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Dr. Steph

@smreprophys.bsky.social
200 followers 271 following 336 posts

Postdoc, reproductive & vascular biologist, animal-lover, video gamer, and ttrpg enthusiast. William & Mary '15 UC Davis '25 She/Her/Hers 🏳️‍🌈

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Reposted by Dr. Steph
Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
also, by the way a lot of us process our grief by making art they're trying to replace that process with AI from both directions
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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
it's not just that I find it chilling to imagine Sam Altman wearing my dead mom's face in order to sell me ads it's that the way we ACTUALLY keep our lost loved ones alive requires a myriad of human skills these assholes perpetually devalue, like storytelling and deep emotional connection
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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
your AI algorithm (or worse, the underpaid and horribly treated remote worker in India somewhere you are forcing to pretend to be your AI algorithm) doesn't know my dead mom. *I* know my dead mom. *I* know what she'd say to me. learning to give *yourself* that guidance is what wisdom looks like
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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
we talk a lot about the weirdo techbro obsession with immortality these AI necromancy projects embody, but I'm arguably even MORE fascinated by the terror of allowing yourself to experience deep, complex emotions they so obviously reveal you cannot prevent yourself from feeling grief with an app??
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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
I am currently on ID consult service. I saw my first severe case of post influenza staphylococcal pneumonia of the season today - very sick patient admitted to the ICU. Every patient I have seen so far admitted with influenza this week is unvaccinated. The vaccines keep you out of hospital! Get 💉💉💉
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EMBL-EBI @ebi.embl.org · 11/12/2025
Our collaborative artwork is finished 🎉 Created to mark the opening of the new Thornton Building, this piece celebrates the diversity and richness of the biological data held in EMBL-EBI’s 40+ open data resources. A huge thanks to everyone who picked up a pen to bring this design to life!
Art work showing different animals and biological data graphics coloured in different colours
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Dorothee Bornhorst-Ohmstede @dorotheeb.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
🚨 Looking for a PhD position? 🚨 Are you interested in reproduction biology, cool imaging, and zebrafish? 🔬 🎏 🐟 Join us in my new lab at ICB Münster (Germany) as a PhD student. #zebrafishrock #newPI Apply here: jobs-sf.ukmuenster.de/job/UKM-PhD-...
jobs-sf.ukmuenster.de
PhD Student (gn*) Institute of Cell Biology
PhD Student (gn*) Institute of Cell Biology
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Sterling Dodge (aka Justin Eger) @fugitivecourier.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Venn diagram showing "dumbest times" and "darkest times." Where the circles overlap is labeled "you are here."
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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
I still can’t believe the National Science Foundation is being forced to move out of their brand new, purpose-built building because the HUD secretary thought his building was ugly. The Trump administration is destroying the best parts of this country, and it will take decades to rebuild.
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Marc Veldhoen @marcveld.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Make no mistake. The anti-scientists in charge will launch many "safety scrutiny of approved vaccines against X", not because of any safety concern, not because the many past studies were not good. It is anti-sience ideology, all of it. It will cost lives, missery, and preventable diseases return.
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Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
It's also the warmth - while historically such events may have seen more precipitation fall as snow at higher elevations, warmer temps mean more falls as rain and goes directly into streams and rivers, while also melting lower elevation snow. Snow levels were up to 8,500ft yesterday. In December.
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Paizo @paizo.com · 11/12/2025
Golarion and the Pact Worlds are crawling with magnificent monsters! Check out today's blog and learn about the games the mightiest beasts are roaring about! buff.ly/0buPMPq
Lem, the Pathfinder iconic halfling bard, offers a gift of sparkling clothes to Shimmerclaw the mirage dragon in the hopes of gaining their affection. In the bottom left corner of the image is the "Pathfinder" logo.
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The National @scotnational.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
There is no evidence the Scottish child payment meaningfully encourages parents to avoid work, a study has found
thenational.scot
No evidence Scottish child payment pushes parents to avoid work, study finds
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Lamming Lab @lamminglab.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Pleased to announce the publication of talented postdoc Dr. Yeh's new paper "Ketogenesis is Dispensable for the Metabolic Adaptations to Caloric Restriction"!
