Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 15h

I know. The article really resonated even though I'm in CA. I am hoping to retire early and leave for LATAM and people be like oh they won't arrest you. I tried to explain the psychological cost, the fear, the nightmares. Like being in an abusive relationship. There's a cost.

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 17h

"But at the airport, after they had already scanned their passports, received boarding passes, checked in their bags, and cleared security, ... he and his family were not allowed to board their flight. Upon arrival at their boarding gate, their reservations had suddenly disappeared ..."

David Gilbert @davidgilbert.bsky.social · 18h

How Mark Bray, author of the book on antifa, was targeted with death threats:

— Trump signs EO designating antifa as terrorists
— DHS memo warns about "antifa-aligned" individuals
— Far-right trolls target Bray on X
— TPUSA treasurer launches petition against Bray

www.wired.com/story/mark-b...

He Wrote a Book About Antifa. Death Threats Are Driving Him Out of the US

Rutgers historian Mark Bray is trying to flee to Spain after after an online campaign from far-right influencers was followed by death threats. He was turned back at the airport on his first attempt.

www.wired.com

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 20h

"Almost every person who answered The News’ survey said they’d had more trouble sleeping and felt less safe in public spaces since November. Over two-thirds said they’d been thinking more about suicide."

ghostly gwen howerton @kissphoria.bsky.social · 21h

My dope friend Adrian, who is trans, interviewed 90 transgender Texans. His project is finally out: www.dallasnews.com/news/politic...

We surveyed 90 trans Texans. Most said they’re living in fear and weighing a move

Respondents said anti-trans policies have complicated their sense of home in Texas and pushed them to consider leaving the state.

www.dallasnews.com

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Reposted by Miles Whitney

Sheryl Weikal and the colorful Parrotlegals @leftistlawyer.com · 3d

Conversion therapy destroys you. It's torture. I was waterboarded with vinegar until I said I was a boy and wanted to be a boy. I still have nightmares about it to this day.

That's what they want SCOTUS to protect.

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 2d

Oh man I didn't even think of that. Ugh.

Joe 👻 BOO! 👻 dek @joedudekjd.bsky.social · 2d

Man. Justice Alito is going to wind up voting (1) FOR gender-affirming care bans, because states get to regulate that medicine and (2) AGAINST conversion therapy bans, because states do not get to regulate that medicine. He will not experience cognitive dissonance.

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Reposted by Miles Whitney

eva (^_^)/ @eva.computer · 2d

for example, there is a spectrum of fair or unfair things that can happen if you (a cis person) commit a crime and are sent to prison

but i will most likely be placed in a men's prison and raped to death no matter the crime/sentence (V coding) with the alternative being solitary confinement forever

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 2d

Under the Third Reich, most Germans generally lived in the law-bound normative state, while Jews and other disfavored people were victims of the arbitrary and violent prerogative state.

The dual state is characterized by the facade of normalcy obscuring the fact of an authoritarian state.

The “dual state” theory was invented to describe Nazis. The Supreme Court could take us there.

Authoritarianism—but make it look like the rule of law.

www.motherjones.com

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 2d

"If speaking out is the only choice for people of conscience, is there a right way to do it? Along with my wife, Ellie, herself a veteran journalist, we decided that regrouping in a friendlier setting was the best means for us. But there is no correct tactic, only an imperative to keep going...."

Assigned Media @assignedmedia.org · 2d

Her grandmother moved from Ireland to America for a better life, now @billiejsweeney.bsky.social is going back.

America Was Once a Place For Brighter Futures — Assigned

Billie Jean Sweeney’s grandmother left Ireland in search of a better life. Now Sweeney’s pinning her hopes for safety on a reverse trip.

www.assignedmedia.org

Reposted by Miles Whitney

Moira Donegan @moiradonegan.bsky.social · 2d

Yet another day of needless cruelty towards queer kids, who are perfect just the way they are. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

Supreme Court Live Updates: Justices Seem Set to Rule Against Colorado’s Ban on Conversion Therapy

www.nytimes.com

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 3d

This looks like a good organization to support.

Capital B @capitalb.bsky.social · 3d

A new nonprofit provides resources to Black families of transgender and nonbinary youth at a moment of heightened political hostility.

No One Was Helping Black Transgender Youth. So These Parents Stepped In.

A new nonprofit provides resources to Black families of transgender and nonbinary youth at a moment of heightened political hostility.

capitalbnews.org

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 6d

This is just so true.

