is the ultimate ticket to popularity, is the truth that the majority of trans kids choose to fly quietly under the radar and just live their lives. Who adults then publicly ridicule when they disclose or someone finds out.
This entire narrative depends on a willful blindness to the basic realities of trans life in America. Being trans, especially as a child, is hard! Kids are not getting hoisted on their classmates’ shoulders the minute they put on a dress. There are huge pressures to be cis, not to stay trans.
February 16, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Juxtaposed against the narrative of some fictional world where being trans is the ultimate ticket to popularity, is the truth that the majority of trans kids choose to fly quietly under the radar and just live their lives. Who adults then publicly ridicule when they disclose or someone finds out.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
This is one of the best things I've read about the disinformation war shifting the political landscape. As important as the Cambridge Analytica expose
Because the universe has a sense of humor, there's now a debate in the Joe Rogan subreddit (yeah, no idea) about whether my Fox News data is real, so here's a subdirectory on the repo for outlet-specific data and here are 2,157 unique URLs of stories published 2023-2025. 💅
github.com/jessicakay/g...
github.com/jessicakay/g...
February 15, 2026 at 3:38 AM
This is one of the best things I've read about the disinformation war shifting the political landscape. As important as the Cambridge Analytica expose
Unbelievable that we still talk about withholding HIV funding as a form of political maneuvering rather than an act of social murder, as if the 80’s + 90’s never happened and we didn’t lose an entire generation to this already.
Judge blocks Trump admin from rescinding health grants to Democratic-led states
The ruling temporarily blocks the Trump Administration from cutting $600 million in public health grants that had already been allocated to four Democratic-led states.
www.npr.org
February 16, 2026 at 1:45 AM
Unbelievable that we still talk about withholding HIV funding as a form of political maneuvering rather than an act of social murder, as if the 80’s + 90’s never happened and we didn’t lose an entire generation to this already.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
Trans people are the only UK citizens that are considered 'guilty, until proven innocent'
... and even when proved innocent, are still paraded in the media as a monster.
... and even when proved innocent, are still paraded in the media as a monster.
Susan Smith of For Women Scotland is quoted in this piece saying that Dr Upton leaving the NHS will be "a relief to female patients."
The employment tribunal found that Upton had done nothing wrong! She was completely innocent of any kind of harassment!
www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/1592555...
The employment tribunal found that Upton had done nothing wrong! She was completely innocent of any kind of harassment!
www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/1592555...
Trans doc at centre of landmark Sandi Peggie court battle quits NHS
THE trans medic at the heart of a changing room war that cost taxpayers a staggering £400,000 has walked out on the NHS. NHS Fife bosses racked up the eye-watering bill in a failed bid to hush up n…
www.thescottishsun.co.uk
February 15, 2026 at 12:01 PM
Trans people are the only UK citizens that are considered 'guilty, until proven innocent'
... and even when proved innocent, are still paraded in the media as a monster.
... and even when proved innocent, are still paraded in the media as a monster.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
The anti-trans propaganda push is one of the best examples I know of real-world disinformation in action.
Part 3: "The astronomical rise in stories about trans people that I’d collected over the previous year told a different story. This massive, messy dataset was brimming with increasingly vile headlines that only seemed to metastasize with time. ... two years later we know how the story turns out."
Welcome to the anti-trans outrage factory — Jessica Kant
When I first wrote Anatomy of a moral panic in February 2024, I had only a faint glimmer of what was to come.The astronomical rise in stories about trans people that I’d collected over the previous ye...
jessk.org
February 15, 2026 at 12:13 AM
The anti-trans propaganda push is one of the best examples I know of real-world disinformation in action.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
Someone has sure already made this observation but the fact they can convert all those empty warehouses into prison camps means they could have converted them into housing, community centers, job training centers or, hell, libraries or schools all along. It’s always a matter of will not resources.
February 15, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Someone has sure already made this observation but the fact they can convert all those empty warehouses into prison camps means they could have converted them into housing, community centers, job training centers or, hell, libraries or schools all along. It’s always a matter of will not resources.
When I first transitioned, I would drive a mile to a public gender neutral bathroom rather than use one at work. I found out later a dozen staff held “meetings” about what they would do if I used the women’s room. I was their boss’s boss at the time, still had no recourse, just had to let it happen.
The BBC reporting on Beth Upton’s current employment situation is definitely not in the public interest, and it is insane how much the British press freely get away with harassing her for the crime of simply living her life existing as a trans person in the UK.
February 15, 2026 at 1:47 PM
When I first transitioned, I would drive a mile to a public gender neutral bathroom rather than use one at work. I found out later a dozen staff held “meetings” about what they would do if I used the women’s room. I was their boss’s boss at the time, still had no recourse, just had to let it happen.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
We live in a moment when so many people in this country share the moral clarity that ICE endangers us all—only for the heads of the “opposition” party to try to quash this clarity with meaningless reforms, and to give ICE more money and power. 2020 never ended.
