Dr. Catherine Wall

Interacting with folks on Bluesky over the past couple days has been an interesting experience I see some folks who seeing commentary, immediately making assumptions, and stating what they believe are truths based on these assumptions I also others who are scared because of harms done by academics

And maybe we, as academics, can start the long and difficult process of rebuilding trust with a community that sees these bad actors (who actually got highlighted by @splcenter.org and @theabigailthorn.bsky.social) and thinks that *all* academics are, at best, suspect

Interacting with folks on Bluesky over the past couple days has been an interesting experience I see some folks who seeing commentary, immediately making assumptions, and stating what they believe are truths based on these assumptions I also others who are scared because of harms done by academics

And maybe we, as academics, can start the long and difficult process of rebuilding trust with a community that sees these bad actors (who actually got highlighted by @splcenter.org and @theabigailthorn.bsky.social) and thinks that *all* academics are, at best, suspect

Interacting with folks on Bluesky over the past couple days has been an interesting experience I see some folks who seeing commentary, immediately making assumptions, and stating what they believe are truths based on these assumptions I also others who are scared because of harms done by academics

That's why I made a choice. I'm not mad at folks who are taking pot shots at my research or at the article. But I have chosen this weekend to engage. I think engaging with people online and in these spaces is important.

Interacting with folks on Bluesky over the past couple days has been an interesting experience I see some folks who seeing commentary, immediately making assumptions, and stating what they believe are truths based on these assumptions I also others who are scared because of harms done by academics

That last one came out of a well-known, conservative social psychologists lab. Those of us in the field know who it is. There have been, and are, harms that are being done to the trans community. These harms also extend to the folks who support the trans community

Interacting with folks on Bluesky over the past couple days has been an interesting experience I see some folks who seeing commentary, immediately making assumptions, and stating what they believe are truths based on these assumptions I also others who are scared because of harms done by academics

And theories about "social contagion," which have been pushed back against by numerous academics like @floralashes.bsky.social and others journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Interacting with folks on Bluesky over the past couple days has been an interesting experience I see some folks who seeing commentary, immediately making assumptions, and stating what they believe are truths based on these assumptions I also others who are scared because of harms done by academics

We see this in the work that focused on "desistance," much of which attempted to legitimize the idea that therapy could stop people from being transgender. My colleagues and I sought to push back against that in a recent work: psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-...

Interacting with folks on Bluesky over the past couple days has been an interesting experience I see some folks who seeing commentary, immediately making assumptions, and stating what they believe are truths based on these assumptions I also others who are scared because of harms done by academics

Well. This is a thing. A few weeks ago, I announced my new publication in American Psychologist on LinkedIn and didn't do it here. This was clearly a mistake, as some of Bluesky has decided to pile on some... Critique of a student article talking about my work in context. I have some things to say🧵

Science journalism is hard. Journalism about minoritized people is hard. I know folks are facing an environment of fear (to reference the words of one of my participants). But maybe we show grace to those who want to highlight trans voices (including my own)? Who want to help?

Well. This is a thing. A few weeks ago, I announced my new publication in American Psychologist on LinkedIn and didn't do it here. This was clearly a mistake, as some of Bluesky has decided to pile on some... Critique of a student article talking about my work in context. I have some things to say🧵

These are students who are learning how to navigate complex topics in a cautious manner. It is a lot like scientistific writing -- it has to be cautious. Folks don't learn well through shame. And shaming people who do speak up for minoritized folks might lead them to silence later (9)

Well. This is a thing. A few weeks ago, I announced my new publication in American Psychologist on LinkedIn and didn't do it here. This was clearly a mistake, as some of Bluesky has decided to pile on some... Critique of a student article talking about my work in context. I have some things to say🧵

As tempted as I am, I'm not going on a rant about how Nazis destroyed much of the early scientific research about trans people. My students already get to hear that. Though it might be a topic for another day... (7)

Well. This is a thing. A few weeks ago, I announced my new publication in American Psychologist on LinkedIn and didn't do it here. This was clearly a mistake, as some of Bluesky has decided to pile on some... Critique of a student article talking about my work in context. I have some things to say🧵

I did this work because it is important to highlight the experiences of trans people while the broader community faces an existential threat in the US (and in many places across the world). I did this work because Trans Voices Matter (5)

Well. This is a thing. A few weeks ago, I announced my new publication in American Psychologist on LinkedIn and didn't do it here. This was clearly a mistake, as some of Bluesky has decided to pile on some... Critique of a student article talking about my work in context. I have some things to say🧵

We dug deeper, asking our participants how anti-TGD legislation had impacted them. The responses were real and raw and painful. Participants discussed fear, referring to legislation as an existential threat. They about changing social norms and about their fears about the presidential election (4)

Well. This is a thing. A few weeks ago, I announced my new publication in American Psychologist on LinkedIn and didn't do it here. This was clearly a mistake, as some of Bluesky has decided to pile on some... Critique of a student article talking about my work in context. I have some things to say🧵

In our work, my colleagues and I took a mixed-methods, participant-centered approach to examining the impacts of anti-transgender legislation on TGD populations. I did this work to highlight the words and experiences of trans people. (2)