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Laura Horak

@laurah.bsky.social
7.3K followers 2.4K following 77 posts

Film Studies prof curious about all things cinematic, trans, queer, feminist. Director of @transmediaportl.bsky.social. Author: TRANS CINEMA: MAKING COMMUNITIES, IDENTITIES, AND WORLDS (2026). she/her (white cis queer)

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Laura Horak @laurah.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Please share! Violet Institute 2026 Criticism Residency The question: what is the contemporary trans canon? Applications due August 31, 2026 theviolet.org/criticism-re...
theviolet.org
Criticism Residency — Violet Institute
cargo.site
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Laura Horak @laurah.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Spread the word! We're hiring two new research assistants at the Transgender Media Portal. Open to anyone based in Canada. Application deadline July 31, 2026. carleton.ca/transmediala...
carleton.ca
Call for applications: Research Assistants at the Transgender Media Lab
September 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027 Fully remote or hybrid (shared office available at Carleton University in Ottawa, ON) Salary: C$47.41/hour 150 hours total (2 all-day work “sprints” per month, plus...
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Jacob Engelberg @jacobengelberg.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
the lovely people at @autostraddle.bsky.social have reviewed my book alongside @laurah.bsky.social's TRANS CINEMA: MAKING COMMUNITIES, IDENTITIES, AND WORLDS. i'm grateful for the attentive write-up and for being in such esteemed company! www.autostraddle.com/trans-film-a...
autostraddle.com
Two New Books in LGBTQ+ Film Studies Remake the Field
Trans Cinema: Remaking Communities, Identities, and Worlds by Laura Horak and Cinemas of Bisexual Transgression by Jacob Engelberg center trans and bisexual films and figures in their analysis to expa...
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Brian Darr @hellonfriscobay.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Two in one day? Whoa!
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University of California Press @ucpress.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Please enjoy this great excerpt of TRANS CINEMA— by @laurah.bsky.social and out now!—that appeared on @queerty.com yesterday. www.queerty.com/spectacle-or...
queerty.com
Spectacle or support? The complicated visibility of trans youth in film & TV - Queerty
The following is an excerpt from the new book "Trans Cinema: Making Communities, Identities, and Worlds" by Laura Horak and available now from University of California Press.
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SCMS Gender & Feminisms Caucus @scmsgfcaucus.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
QTC Book Event series invites you to join an exciting event: 📚📍 May 1, Friday at 1:00 PM EST: Laura Horak @laurah.bsky.social Trans Cinema: Making Communities, Identities, and Worlds Registration: us05web.zoom.us/meeting/regi... Hope to see you all there!
us05web.zoom.us
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: QTC Book Event Series - Marc Francis, Curating Deviance: Programming the Queer Film Canon . After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about j...
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: QTC Book Event Series - Marc Francis, Curating Deviance: Programming the Queer Film Canon . After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about j...
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Laura Horak @laurah.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
My new books - TRANS CINEMA and MELODRAMA AS PROVOCATEUR - are both out today! www.ucpress.edu/books/trans-... (30% off UCPSAVE30) www.dukeupress.edu/melodrama-as... (30% of E26MELOD) @transmediaportl.bsky.social @ucpress.bsky.social @dukepress.bsky.social @carletonfass.bsky.social @carleton.ca
Laura Horak, a white woman with wavy brown hair to her jaw and glasses, holds up two books: TRANS CINEMA and MELODRAMA AS PROVOCATEUR.
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Maggie Hennefeld @hennefem.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
today!!! www.trumba.com/calendars/yo... @laurah.bsky.social @nastysilents.bsky.social
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Cinema's First Nasty Women @nastysilents.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Thanks everyone who came out to help us Smash the Patriarchy at the @plazaatlanta.bsky.social last night!!! Join us at 2:30 pm at Emory U for a talk by co-curators @hennefem.bsky.social & @laurah.bsky.social on their research behind the larger project... 🎞️🎊🎶
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Gregory Zinman @gregzinman.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Atlanta! Don't miss this amazing screening of @nastysilents.bsky.social at @plazaatlanta.bsky.social on Tuesday, with scholars/curators @hennefem.bsky.social + @laurah.bsky.social in person! www.plazaatlanta.com/.../breaking...