February 10, 2026 at 12:48 PM
We live in a moment when so many people in this country share the moral clarity that ICE endangers us all—only for the heads of the “opposition” party to try to quash this clarity with meaningless reforms, and to give ICE more money and power. 2020 never ended.
Been a weird week since i posted this this. It got picked up by a handful of news outlets, was shared tens of thousands of times, and then it too, started showing up in the 2026 data. All of that happened before the news exploded again after the week's events, and boy are the latest headlines grim.
Part 3: "The astronomical rise in stories about trans people that I’d collected over the previous year told a different story. This massive, messy dataset was brimming with increasingly vile headlines that only seemed to metastasize with time. ... two years later we know how the story turns out."
Welcome to the anti-trans outrage factory — Jessica Kant
When I first wrote Anatomy of a moral panic in February 2024, I had only a faint glimmer of what was to come.The astronomical rise in stories about trans people that I’d collected over the previous ye...
jessk.org
February 14, 2026 at 10:10 PM
Been a weird week since i posted this this. It got picked up by a handful of news outlets, was shared tens of thousands of times, and then it too, started showing up in the 2026 data. All of that happened before the news exploded again after the week's events, and boy are the latest headlines grim.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
If only there was a QR code on the gun
February 13, 2026 at 9:43 PM
If only there was a QR code on the gun
Please journalists: scientific findings don’t get “revoked” by politicians. They can be challenged or contradicted by other scientists in the presence of new evidence, sure. That didn’t happen here. Every new piece of climate science since the endangerment finding supports the original thesis.
February 13, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Please journalists: scientific findings don’t get “revoked” by politicians. They can be challenged or contradicted by other scientists in the presence of new evidence, sure. That didn’t happen here. Every new piece of climate science since the endangerment finding supports the original thesis.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
On Thanksgiving, the immigrant children held at the Dilley detention center gathered in the gym for what they thought was a holiday feast.
The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.
But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.
But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
February 13, 2026 at 7:41 PM
On Thanksgiving, the immigrant children held at the Dilley detention center gathered in the gym for what they thought was a holiday feast.
The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.
But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.
But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
See? More of this, please
ICYMI: I introduced my Trans Bill of Rights with @markey.senate.gov — legislation to defend trans people across this country as Republicans continue to push anti-trans rhetoric and bills.
To our beloved trans community: We see you, we love you, and we will always stand with you.
To our beloved trans community: We see you, we love you, and we will always stand with you.
February 13, 2026 at 8:22 PM
See? More of this, please
If only they had worn body cameras, this wouldn't have hap—
February 13, 2026 at 8:42 PM
If only they had worn body cameras, this wouldn't have hap—
Reposted by Jessica Kant
What this does to those of us with even the thickest of skins is pretty traumatic at the best of times. It wears you down and out.
a stat i always cite is the number of anti-trans articles in the press went from 60 in a year, to 7,500
February 13, 2026 at 3:37 PM
What this does to those of us with even the thickest of skins is pretty traumatic at the best of times. It wears you down and out.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
hi, cis folks!
if you’re in kansas, please call & tell your state senator & representative that revoking trans people’s documents & setting bounties on trans folks using the bathroom is fucked. tell them to support a veto—yes, even republicans.
contact info: reps.fyi
find talking points in the QP
if you’re in kansas, please call & tell your state senator & representative that revoking trans people’s documents & setting bounties on trans folks using the bathroom is fucked. tell them to support a veto—yes, even republicans.
contact info: reps.fyi
find talking points in the QP
The Kansas State Legislature just passed SB 244, an extremist bill which cruelly targets trans people and their access to restrooms and accurate identity documents.
Kansans: The time to act is NOW. 🚨
Contact your legislators and urge them to SUPPORT the veto of SB 244: tinyurl.com/2m77hbkk
Kansans: The time to act is NOW. 🚨
Contact your legislators and urge them to SUPPORT the veto of SB 244: tinyurl.com/2m77hbkk
February 13, 2026 at 3:44 AM
hi, cis folks!
if you’re in kansas, please call & tell your state senator & representative that revoking trans people’s documents & setting bounties on trans folks using the bathroom is fucked. tell them to support a veto—yes, even republicans.
contact info: reps.fyi
find talking points in the QP
if you’re in kansas, please call & tell your state senator & representative that revoking trans people’s documents & setting bounties on trans folks using the bathroom is fucked. tell them to support a veto—yes, even republicans.
contact info: reps.fyi
find talking points in the QP
I hope, but feel deeply doubtful, that at least someone at Apple realizes that if it hadn't folded last year with the app store, they wouldn't be in this position of being extorted over the news app. The second a company starts to bend, they're cooked.
