Tuck Woodstock

☀️ Supersized Summer Summary Newsletter! ☀️

Added 2020-08-31 22:12:33 +0000 UTC

FRIENDS! Hello!

I want to start by apologizing for the long break between newsletters. The short explanation is that the Portland protests started making national news (and I started working 11am-4am); then I took some time away to recover from that; then I got back into covering the protests, and at no point in time there was my brain really functioning enough to write newsletters. But I'm back, baybee, with a recap of everything I meant to send in the last several weeks.

Podcast News

First off, did you catch our season finale episode with Hideo Higashibaba? (Pictured above as drag queen Kiki Miyazaki, and further above with dogs Stanley and Sofie.) I saved this episode as the grand finale because it's truly one of the most emotional Gender Reveal interviews I've ever done. Hideo's story — for those who haven't listened, he talks about growing up in a religious cult, and how difficult it was to reshape his life once he left — is freakishly similar to the experience of my former partner, and every time I listen to this episode, my heart breaks over again for them and for him and for everyone else who has survived something so deeply traumatic.

TBH, I'm not sure if that's going to sell you on the episode or scare you away from it. (We also have fun, I promise!) But either way, I encourage you to listen to Hideo's seven-part series about going up in the Moonies cult, fittingly entitled Growing Up Moonie.

Once we (FINALLY) ended our official season, we were lucky enough to share an excerpt of the new podcast Transcripts. Hosted by Myrl Beam and Andrea Jenkins and produced by Sylveon cofounder Cassius Adair, Transcripts is a new trans activism podcast created by the Tretter Transgender Oral History Project. Special guests from the first episode include Diamond Stylz, Dean Spade, and other rad trans activists whose initials aren't DS. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Check out an excerpt of Transcripts in our feed, or jump straight to the full first episode by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more here.

Merch News

In merch news, I finally got the shop restocked, including these FANNY PACKS featuring a new design by Evren Celik.

(Accessibility note: Teespring has not made it clear how long the waist strap is on these fanny packs, which makes it hard for many people to guess whether they'll fit or not. If you purchase a fanny pack and would be kind enough to measure the strap and let us know what you learn, I will send you a special thank-you in the mail. I'm sorry that we don't have better info at this time!)

Evren's design is also available as a sticker, a t-shirt, and a tank top, with all proceeds split between Evren and Trans Lifeline.

Also new in the shop is this "Genitals Ain't Gender" design by Jade Obrebski, which is available as a shirt and a sticker. Jade is generously donating half of the proceeds right back to us here at Gender Reveal. That's right — we're making a few bucks off the merch store, finally! What a time to be alive.

As a thank you for sticking with me through the lack of content, I've created a special discount code for Patreon subscribers only! Between now and September 30, use offer code "MYBAD" for 10% off anything and everything in the Gender Reveal merch store. Enjoy, and sorry/thanks again!

(Oh, by the way, those new designs will vanish from the shop on September 15, so you might want to hurry if you have your eye on something.)

Season Six News

As I dive into catching back up on all things Gender Reveal (Patreon rewards, transcripts, booking guests, doing interviews, grimacing at my email inboxes, etc etc forever), I'm working on bringing a couple of rad trans people on board to do some extremely part-time work for Gender Reveal. This way, I might actually get back on top of things, instead of just apologizing to y'all on a loop forever! Can you even imagine.

This would absolutely NOT be possible without your support, so I want to take a second to thank you so so deeply for being a Gender Reveal patron. We're making trans jobs! We're changing trans lives! I'm so fucking proud of all of us!

Tuck News

I don't really want to talk about this publicly, but if you listened to the recent bonus episode, you may have guessed that I've been messing around with testosterone. This has been very exciting and weird and hard and fun and I'm excited make more episodes with my ~ new name ~ and ~ new voice ~ in the coming forever.

I can tell you for sure that I would not have taken this step if it wasn't for the conversations I've had around transitioning with Gender Reveal guests and listeners. Y'all are incredible and I'm so happy that we can support each other figuring out what the hell gender is.

Anyway, in less personal news, I've been writing about the protests for the Portland Mercury (among other publications), and I just wanted to share these two articles with you in case you're interested. No presh! Also, big CW for police brutality in these articles and the next two paragraphs.

"Why Do Portland Police Keep Slashing Protesters' Tires?"
Choice quote: “They ran up behind my car, opened my car doors, and tried to rip me out by the hair,” says Gila. “They let my car fill with tear gas, shut the door on me, and then stabbed both of my passenger side tires.”

"Officers' Reliance on 'Less Lethal' Munitions Leaves Portlanders With Lasting Head Injuries"
Choice quote: “A lot of the instances where I have been shot, I have been out of the way or at the front of the line, so there is decent space between me and the protesters,” says Florence, who is nonbinary. “I’m definitely being targeted, probably because I’m one, press, and two, visibly queer under all of my armor."

Rhubarb News

OK, so cops are trying to kill us and there's a pandemic and I'm still behind on patreon rewards and etc etc but in GOOD NEWS, Ruby turned two years old last week! Please enjoy these photos from her special day.