Three years ago, Roxane Gay was my last minute accomplice.

Content Note: involuntary civil commitment, police, trauma, mental health system, domestic violence “Books are often far more than just books.”― Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist: Essays When the police came to handcuff me and drag me from my home on August 27, 2023 – to execute what I still believe was an invalid civil warrant for involuntary commitment […]

Quakertown Police Chief used a choke hold to subdue a teen. She was protesting ICE. He showed us why.

Ah, Bucks County, you never cease to amaze. And disappoint. The Chief of Police in Quakertown waded into a protest organized by high school students, allegedly did not identify himself while dressed in street clothing, and put a female minor into a choke hold. Her friends responded to a stranger choking the young woman, launched […]

The Impact of Police Trauma on My Life

Here Come the Police Last night, a friend stopped by with some meals for me. I jumped in the car with her to avoid the torrent of rain. She was parked behind my house in an alley, but under a streetlight. We chatted about our days, caught up on assorted things. It was maybe 20 […]

My Fear of the Police Kept Me From Rallies in the Street

Two pairs of handcuffs

I really wanted to participate in a No Kings rally today. But I was afraid. For 22 months, I’ve coped with the traumas of my interactions with police during and following the fraudulent involuntary civil commitment authorized by Allegheny County OBH on Sunday, August 27, 2023. The police failed me that day and on ensuing […]

Trans woman of color who supported herself as a sex worker while living on the streets was killed by police when she called 911

Linda Becerra Moran was 30 when she called 911 and reported she was at risk of being kidnnapped in Los Angeles. That was February 7, 2025. The Crime According to the website Remembering Our Dead Footage of the encounter showed officers speaking in Spanish with a distraught Becerra Moran in the moments leading up to […]

Man Threatens to ‘Track Me Down’ for a ‘Physical Discussion’ in Response to My Trans Affirming Content

“I’m on my way out anyway. I will find people affiliate with you. I do not stop for protesters. I will run through you” Content Note: threats of violence, transgender content, police Over 20 years of blogging and activism, I have been thrashed and trashed from many corners. I’ve had mean, vicious comments, email, postal […]

Two Trans Folx Experiencing Mental Health Crisis Shot and Killed by Police in Separate Incidents

Last night I read this via HRC Aaron Lynch, a 26-year-old transgender man who was shot and killed by police in McClean, Virginia on July 7. Then I read this on Facebook On May 19, 2022, Maddie, a transgender woman, Korean adoptee, and father of two young children, was shot and killed by Malvern Police (Pennsylvania) during […]

Black Trans Man Tony McDade Killed by Police in Florida

The fatal police shooting we aren’t discussing involved a 38-year-old Black trans man named Tony McDade. Tony was killed by police this past Wednesday in Tallahassee, Florida. He’s accused of stabbing another man to death immediately prior to being shot five times by a police officer. His final Facebook live shares his plans to retaliate […]

I Have Never Had To Put My Hands Up For The Police

Hands Up Don't Shoot

UPDATED Earlier this week at 1 PM, I stood outside my home in observance of the 4.5 minute tribute to Michael Brown. I wasn’t able to join my Northside neighbors a few miles up the street so I stood alone on my block in the freezing sleet. It was definitely uncomfortable, but not just because […]

Five Essential Lessons From Pittsburgh Pridefest 2014

Pittsburgh Pridefest

I am breaking my silence on events that unfolded at Pittsburgh Pridefest. As some of you know, my partner of eleven years is an investigator with the City’s Office of Municipal Investigations so I do not comment publicly on active investigations of alleged police misconduct. But there are some serious problems with how the LGBTQ community is responding to this […]