A. Andrews! Bad air tips! 10% off merch!

Hey friends,

Hope you’re hanging in there. Here’s the thing about the air: it’s bad! (Although getting better the longer I procrastinate on sending this.) There seems to be some arguments online about whether east coasters are allowed to complain about 300 AQI air when west coasters have been experiencing 600 AQI air for years, but as someone who has lived through both, here’s my ruling: it’s bad and we all get to complain about it !!!!!! (But especially me and all the other west coast transplants with air trauma who have now lived through the top four worst wildfire days since 2006 lol lmao.)

Anyway, my belated advice for anyone who ever finds themselves in the bad air: don’t be a hero with your lungs!!!!! Stay inside, ideally with an air purifier or two (I recommend Levoit if you’re in the market) or some kind of A/C system running. If the air inside your home is also bad, put on a mask or respirator in the short term, and try to find a friend to stay with if you can. (Remember that your pets can’t wear a mask, so it’s extra important to get a good air purifier if they’re inside with you.)

If you gotta go out, take it super easy and wear the best mask you have. Do not exercise because that simply isn’t health right now! Oh, and if you’re like me and get upset stomach from the smoke… grab a bunch of smoothies/shakes/kombuchas when you can. That’s obvious maybe but I’m saying it anyway as someone who loves to buy four beverages.

Okay, PSA over, back to the main event: We’re back, baby! We’ve got a new episode up with A. Andrews, author of A Quick & Easy Guide to Sex & Disability. We ended up talking about all sorts of interesting topics in this one, including:

• Ur book running afoul of state laws because u drew a sex toy
• Learning to unicycle because u weren’t allowed in sex ed
• The experience of watching trans loved ones choose top surgery as baby’s first surgery when you’ve had 60 non-gender surgeries
• Dating someone with ur old name
• Should we ban the concept of parents??? (Our therapists say no.)
• And more!

Meanwhile, in merch news, we’ve got even more new merch than the last time I sent a newsletter! And even better, you can get 10% off your entire order through June 18 with the promo code “PRIDE4EVER" !!! So go wild.

Top photo: A black t-shirt that says "When the government questions your right to exist, question its own" in blue text, along with an illustration of a pink sledgehammer smashing the US Capitol building. Bottom photo: a navy blue t-shirt that says "get in homos, we're gonna survive the apocalypse together" in pink text, along with a blue and pink vaporwave-y illo of a car.

And in other gender news, the results of the 2023 Gender Census are out now, featuring responses from more than 40,000 nonbinary people! The Gender Census folks also did an informal survey of what the top ten nonbinary names are, and the answers will… not surprise you .

• Next week on the show, we've got a special one for you: Producer Ozzy is taking the lead to interview Minneapolis tattoo artist M.

Alright, let’s do Links & Stuff:

• If ANYONE in New York finds a Taco Bell with the vegan Crunchwrap, you legally have to tell me immediately.
• My friend Jaya wrote another banger, this time about learning to make an onion volcano.
• LittlePuss Press has a new book out for preorder!
• Speaking of, you can still get 10% off your copy of 2 Trans 2 Furious with the code "FAST10" :) 
• Useful piece on fatphobia + top surgery requirements 
• Elephant yoga!!!! 

That’s it for this week. Here’s your weekly Rhubarb.

Photo: Ruby busting through a window screen and crawling out a window to Breathe Air. 

Xo,
Yr resident gender detective