(This is an incomplete list and will be updated as needed.)

January:

Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

Thyroid Awareness Month

Trans Prisoner Day of Action and Solidarity (Jan 22nd)

International Holocaust Remembrance Day (Jan 27th)

February:

LGBTQ+ History Month (UK)

Black History Month (USA/Canada)

Polyamory Week (Canada, week of Valentine’s Day)

Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week (first full week after 14th.)

Chosen Family Day (Feb 22)

Rare Disease Day (February 28th)

March:

Disability Day of Mourning (March 1st)

Zero Discrimination Day (March 1st)

Dyscalculia Day (March 3rd)

National Abortion Provider Appreciation Day (March 10th)

Bisexual Health Awareness Month (#BiHealthMonth)

National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

Women’s History Month

Neurodiversity Celebration Week (March 21st-27th)

Atheist Day (March 23rd)

Trans Week of Visibility (week of March 31st)

International Transgender Day of Visibility (#TDOV, March 31st).

April:

Autism Acceptance Month

World Autism Acceptance Day (April 2nd)

International Asexuality Day (April 6th, may change yearly)

Day of Silence (date varies)

National Transgender HIV Testing Day (April 18th)

Nonbinary Parents Day (third Sunday)

Anniversary of “Genderqueer” being added to the dictionary (April 20th, 2016)

Lesbian Visibility Day (April 26th)

Arab American Heritage Month

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

May:

Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Jewish American Heritage Month

Mental Health Awareness Month

EDS and HSD Awareness Month

National Day of Reason (first Thursday)

International Family Equality Day (first Sunday)

National Honor Our LGBT+ Elders Day (May 16th)

International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (May 17th)

Agender Pride Day (May 19th)

Harvey Milk Day (May 22nd)

Pansexual and Panromantic Awareness and Visibility Day (May 24th)

World Thyroid Day (May 25th)

June:

LGBTQIA+ Pride Month

Global Day of Parents (June 1st)

National Gun Violence Awareness Day (first Friday)

Pulse Night of Remembrance (June 12th)

Autistic Pride Day (June 18th)

Anniversary of Obergefell v. Hodges (June 26th)

National HIV Testing Day (June 27th)

Stonewall Riots Anniversary (June 28th)

July:

Disability Pride Month

Abrosexual Awareness Day (July 2nd)

International Femme Appreciation Day (First Saturday of July)

Queerplatonic Relationships Day (#QPRDay, third Saturday)

International Nonbinary People’s Day (July 14th)

Nonbinary Awareness Week (week of 14th)

International Drag Day (July 16th)

National Parents’ Day (USA, fourth Sunday)

International Self Care Day (July 24th)

August:

International Childfree Day (August 1st)

Autistic Dignity Day (August 8th)

Gay Uncles Day (second Sunday)

Polyamorous Awareness Week (third week)

International Butch Appreciation Day (August 18th)

Transgender Flag Day (August 19th)

Wear It Purple Day (Australia, last Friday)

International Day of Protest Against ABA (August 31st)

September:

Bi Pride Month

National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept 15th-Oct 15th)

Bisexual Awareness Week (week of Sept 23)

Celebrate Bisexuality Day (Sept 23)

International Safe Abortion Day (Sept 28)

National Day For Truth and Reconciliation (Sept 30th, Canada)

October:

LGBTQ+ History Month (USA/Canada)

National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept 15th-Oct 15th)

Augmentative and Alternative Communication Awareness Month

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

ADHD Awareness Month

Black History Month (UK)

International Lesbian Day (Oct 8th)

World Mental Health Day (Oct 10th)

National Coming Out Day (Oct 11th)

National Freethought Day (Oct 12th)

OCD Awareness Week (second full week of October)

Trans Cake Day/Cake For Trans Friends Day (October 14th)

International Pronouns Day (third Wednesday)

Spirit Day (third Thursday)

Intersex Awareness Day (Oct 26th)

Asexual Awareness Week (last full week of October)

November:

Native American Heritage Month

Autistics Speaking Day (Nov 1st)

Intersex Day of Remembrance/Intersex Solidarity Day (Nov 8th)

Transgender Rite of Ancestor Elevation (Nov 12th-20th)

Trans Parent Day (first Sunday)

Transgender Awareness Week (Nov 13th-19th)

Nonbinary Children’s Day (Nov 13th)

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR, Nov 20th)

National Polyamory Day (Canada, Nov 23rd)

December:

World AIDS Day (Dec 1st)

International Day of People With Disabilities (Dec 3rd)

Bisexual Pride Flag Day (Dec 5th)

Gender Expansive Parents Day (Dec 6th)

Pansexual Pride Day (Dec 8th)

Human Rights Day (Dec 10th)

I am an adult who earns adult money and to make myself feel better after multiple 60 hour work weeks, I bought myself an autism creature plushie; they are soft and squishy and I love them.

I’m neurodivergent, very neurodivergent, but I didn’t always understand that.

