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I'm proud as hell I made it through 2020, my first full year being completely freelance because I couldn't get a job, which was hard as hell. I wrote a lot about things I care about this year (and also wrote to survive) and want to share some favorites I published. THREAD!
In one of my first pieces of 2020, I wrote a mini series about platonic intimacy and how prioritizing my friendships and working on building strong ones has made my life so much better, for @greatist. https://greatist.com/connect/platonic-relationship-and-intimacy
When the pandemic started, I wrote about why prison abolitionists, organizers and activists were so furious with Cuomo's treatment of people in prison for @Allure_magazine. https://www.allure.com/story/coronavirus-prison-labor-hand-sanitizer-privilege
I wrote about the dangers of isolating at home for people experiencing domestic violence, an emotional topic for me as a survive of domestic violence and abuse myself, for @Refinery29. https://www.refinery29.com/en-ca/2020/03/9576184/coronavirus-domestic-violence-partner-quarantine-help
Isolating at home and witnessing all of my friends and loved ones being in crisis at once brought up a lot of stuff in therapy. I wrote about what I started working through and the advice my therapist gave me, for @elemental. https://elemental.medium.com/my-therapist-says-the-world-is-not-my-burden-to-bear-77a2275d0c3
Whenever I'm going through a hard time, I turn to Lilo and Stitch, which was one of the first accurate portrayals I ever saw of what a young kid's trauma response looks like. I wrote about how the movie taught me I'm not a monster, for @thedotandline. https://dotandline.net/lilo-and-stitch-monstrosity/
I came out as trans right before the pandemic, but many people came out and did a lot of self-exploration this year during the pandemic. I spoke with queer and trans people about how isolation helped them find themselves, for @autostraddle. https://www.autostraddle.com/what-its-like-to-realize-youre-trans-and-queer-in-quarantine/
I spoke with a dozen gig workers about going on strike and their working conditions for Instacart, Amazon and more, for @Refinery29: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/03/9617170/instacart-strike-workers-health-paid-sick-leave and https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/03/9629672/gig-workers-strike-amazon-instacart-whole-foods-employees
Tarot has always been one of my most cherished tools for figuring out what's going on in my head, what I want, and how I'm holding myself back. I wrote about how it helps me work on being my best self and spoke with fellow tarot practicers for @greatist. https://greatist.com/happiness/reading-tarot-mental-health-benefits
In my final piece for @thedotandline before we closed it down this year, I interviewed queer and trans people about what they want the future of cartoons to look like and what representation we deserve. https://dotandline.net/queer-future-of-cartoons/
I wrote about the new Anne Frank video blog series that came out this year and attempted to bring Anne's story into the modern age, why it's harmful and unnecessary, and how it erases the context and circumstances she lived in, for @hey_alma. https://www.heyalma.com/anne-frank-doesnt-need-to-be-a-vlogger/
Taking and sending nudes has never been about simply sending them to romantic or sexual partners. Sending nudes back and forth to friends has always been such an important form of intimacy for me. I wrote about it for @greatist. https://greatist.com/happiness/selfie-nudes-empowering
Back when cancel rent banner drops and protests started rolling out, I spoke with organizers about their demands and the messages they wanted to send, for @Refinery29. https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/05/9834411/new-york-rent-strike-protest-andrew-cuomo-house
Before Jalil Muntaqim was released from incarceration and then arrested again this year, I spoke with advocates and his lawyer trying to get him out from prison. I wrote about his case when he got COVID, for @refinery29. https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/05/9841953/jalil-muntaqim-prison-release-appeal-covid-19
In one of the most heartbreaking, awful stories I've ever had to write, I reported on Tony McDade's death and am proud to say I was one of the first journalists who reported it not using Tony's deadname. https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/05/9844546/tony-mcdade-police-killed-tallahassee-black-transgender-man
I wrote about how to protest safely during a pandemic, for @TeenVogue. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/protest-safety-how-to-protest-during-covid-19-pandemic
One of the nicest conversations I've gotten to have during my career was a three hour long interview with @pwcdanica for @TeenVogue. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/danica-roem-coming-out
A lot of people in media watch the Bold Type (despite how truly infuriating it often is), so I talked to people from the industry about what the show gets right and wrong for @observer. https://observer.com/2020/07/the-bold-type-freeform-media-industry/
The violence that Black trans women experience in prison is horrifying. I wrote about it, and about CJay Smith's lawsuit in California, for @Refinery29. https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/07/9912514/cjay-smith-black-transgender-woman-sexual-assault-prison
Disabled people face so many barriers to cooking and eating that able-bodied people don't deal with. I spoke with disabled people and wrote about how they cook and eat despite the obstacles we often face, for @iamwellandgood. https://www.wellandgood.com/cooking-with-disability-barriers/
For the last ten years of my life, Carly Rae Jepsen's music has helped me find self-confidence and self-love again and again. In a dream personal essay, I wrote about how she helped me stop apologizing for being "too much," for @CatapultStory ($150). https://catapult.co/stories/carly-rae-jepsens-music-helped-me-stop-apologizing-for-being-too-much-essay-elly-belle
I've struggled to figure out how to build healthy friendships and relationships after experiencing abusive ones, and how to trust again, for years. I wrote a starter guide on it for @greatist. https://greatist.com/connect/building-healthy-relationships-after-toxic-partners
I spoke with formerly incarcerated people and wrote about felony disenfranchisement and why it's so heinous that they've been stripped of voting rights, for @Refinery29. (And no, I didn't choose the title of the article!) https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/11/10119310/felon-voting-rights-disenfranchisement-racism-suppression
And of course, to start out December, I wrote about Elliot Page coming out, what it meant to many people in the trans community, and how cis lesbians and transphobes don't get to steal our joy, for @Refinery29. https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2020/12/10214462/elliot-page-transgender-joy-terf-response
AND several articles I'm in the process of writing now will come out this month! If you're an editor looking to assign in 2021, I'd love to write about organizing and politics, prisons and prison abolition, relationships, queer culture or any of the topics I wrote about above!