plazaatlanta.com
Plaza Theatre
Check showtimes and buy tickets at your local theater
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 01/04/2026
If all goes according to plan, in a few hours, a crew of astronauts will begin a journey that will take them on a loop around the moon. Here's a video that NASA put together to help people visualize the journey through space, first orbiting the earth before looping around the moon and flying home 🔭
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Laura Horak @laurah.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Some thoughts on this Trans Day of Visibility www.ucpress.edu/blog-posts/t... #TDOV
ucpress.edu
Trans Cinema Doesn’t Just Improve Visibility—It Imagines Better Worlds
Author Laura Horak on the power and possibility of trans-made cinema today.
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University of California Press @ucpress.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
UC Press authors @alicelovejoy.bsky.social (TALES OF MILITANT CHEMISTRY), @laurah.bsky.social (TRANS CINEMA), and @allyfield.bsky.social (ACTS OF LOVE) threw a lovely and packed book party Friday night for #SCMS26, with a special appearance from EVERYDAY MOVIES author Haidee Wasson! #SCMS2026 🎞️
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Aurore Spiers @aurspiers.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
If you're attending #SCMS26, don't forget to check out the University of California Press table @ucpress.bsky.social where you'll find my book, ARCHIVING THE PAST, in excellent company with new fantastic titles by Allyson Field @allyfield.bsky.social, Laura Horak @laurah.bsky.social, and more 😍
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University of California Press @ucpress.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
@laurah.bsky.social wants us to go beyond trans visibility in cinema by envisioning better worlds. For #SCMS26, Laura Horak, author of TRANS CINEMA, tells us about the power of platforming trans innovation in film: www.ucpress.edu/blog-posts/t... #TransDayofVisibility
ucpress.edu
Trans Cinema Doesn’t Just Improve Visibility—It Imagines Better Worlds
Author Laura Horak on the power and possibility of trans-made cinema today.
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Transgender Media Portal @transmediaportl.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Ticket giveaway! 🎟️🎟️🎟️ Repost to be entered into a drawing for a free ticket to this screening. Winners notified on Friday. For more about the event: www.iffo.ca/2026/we-are-...
Poster with four people dressed like Pat from SNL dancing on a beach. Text reads "Film screening & talk with Laura Horak, author of Trans Cinema: Making Communities, Identities, and Worlds (2026) WE ARE PAT 2025 / 92 minutes / USA Director: Rowan Haber Writer: Rowan Haber, Hannah Buck Saturday, March 14h 4:00 p.m. Ottawa Art Gallery iFFo"
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Cinema's First Nasty Women @nastysilents.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Happy International Nasty Women's Day!!!! No better way to celebrate than by nabbing your copy of these **feminist film books**--extant & forthcoming--by our curators and sisters! 😍🎞️📚 Links in the comments below... What feminist films books are lighting up your life right now? ⁉️
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Transgender Media Portal @transmediaportl.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
If you're in Ottawa, come to our screening on Saturday, March 14th! After the movie, Laura Horak @laurah.bsky.social will be talking with Tom McSorley about her new book, TRANS CINEMA: Making Communities, Identities, and Worlds (2026)! www.iffo.ca/2026/we-are-... @ottawaartgallery.bsky.social
Poster with four people dressed like Pat from SNL dancing on a beach. Text reads "Film screening & talk with Laura Horak, author of Trans Cinema: Making Communities, Identities, and Worlds (2026) WE ARE PAT 2025 / 92 minutes / USA Director: Rowan Haber Writer: Rowan Haber, Hannah Buck Saturday, March 14h 4:00 p.m. Ottawa Art Gallery iFFo"
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Shelley Stamp @shelleystamp.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Fantastic mail day! Congrats @laurah.bsky.social!
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Laura Horak @laurah.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
#unboxing advance copies of my new book!!! #TransCinema @ucpress.bsky.social
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🏳️‍🌈 Ms. Marya E. Gates 🦩 @oldfilmsflicker.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
"These women used mass media to critique the damaging effects of unfettered capitalism on women’s lives." Love this piece by @laurah.bsky.social:
playgirl.com
Moviemaking Before Men | Playgirl
Elinor Glyn, June Mathis, Alice Guy-Blaché, Lois Weber: The many women who achieved dazzling success in the first years of Hollywood.