February 13, 2026 at 2:40 AM
I hope, but feel deeply doubtful, that at least someone at Apple realizes that if it hadn't folded last year with the app store, they wouldn't be in this position of being extorted over the news app. The second a company starts to bend, they're cooked.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
The volume & geographic distribution of protest nationwide during year 1 of Trump's second term was extraordinary.
February 12, 2026 at 6:19 PM
The volume & geographic distribution of protest nationwide during year 1 of Trump's second term was extraordinary.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
Fox News produces more trans articles than any other outlet – including LGBTQ+ ones
https://www.thepinknews.com/2026/02/10/fox-news-trans-articles/?utm_content=1770740405&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky
https://www.thepinknews.com/2026/02/10/fox-news-trans-articles/?utm_content=1770740405&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky
Fox News produces more trans articles than any other outlet
Fox News, a right-wing media empire, produces more articles referencing trans people than any other outlet, research suggests.
www.thepinknews.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:20 PM
Fox News produces more trans articles than any other outlet – including LGBTQ+ ones
https://www.thepinknews.com/2026/02/10/fox-news-trans-articles/?utm_content=1770740405&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky
https://www.thepinknews.com/2026/02/10/fox-news-trans-articles/?utm_content=1770740405&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky
Reposted by Jessica Kant
Ring is first and foremost a scheme to charge Amazon customers to deter crime that costs Amazon (not the customers themselves) billions annually in refunds, returns, double shipping, and customer service overhead.
February 12, 2026 at 12:41 AM
Ring is first and foremost a scheme to charge Amazon customers to deter crime that costs Amazon (not the customers themselves) billions annually in refunds, returns, double shipping, and customer service overhead.
No industry has yet managed to appropriately adapt to language models in a way that preserves labor. Software engineering itself has been gutted as devs are laid off in record numbers. We don’t put enough value in actually employing people as its own social good, and we’re seeing the results.
As many have noted already, whether these tools are genuinely value adds for organizations matters less than the fact that their propagation aids management in disciplining labor and creating a labor market environment that benefits them
February 11, 2026 at 9:57 PM
No industry has yet managed to appropriately adapt to language models in a way that preserves labor. Software engineering itself has been gutted as devs are laid off in record numbers. We don’t put enough value in actually employing people as its own social good, and we’re seeing the results.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
I think a key distinction is labor cost — the costs of LLMs are currently hidden from most users bc the firms are losing money while competing for users. Once a monopoly is cemented, prices will go up and I’m not sure all firms will find LLMs are “cheaper”
February 11, 2026 at 9:37 PM
I think a key distinction is labor cost — the costs of LLMs are currently hidden from most users bc the firms are losing money while competing for users. Once a monopoly is cemented, prices will go up and I’m not sure all firms will find LLMs are “cheaper”
Reposted by Jessica Kant
I remember reading a book about the psychology of racism back in the day that cited a survey (from the 1990s, IIRC) in which the average American thought that 30% of the US was Black (it's actually like 15%) and 15% of the US was Jewish (it's actually <2%).
This is exactly right. There's a good chunk of research that says prejudice tends to inflate the perceived size of target groups. Scientists don't necessarily agree on why, but there are theories. I believe it's a combination of normal cognitive errors and deliberate manufacturing/manipulation.
This is purposeful. Not only to spread disinfo, but to make their ignorant base feel like trans people are everywhere and trying to take over everything. Everything is a fear tactic to distract from the fact the GOP are the worst evil than anything they make up about trans people.
February 11, 2026 at 6:34 PM
I remember reading a book about the psychology of racism back in the day that cited a survey (from the 1990s, IIRC) in which the average American thought that 30% of the US was Black (it's actually like 15%) and 15% of the US was Jewish (it's actually <2%).
This is exactly right. There's a good chunk of research that says prejudice tends to inflate the perceived size of target groups. Scientists don't necessarily agree on why, but there are theories. I believe it's a combination of normal cognitive errors and deliberate manufacturing/manipulation.
This is purposeful. Not only to spread disinfo, but to make their ignorant base feel like trans people are everywhere and trying to take over everything. Everything is a fear tactic to distract from the fact the GOP are the worst evil than anything they make up about trans people.
Fox News produces more trans articles than any other outlet – including LGBTQ+ ones
https://www.thepinknews.com/2026/02/10/fox-news-trans-articles/?utm_content=1770740405&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky
https://www.thepinknews.com/2026/02/10/fox-news-trans-articles/?utm_content=1770740405&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky
February 11, 2026 at 6:31 PM
This is exactly right. There's a good chunk of research that says prejudice tends to inflate the perceived size of target groups. Scientists don't necessarily agree on why, but there are theories. I believe it's a combination of normal cognitive errors and deliberate manufacturing/manipulation.