Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel)
@nicomaramckay.com
12K followers 610 following 18K posts
Historian in Tkaronto (Toronto). Likes bats, monsters, sincereposting, and alt text. Genderqueer. Trans. Autistic. 40s. 👬 🧛 nicomaramckay.com There will be typos. Ephemeral Record of trans and queer histories: patreon.com/ephemeralrecord
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
nicomaramckay.com
I added half a dozen new entries to the Bibliography of Medieval Trans Studies, with a shoutout to @tswingard.bsky.social who added a few things recently as well. (Thank you!!)

There are a ton of great resources on here, many of which are freely accessible.
Bibliography of Medieval Trans Studies
A Bibliography of Medieval Trans Studies This list builds on the works of several other great queer lists, namely: Lucy Allen's "A 'Queer Medieval' Reading List," Jeanne de Montbaston: Reading Mediev...
docs.google.com
nicomaramckay.com
Is it just me having issue seeing this? If it is, I'll delete.

Maybe it's a weird glitch on what I can and cannot see?
Reposted by Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel)
broadwaybabyto.bsky.social
Disabled people are not the enemy

Immigrants are not the enemy

LGBTQ+ people are not the enemy

Minorities & people of colour are not the enemy

These division tactics only work because there’s one group who needs to feel superior to the rest of us

They will “other” anyone to advance their agenda
Reposted by Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel)
nicomaramckay.com
Another casualty that definitely isn't connected to the Bluesky CEO's ongoing meltdown.

Totally just a coincidence.
Excerpt from article:

Third update: The Follow Tracker labeller — the tool that showed who was following nine prominent racists, transphobes, and other figures popular with the US alt-right — is shutting down. Its operator insists this isn’t because of Bluesky’s CEO (and thus, presumably, not because the labeller identified her as following two well known anti-trans activists), but rather “because some of you can’t be trusted to use this information reasonably and responsibly,” which is a curious justification coming from an account literally named @for.shame.wtf.
nicomaramckay.com
Another casualty that definitely isn't connected to the Bluesky CEO's ongoing meltdown.

Totally just a coincidence.
Excerpt from article:

Third update: The Follow Tracker labeller — the tool that showed who was following nine prominent racists, transphobes, and other figures popular with the US alt-right — is shutting down. Its operator insists this isn’t because of Bluesky’s CEO (and thus, presumably, not because the labeller identified her as following two well known anti-trans activists), but rather “because some of you can’t be trusted to use this information reasonably and responsibly,” which is a curious justification coming from an account literally named @for.shame.wtf.
Reposted by Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel)
bullwark.bsky.social
Lol how do you irresponsibly use the information that someone is following a racist or a transphobe?
for.shame.wtf
Some of you are blaming @jay.bsky.team or @bsky.app in general, or claiming that this is being forced by @moderation.bsky.app. That could not be further from the truth. I'm shutting it down of my own volition because some of you can't be trusted to use this information reasonably and responsibly.
Reposted by Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel)
neekko.art
Good read. Very detailed and researched with all the linked sources! Do better, Bsky team.
nicomaramckay.com
tl;dr: Bluesky began with genuine promise: a new social media platform where users could feel safer, but inconsistent moderation quickly eroded trust.

When systemically marginalized users pushed back, Bluesky’s leadership minimized concerns and began to target them for bans.
Bluesky’s CEO meltdown: How leadership continues to fail its most marginalized users
tl;dr: Bluesky began with genuine promise: a new social media platform where systemically marginalized users could feel safer, but…
plutopsyche.medium.com
nicomaramckay.com
Thank you! I said much the same thing.
nicomaramckay.com
Haha, that's basically what I did with my responses.
Reposted by Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel)
andytseng.bsky.social
In case you’re wondering why #Blacksky is trending, @nicomaramckay.com’s piece offers deep insight. I don’t have all the facts, but what I’ve seen is worrying. Silence from @jay.bsky.team & @bsky.app only adds confusion. I support #ATProtocol & #Decentralization, but #Bluesky users deserve better.
nicomaramckay.com
tl;dr: Bluesky began with genuine promise: a new social media platform where users could feel safer, but inconsistent moderation quickly eroded trust.

