Announcement

At The Needle, we've always believed in the distinct culture and inherent value of trans people. We've also, since day one, been committed to, whenever possible, giving our audience the context they need to be empowered to choose to act on the news, rather than being stuck with just receiving it.

That's why we've always had the "đź’‰ Take Your Shot đź’‰" section on articles where we could come up with one, as we want you, our audience, to feel empowered by reading the news. Sometimes we can't find an actionable piece of context for our readers, and in those cases we don't have that section.

The Kansas ID law, with its automatic revocations of trans IDs and bathroom bounties, among other provisions, is a case where the news was really grim but there wasn't much to empower our audience with at the time of its passage. With this new partnership, that has changed.

Operation Lifeboat is now running to help trans people get out of Kansas, or for those who do not want to leave– to help with safety planning and steps to get the new ID the law now requires.

Operation Lifeboat is a collaboration between trans people ourselves and cis allies who have disaster management experience. If you, like Jane and Artemis, have been wondering where all the cis allies who would fight for trans people are, at least some of them are helping our community with Operation Lifeboat.

Because of this, The Needle has entered into a partnership with the community members and allies running Operation Lifeboat.

What this partnership affects:

  • Jane and Artemis have access to Operation Lifeboat's internal information and are among the first to know when Operation Lifeboat has issued new press releases or other information for public release.
  • Jane and Artemis are lending their professional skills to help Operation Lifeboat with reach and visibility among our community.
  • Jane and Artemis remain reporters and editors for The Needle, while also assuming public information roles for Operation Lifeboat.

What this partnership doesn't change:

  • Jane and Artemis, as well as The Needle team as a whole, remain fully editorially independent.
  • The Needle remains committed to building up trans news and trans culture– helping with Operation Lifeboat means more trans people survive to continue our culture.
  • The roles of our other team members, such as Danielle– our satire correspondent– and Solomon– our narrator– remain unchanged.
  • Our commitment as professionals and as The Needle to doing good work for our community that informs and empowers, as good journalism should, remains untouched.

This partnership allows Jane and Artemis to do more good work– keeping trans people safe, and gives The Needle access to information to bring you more of the news that impacts our community.

Updates and Stories from Operation Lifeboat:

Coming soon!