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Women Film Pioneers Project @wfpproject.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
Great piece by WFPP contributor @laurah.bsky.social! playgirl.com/entertainmen...
playgirl.com
Moviemaking Before Men | Playgirl
Elinor Glyn, June Mathis, Alice Guy-Blaché, Lois Weber: The many women who achieved dazzling success in the first years of Hollywood.
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Cinema's First Nasty Women @nastysilents.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
It was only a matter of time before the Nasty Women infiltrated Playgirl Magazine!! Great piece by our own @laurah.bsky.social. playgirl.com/entertainmen...
playgirl.com
Moviemaking Before Men | Playgirl
Elinor Glyn, June Mathis, Alice Guy-Blaché, Lois Weber: The many women who achieved dazzling success in the first years of Hollywood.
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Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
1910 E4 of The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever is live! @laurah.bsky.social wrote Girls Will Be Boys so it makes sense that much of our discussion deals with the transgression, or lack thereof, of cross-dressing women. It's a rich topic! Plus: the electricity of Asta Nielsen in her debut. Links 👇
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Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Here is an excerpt from my conversation with @laurah.bsky.social about THE ABYSS for The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever: 1910. Links in quoted post!
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Laura Horak @laurah.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Want to come work in my Film Studies department in Ottawa, Canada, for a year? Application deadline is March 6. All areas of specialization welcome. Please spread the word! @carleton.ca carleton.ca/deputyprovos... #filmstudies #jobopportunity
carleton.ca
Lecturer or Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, School for Studies in Art and Culture (Film Studies) - Office of the Deputy Provost (Academic Operations and Planning)
About the Position The School for Studies in Art and Culture invites applications for a one-year appointment at the rank of Lecturer/Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, beginning 1 July 2026, from q...
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Laura Horak @laurah.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
We're almost halfway there! Help us out! All donations matched dollar-for-dollar! futurefunder.carleton.ca/campaigns/su...
TRANSGENDER MEDIA PORTAL Donations doubled this Giving Tuesday up to $5450! $263 raised out of $5,450.
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Laura Horak @laurah.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Fight trans invisibility this Giving Tuesday! The Transgender Media Portal is a free online database made and maintained by a lab of student scholars—and we need your help. Your donation will be matched, dollar for dollar! Donate today at futurefunder.carleton.ca/campaigns/su...
Members of the TMP team holding a pink banner with the Transgender Media Portal name and trans symbol logo at the 2024 Ottawa Trans March. On top of the image is the text “Dollar-for-dollar matching this Giving Tuesday!”
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Laura Horak @laurah.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Please donate! 🙏
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K R @kringelberg.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
This was so fantastic! Lined up beautifully with some of the issues we were discussing in my Queer and Trans Art HIstories class so I might have to add it to the "Dr. R. has a problem" pile on our CMS (which already has work by @laurah.bsky.social and Eva Hayward in it!)
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Cinema's First Nasty Women @nastysilents.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
"The theme was Dressed for Chaos: Costumes, Nasty Women and Social Change. But what does that mean? Well, it means a fun, informative, often rousing hour in the company of silent comediennes, and three women who dearly love them." @hennefem.bsky.social @laurah.bsky.social
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Cinema's First Nasty Women @nastysilents.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
"A real highlight of the day arrived with the UCLA David C. Copley Lecture on Costume Design and Silent Cinema, this year presented by the Nasty Women Triumvirate: Maggie Hennefeld, Laura Horak, Elif Rongen-Kaynakçı." Thank you @silentlondon.bsky.social !! ❤️🎞️🎩 silentlondon.co.uk/2025/10/09/l...
