Curated by FG Contributor Samiha Hossain
Puck Carlson is a high school student, an activist and a plaintiff in the Lambda Legal/ACLU of Iowa lawsuit against Iowa’s anti-trans bill SF 496. ACLU OF IOWA
A teenager in the US is pushing back against Iowa legislators’ attack on LGBTQ youth through activism and a lawsuit. Puck Carlson is an activist, an organizer and a spokesperson for the Lambda Legal/ACLU of Iowa lawsuit challenging Iowa’s SF 496, a sweeping education bill that removed books from school library shelves and targeted LGBTQ students, including Puck and their younger sister, and one of a raft of anti-trans bills introduced and passed in Iowa last year.
On March 22, 2023, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed SF 538, a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors, and SF 482, a bill requiring anyone in a public school to use the bathroom matching their sex assigned at birth. Both bills — contrary to normal legislative custom — were “deemed of immediate importance” and went into effect immediately. Carlson discusses how the news was a lot more shocking for them than they expected. Not long after that, Puck found a chance to fight through organizing walkouts in school.
Some of Carlson’s earliest meetings took place at the Faith United Church of Christ in Iowa City. According to Pastor Ryan Downing, the church (which was the first open and affirming congregation in the state) had decided to open its doors, literally, to organizers who needed space to meet in the wake of the state’s anti-trans legislation. Puck and their friends used the church space to meet and make posters. They shared what they learned from organizing:
I think a lot of it is learning how to delegate and learning how to reach out, because the whole point of a protest is a community building exercise. And if you’re not building community while you’re doing it, then you’re doing it wrong. -Puck Carlson
The voices of all the plaintiffs and their families are powerful ones, but Puck has become something of a spokesperson for the case, quoted widely not only in the local press but also nationally. They say their sister, who is trans, is one of their inspirations for speaking up.
Judge Stephen Locher issued a preliminary injunction against SF 496 in December 2023. Books are allowed back on school library shelves, and the ban on any discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in K through sixth instruction was struck down. But the fight is not over. The requirement that schools “out” students who request to use preferred names or pronouns remains, and a preliminary injunction is just that — preliminary. Puck is finishing their senior year of high school in Iowa and will be attending college in New York in the fall. They remain hopeful that the lawsuit may change things legislatively, but they also still see the value in protest. They are also thinking of writing a guide to organizing protests to help keep hope alive in their community.
It is so easy to become hopeless. It is so easy to just give up … and say I can’t change this anyway. And the thing is, you can’t necessarily change it legislatively, because that’s what a lawsuit is for. But what you can change is the day-to-day life of individuals around you. -Puck Carlson
International Women’s Day rally, Tokyo, March 8, 2023. PHILIP FONG / AFP
Wider access to abortion in Japan has largely remained elusive a year after the historic approval of medical abortion pills. In April last year, lawmakers approved the use of the two-step abortion pill for pregnancies up to nine weeks. Before that, women in the country could only receive a surgical abortion in private clinics by designated surgeons that often charge as much as $370. They were often also required to provide proof of spousal consent to receive an abortion, making it nearly impossible for them to make the decision on their own. Reports showed that even for single women, doctors still asked for permission of a male partner before agreeing to perform such surgeries.
Despite the approval of the abortion pill, only 3% of all clinics with abortion services in Japan provide them a year after the pill’s approval, according to Kumi Tsukahara, independent researcher of reproductive health and rights, “and none of them have a Maternal Body Protection Law (MBPL) designated doctor,” said Tsukahara. She adds that the current situation is disempowering for women. Abortion rights activist Kazuko Fukuda, who spearheads a grassroots movement to push for women’s rights to end pregnancies in Japan, echoed the sentiment.
The abortion rights [in Japan] didn’t improve. Of course, this [approval of oral abortion] was better than nothing, but conservative politicians went against such pills before the approval. … It’s mandated that women have to stay in hospitals that provide beds until the end of the abortion, but designated private clinics don’t usually have beds. -Kazuko Fukuda
Women in Japan are banned from taking abortion pills at home. They must be in hospitals and take the pills in front of the doctors as authorities fear that they might resell them. If violated, these women can be subject to imprisonment for up to a year. Abortion is still a big taboo in politics, and real rights improvement will go a long way, Fukuda added. She called for the government to repeal the criminalization of abortion.
Currently, women account for less than 10% in Japan’s lower house of parliament and 27% in the upper house. And in local politics, only 15% of women are on the front line. Women’s issues like abortion access or contraceptive measures are often not viewed as priorities for women politicians so they can appear strong in the male-dominated political sphere, according to Fukuda. Furthermore, social stigma connected to abortion remains strong as Japan blames women for its low fertility rate.
From her eponymous label to her social club Dolls Activities, model and designer Fola Francis left an indelible mark on the Lagos trans community in Nigeria. In October 2022, Francis made history as the first out transgender woman to walk during Lagos Fashion Week, one of Africa’s leading exhibitions of style and design. But Francis, who died last December, was much more than the precedent she set that day. She was mother, nothing short of a community icon — her achievements borne out not just in trophies, but the fully realized lives of countless queer and trans Nigerians.
On TikTok, her “Day in the Life” series offered intimate and inspiring accounts from life as a trans woman living in Lagos. Last year, she founded Dolls Activities, a social club for trans and nonbinary folks dedicated to building community while sharing wisdom. In her honor, a writer on Them spoke with Francis’ friends and chosen family about her legacy and their most memorable moments together.
