iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

I need people to commit to doing the work necessary to truly see and support trans humans like my son. The work is more than *desire.* It's real, honest, vulnerable, and most of the time uncomfortable, work.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

As the parent of a trans 19-year-old, I've lived with my heart in my throat for a long time. Grief and anxiety are constant companions. Hospitals abandoning care for trans kids. Suicide rates climbing. Murder. Emboldened hatred and public, unchecked brutality. We need you to act. See us. Love us.

them.us

Slain Trans UW Student Identified as Juniper Blessing: “The Most Amazing Human Being”

The family of the 19-year-old atmospheric and climate science major released a statement on Thursday.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

This made me howl because I started from a place of seriousness. 1. Like, yes, a plan, that's good. 2. You bet I have friends. Community is important in these times. 3. Sure, I probably have 10 friends. Oh, wait ... 🤣

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Emailed my financial advisor today to ask if I should be rebalancing my 401K, noting the losses I've seen since January 2025 to now. Her response: "That isn't even reflecting the drop today." (And, she'll talk to me tomorrow about stuff). Christ, we are fucked.

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Reposted by MichelleV

Cory Booker @corybooker.com · 02/04/2025

I may be tired and a little hoarse, but as I said again and again on the Senate floor, this is a moment where we cannot afford to be silent, when we must speak up.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Took ICE watch training earlier this year as my neighborhood has a big immigrant population. The NEXT DAY, they came for a neighbor. I knew what to do because of that training. Document, report. Contact neighbors in our Signal group. Everyone should train up. Community response works.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

The interview my trans son and I did with @kschorsch.bsky.social of @wbez.org hit @npr.org's Facebook today. What's always clear from the comments is that people who criticize this care know very little about how it happens, especially with trans kids. I need people to learn. You can start here:

npr.org

What happens when a Chicago hospital bows to federal pressure on trans care for teens

Patients and parents speak out after Lurie Children's in Chicago joined other hospitals in stopping gender-affirming surgeries. President Trump's executive order threatened their federal funding.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

I’m a Chicagoan, engaged advocate and voter, and mother of a trans son who is a newly minted voter himself. I’ve been BEGGING for this energy. Let’s GO!

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

You are a spineless sack of shit Senator. You haven’t done SHIT to muck up the fascism gears Trump threw into overdrive, so spare us all (and I am a constituent of yours!) this BS. You’ve lost what little credibility you had left, and I will never vote for you again. RETIRE you useless wank.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

I made it two! So, who's going to make it 1 to go?

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

Lift these voices up for all to hear. ❤️🏳️‍⚧️ In some of the interviews I've recently done alongside my 18-year-old trans son around gender-affirming health care, the shift in reporters interested in highlighting trans voices is refreshing. Read this. Then read it again. Then get in the fight.

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Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

a new plan to replace dem leaders with magic eight balls

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Me too! They’ve been wishy-washy on trans inclusion for ages. When they pulled Ash and Chess products, that was it for me.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

If I get ONE FUCKING PLEA FOR MONEY tonight after Dems waved a bunch of ping pong paddles and wrote on whiteboards after a fascist leader stood there giving a fascist fucking speech I will lose it. And let’s face it, a few are probably already in my inbox right now. Fuck all the way off Dems.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Joined @kschorsch.bsky.social on @wbez.org's Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons to talk about hospitals canceling gender-affirming surgeries. Give a listen, and share to support parents fighting for access to life-saving care for their kids. ❤️🏳️‍⚧️

wbez.org

Reaction to local hospital pausing gender-care surgeries for trans youth

Families report feeling confused, disappointed, hopeless and angry.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Waiting in the green room before joining @wbez.org’s Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons to talk hospitals like Lurie pausing gender-affirming surgery. #protecttranskids ❤️🏳️‍⚧️✊🏻

Picture of person in mirror holding phone.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

I grew up in Iowa. Dubuque, my home city, had cross burnings as recently as 2016. So, the state's always been problematic. Still, this move speaks overtly to what I've heard many say more quietly about trans kids like my son: They are too few in number to really care about. We are failing them.

