We have reached the point where the Trump regime is literally withholding vaccines from children to prevent them from being vaccinated.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/23/covid-vaccines-delay-children

#USPolitics #USPol #Vaccines

Seth Moulton did not walk away from Omelas.

He decided that the suffering of trans girls was necessary for society.

Now society has walked away from him.

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/seth-moulton-abandoned-trans-people

#trans #transgender #USPol #Massachusetts

Unwritten Rules of Conversation

i have never understood any of the unwritten rules of conversation that neurotypical (and many neurodivergent!) people follow, and even though i’m 56 years old i have only this past year started trying to write down what i have been able to figure out on my own. Most of these things come from making the same mistake over and over and over again until the pattern finally becomes clear. i am going to post them here and update this post over time as i learn more rules. Maybe this will help someone else someday.

• Do not talk about suicide with anyone other than a therapist. It will be perceived as manipulation. Even if i think someone cares for me or that they might understand from personal experience, do not discuss it. It will only lead to them feeling hurt. Maybe it’s OK to talk about it in support groups where suicide really is a common thing.
• Do not discuss ideas that come into my head during a conversation, no matter how lighthearted or unimportant they may be. It will be perceived as arguing.
• Do not try to express empathy for someone by relating their experience to one of my own. It will be perceived as “making things about myself”.
• Do not offer explanations for your behavior. That will be interpreted as “making excuses”. If someone insists on an explanation the you must preface it with a statement such as “this is not an excuse” which will probably be ignored anyway. The only safe thing to do is apologize without any explanations.
• Say “You’re right” instead of “I know”.
• Unsolicited advice is criticism.
• Saying what i would do in a situation is perceived as the same thing as giving advice.

#ActuallyAustistic

i've spent two days reading everything i can about DID, PDID, OSDD and plurality in general. i'm pretty sure i don't have DID for the reasons mentioned above, but PDID and OSDD are so loosely defined that i honestly can't say whether they apply to me or not. If i ever want to know that, i'll really have to see a specialist. Although right now i'm seeing a specialist about Autism and that's kind of my big focus at the moment. This plurality stuff just came out of left field and hit me in the head and i don't really have the time to properly devote to it.

i'm also getting ready to start a new semester of college where i'm studying (surprise!) psychology! How appropriate.

So anyway, i guess this ramble is my way of announcing to the Fediverse that i am some sort of plural.

Plural, Not Otherwise Specified.

Hello from (oh gods this is awkward) all of us.

2/2

OK here goes nothing. i'm certain i don't have DID. The diagnostic criteria (apart from exclusions) are

A - 2 or more personality states.
B - gaps in memory
C - significant distress

Well i dont have C, that's for sure. i don't think i have B. But A? Two days ago i would also have said no, but now? i'm not so sure.

Saturday afternoon i had an extensive conversation with someone i haven't spoken to since the 90's. He is Reason, and i always thought of him as the personification of the coldly rational side of who i am. He used to talk to me a lot, in the 80's and 90's. Mostly he would show up when i was thinking about emotionally difficult issues and offer an emotionless analysis of the situation and advise me on what i should do. One time he even talked me out of a suicide attempt by pointing out the irrational ways i was behaving and convincing me that i wasn't in my right mind and therefore wasn't capable of making decisions about my life. He literally saved my life. But after i had my surgery in the 90's he went away. i never really thought about why that was.

Cue Saturday when i was talking to some of my friends who have or suspect they have DID, and the conversation got me to thinking about Reason. i mentioned to some friends that i thought that if my life had gone differently, if i hadn't resolved the trauma of being trans by transitioning and getting surgery, that i might have eventually developed DID myself. And then Reason suddenly pops in to say "Hi! I'm still here!"

Then that night while trying to go to bed, another someone who i haven't heard from since the 80's shows up too. She used to be part of how i dealt with being a closeted trans girl in junior high and high school. She hadn't really been around since college when i finally decided to do something about being trans.

And now, thanks to actually knowing some systems irl, and having just taken an abnormal psych class and formally studied this a bit, my mind is suddenly putting all of these past experiences into a new framework, and i'm freaking out.

1/2

#plural

I'm going to make this excerpt from a previous post into a pinned message. If anyone has other resources to suggest, especially resources outside the USA and Canada, please let me know about them in a response and I'll add them to the list.

If you are feeling suicidal, please talk to someone about it. If you have no one else to talk to, there are telephone hotlines you can call to talk to a trained volunteer who can help you through this. In the USA and Canada you can call

• USA Trans Lifeline – For transgender people – 1-877-565-8860
• Canadian Trans Lifeline – For transgender people 1-877-330-6366
• The Trevor Project – For LGBTQ youth – 1-866-488-7386
• Suicide hotline in USA and Canada – For everyone – 988

#suicide

@oldladyplays

You can't be what you can't see

You posted this in a thread today, Cait. And you also posted a photo of you wearing your new necklace. And you've inspired me.

I've been debating just how anonymous I should be with this account. When I set it up my intent was for it to be completely anonymous because I was afraid of transphobes using it against me, but lately I've been thinking it would be better to be a proudly visible trans woman in defiance of the tidal wave of hate crashing against our shores.

So here's a photo of me, everyone. 56 years old. 30 years on from the start of my transition. Proof that trans women can exist and thrive in the USA even today. Screw the haters.