We're NOT Doomed: Tue, March 31, 2026
Good things take a long time in Government
My best friend would have been….34 today, I think. We met when I was 4 and she was 7. She lived around the block from me, we had our ups and downs for sure, but she was my best friend in the entire world.
Whenever I think of her, I can’t not think of that series we no longer name. Cause it was her special interest. To an extent that I can’t even comprehend, even to this day. Every single wall of her room was covered in fanart and magazine articles from the books and movies and fans alike. Most of the music she listened to was wizard rock (though there was some classic rock, musicals, and lilith fair women too.)
I remember when the 7th book came out, she dressed up to go get it at midnight, we drove her. By the time I woke up the next morning, she had not only read it, but read it three times and was already on the forums dissecting every single moment.
That world and that story was something that connected us.
She died of Neurofibromatosis in 2017.
I instantly bought everything I could, everything with snowy owls and sand timers and letters and lions, anything and everything to continue to keep her alive.
She was the biggest reader I knew and about to start school to become a librarian (which, at the time I did not think was nearly as cool as I do now. I wish she knew how much time I spend on LibraryTok, how many of my friends are librarians — maybe it’s because of her).
We were writing this really complicated queer fanfic in the fandom together. It was my first time ever writing fanfiction and it was truly magical, to take this world that we both loved so much and use it to create our own story.
And then after she died, the world learned the truth, and when we did, some part of me was so glad she wasn’t here anymore, cause I genuinely don’t know if she would have survived losing that. Her fianceé was trans, I watched her queer journey for years and I think it might have still legitimately broken her.
But even with my history with that story and that author. Even with it being one of the only tethers I had left to her, I could not love it anymore. I gave my books to my dad. I haven’t read fanfics or watched the movies since, haven’t touched a single adaptation, and I instantly gave away all my merch.
The point is, if I can do it, so can you.
It’s hard. It’s scary to give up something that affected my life so completely, but I had to.
I mean that author is personally responsible for causing so much pain and anguish and struggle in the UK and around the world. She is like the American Christian Nationalists going to African countries to convince them homosexuality is evil, except her specialty is transphobia.
And it doesn’t even stop there. I never noticed her stories were antisemitic as a kid, or racist, but obviously they are, obviously it’s there, I was just too blinded by the feeling of belonging the fandom created single-handedly.
It was such a safe space for queer kids and those who didn’t know yet that they were queer. She created a world for those she hated and still does.
I can’t be part of that. It’s not just that she’s a bad person, it’s that she’s actively working to destroy the world and compassion as we speak. This isn’t in the past this is our present and future.
She’s alive, and she’s destructive right now, as you’re reading this.
It’s not like other shitty authors who did shitty things in the past. Reading their work doesn’t harm more people today.
Reading her work, giving her breath and energy LITERALLY empowers her to be more evil.
So it doesn’t matter that it’s hard for me to remember my friend sometimes. And it doesn’t matter that that was the biggest thing we shared, because the lives of trans people matters more.
And who knows, maybe she would have survived the devastation. Maybe it would have just strengthened her resolve to be loud and active and unapologetically queer. I wish I had a chance to find out.
Alanna, I love you and miss you. I can’t believe it’s been nine years. I think you’d love who I am now. I wish I got to know who you would have become too.
Nepal
Thu, March 5 - On this Trans Day of Visibility, I want to introduce you to Bhumika Shrestha. She was just elected as an MP in Nepal and she is the first trans woman to become a lawmaker in the country.
When she was elected, she told AFP:
I am very excited but also feel the responsibility on my shoulders. Our constitution has provisions for our community but they have not translated to laws and policies. Our community expects me to raise our issues (in parliament).
This was the first election since the previous corrupt government was taken down and the party she is in, the Rastriya Swatantra Party, which is centrist, won just shy of 2/3 of the seats.
It makes me feel less Doomed to see a first like this especially after the end of the previous government, given what we are living through here.
West Virginia
Fri, March 12 - The West Virginia legislative session ended, and it’s a perfect reminder that just because a bill is introduced, even if it’s introduced in the reddest state in the country, it’s not a foregone conclusion that it will become law.
ACLU West Virginia put together a infographic of all the bills that died:
Every piece of anti queer legislation
The camping ban, that basically criminalized being unhoused
Attacks on voting by mail
The attempt to put bibles in every classroom
Making it a criminal act to get a medical abortion from out of state
Those are some MASSIVE wins. There was a lot of work put into making these bills die, from the ACLU and other organizations in West Virginia, but in the end, they failed.
We are NOT Doomed, WE have the power.
Wisconsin
Wed, March 18 - Governor Tony Evers’ term is almost up, but he finally completed one of his first promises after almost eight years. A new parent will continue to have health care for a year after they give birth which increase the time from 60 days.
Evers said:
Almost seven years ago to the day, I first proposed expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to a full year. It was one of the very first things I announced back in 2019 as part of my very first budget, and it’s been in every budget I’ve ever introduced as governor—that’s how long I’ve been fighting to get this done, folks.
It’s an important reminder of how long it takes to get something done in the government, federal, state or local. But that doesn’t mean that it won’t continue to be worked on, or we should give up. Even in a state as gerrymandered and with as much Republican bullshit as Wisconsin.
This makes me feel less Doomed!
So those are some reasons to make you feel less Doomed today. I hope they help!
And remember, our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!