Lola, a member of Fola’s Dolls Activities, shares how she first encountered Francis on X (formerly Twitter) when she wanted to start her medical transition and was reaching out to people online for information. Francis sent Lola a PDF file that she had gotten from a doctor, what specialists she needed to see, and what tests she needed to do.
I usually judged myself very bitterly based on the measurements that society has placed on other women. But getting to know Fola as a person really made me grow in a way that as a trans woman, I know fully well that I am gorgeous, and that I am everything I think I am. -Lola
Liber, another member of Dolls Activities, describes their relationship with Francis as a “mother-child relationship.” They share how Francis would regularly check in on them.
Fola is able to make time for everybody. She’s loving, she’s community-oriented, she is honest, she’s a leader, and she’s a mother. I say that because she knows how to organize and manage. She knows how to speak to people, and make suggestions that cause actions. -Liber
Cover of the book Feel Good,
There’s so much sadness in queer media. Sad stories just hit harder, to be honest. But there is happiness out there, and it doesn’t have to be corny. Neither does it have to lack artistic integrity just because it focuses on joy and human happiness. -Daniel Orubo
For Ope, the project was among many projects produced by a studio he runs. The studio explores new projects that create and centre a community of practice for which there is a tangible output – a book, a film, etc. Ope calls these Feel-Good Projects.
The result was a refreshing re-interrogation in eight short stories of the many faces of queer joy in Nigeria. From starstruck lovers reuniting at a book festival in Lagos to a hookup that gradually turns into something more passionate and intimate, A Feel-Good Book is a breathtaking celebration of the joy all around that will leave you feeling inspired and enthralled.
What was initially meant to be a physical book was quickly converted into a digital project when the cost of production and distribution became apparent. Despite this, Daniel and Ope saw a great opportunity in a digital publication. A Feel-Good Book hopes to reach 50,000 readers and is well on the way to achieving this. And that’s just the beginning. In December 2023, they launched a short film, “Hanky Panky”, exploring the intersections of queerness, religion, and family. Their film was a semi-finalist at the New York Film and Animated Media Awards.
Ope and I work well together and I’m open to doing something else. I hope to see Feel Good happening yearly: I want queer stories stories to fly. -Daniel Orubo
A Feel-Good Book contains eight stories in total, each by a different writer, canonizing queer joy in a way that is accessible, relatable, and deeply human. Each story is accompanied by resplendent artwork and a profile of its writer in which the stylistic and literary choices made in the writing of each piece are explained. The message is clear: Queer joy is an ongoing conversation, and readers are invited to dialogue with the writers, hearing from them about what they deem to be the appropriate representation of happy queer people.
Inuit throat singers and siblings Tiffany Ayalik and Inuksuk Mackay perform together as the duo PIQSIQ. (PIQSIQ)
After facing bans for almost 100 years in Canada, Inuit sisters Tiffany Ayalik and Inuksuk McKay are keeping the tradition of throat singing alive and well. Together the sisters make up the electronic throat singing duo, PIQSIQ [pronounced pilk-silk].
Throat singing is a musical tradition, a bonding activity and a game that involves two women, standing face-to-face, testing their vocal agility and improvisation skills. Like many other Inuit and Indigenous traditions, throat singing almost went extinct due to colonialist pressures from the Canadian government and the Catholic Church. But today, it’s being revived and even reimagined by a new generation of Inuit youth as part of a larger cultural renaissance to celebrate and spread awareness of Inuit culture. When people ask throat singer Nikki Komaksiutiksak to describe throat singing, she tells them the story that her grandmother told her:
One day when a group of men went out hunting … they never came back to the community to feed the women and children. Two women went down to the ocean and they started mimicking different animal noises with their throats. That’s how they caught their food to feed their children. – Nikki Komaksiutiksak
PIQSIQ and Komaksiutiksak are a small but vital part of a cultural renaissance that’s happening in Inuit cultures and it’s the younger generation that motivates them to keep going. They say there’s a hunger there in younger Inuit audiences to learn whatever they can, reclaim this tradition and re-imagine it in new and innovative ways.
Now people are doing some of the things that we’re doing like bridging or weaving throat singing with Celtic music or with rock’n’roll, country, folk and electronic stuff. -Tiffany Ayalik
For Komaksiutiksak, throat singing was a huge part of her upbringing until she landed in the child welfare system. She ultimately had to take on the personal responsibility of keeping up with the tradition by herself as she became more and more separated from her family and culture. Her aunt would take her and her cousins on expeditions to travel the world and perform at showcases. But behind the scenes, the children suffered physical and emotional abuse. She eventually ran away, and ultimately landed in several group homes throughout the remainder of her childhood.
Today, more than 20 years after leaving the child welfare system, Komaksiutiksak said the power of throat singing saved her during her most challenging years. Because of that, it was imperative for her to continue the tradition, but also to pass it down to her daughters, Chasity and Caramello Swan. Watching both her girls learn, thrive and understand the importance of throat singing has been rewarding for Komaksiutiksak to witness. As she looks towards the future, she hopes that the tradition of throat singing will empower future generations in their identity as Inuit.
Samiha Hossain (she/her) is an aspiring urban planner studying at Toronto Metropolitan University. Throughout the years, she has worked in nonprofits with survivors of sexual violence and youth. Samiha firmly believes in the power of connecting with people and listening to their stories to create solidarity and heal as a community. She loves learning about the diverse forms of feminist resistance around the world.