When systemically marginalized users pushed back, Bluesky’s leadership minimized concerns and began to target them for bans.
Bluesky’s CEO meltdown: How leadership continues to fail its most marginalized users
tl;dr: Bluesky began with genuine promise: a new social media platform where systemically marginalized users could feel safer, but…
plutopsyche.medium.com
Reposted by Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel)
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
Sooooo search is broken, right? What's Jay melting down over today??
screnshot of the search page for bsky (webbrowser) showing the search term 'banana' and no results.
Reposted by Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel)
gaildrakes.bsky.social
Are you a non-Black person pissed at Bluesky leadership and feeling a little jealous of all the good vibes coming from Blacksky?

There are Blacksky adjacent options for you! Here’s info from the Blacksky migration guide!

docs.blacksky.community/migrating-to...
Screengrab from Blacksky migration guide:

blacksky algorithms

A Warning: Anyone else using a blacksky.app handle will receive a warning at first and then a suspension.

Alternative PDSs for Everyone
Blacksky Algorithms also operates two other
PDSs that are open to anyone:
• myatproto.social - Open to all
• cryptoanarchy.network - Open to all

These servers run on the same infrastructure as blacksky.app and are maintained by the same team, but are available for anyone to use regardless of background.
Reposted by Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel)
darjeeliarts.bsky.social
Very well written and annotated if you want to know about the ongoing and escalating bullshit happening on Bsky.

This site has never been w/o its problems but I'm so fucking mad it's shat the bed this way.

It had the chance to be such a powerhouse of a site and to watch mgmt throw it all away 🤬
nicomaramckay.com
tl;dr: Bluesky began with genuine promise: a new social media platform where users could feel safer, but inconsistent moderation quickly eroded trust.

When systemically marginalized users pushed back, Bluesky’s leadership minimized concerns and began to target them for bans.
Bluesky’s CEO meltdown: How leadership continues to fail its most marginalized users
tl;dr: Bluesky began with genuine promise: a new social media platform where systemically marginalized users could feel safer, but…
plutopsyche.medium.com
Reposted by Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel)
shengokai.blacksky.app
The more I read the responses by BlueSky's dev team, the more annoyed I am about the ways that they've squandered the promise of what this site could be.
Reposted by Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel)
slooterman.bsky.social
I think more people should be aware of how much cool stuff Link does in real life. He’s not just a poster.
thinkingautism.com
“As a neurodiversity advocate and as an autistic person, I’m really grateful for so much of the work that’s been done that allows me to be myself and to be successful being myself.” Link, who has been *banned*!?!? from this platform?

thinkingautismguide.com/2025/06/spac... #AutisticWhileBlack
Space Law, Race, and Neurodiversity: Autistic Advocate AJ Link
We live in a country & society that is built on racism. The neurodivergent community isn't free of that racism—per Autistic advocate AJ Link.
thinkingautismguide.com
Reposted by Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel)
weredawgz.blacksky.app
Folks who tell you that it’s okay to temporarily sacrifice a marginalized group in order to win

Do not care about the marginalized group
Reposted by Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel)
rude1.blacksky.team
TL; DR
In the next 5 business days you should be able to go to Link's page on blacksky.community and see his posts and he'll be able to post but people using the bsky mobile apps won't see it.
After that we'll get Blacksky-only posts up.
After that we can talk about purging bsky mod tools
fin/11
nicomaramckay.com
I will be co-presenting a workshop at The Enchanté Network‘s Together for Change Conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, 15 October 2025, representing @arquives.ca.

Learn more about our workshop and the conference here: www.nicomaramckay.com/events/works...
Poster for The Enchanté Network's Together For Change Annual Conference running from 15-17 October 2025 in Ottawa.

Pushing Forward: Building a Just and Equitable Future.

The poster features people around tables, clapping and others on a stage. It's giving a general conference vibe.
Reposted by Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel)
nicomaramckay.com
I want this place to be better. I like(d) it here.

I hope someone at Bluesky actually reads it, digests it, and starts to think about what kind of social media app they want this to be.

Not a protocol, not a testing ground, but actually see this place, its users, its culture, for what it is.
nicomaramckay.com
I want this place to be better. I like(d) it here.

I hope someone at Bluesky actually reads it, digests it, and starts to think about what kind of social media app they want this to be.

Not a protocol, not a testing ground, but actually see this place, its users, its culture, for what it is.
nicomaramckay.com
Thanks for confirming! It's weirdly reassuring right now.