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Monte Cook Games @montecookgames.com · 11/12/2025
The hills are hungry, the shadows whisper... All Your Gods Are Dead is a chilling new supplement for Old Gods of Appalachia, filled with eerie entities, cursed relics, and the kinds of GM tools that turn a good horror game into a legendary one...
youtube.com
- YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
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Astra Fauna (Sarah Dahlinger) -> Rhode Island Comic Con is Next! @astrafauna.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Holy crap....this is a Pumpkin toadlet and it is the best
a very, very tiny and very cute orange frog
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Owen K.C. Stephens (He/Him) @owenkcstephens.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Just what I fucking expected.
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J 🦐 shrimp guy @artofjyang.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
a shrimposter
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Dr. Steph @smreprophys.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
That would imply he cares enough to hate. He doesn't. He cares only about himself. He doesn't have the capacity to think about the US enough to hate it.
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K Baby @keatytreaty.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
I only taught college for one more year after I transitioned, but this shit was my nightmare, and why I left the field. 100 she is trying to get the TA fired. And this is appallingly bad writing for a Junior. Most Freshmen write better than this after their basic COMP sequence.
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olive consumer's floating skull @machete.gay · 29/11/2025
This genuinely reads like a ten year old wrote it.
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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
And speaking as a trans person who got their PhD at OU...the university is absolutely fucking spineless when it comes to protecting grad students generally and trans ones in particular
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Midnight Oil @themidnightoil.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
Even worse the instructor then. They don't even have actual protections of the job. They're just being sacrificed by the Uni to save the feelings of TPUSA folks. Christ.
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Alex Norris @acxn.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
Grad student instructor, so was teaching the class but is not a professor.
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gwen howerton @kissphoria.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
gabe woolley, an oklahoma state rep, repeatedly misgenders the TA here and says the OU student that vaguely alluded to the bible in her essay "cited real science"
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gwen howerton @kissphoria.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
OU has put the professor here on administrative leave:
The University of Oklahoma takes seriously concerns involving First Amendment rights, certainly including religious freedoms. Upon receiving notice from the student on the grading of an assignment, the University immediately began a full review of the situation and has acted swiftly to address the matter.
First, the college acted immediately to address the academic issue raised by the student. College leaders contacted her on the day her letter was received and have maintained regular communication throughout the process. As previously stated, a formal grade appeals process was conducted. The process resulted in steps to ensure no academic harm to the student from the graded assignments.
Second, the student reported filing a claim of illegal discrimination based on religious beliefs to the appropriate university office. OU has a clear process for reviewing such claims and it has been activated.
The graduate student instructor has been placed on administrative leave pending the finalization of this process. To ensure fairness in the process, a full-time professor is serving as the course instructor for the remainder of the semester.
OU remains firmly committed to fairness, respect and protecting every student's right to express sincerely held religious beliefs.
The UNIVERSITY of OKLAHOMA
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The Walking Dolbow @jdolbow.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
Nah she’ll go straight to the right-wing speaker circuit. Look for her to be a regular guest on CNN in five years.
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Lady Emily ☄️ @ladyemily.nebula.tv · 29/11/2025
I love whenever articles like this are all “SEE THE UNREASONABLE ANGRY DEMANDS OF THIS SJW TEACHER” and the teacher’s comment are always “please actually cite sources and try not to call your classmates demonic”
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gwen howerton @kissphoria.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
idk not to mention how very nuanced and normal the actual response here was
Trans Professors comment
Mel Curth (She/They)
November 16, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Please note that I am not deducting points because you have certain beliefs, but instead I am deducting point for you posting a reaction paper that does not answer the questions for this assignment, contradicts itself, heavily uses personal ideology over empirical evidence in a scientific class, and is at times offensive.
