i've worked very hard to not think about joossie s1gnool ever, ever at all. but, my niece came out in her late teens, and ever since, she's been so anxious about how people will talk to and about her as a trans girl. it is people like this “writer” who make her life worse.

what the cancel culture letter writers and signatories seem to forget is that their “open dialogue and debate” have real, tangible effects on real people, who do not have the opportunity to write for the atlantic. they’re sometimes little kids fearing the world.

i have promised my niece, who is on the cusp of adulthood now, that the world would be kinder to her as a trans woman than historically it has been. in order to do that, some people do indeed need to be punished for their language, because their language has put her at risk.

It’s easy to think that debate is just words. But it’s not. The same way a good book can make you feel better, an op-ed that eradicates your existence can render you hopeless. I am grown, and can tolerate a lot. What are you doing for the kids in my life, or yours?

anyway. check in on your kids.