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 9d

Wow thank you that was amazing!

Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 10d

It's exhausting. This weekend I packed my go bag. I fear that they will lift the passport stay then revoke mine, drag out the reissuance during which time I won't have an exit if things get worse. Hope to set something up to help others follow if they can ( LATAM )

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 10d

My grandfather HATED Catholics. Anyway I agree, once they consolidate I think they will cut loose other denominations. And then narrow even more. Help us all if they can't decide whether baptism can be by sprinkling or there has to be full immersion.

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 11d

One thing that is so weird for me is that I'm actually religious, not just spiritual. I'm of a different faith but I feel this misses the mark spiritually. The idea of having faith is not that the world has to be refashioned to make people of faith comfortable.

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 11d

"Elevating transgender status under the Fourteenth
Amendment will shatter the framework of rights and
protections refecting this Nation’s fundamental com-
mitment to religious freedom."

Wow so much power.

Ciara RayneCloud @ciararaynecloud.bsky.social · 11d

Hey so... did you know that the Mormon Church filed an amicus curiae brief on the 19th of September? Me either...

www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24...

In short, "Giving trans people rights hurts us because it ruins our religious freedom to be bigots!"

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 12d

Run fast beautifuls!

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 12d

"Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity."

Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 12d

State Dept's revoking visa of Colombia's president because he said in Spanish

"That's why from here, from New York I ask all the soldiers of the army of the United States not to point their guns at people. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity."

www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...

www.reuters.com

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 12d

The first time my boss sent me to court it was to basically drop off an ex parte request to shorten time. He assured me that it was a given. Judge comes out and grills me then denies it which is the funny part.

I can't get my head around this at all.

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 13d

Kenya! 😎

Wagatwe Wanjuki @wagatwe.com · 16d

it's so nice to see what a functioning judiciary looks like

"A transgender woman in the East African nation of Kenya has won a landmark court victory in which the judge not only found in her favour, but ordered the government to pass a Transgender Protection Rights Act."

fuck yeah

Kenya transgender rights victory hailed as African first

QNews LGBTIQA+ News

qnews.com.au

Reposted by Miles Whitney

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 13d

What might not occur to you upon reading this headline is that, in other words, ICE is targeting gay men of color

Every queer press org should be picking up this story

Cruising crackdown in Penn Station bathroom puts at least 20 men in ICE custody

State and city laws prohibit local police departments from turning people over to ICE. That restriction does not apply to the federally run Amtrak Police Department.

gothamist.com

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 14d

newrepublic.com/article/2008...

With this move to target trans “violent extremism,” Berger told me, “exactly how it would play out is anyone’s guess in the short term. But the arc is not going to be bending toward justice.”

The Right’s Baseless Project to Link Trans People With Extremism

A campaign for the FBI to adopt a new designation of “transgender ideology–inspired violence and extremism” is less about law enforcement than politics.

newrepublic.com

Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 17d

The First Amendment Should Protect Trans People’s Passports — Assigned share.google/klKOKQRJ0D5u...

A piece I wrote earlier about forcing trans people to use a M or F as prohibited compelled speech under the 1A. The government now explicitly says M/F is gov. speech in it's request to the USSC.

The First Amendment Should Protect Trans People’s Passports — Assigned

Trump’s executive order defining sex made it clear that passport sex markers will now carry an ideological message. The constitution protects Americans from being forced to endorse ideological message...

share.google

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 17d

assets.aclu.org/live/uploads...

A very quick scan of this shows that the government is explicitly stating that gender markers on passports is government speech.

I hope the ACLU bears down on the argument that it is prohibited compelled speech under the 1A.

assets.aclu.org

Reposted by Miles Whitney

Io Dodds 🌘🏳️‍⚧️♾️ @iododds.bsky.social · 20d

NEW: The ultraconservative think tank behind Project 2025 is pushing Trump's FBI to treat 'violent transgender extremism' as a new domestic terror threat.

Their definition is incredibly wide, and suggests that "cisgender" and "deadnaming" are extremist terms. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Group behind Project 2025 urges FBI to brand ‘transgender extremists’ a terror threat

In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death, the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation proposed a broad definition of trans ‘extremism’ that would seemingly cover a wide range of pro-LGBT+ activism

www.independent.co.uk

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 20d

This is such an outrage.