I hold you & nature holds us

Dear friend,

I know the world is a lot right now. Sometimes, things can feel bleak and trans joy can seem far away as we watch the consequential antics of what one of my favorite trans stickers calls "cis-man babies."

But that's why this newsletter exists in the first place: to remind all of us (me included) that we've got each other's backs. When one of us feels low, another of us is there to rise up with wisdom, humor, or care in the form of words, art, and invitations into community.

The only bearable way through is with each other. And our community is not going anywhere.

Come, take a breath with me. Feel your body supported by the earth as they change seasons. Nature reminds us that transition can be a sacred process that is full of joy, as easeful as summer exhaling into fall.

What are you looking forward to in the coming weeks? What's something beautiful that keeps you going? I'd love to hear about it, if you want to share in a reply.

With care and solidarity,
Jin (he/him)

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I've made some other trans friends and it's been so lovely having people who get it. We've done barbecues and tie dye parties and some of my friends even took me out for my birthday and it was so sweet. I love the little trans community I'm building.

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I had a moment this weekend where I felt a lot of gender euphoria about my physical body and gender expression. Little jolts of excitement that I get to continue using my body in ways that are gender affirming, relief that I no longer feel disappointed and ashamed of my body, and gratitude towards our trans ancestors and communities who made it possible for me to transition.

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My high school lab partner ended up with me bc we were both weirdos and no one really wanted us. 5 years after high school we ended up at the same pride parade, him as a baby trans-masculine leather kinkster, me as an out & proud trans woman.

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even with everything happening, and how genuinely scared I am for what comes next, that feeling when I look in the mirror and give myself a cheeky grin (instead of unconsciously avoiding looking at my own face the way I did for years and years) is worth it all and more.

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trans women helped me appreciate femininity. I think like most people who grew up femme, it becomes easy to resent signifiers of pink & girlishness as impositions of who you have to be, but seeing trans women embrace those same signifiers because they choose to, returns the joy and beauty of pink to me.

I'm agender so it's all neutral to me personally, but seeing trans women be so happy about all the things I found annoying being cast as "female" growing up just makes me go, oh, wow, yeah I get what you see in it now.

Also, shout out to trans men because they're paving the way for ideal masculinity. To see people choose to be manly in a way that brings joy and freedom instead of toxicity and self-loathing should be inspiring to everyone.

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If you want to shout out your trans joy to the community, the contributor form for October is open for all the hopeful resistance, connective moments, and euphoric reflections!

Hey, hey all! It’s your friendly neighborhood astrologer, Feebz, writing this right out of eclipse season. Next time you read my words, I’ll be newly based in Portland; my eclipse gift from the gods was discovering that I’m being flung into the Town of Non-Binaries. Anyway, let’s look at what the times ahead have in store for us!

🗡️A few days ago, Mars entered Scorpio, which is his sludgier, stingier sign. You can honor Mars and Scorpio by procuring a shiny new dagger (or a symbolic depiction of one) and consecrating it in his name. You could even try out some blacksmithing or similar craft. Hone your drive, or a quiet kind of power.

🌕 10/6: The next lunation will be the full moon in Aries, ruled by Mars also, so it will be quite well-supported. As we are out of eclipse season, this is an ideal lunation for worship. Ask the Moon for help getting started with major projects or for an extra special boost toward your long term goals. Expect the day to feel very energized.

💓 10/13: Venus enters her home sign of Libra. When Venus and Mars are each in their own home signs, as they were around this time 2 years ago, things get pretty steamy. If you’re writing or performing some kind of art involving courtship or coupling, anticipate some oomph behind it. Expect new couples to pop up around you, and if you’re looking yourself, burn Venus some rose incense and ask for aid.

🌙 10/20: New Moon in Libra. This one is ruled by kindly Venus in the same sign. The goal is peace, which will likely prevail, but words could get spicy. You could see a new element or even an entire new paradigm emerging between your sense of self and closest relationships, calling for a revitalized idea of balance. If you meditate, incorporate as part of your lunar ritual. If you don’t, do something with a soothing pattern like songwriting or knitting. 

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Psst: If you have a regular (or one-off) feature you'd like to pitch the newsletter, feel free to reply to this email so we can chat! Our focus is on topics/creations that help trans sibs feel joyful, seen, and/or entertained :)

To start us off, I'm thrilled to share in the unveiling of this new biomythography from the poetically talented nawa angel (they/them)!

If you're in the Portland area, you're in luck as they're holding some wonderful upcoming in-person events. No matter where you're based, you can drop in to their upcoming animistic writing virtual workshop, or feel their words wash over you...

nawa says:

Hi everyone! I am so excited to announce my qt biomythographic book artifact is born!

