Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

Sometimes, blogging is overwhelming.

Tonight is one of those times. I just published a post about being a disabled person relying on Social Security Disability Insurance after adding a few finishing touches. After getting home from a 3 and 1/2 hour play that I have to review.

I received two additional Political Q&A responses that I’ll have to format and publish ASAP.

And then I checked in with the Trans Violence Group on Facebook and realized there are at least EIGHT memorials I have to write, most from previous years. Folx who were overlooked or forgotten otherwise missed. It reminds me of the time in October 2023 when I took three weeks off from blogging and came back to 10 memorials waiting to be written.

Back then, I decided to write one post per day to avoid overwhelming myself. I’ll do the same now.

But this does not bode well. Finding lost trans victims is important, likely due to more web traffic about the trans community. But who is going to memorialize them? The volunteer trans violence researchers and TDoR organizers, yes. But there are just a handful of outlets that regularly document epidemic of violence in the United States. What impact will federal funding cuts, inflation, and a strong possibility of a Trumpcession have on these efforts? Staff cuts, fewer resources, etc.

Meanwhile, we anticipate growth in anti-trans violence thanks to the relentless scapegoating by the Trump/MAGA crowd.

What is needed are more cisgender volunteers to do this work, under the guidance and leadership of the trans community. I’m doing my best, but I can’t maintain this pace or this level of secondhand trauma.

So if you can write and you are an ally to the trans community, step up. You don’t have to be as immersed as me, but if you can contribute one or two posts a month or so, it will matter. Of course, I would never exclude someone trans identified from contributing, but I would never ask that of them.

You can publish on your own platform, but you are welcome to publish on mine. What matters is that we honor this request by the trans community to honor the lives and acknowledge the deaths of these neighbors.

I’ve got a project in the works to bring more resources to this work. Not a staggering amount, but some creative partnerships to really help fill gaps in supports. I’ll share more details soon.

In the meantime, bolster the trans community in your region. Invest, volunteer, attend events, and the many other ways to show your commitment.

The thing about blogging is that moving from one topic to another requires a lot of energy. All of the topics matter. Publishing candidate Q&A’s is very important for this upcoming election. Diving into the arts with an intersectional lens is necessary in Pittsburgh. Monitoring assaults on the Social Security Administration matters.

It is just getting hard for me to do it all by myself.