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Reposted by MichelleV

Sheryl Weikal says Prosecute ICE @leftistlawyer.com · 02/03/2025

The New York Times treats January 6 insurrectionists with more compassion and respect than trans people

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

I love how trans teens are centered here. I’ve always said my son knows himself better than most any cis child, partly (unfortunately) because he exists in a system that requires he interrogate his feelings to access care, partly because he is so in touch with himself. Trust trans kids.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

And hospitals telling you to your face they’ll fight for your trans kid while behind your back they quietly decide to “pause” life-saving care like surgery at the slightest hint of federal dollars drying up, then explain that betrayal by saying trans kids are too few in number to be worth the fight.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

“America should stand for freedom, liberty and justice. These are not negotiating positions. Either we are for these things or we are not.” No American ideal is/has been fully realized by every citizen. And that’s exactly why we fight Trump mercilessly, relentlessly, and with everything we have.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

Oh, look. The guy who covered up the murder of Laquan McDonald, shuttered 50 public schools and half the city's mental health clinics, dumped billions of TIF funds into wealthy neighborhoods instead of addressing an affordable housing crisis has thoughts about trans people. Go fuck yourself, Rahm.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

Going on @wbez.org's Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons on Monday to talk gender-affirming care and what hospitals canceling surgeries means to trans kids. Hint: It means they don't get life-saving care. Also: This care doesn't happen in the ways many talk about it. Good information matters: Tune in!

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Click the "Listen" button at top to hear the story my son and I were interviewed for by WBEZ reporter @kschorsch.bsky.social. Trans kids deserve better than to feel they're dispensable, especially from one of the largest, oldest gender clinics in the US. Access is everything. #protecttranskids

wbez.org

Transgender teens and their parents speak out after Lurie Children’s pauses surgeries

Lurie’s decision came after President Trump threatened to cut federal funding. Some families worry other gender-affirming care will cease.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

My trans son Ben on the front page of the Sunday edition of the Chicago Tribune. He’d prefer to live his life quietly, but knows these dangerous times call for boldness. As his mother, I’m proud he feels confident enough to share his story, but am angry it’s necessary.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

My trans son Ben stepping into himself in deep, thoughtful ways, and intentionally meeting this moment, these times, with a strong show of his magnificent, beautiful, humanity. We carry every trans person in the US today in our hearts. ❤️🏳️‍⚧️ www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/22/t...

chicagotribune.com

President Donald Trump’s attacks on trans community sow fear and paralysis in Illinois: ‘They’re trying to make us disappear’

President Donald Trump has cut federal funding to groups serving Chicago’s transgender community and issued executive orders that target 1.6 million transgender Americans.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

For so long, my trans son wanted to seamlessly blend in. His early years were spent under the watchful, intrusive eyes of people who couldn’t just let him be. No longer. His voice is his freedom. If you can, own your own stories, help us tell ours, loudly and boldly. www.wbez.org/health-medic...

wbez.org

Transgender teens and their parents speak out after Lurie Children’s pauses surgeries

Lurie’s decision came after President Trump threatened to cut federal funding. Some families worry other gender-affirming care will cease.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

This is the frightening reality I think about constantly and know is creeping into my son's psyche. I'm glad lawsuits are being filed. But know that won't do it. For the first time, I've been lining up plans for my son's escape if needed. That's where parents of trans kids are.

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Reposted by MichelleV

Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 08/02/2025

She's gone! Pamela Paul, according to the intelligencer, is out at the Times this spring due to job cuts at the NYT. She had previously published egregious falsehoods about transgender care and got upset with our outlet Erin In The Morning when challenged. nymag.com/intelligence...

nymag.com

Good-bye, Pamela Paul

The contrarian columnist showed us the intolerable side of liberalism.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Happy to see at least some aren't following Schumer's "Just wait" playbook. More of this please.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

This fucking guy. If dems don't realize how they'll be remembered in the history books (even if the history books are just secret, scared documents complied by collective memory of the average American living through this shitshow), let me tell them now: We will not be kind. Get bent, Chuck.