Waling waling palpitations is a
genre-defying debut that pulses with queer
lineage, decolonial reclamation, and lush,
embodied ritual. Part drag spell, part orchid
archive, this lying hybrid artifact blends poetry,
photo-memory, ancestral invocation, erasure,
and two decades of queer love letters into a
prismatic offering. nawa angel a.h.—also known
as Moonyeka—moves through performance,
mythology, and intimate ephemera to reclaim
matrilineal histories and diasporic queer desire
with fearless, feral beauty. Waling waling
palpitations refuses containment—blooming,
mourning, and shimmering across form,
language, and land. It is archive. Event score.
Heart opening its many mouths.

a delightful order of events, in their own words:

OCT 4th—First Matter Press book launch & reading! if you get a book and are in PDX, you can pick up at this event, orrr if you want a book, copies will be available and i will sign it and hug it and squeeze it :)

OCT 5TH—i will be doing a 🆓🆓🆓 workshop at @amppdx. we're going to play with aswang lores and risograph possibilities. first ten babes to sign up will get a free signed copy of WWP <3! register for the workshop here

OCT 15th—check out the digital gatherings of EUFLORIA (with Corporeal Writing)! On October 15th, we will be building Altars for our Dead Desires. Come to this animistic embodied writing class. Waivers/sliding scale available.

& not to bury the lead, but my site is soft launched—order your books at moonyeka.world 🌍🌍🌍 OR purchase them at your local indie bookshop (although I won't be able to sign them!)

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Calling all D&D players! Jazz up your next game with this guide by our very own community member, Blair Crestlyre (shi/hir, they/them):

Blair says:

So, I wrote this guide kind of on a whim, but it turned into this big thing that made me happy to finish and get out there for people to enjoy! It's a supplement centered around bringing fighting game moves into D&D5e, and it makes the game feel so much more exciting and fun! I hope you all like it~!

Pick up the supplement here!

I'm currently working on the 2nd volume of Fighting Spirits! It's called Fighting Spirits 2: Combo Boogaloo, and it's going to bring even more Fighting game madness to your D&D games! Keep an eye out for it! It'll make any session EX-plode! ;-D

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Up next, visual artist Julia Quinn (she/her) offers us a heartfelt gallery of her recent work!

Julia shares:

My trans joy is being able to live authentically. My art can be sad, wistful, and ugly sometimes. I feel like sometimes art is uncomfortable.

You can follow Julia on tumblr!

(I love Julia's openness around creating art that isn't perfect or comfortable, but rather as a true reflection of the artist's life and experience. A healing response to the times we're living through, I think!)

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Coming full circle...are you a queer artist yourself? This crowdfunded queer history zine by Sapling (he/they) invites you to participate!

Sapling says:

My husband, Felix, and I are creating a queer zine project that celebrates our histories! Featuring imaginative illustrations from 50+ artists, this art book is titled "We've Always Been Here," as a way to remind the world that queer and trans people have always existed, and always will.

Artist applications have just opened and will stay open until October 17th! We particularly encourage submissions from artists with globally diverse ideas and identities!

Find the application and other zine information here.

We're aiming to print this book after a Kickstarter campaign in Spring 2026, so we hope you'll join us then for a celebration of queer history and resilience!

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Are you a trans creator working on something cool, or do you know of someone whose work we ought to celebrate in our next issue?

We'd love to see it—every month, we welcome contributions for art, writing, community projects, and more.

• Beautiful, tender, and necessary: "A Letter to the Trans Teens Thinking About Giving Up" on the Living Like the World is Dying podcast
• Submit your art to the amazing Gallery of Trans Joy!
• I recently found out about Trans News That Doesn't Suck. Amazing!
• Turn hate into fuel for trans joy. A tongue-in-cheek fundraiser "in the name of your favorite transphobe" for the Trans Empowerment Project
• Spirit Swap is a new gorgeous game by mostly queer & trans people of color, available on STEAM!
• An interview with Pedro & Lux Pascal on playing trans roles!
• Reminder: Check out the time-sensitive links for nawa angel's book events and the queer history zine artist applications, in the previous Amplify This! section.

Are you enjoying ATJ? It takes many hours, conversations, and collaborations to make this newsletter happen every month, and I don't always hear back from readers. It would be amazing to hear how this issue inspired you or made you feel, if you want to share. :)

If you're a cis ally and/or have a few bucks to spare for uplifting collective trans joy, you can also now upgrade your subscription to $5/month! You can also tip us at Buy Me a Coffee.

⭐ Do YOU have trans joy to share with us?? Check out the Contributor Guidelines!

⭐ We’re always looking for trans projects & resources to amplify. If you make art of any kind, are launching something, or have a lead that you think our community should know about, please reply or fill out the form on this page.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please:

1. drag and drop this email to your Primary inbox tab, and
2. forward this email to someone you think would love to see it in their inbox! (Are you the person someone forwarded this to? Get your very own free subscription to Amplifying Trans Joy!)

You can also follow us on Bluesky where we share snippets of trans joy in between newsletters.

Thanks for supporting and reading!!!

I’ll leave you with this...

A reminder I think we all could use right now, haha.

Real talk: While you might not be able to abandon everything that ties you to capitalism (sadly), please remember that even in the worst of times, you have more agency than you think to choose joy.

Stay sassy, 'til next time!