Figuring out that I’m autistic at 18 years old changed my perspective on everything that I had experienced up to that point. I quite literally spent the next few years afterwards re-processing my memories. There were so many moments where I’d struggled socially without understanding why, meltdowns mistaken for panic attacks, and so many times when I’d been in actual physical pain from sensory input while everyone else around me had been absolutely fine.

I also went through a process of dealing with feeling like I’d been let down by everyone who should have cared about me. Surely someone must’ve seen how badly I struggled at times. If the people who bullied me could tell I was different, shouldn’t my parents and teachers have been able to tell too? Did they somehow not realize? Or did they know and simply not care?

I had some really difficult conversations with people in my life, some with disappointing outcomes. I read a lot of books and blogs, watched a ton of videos, reached out to autistic community.

In the 12 years since, autistic and neurodivergent have become not only words to explain my differences, but parts of my identity. They’re tools that I can use to better understand myself, to express my experiences, to seek out community, and to seek out ways of essentially accommodating my own needs.

Although I failed to find someone capable of formally diagnosing an adult when I initially tried (at the time, I lived in a rural area with few resources), I have since received some professional confirmation that I’m autistic.

Last year, a different “professional” (who had known me, at that point, for all of 8 minutes) that I ended up seeing in a state of crisis told me “You don’t seem autistic to me” and immediately gave me a very different diagnosis. One that–after going back to therapy and doing much research–I’ve come to reject.

I went through a stage of processing that incorrect diagnosis. I went to appointments, I did the reading, I even spent some time wondering if I was in denial or dealing with internalized ableism. And I hate to use a puzzle piece analogy, but in the end I felt like the pieces simply didn’t fit and my therapist agreed.

Instead, I’m now dealing with a different possible diagnosis. The more I read and the more I process things, the more obvious it feels. And I keep wondering how I missed it for so long, for a lot of reasons. Including the shared traits with autism AND having a sibling with the diagnosis???

I’m currently waiting to hear back on a referral (for the third time) to hopefully see about getting diagnosed, so we’ll see what happens with that.

And until then the processing continues.

I guarantee we’re going to see some of these bans on trans healthcare for adults become law this year.

We need to be taking lessons from the fight for abortion access right now. We need organizations that can assist with funding procedures and with organizing travel across state lines for care.

And we absolutely need methods of accessing HRT from outside of states where it’s banned. I’ve been wondering if eventually something similar to the process for mail forwarding abortion pills might be possible for those of us on HRT.

I already do telehealth appointments for my HRT, and I get to do my routine labwork at any LabCorp location; then my prescription is mailed to me from an out of state pharmacy.

So…if I made a telehealth appointment in a state where gender affirming care is legal, and I had a post office box in that state to use as a legal address, and then I had the mail from the PO box forwarded to my home address…could that be a possible work around if gender affirming care is banned in my state?

Especially given that the department of justice decided this week that the postal service can continue to deliver abortion pills to people in states where abortion is banned…presumably a similar approach would be taken to prescriptions for gender affirming care?

This is just me thinking theoretically, of course.

An Oklahoma senate bill filed late Wednesday would prevent a person under the age of 26 from accessing gender-affirming health care, the latest sign that conservatives are seeking to block the procedure for not only children, but people well into adulthood.

The bill filed ahead of the legislature’s February start would bar health care providers in Oklahoma from administering or recommending gender-affirming medical care including puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries for patients younger than 26 years old, punishable by an unclassified felony conviction and the possible revocation of their medical license for “unprofessional conduct.”

The measure would also prohibit public funds from being used to either “directly or indirectly” provide gender-affirming health care to an individual younger than 26 and bar the state Medicaid program from covering procedures related to a person’s gender transition.

The legislation being introduced by Oklahoma GOP state Sen. David Bullard, who last year authored a new state law that prohibits transgender youth from using school restrooms or locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit on behalf of three transgender students against that law.

The bill filed Wednesday is titled the “Millstone Act of 2023” – a reference to a Bible passage that a person would be better off tying a large boulder around their neck to “be drowned in the depths of the sea” than harm a child.

I actually read a few books this year!

Three that I recommend:

1. Gender Queer: A Memoir | Maia Kobabe
2. Hell Followed With Us | Andrew Joseph White
3. Loveless | Alice Oseman

Three that I read in one sitting:

1. A Kind of Spark | Elle McNicoll
2. Melissa | Alex Gino
3. If I Was Your Girl | Meredith Russo

Two that I haven’t yet finished:

1. Neuroqueer Heresies | Nick Walker
2. Detransition, Baby | Torrey Peters

One that I read and didn’t care for:

1. The Testaments | Margaret Atwood

Three that I’m planning to read:

1. The Girl From The Sea | Molly Knox Ostertag
2. Heartstopper (volume 1) | Alice Oseman
3. Lighter | Yung Pueblo

What I’m reading now:

1. Sissy: A Coming of Gender Story | Jacob Tobia