So, a certain media company that laid off a ton of writers and editors at the start of the pandemic is now hiring for a bunch of jobs, and it's worth noting that the trans, nonbinary, and POC writers they laid off were NOT hired back. White, cis writers were.

Screw it: I was the only news reporter at Bustle who covered trans rights/issues. (Some of the lifestyle freelancers do.) Since being laid off, Bustle has started a series titled "How I Learned Gender" and is having its cis reporters interview people about gender identity.

This is frustrating for a lot of reasons: In my last few months on the job, I had to do SO much labor when it came to educating cis editors about gender. I pushed back — a lot. I broke down in tears one day because it got that bad.

It's frustrating that now they have decided to start this series — with no trans or nonbinary reporters to give their input. That was obviously done intentionally, though. In my last few weeks there, all my reporting on trans issues was edited to read like it was for cis people.

From what I can tell, this series reads the same way. It's very clear who's creating & editing this stuff.

Don't expect to be able to cover gender identity in a nuanced, accurate way when you lay off all the people who specialize in that issue.

One last thing: I reported the incident where I ended up in tears, and yet they STILL decided it was OK to green light a series on gender identity by the same section/team.

I mean, the people I reported it to are also cis, so what did I expect?

Editors, while y’all are here: The unemployment supplement has run out, so I urgently need more work and will pitch you nonstop if you invite me to.

I cover lots of stuff but mostly repro health and LGBTQ+ policy/activism: https://joyurcaba.com 

Also always down to write puns for you ( @LRocketto can attest to my skill) or mental health/wellness articles like this: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wellandgood.com/productivity-free-time-myth-covid/amp/

Or stuff like this: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-are-lucid-dreams

I want to be clear that I'm not accusing BDG of employment discrimination, bc I wouldn't put it past them to threaten me w/ litigation.

Rather, it's what's been happening in media forever: they hired a whole new team of mostly white cis women editors... https://twitter.com/susancrumiller/status/1290632063381655552

And those white cis women editors are hiring the other writers they've worked the most with, who are also white cis women.

It's not illegal "discrimination" — but it's what Black women & trans ppl have been calling out for years (about Bustle and other places).

OK this is really the last thing. A white cis writer replied saying she wasn't hired back (...ok) so I want to clarify: I'm not saying Bustle is hiring some writers back. They are hiring new cis white writers who appear to be well connected to the new editors.