While you are entitled to your own personal beliefs, there is an appropriate time or place to implement them in your reflections. I encourage all students to question or challenge the course material with other empirical findings or testable hypotheses, but using your own personal beliefs to argue against the findings of not only this article, but the findings of countless articles across psychology, biology, sociology, etc. is not best practice.
You argue that abiding by normative gender roles is beneficial (it is perfectly fine to believe this. but to then say that evervone should act
TPUSA OUTrans Professors comment
the same, while also saying that people aren't pressured into gendered expectations is contradictory, especially since your arguments reflect a religious pressure to act in gender-stereotypical ways. You can say that strict gender norms don't create gender stereotypes, but that isn't true by definition of what a stereotype is. Please note that acknowledging gender stereotypes does not immediately denote a negative connotation, a nuance this article discusses.
Additionally, to call an entire group of people
"demonic" is highly offensive, especially a minoritized population. You are entitled to your own beliefs, but this isn't a vague narrative of
"society pushes lies," but instead the result of countless years developing psychological and scientific evidence for these claims and directly interacting with the communities involved. You may personally disagree with this, but that
TPUSA OU
2Trans Professors comment
doesn't change the fact that every major psychological, medical, pediatric, and psychiatric association in the United States acknowledges that, biologically and psychologically, sex and gender is neither binary nor fixed.
I implore you apply some more perspective and empathy in your work. If you personally disagree with the findings, then by all means share your criticisms, but make sure to do so in a way that is appropriate and using the methodology of empirical psychology, as aligned with the learning goals in this class. If you have any additional questions or concerns about this or would like some additional educational resources, I would be happy to discuss this further and provide you with them.
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TPUSA OUAdditional professor
Megan Waldron (She/Her/Hers)
November 16, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Samantha, I am the other instructor for this course, and I have also taken the time to read your paper. I concur with Mel on the grade you received. This paper should not be considered as a completion of the assignment.
Everyone has different ways in which they see the world, but in an academic course such as this you are being asked to support your ideas with empirical evidence and higher-level reasoning.
I find it concerning that you state at the beginning of your paper that you do not think bullying ("teasing") is a bad thing. In addition, your paper directly and harshly criticizes your peers and their opinions, which are just as valuable as yours. Disagreeing with others is fine, but there is a respectful way to go about it. That goes for discussion posts as well as reaction
papers.
Please employ more thoughtfulness in your future assignments
TPUSA OU
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gwen howerton @kissphoria.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
Really hard not to see this whole thing as an effort to get a trans person fired from her TA job
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gwen howerton @kissphoria.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
Turning Point at OU posted this girl's essay in full and man is it rough
Samantha's Essay
This article was very thought provoking and caused me to thoroughly
evaluate the idea of gender and the role it plays in our society. The
article discussed peers using teasing as a way to enforce gender
norms. I do not necessarilv see this as a problem. God made male and
female and made us differently from each other on purpose and for a
purpose. God is very intentional with what He makes, and I believe
trying to change that would only do more harm. Gender roles and
tendencies should not be considered "stereotypes". Women naturally
want to do womanly things because God created us with those
womanly desires in our hearts. The same goes for men. God created
men in the image of His courage and strength, and He created women
in the image of His beauty. He intentionally created women
differently than men and we should live our lives with that in mind.
TPUSA OUSamantha's Essay
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It is frustrating to me when I read articles like this and discussion
posts from my classmates of so many people trying to conform to the
same mundane opinion, so they do not step on people's toes. I think
that is a cowardly and insincere way to live. It is important to use the
freedom of speech we have been given in this country, and I
personally believe that eliminating gender in our society would be
detrimental, as it pulls us farther from God's original plan for humans.
It is perfectly normal for kids to follow gender "stereotypes" because
that is how God made us. The reason so many girls want to feel
womanly and care for others in a motherly way is not because they
feel pressured to fit into social norms. It is because God created and
chose them to reflect His beauty and His compassion in that way. In
Genesis, God says that it is not good for man to be alone, so He
TPUSA OUSamantha's Essay
