What’s up, Meteor readers?

A hearty hello and good evening to everyone except my friend Brittany who got floor seats to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and did not spend the entire concert FaceTiming me. We are through.

For today’s newsletter, the category is joy. Not just any joy: the unadulterated, vibrant joy of trans teens, adults, and allies dancing at a trans prom on the National Mall. The Meteor’s Mik Bean spoke to Daniel Trujillo, one of the youth organizers, about what the huge party was like. We’ve got that and some pleasant news out of Minnesota.

Best believe I’m still bejeweled,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

The Little Senate That Could: Who’s ready for some good legislative news for a change? Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota gave us a perfect example yesterday of how to use a majority—no matter how slight. With only a one-seat edge in the Senate, they passed a whopping 884-page packet of sweeping reforms covering everything from abortion to suicide prevention.

So strap in, Minnesotans and Minnesotan-adjacents, and let’s find out what Gemini season has gifted you this year:

• This bill eliminates tons of long-standing restrictions to abortion access, meaning…

  • No more informed consent forms

  • No more 24-hour waiting period

  • No more prohibitions on birth centers performing abortions

  • And so much more!

• Extra funding for…

  • Suicide prevention

  • Emergency shelter grants

  • The Homeless Youth Act

  • The creation of offices addressing racial disparity in healthcare

• And undocumented residents can now enroll in MinnesotaCare, provided they don’t surpass the income limit.

Seriously, there’s so much in this thing that I’m not even scratching the surface. I’m barely even tickling it. And all this is on top of the other measures this slight majority had already passed this session: They effectively codified Roe v. Wade for the state. They passed a state-run paid family and medical leave program. They created new protections for Uber and Lyft drivers, leading to this too-cute scene celebrating the bill’s chief author. Oh, and weed will be completely legal by August 1; anyone previously convicted of misdemeanor possession will have their record automatically expunged.

All that’s left for last night’s “billosaurus” is for Gov. Tim Walz to sign, and he’s spoken very highly of the move. It’s just wild how much of a difference lawmakers can make when they actually fight for the causes they care about. So congrats, Minnesota. Let’s hope the rest of the country can catch up.

  AND:

• The NAACP has issued a travel advisory for the state of Florida, noting that the state has become “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.” But this advisory is not a call to just cancel your flight to South Beach and ignore the state. Instead, the NAACP is calling for Floridians and everyone else to take a stand against nuclear sludge monster Governor Ron DeSantis. Learn how to do just that here.

• Let’s hear some commotion for Halle Bailey, who will be adding another iconic role to her resume as young Nettie in the 2023 reimagining of The Color Purple. Words won’t do it justice, so check out the trailer, and mark the release date (December 25) on your calendar.

• The Surgeon General released a report this week saying that social media creates a “profound risk of harm” to teens’ mental health. The dramatic increase in cyberbullying and easy access to harmful content have proven to be “unlike anything prior generations have had to contend with.” And to that, I say, no shit. Does anyone remember the absolute emotional abuse that was MySpace’s Top 8? It was literally a ranking system of your friends that everyone on the internet could see and it constantly fluctuated based on the tensions in a friend group on any given week. Obviously, nothing good was going to develop from “Who would you survive the zombie apocalypse with?”

• On Monday, women gathered at a public beach in Sidon, Lebanon to protest the harassment female beachgoers have been increasingly facing for wearing one-piece bathing suits. Earlier this month, Mayssa Hanouni Yaafouri, the woman who inspired the protests, was chased off a public beach after two men berated her for her swimwear.

• Do you know about survivor benefits? Children in the United States who have lost a parent or caregiver are eligible to receive financial payouts from the Social Security Administration to help with the loss of income experienced after a death. But new data shows that over 700,000 Black children are not receiving the benefits they’re entitled to—and yes, that’s a higher ratio than any other racial group. Researchers say that one factor is a lack of awareness that the program even exists. If you’ve suffered the loss of a spouse, parent, or caregiver who has a demonstrable working history, you can apply for survivor’s benefits. Tell all your friends.

CORSAGES AND CUMBERBUNDS

“You Don’t Like Me? I’m Gonna Throw a Party in Front of Your Office Window.”

Teens gather on the National Mall for Trans Youth Prom

BY MIK BEAN

DON’T YOU WISH YOUR PROM WAS THIS MEANINGFUL? (PHOTO BY KISHA BARI)

Yesterday, trans children and teenagers from across the country threw a prom on the National Mall, a youth-led public celebration of trans joy at a time when more and more states are adopting viciously anti-trans legislation. The Meteor’s Mik Bean spoke to Daniel Trujillo, 15, one of the event’s organizers, about the power a little party can have.

Mik Bean: Of all the events you could think of to celebrate trans joy, what made you and your friends choose a prom? 

Daniel Trujillo: It stemmed from a lot of frustration me and other trans youth were feeling from continuously [having our existence debated]—and so publicly, too.

Me and Libby [Gonzales] were on a call one day, and we were real angry. I was driving back from our state capitol from having to testify [on anti-trans legislation], and we were like, “What do we want to do about this problem?” And we were saying that we need, like, a joyous event. That’s how it snowballed.

There’s a lot of anti-trans legislation targeting trans youth in school specifically. We chose prom to be a statement of what schools could be like if trans youth were protected instead of being politicized in this really brutal way.

Mik Bean is a writer and editor living online. They cover local politics, legal drama, and anything queer.

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