Tag: trans
Judy Blume tweets support of trans community amid J.K. Rowling controversy
Famed coming-of-age novelist Judy Blume has publicly expressed support of the LGBTQ community, in a response to a recent Sunday Times interview that appeared to align her with the anti-trans statements of fellow author J.K. Rowling.
The Sunday Times quoted Blume as saying, “I am behind her 100 percent as I watch from afar.” The story’s headline reads, “The bestselling children’s writer has shaped the minds of millions, just like the Harry Potter author — and she’s every bit as controversial.”
In a statement posted to Blume’s Twitter account on April 16, Blume said the comment was “taken out of context” and that she was merely expressing empathy with those who have been harassed online.
“I wholly support the trans community… I stand with the trans community and vehemently disagree with anyone who does not fully support equality and acceptance for LGBTQIA+ people. Anything to the contrary is total bullshit.”
Blume, known for her best-selling stories about sexuality, puberty, and other topics once seen as “taboo” for young children, is back in the press cycle for the newly released adaptation of her book Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. The book follows the story of an 11-year-old girl who is navigating the perils of becoming an adult, like growing apart from friends, sex-ed classes, menstruation, and even her own faith.
Following the story’s publication, some Twitter users came to Blume’s defense, noting that the article’s author, Hadley Freeman, has been criticized for her “gender critical” stances and even previously accused of interviewing literary icons to garner support of anti-trans rhetoric. In February 2022, Freeman profiled The Handmaid’s Tale author Margaret Atwood for The Guardian, questioning whether her anti-cancel culture stance was contradicted by her expression of support for the trans community in response to comments from Rowling.
Freeman issued a response to Blume on Monday, tweeting, “I don’t normally respond to nonsense like this because it’s absurd. But here are screenshots of Judy Blume’s and my conversation. For the record, my quotes are accurate and not disputed. I did not ask Blume about the criticisms against J.K. Rowling — she brought them up herself.”
In light of the controversy, Blume also posted quotes that reiterated her stance against book-banning and censorship, specifically noting her thoughts on the rise of anti-LGBTQ legislation while speaking at Variety’s Power of Women luncheon in April.
“I would like to end this on a sweet and positive note but the reality is, we are right back where we were in the ’80s except it’s the ’80s on steroids,” Blume said to event attendees. “This time it’s not the moral majority or only the religious right. This time it is coming from our government. Lawmakers, drunk with power, with a need to control everything. Sure it’s still sexuality, but it’s gender, it’s LGBTQ+, it’s racism, it’s history itself that’s under fire.”
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TikTokkers, led by Mercury Stardust, double $1 million livestream goal for trans healthcare
As the country honors Transgender Day of Visibility – and legislators simultaneously debate access to life-saving treatments — TikTokkers have put their money where their mouths are, raising more than $1 million for trans healthcare services in less than six hours.
The donations came through a social media livestream takeover by Mercury Stardust, also known as TikTok’s “Trans Handy Ma’am”, and creator and advocate Jory (known as @AlluringSkull). This is the second annual “TikTok-A-Thon for Trans Healthcare” led by Stardust, who raised $120,000 last year in a 24-hour livestream.
What was initiated as an elongated 30-hour livestream running Thursday through Friday night and once again benefiting nonprofit Point of Pride — an organization created by former trans apparel brand Point 5cc to fund gender-affirming clothes, treatments, and surgeries for trans folks around the country — turned into an astonishingly speedy, mutual aid fundraising project.
The livestream hosts, accompanied by Point of Pride president and co-founder Aydian Dowling, had met their first $250,000 goal before the event even kicked off. “We raised 50k in one hour during a test stream last night! This money will provide help to 11k Trans ppl who can’t access it otherwise! Thank you to everyone who has supported this already,” Stardust wrote in an Instagram post days prior to the livestream.
By 10:30 p.m. Thursday, the fundraiser had collected $930,000. In the five minutes it took the group to spot a spider floating in frame and concoct a plan to move it outside, the fundraiser has gained another $5,000.
According to the fundraiser’s Point of Pride donation page, all proceeds will go to the organization’s Gender Affirming Care Access fund, part of a series of scholarship and grant-giving opportunities hosted by Point of Pride to provide Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and other gender affirming surgeries and treatments. The TikTok funds will provide one year of free HRT access for at least 100 applicants and additional services for another 250 recipients. Additional funds will support donations of chest binders and femme shapewear to more than 3,000 recipients, with the potential to help 11,000 trans people.
Upon hitting the $1 million mark, under a shower of confetti, Dowling popped in frame to make a statement. “The amount of beauty and joy that this is going to bring… This couldn’t have come at a better time.”
“If you take away our healthcare, we will find a way to support each other,” Stardust told the livestream viewers. “Like we always have. Mutual aid at its finest.”
The TikTok-A-Thon, which has increased its goal to $2 million, will run until 11 p.m. EST on March 31. Tune in on TikTok or Instagram, or text “STARDUST” to 44-321 for more information.