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created a helper for man (which is a woman). Many people assume the
word "helper" in this context to be condescending and offensive to
women. However, the original word in Hebrew is "ezer kenegdo" and that directly translates to "helper equal to". Additionally, God
describes Himself in the Bible using "ezer kenegdo",
≥ or "helper", and
He describes His Holy Spirit as our Helper as well. This shows the
importance God places on the role of the helper (women's roles). God
does not view women as less significant than men. He created us with
such intentionally and care and He made women in his image of being
a helper, and in the image of His beauty. If leaning into that role
means I am "following gender stereotypes" then I am happy to be
following a stereotype that aligns with the gifts and abilities God gave
me as a woman.
TPUSA OUSamantha's Essay
I do not think men and women are pressured to be more masculine or
feminine. I strongly disagree with the idea from the article that
encouraging acceptance of diverse gender expressions could improve
students' confidence. Society pushing the lie that there are multiple
genders and everyone should be whatever they want to be is demonic
and severely harms American youth. I do not want kids to be teased or
bullied in school. However, pushing the lie that everyone has their
own truth and everyone can do whatever they want and be whoever
they want is not biblical whatsoever. The Bible says that our lives are
not our own but that our lives and bodies belong to the Lord for His
glory. I live my life based on this truth and firmly believe that there
would be less gender issues and insecurities in children if they were.
raised knowing that they do not belong to themselves, but they belong
to the Lord
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TPUSA OU
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Alexis Verger 🧬🧫🧪 @alexis-verger.cpesr.fr · 21/11/2025
yep, this is very concerning. Some have already tried to raise the alarm in 2022, and since then, the “quality” of AI-generated images has only improved... www.cell.com/patterns/ful...
cell.com
Deepfakes: A new threat to image fabrication in scientific publications?
There is an increasing risk of people using advanced artificial intelligence, particularly the generative adversarial network (GAN), for scientific image manipulation for the purpose of publications. ...
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Monte Cook Games @montecookgames.com · 20/11/2025
For the Gamer who Loves Atmospheric Folk Horror—get the DELUXE, limited edition Old Gods of Appalachia RPG at an incredible holiday discount! Don't let these savings be a lost Claus! Give the gift of great gaming to a nerd in your life (or yourself) this holiday season! www.backerkit.com/c/...
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Paizo @paizo.com · 21/11/2025
Time is running out to take your Kingmaker campaign to new heights! Get the full Kingmaker Player’s Guide, the Boosted Bestiary, and more in the Pathfinder Infinite Kingmaker Adventure Path kit from Humble Bundle, available through tomorrow morning! buff.ly/8J34Ojl
The image is of 5 covers, "Player Core 2 Expanded," "Frontiers of Magic Remastered and Expanded," the "Pathfinder Infinite Boosted Bestiary," "Pathfinder Kingmaker Adventure Path for Roll20 VTT," and "Feats+, General Skills and Beyond," all featured in the Pathfinder Infinite Kingmaker Adventure Path kit from Humble Bundle. Underneath the covers is the "Pathfinder Infinite" logo and the text, "Celebration of Kingmaker by," followed by the "Roll20" logo. Across the bottom of the image is a red banner with text, "Get a bundle of tabletop games for" and then the amount $312 crossed out, followed by the amount $25 and the "Humble" logo.
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molly conger @socialistdogmom.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
it's weird to live in a world where a new 'worst thing you've ever imagined' happens at least a few times a month and it's easy to let it all run together and just sort of wash over you and go totally numb to all of it so you don't freak out because you still have to do laundry and go to work.
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National Writers Union @nwu.org · 20/11/2025
On Transgender Day of Remembrance, support media orgs like @transjournalists.org doing vital work to materially support queer & trans media workers, & check out this resource page by @fspnwu.bsky.social on pushing for better labor conditions freelancesolidarity.org/kyr-trans-me...
freelancesolidarity.org
Know Your Rights: Trans Media Workers - Freelance Solidarity Project
Know Your Rights Resources for trans, non-binary &gender-nonconforming media workers Amid increasing threats to LGBTQIA+ rights, it’s crucial for trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive media workers t...
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Center for Reproductive Rights @reprorights.org · 20/11/2025
ABORTION ACCESS SAVES LIVES.
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Joseph D. Carriker, Jr. @oakthorne.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
okay but same
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
The people who make Shein's clothes labor for ten to twelve hours per day (in violation of China's labor laws), some up to seven days a week, and earn as little as 15 to 30 cents per t-shirt.
Excerpt from a BBC article: ""We usually work, 10, 11 or 12 hours a day," says a 49-year-old woman from Jiangxi unwilling to give her name. "On Sundays we work around three hours less."