silentlondon.co.uk
Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2025: Pordenone Post No 6
Feature films? What a concept. They don’t always seem to be the dominant form here at Pordenone. But this afternoon was an exception to that rule, with a triple-bill of four-to-six-reelers back to …
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Cinema's First Nasty Women @nastysilents.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
The curators of Cinema's First Nasty Women presenting the annual Copley lecture on Silent Film Costume Design -- "DRESSED FOR CHAOS" -- at the Giornate del Cinema Muto! 🎊🎞️👗🧯 @hennefem.bsky.social @laurah.bsky.social #GCM44
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Cinema's First Nasty Women @nastysilents.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
If you missed the nasty women deliver the UCLA Copley lecture on silent film costume design in Pordenone, you're in luck!! It's now on YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IEG... *The audio-visual quality isn't stellar, but the slides are beautifully chaotic. @hennefem.bsky.social @laurah.bsky.social
youtube.com
COSTUME DESIGN AND SILENT CINEMA UCLA| Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2025
YouTube video by Le Giornate del Cinema Muto
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Transgender Media Portal @transmediaportl.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Next week! Thursday at 6:30PM ET on Zoom. Free! Open to all! In English with simultaneous French interpretation. Listen to Eva Hayward and @laurah.bsky.social chat about the artist Erica Rutherford and her work, as well as trans rights today. www.gallery.ca/whats-on/cal...
gallery.ca
In Conversation with Eva Hayward
Join Eva Hayward, a gender studies scholar at the University of New Mexico, in conversation with Laura Horak, Director of the Transgender Media Lab at Carleton University.
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Cinema's First Nasty Women @nastysilents.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Word is out!!! The curators of Cinema's First Nasty Women -- Elif Kaynakci, @hennefem.bsky.social, @laurah.bsky.social -- will co-deliver the UCLA Copley on Silent Cinema & Costume Design at the Giornate del Cinema Muto this year. 👒☔🌪️ 📍 Thursday 9th October, Teatro Verdi in Pordenone Save the date!
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Laura Horak @laurah.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Next week! Thursday at 6:30PM ET on Zoom. Free! Open to all! In English with simultaneous French interpretation. Listen to Eva Hayward and chat about the artist Erica Rutherford and her work, as well as trans rights today. www.gallery.ca/whats-on/cal...
gallery.ca
In Conversation with Eva Hayward
Join Eva Hayward, a gender studies scholar at the University of New Mexico, in conversation with Laura Horak, Director of the Transgender Media Lab at Carleton University.
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Laura Horak @laurah.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Lookee here! My book has a cover! Coming from @ucpress.bsky.social in April 2026. Many thanks to Tourmaline for allowing us to use her photograph "Summer Azure"!
A brown-skinned trans woman in an astronaut's helmet and white tunic floats in front of a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. Text: "Trans Cinema" Making Communities, Identities, and Worlds. Laura Horak"
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Cinema's First Nasty Women @nastysilents.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Great review of Breaking Plates & our Nasty Women extravaganza at the @cinemathequefr.bsky.social by Nicolas Villodre!! 🎞️🔥 @karenpearlman.bsky.social @richardjamesallen.bsky.social @hennefem.bsky.social @laurah.bsky.social @physicaltv.bsky.social www.leshumanites-media.com/post/le-cin%...
leshumanites-media.com
Le cinéma (muet) des "effrontées"https://static.wixstatic.com/media/524063_440a22aaa21b4f8088c564d236b30188~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_1000,h_750,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/524063_440a22aaa21b4f8088c564d236b...
"Breaking Plates" de Karen Pearlman
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Maggie Hennefeld @hennefem.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
It's been a whirlwind week on the road w/ @nastysilents.bsky.social & Breaking Plates at Women & the Silent Screen, @cinemathequefr.bsky.social, & Eye Filmmuseum!!! Feeling very energized and grateful for all my dish-breaking feminist comrades!!!! 🎞📽🎶‼️🎊🥳
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Cinema's First Nasty Women @nastysilents.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
No Kings, Yes Nasty Women!!! Beautiful day of screenings & dialogue in Paris at the @cinemathequefr.bsky.social!!! Long live Léontine AND Breaking Plates!!! 🎞️🎶🎊 @karenpearlman.bsky.social @hennefem.bsky.social @richardjamesallen.bsky.social @laurah.bsky.social @physicaltv.bsky.social
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Tom Hollenstein @tomhollenstein.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
My Canadian university, Queen's, is offering TWENTY 4-year funded PhDs (40k CAD/yr) for a student of ANY citizenship who has been accepted at a top 100 US university but have had offer rescinded OR are reconsidering offer due to US policy. Details found here👇 www.queensu.ca/grad-postdoc...
queensu.ca
Queen’s Special U.S. Doctoral Recruitment Initiative | School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral AffairsDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown...
