If You're Trans, You Have to Live - Sick Burns

Content Warning: This post will have light discussion of trans-related suicide, please take care of yourself.

Here is a recap of my last two weeks!

Apologies again for not getting out a recap last week. Every time there is an election, the week after election day is my busiest of the year. I skipped last Friday's newsletter because I was writing about the election for my Xtra column, but more on that later.

Without further ado, here is what I've been working on.

What I've been thinking about:

It feels like there's been a fairly recent rash of trans people taking their own lives lately. There was Middlebury College diver Lia Smith a few weeks ago, and then last night I heard about the passing of a trans person who was a frequent viewer of the streamer Ludwig.

In response to Kanabana's passing, Ludwig is doing a series of streams raising money for the LGBTQ suicide prevention hotline The Trevor Project. On Thursday night, he streamed for 11 hours and raised $65,000 and he'll be live again today at 2pm PST for more fundraising. Tune in and give if you can.

Here is video of the moment he found out about his viewer's passing, you can tell he was genuinely affected by the news.

What I've been watching:

Pluribus on AppleTV is fantastic and I just want to say I was a Rhea Seehorn fan since her one episode guest appearance on Burn Notice.

Death by Lightning on Netflix is also really good. Michael Shannon is good in everything and Matthew MacFadyen is actually terrifying as the assassin Charles Guiteau. The miniseries is a frightening examination of parasociality that is all too relevant in modern times.

What I've been working on:

Ok let's hope I'm not forgetting anything, here goes.

-Last Monday, I wrote about Trump's huge Gatsby-themed party thrown on a weekend when SNAP benefits were set to expire. Trump ended up throwing another lavish party before the shutdown ended.

Let Them Eat Gatsby

While SNAP benefits are slashed, a recession looms, and farmers watch their crops fail, Trump hosted an obscene display of wealth. Over the weekend, images of an obscenely wealthy Gatsby-themed Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago hit social media. Half naked dancers dressed in plumes of feathers and sparkles gyrated and wriggled

Burns NoticeKatelyn Burns

-Last Wednesday, I compiled all the funniest BlueSky election night posts I could find.

The Best Election Night Posts - A Compilation

I asked my BlueSky followers to send me the funniest election night posts and boy howdy did they deliver. Enjoy! The Post having a normal one — Kate Burns (@katerqburns.bsky.social) 2025-11-05T03:50:04.633Z “The day NYC elects a Muslim Mayor will be the day I die.” --Dick Cheney

Burns NoticeKatelyn Burns

-Also on Wednesday, I wrote for MSNBC about why last week's off-year elections should represent the death of the anti-trans political ad.

Opinion | Democrats’ election wins showed they don’t need to hide their support for trans rights

Republicans repeated Trump’s anti-trans strategy from 2024 and lost big. This should be instructive for Democrats.

MSNBCKatelyn Burns

-Last Thursday, we dropped a new episode of Cancel Me, Daddy in collaboration with the Panic World podcast. We had an interesting discussion about the underlying dynamics behind how cancel culture works and how the anti-cancel culture activism sphere operates.

-Last Friday, I wrote for Teen Vogue about the passing of trans diver Lia Smith. She has taken a break from the Middlebury women's swimming and diving team before getting banned from playing by the NCAA.

Politicizing Transgender Athletes Is Dangerous. Lia Smith Deserved Better.

“Let her passing be an inflection point for how you think about trans rights and trans people more generally.”

Teen VogueKatelyn Burns

-This past Monday, I raged a little about the Democrats who voted to end the shutdown by giving into Republicans and basically getting nothing at all in return.

What Was the Point of the Shutdown?

Democrats asked voters to weather short term pain from the shutdown to get long term gains in extending the ACA health insurance subsidies. Then they threw it all away. So, what was the point of all that? This morning we find ourselves on the cusp of the end to the

Burns NoticeKatelyn Burns

-On Tuesday, I wrote a recap of what it's been like to live as a trans person in Trump's first year back in office and why last Tuesday's elections gave me hope for a better future.

A year after Trump’s reelection, what’s next for trans people? | Xtra Magazine

The past year has been horrifying for trans people in the U.S. The past week gave me hope for the future

Xtra MagazineKatelyn Burns

-This Wednesday, I wrote about efforts in the UK to limit teenage phone use in the name of a murdered teenage trans girl who was killed by her classmates.

Brianna Ghey’s Phone Didn’t Stab Her 28 Times

The trans girl murder victim’s mom has turned her death into an unrelated political crusade against teenage phone use. Note: I want to be clear upfront that I have no issue with Esther Ghey, mother of murdered UK trans girl Brianna Ghey. Brianna Ghey’s brutal murder at the hands of

Burns NoticeKatelyn Burns

Words to leave you with:

If you're trans, you have to find a way to live. Do whatever you need to do to make that happen. Reach out to your friends when it gets dark. You have to live.

Thank you so much for reading! It's been a long couple weeks since our last recap, but if you appreciate my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.

It is my primary source of income and I'm trying to reach 1000 paid subs by the end of the year (currently I'm at 853).

From now until Cyber Monday, you can get 20% off the first year on an annual subscription to my Patreon!

Best,

-Katelyn