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Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Just remember all the times when Clinton, Obama and Biden were president and Democrats - with majorities - told us “we just can’t…” and go look at what Republicans are doing now. Just can’t, my ass.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Honest snapshot of what a parent of a trans kid (me) is thinking right now: 1. I'm terrified. 2. I'm resolved. 3. Am I going to lose my son? 4. Will the last things my son sees and hears before leaving this Earth be hateful and violent? 5. WHERE THE FUCK IS EVERYONE? 6. I'm really fucking terrified.

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Amy Rae Hill @amyraehill.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

I wish whoever is running all these Dem's social media would be sensitive to the fact that we are all being actively traumatized multiple times a day. Tell us what you're doing to combat the coup or don't post anything at all and just work.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

I'd love to see more of this energy from providers. I am in community with a lot of parents of trans kids who are terrified, and this is in bright blue Chicago. Some hospitals here cancelled care two days after the EO. Where is the fight?

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

Just sent this to my 18-year-old trans son who LOVES AOC and is struggling. He's working to get his peers motivated, though finding it hard. "They don't understand the urgency." It's what often comes up for me, too: How do I make you really care about my kid? Still: NEVER give up. NEVER give in.

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Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

my kingdom for democratic leaders who will do shit, instead of spending all their time and energy telling us that things are just impossible and cannot be done

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

My son is careful with disclosing he’s trans. Many of his friends may not know they know a trans person. Also: Most kids my son’s age (18) could give a shit less. This research won’t reflect the number of kids who just aren’t thinking/talking about who is/isn’t trans because it’s a non-issue.

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Gabe Ortíz @tusk81.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Good morning. Immigrants are #HereToStay.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Here in Chicago, the bluest of blue with a governor who doesn't mince words, we have hospitals folding. I know parents whose kids had surgeries scheduled at UIC for this week that were cancelled yesterday. Getting to a surgery date takes a LONG time. It's crushing for these families.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

As the mom of a trans kid, I need people to dig deep and find their courage. Some concrete things you can do: 1. Educate yourself. (I'll link a digital resource my trans son and I created to help). 2. Listen to what trans people tell you they need, then provide it. 3. Be a menace to your reps

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

My trans son was 12 when this story hit. His experience was not "consistent, insistent, persistent." Gratefully, I'd read pieces critical of Signal. If I hadn't? Oof. I think a lot about trans kids who were denied care because of this story, and how mine may have been one if I hadn't read widely.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Talking to my 18-year-old trans son after the EO dropped. I wasn't panicked. I didn't weep. I am fueled by resolve. I am in this fight forever. (To be very clear: No feeling is wrong.) BUT I WILL LIVE TO SEE ALL THESE FUCKERS DIE. Or, I will die cursing them all to a hell I don't believe in.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

ICE was in my Chicago neighborhood this morning. We have a large immigrant population. Gratefully, MIGRA watch training is widespread. Photos/video/calls to the Family Protection Network. They will not slip into our neighborhoods unnoticed. We are watching and ready to protect our neighbors.

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MichelleV @michellevallet.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

A Signal group I'm a part of warned that Homan and ICE were in Chicago today. They showed up at a neighbor's. 1. Called Family Protection Network: (855) 435-7693. 2. Photos/video detailing interaction 3. Shared with neighborhood group One SUV with fed plates, two with IL plates. #ProtectRP

Picture of back end of gray Armada car that ICE agents are using during interaction in Chicago.

Front of Black Cadillac SUV that ICE is using in immigration raids in Chicago.

Bright blue car with tree in front blocking full view. Witness saw ICE agents get into the car in a Chicago neighborhood after going to a neighbor's house.

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