Queen’s University is a globally engaged, research-intensive institution dedicated to attracting and supporting exceptional PhD students who will significantly advance our research mission.
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Laura Horak @laurah.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Chicagoans! Come to my queer and trans silent film series every Wednesday night in June! This Weds I'll be there in person introducing a program of shorts like you've never seen before!!! @facetschicago.bsky.social
Projecting Homosexuality: Queer and Trans Visions from Cinema’s First Decades June 4, 11, 18, & 25, 2025Buckle up for a wild ride through the forgotten corners of early cinema! “Projecting Homosexuality” is a groundbreaking film series that will blow your mind with rarely seen gems from the dawn of moviemaking. Imagine stumbling into a secret world where gender-bending performers, radical social uprisings, and forbidden desires dance across the silver screen. From a beefcake muscleman posing in the world’s earliest films to lesbian love stories that challenged every social norm, these movies aren’t just history – they’re a time machine to a more subversive, surprising past that feels irresistibly modern.

This isn’t your grandparents’ dusty film archive – this is a revolution captured on celluloid. Spanning from the United States to Sweden, France, Germany, and Japan, these films will make you laugh, gasp, and see early 20th-century culture in a radically new light. Whether you’re a film buff, a queer history enthusiast, or just someone who loves discovering incredible stories that have been hidden for a century, this series promises an unforgettable journey. Get ready to peek through the keyhole of cinema’s most daring and delicious secrets.Through the Keyhole: Shorts Program
Reception 7:30 pm | About the films | June 4, 2025, 8:00 pm-
Buy Tickets |119 minutes + intermission

Learn about the films here.

FEATURED SPEAKER: Laura Horak – Curator of The First Homosexuals Film Series. Laura Horak is Professor of Film Studies at Carleton University and director of the Transgender Media Lab and Transgender Media Portal.
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Laura Horak @laurah.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Ottawans - spread the word! Have a fun day at the movies and help support our students! 🍿📽️ @carletonfass.bsky.social @carleton.ca @mayfairtheatre.bsky.social
A young Matthew Broderick smiles at the camera. FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF SUNDAY AT THE MAYFAIR. 13 April 3:30PM. Free admission thanks to Carleton's School for Studies in Art and Culture, but donations are gratefully accepted! ($15 suggested but any amount welcome) HELP SUPPORT THE FILM STUDIES TIFF 2025 TRIP! 1074 Bank St, Ottawa, ON K1S 2W3
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 03/04/2025
As a former child junior olympic-level runner, I have a few thoughts on the attacks on trans girls in sports. I ran for one of the most competitive teams in Southern California, and people who ran for my have gone on to become professional athletes. And these bans: they're fucking NONSENSE. 🧵
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
BREAKING — Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) staffers who were put on admin leave on Monday just got letters letting them know they’re a part of a Reduction in Force (RIF) and that their job will be “abolished” effective May 4th in accordance with Trump’s EO, per copy reviewed by me.
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Slava Greenberg 🩼🏳️‍⚧️✡️🇺🇦🧶 in 🇳🇱 for 🍉 @slavagreenberg.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
I checked, it’s open access and excellent! @scmsqtc.bsky.social
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Slava Greenberg 🩼🏳️‍⚧️✡️🇺🇦🧶 in 🇳🇱 for 🍉 @slavagreenberg.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
For the first time in a decade, I canceled my #SCMS participation. W/ TSA harassment & travel doc confiscations of trans people, ICE’s treatment of visa holders, for political & random reasons, & the measles outbreak—I don’t feel safe traveling to the U.S. as a trans, immunocompromised immigrant.1/4
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Slava Greenberg 🩼🏳️‍⚧️✡️🇺🇦🧶 in 🇳🇱 for 🍉 @slavagreenberg.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Happening in two hours! With all the travel restrictions on trans folks and additional flight delays, if you’re around, be a pal, come say hi to @laurah.bsky.social and send me a pic, pleaseeeee! I so wish I could be there with y’all! 🏳️‍⚧️🎥📺✨ @scmsqtc.bsky.social @scmstudies.bsky.social #SCMS25
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