Three Wins Today: Sept 2, 2025

If you don't think my wins are winny enough, you can always find your own...

Everyone is always shocked by how I’m able to find so many wins. The truth is, it’s not easy. Wins do not get as much traction in our fucked up algorithms, they just don’t, so it ends up being on us to seek them out.

When you see something good, anything, take a second to find a local news publication (an NPR, local paper, national news affiliate) and read the story, make sure it’s not from a Republican POV, and then make sure to follow them on every social you use to see what’s going on (for me, I find most stories from Threads accounts.)

I know people want these things handed to them on a silver platter, I get it. It’s what news used to be, you read or watched one source and you knew what you needed to, but that’s not the world we live in right now. It takes a bit more heavy lifting. Once you’ve done this a handful of times, you’ll see your feed shifting. Because those publications WANT to share their local wins, and you’re certainly not going to see them any other way.

And start with your own local publications. Media and Democracy Project has a Local Journalism Directory. See what local publications are in your area. Maybe even subscribe or sign up for their newsletter.

I don’t like doing this work, as in, I would be THRILLED if it was obsolete. If wins were celebrated and everyone knew that there were so many people fighting back, but until that point, I will be here, sharing wins and making sure you have the tools to keep generating hope.

And with that, here are today’s wins!

poster from the University of Memphis protest against the end of their DEI office (from Tigers Against Pollution’s IG)

Maryland

Tue, Aug 26 - Trump appointee, Judge Thomas Cullen has dismissed the Trump Administration case against Obama Appointee, Chief Justice George Russell of the US District Court for Maryland.

Back in May, Justice Russell ordered that all deportations be put on hold, for at least two days, so those at risk of deportation could get the due process they are legally required to be given.

Obviously the Trump Admin didn’t like this, so they filed a lawsuit, which did not go well for them at all.

In his ruling, dismissing the case, Judge Cullen wrote:

Any fair reading of the legal authorities cited by Defendants leads to the ineluctable conclusion that this court has no alternative but to dismiss. To hold otherwise would run counter to overwhelming precedent, depart from longstanding constitutional tradition, and offend the rule of law.

It’s another reminder that while Trump appointees this time around probably don’t care about the rule of law, most, if not all, from his first presidency, still do.

Shout out to Maryland Matters for their reporting on this story!

Memphis, Tennessee

Thu Aug 28 - Around 100 students and faculty at University of Memphis gathered for a protest organized by Tigers Against Pollution and United Campus Workers against the new Anti-DEI university policy that resulted in the head of the office, Linda Hall, being fired.

tigersagainstpollution

A post shared by @tigersagainstpollution

The flier said:

Diversity is the backbone of Memphis. To take it away from our education and all the resources tied to it is an erasure of not just Memphis history but true American history & culture. We deserve better, we deserve EQUITY. Memphis will always be diverse, whether or not you like it.

This decision in thanks to Gov Bill Lee’s new policy dismantling DEI in government.

Linda Hall had worked at the school for over 30 years. And these students will not stop fighting for her. This is their second protest since school started last week.

Who knows, if they’re loud enough for long enough, maybe the school will get a backbone and fight back rather than giving in. All I do know, is if they weren’t fighting back, I probably wouldn’t know this happened at all, and visibility is knowledge.

Ohio

Fri, Aug 29 - Christine Cockley (HD-06) addressed being a queer woman for the first time in an exclusive with Ken Schneck at the Buckeye Flame. She’s never exactly been in the closet, but since she’s married to a cis man, people made a lot of assumptions, and she is choosing to be out and proud, and yes, that is a win.

Cockley had already come out to some of her colleagues in the legislature and has found herself having to educate those around her who just don’t understand her identity.

“I have had people ask me, ‘Aren’t you just checking another box?’” Cockley said. “’If you’re queer, aren’t you just bisexual? What’s the difference? You don’t look queer. What does your husband think?’”

This is why it matters. This is why it’s a win, why it’s a story. The entire world is telling us to be less visible, but Rep Cockley, who has Republican colleagues who openly talk about wanting to hurt trans people, chose to become MORE visible. She said:

“I know that I have privilege in the sense that I’m very straight-passing,” Cockley said. “I’m married to a man, and so it feels strange to talk about being queer because it feels like sometimes I’m not queer enough.” 

But she compares this to those who characterize her as not Jewish enough (“Because I don’t observe Shabbat every week.”) or not disabled enough (“Because my ADHD isn’t visible.”). 

And just because I’m me, her legislative wins deserve some attention too.

Her co-sponsorship of the FIND Act, which would require law enforcement agencies in the state to enter missing people into the national database within 30 days of the filing of a police report.

The first Democratic amendment accepted into a Republican bill signed into law from the current General Assembly, broadening the celebration of National Farmer’s Market Week to include urban farming.

Successfully fighting for $500,000 to be earmarked for a men’s alcohol-and-other-drug recovery program in her district.

These are not small wins in a state like Ohio.

We have to stand together as a community and support each other. I just did an interview with

Barrie Rose

talking about how I don’t feel visually queer enough, sometimes it feels even more invisible than my disabilities. This helps.

Fighting back doesn’t always look like a lawsuit or organizing a protest, sometimes it’s just not hiding when the government tells you you should.

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