She is in an alleyway, where a dozen people are huddled around a row of bulletin boards.

They are reading the job ads on the board, while examining the stitching on a pair of chinos draped over it.

This is Shein's supply chain. The factories are contracted to make clothes on order - some small, some big. If the chinos are a hit, orders will ramp up and so must production. Factories then hire temporary workers to meet the demand their permanent staff cannot fulfil.

The migrant worker from Jiangxi is looking for a short-term contract - and the chinos are an option.

"We earn so little. The cost of living is now so high," she says, adding that she hopes to make enough to send back to her two children who are living with their grandparents.

"We get paid per piece," she explains. "It depends how difficult the item is. Something simple like a t-shirt is one-two yuan [less than a dollar] per piece and I can make around a dozen in an hour.""
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Marcel Roman @mfroman.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
🚨NEW PAPER 🚨 Are police more right-wing and biased against marginalized groups than the general public? If so, why? My new article in @pnas.org w/ @tylerreny.bsky.social, Newman, and Sears provides some answers. 🧵1/n
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Adam Parkhomenko @adamparkhomenko.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
BREAKING: The U.S. Coast Guard just announced they won’t classify swastikas and nooses as hate symbols anymore they’re calling them ‘potentially divisive.’ Potentially divisive? Listen, a noose isn’t a conversation starter. A swastika isn’t a debate topic. They are dangerous hate symbols. Full stop
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Josh McCrain @joshmccrain.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
new paper by Sean Westwood: With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
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Sean Westwood @seanjwestwood.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Many have asked for the LLM Survey paper. The release was bungled a bit by PNAS, but it is live now: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
The potential existential threat of large language models to online survey research | PNAS
The advancement of large language models poses a severe, potentially existential threat to online survey research, a fundamental tool for data coll...
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🎃 🕯️ Monica Valentinelli sez keep on, keepin' on. 🐈‍⬛ ☕ @booksofm.com · 20/11/2025
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features." There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
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Rowan Mysel Zeoli @rowanzeoli.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
SPREAD THIS FAR AND WIDE A group of New Yorkers has made an ICE hotline to protect their neighbors from being kidnapped by secret police.
NEW YORK CITY I.C.E HOTLINE IF YOU SEE
I.C.E
CALL OR TEXT
+1 (229) 304-8720
6 AM - 6 PMNEW YORK CITY I.C.E HOTLINE SI VE LA MIGRA LLAMA O
ENVÍA UN MENSAJE A
+1 (229) 304-8720
6:00 - 18:00
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Arielle Duhaime-Ross @adrs.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
A revealing tool for my fellow journalists: "The Trans News Initiative is a new project... dedicated to tracking and analyzing news coverage of trans communities across the United States." transnewsinitiative.org?ref=transjou...
transnewsinitiative.org
Trans News Initiative
A database and analysis of news coverage affecting trans communities.
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