May 2023 Newsletter
Noooooozeletter
Hi there, Litsa here!
I won't bury the lead: my partner is a transgendered woman named Kat who is moving to Colorado next week due to the impact of anti-trans laws on her life. I can't just pick up and move because my baby business is here, and I love the little dream-come-true that is Dear Diary. We're turning our joint account into a travel savings account so I can visit her.
I know she and I are not alone in this, so I've decided to channel my angry/sad energy in a couple ways:
- Build a PRIDE map of small business allies and
- Host a series of support groups
Grey, DD's new community director, is also organizing a LGBATI+ group art show.
In past years, I didn't wave a rainbow flag around because it felt too much like virtue signalling to me here in Austin. But now Texas has breached our little bubble of peace and love, and I'm pissed! Where's my flag?!
*Performs fervent ribbon dancer routine*
Let's cover coffee shop news, and then move on to LGBATI+ issues.
TLDR:
Community
- Does our neighborhood have a Slack or Dicord yet? Shall we make one?
- First Friday vegan potlucks on pause
- Thank you for an amazing Veganuary!
- Wanted: 3rd Sunday open mic host
- We're actively improving our art retail, and we're adding new artists soon
Coffee
- Last chance to try May Spotlight on Mr Natural specials
- New tacos by chef Mendoza: migas, soyrizo, and Eastsider
- Mexican mocha latte
- Spiced vanilla latte
Bikes (and Running)
- Group rides of 6+ get 10% off food and drink
- Announcing Early Bird Special – Ride with us Thursdays
- Team Snacks Cat Kit pre-order coming soon
- June 11th – Black History Run & starts at Dear Diary
- June 17th – Watch the Juneteenth parade from in front of our shop
- June 18th – Join the Black History Bike Ride
Dear Diary
- Congratulations you two!
- Rachel is now our senior barista and analyst/admin
- Grey is our new art program manager
- Dear Diary Coffee stands with transgendered people
Community
Slack or discord?
Hi! Do we already have a neighborhood Slack or Discord? Lemme know! If so, we wanna join! And if not, we wanna start one! Just reply to this email.
Potlucks
Also, we hosted First Friday vegan potlucks the past 3 months. Folks have showed up every time, but it's a little tricky to staff because no one RSVPs. So! We're putting them on pause for now so we can focus our energy on other community ideas (more on that in a bit).
Feel sad for 235 milliseconds. Thank you.
Veganuary
We really appreciate everyone who bought Dear Diary gift cards in January. Nikkee from Rebel Cheese ended up winning our raffle, which was for $240 worth of gift cards to other local vegan food businesses around town.
Several of you bought gift cards before the raffle was announced (i.e., before we thought of it) out of the goodness of your hearts. That was super kind of you. You were so helpful, honestly, and we appreciate you so much. ♥
My girlfriend Kat and I did our best to pick up all the gift cards by bike. We ended up making a huge loop around town. We made a little YouTube video of the adventure.
Wanted: 3rd Sunday Open Mic Host
Have you ever been to the 3rd Sunday edition of Open Mic? It's the special musical theater one hosted by ATX Musical Theater Collective.
Kirsten of ATXMTC gave us many super fun evenings, but alas, she is getting super busy with a other projects, and needs to take a break.
May 21st was our last night of showtunes. The other, regular mic will continue to happen all the other Sundays. But we have a gap 3rd Sundays.
Do you want to host open mic nights? Or do you have some other community activity you want to get started? Let us know! Just reply to this email.
Art program improvements
Remember the shelf saga? My many failed attempts to create a nice retail display for our local art and gifts? Well, FINALLY, like a year of getting it wrong later, we have Grey. Ha ha. Grey is a super awesome, very talented jack-of-all trades that really, really cares about Austin's art community. We're so lucky to have their help, and the shop looks so much nicer now that they are here!
Right now Grey is leading art retail renovations, but after that, they are turning their attention to curation. It's been a long time since we've let new artists in and refreshed our product mix. So that's coming in June.
Also, by popular request, Grey is bringing back rotating gallery shows! Wooooooo! With June coming up, they are organizing a PRIDE show. We're early in the planning process, so stay tuned!
Coffee
Y'all, Mr Natural is so fantastic. They are a super sweet family, and super involved with their community. Like, in a way we can only aspire to be.
Even though their May Spotlight is almost over, we will continue to serve Mr Natural breakfast tacos. Woo hoo!
- Soyrizo – Chorizo seasoned plant protein and potatoes
- Migas – Tofu scramble, tortilla strips, pico de gallo, and vegan cheese
- East Side – Vegan bacon, potatoes, tofu scramble, and vegan cheese
So far everyone seems to really like these, so we plan to keep serving them indefinitely!
Scratch-made cooked vanilla syrup
Last but not least, we want everyone to try our Mexican Mocha and Vanilla Spice lattes. Why? Because we're really proud of our house spice blend AND we just started making our own vanilla syrup from scratch!
Vanilla lattes are y'all's #1 favorite drink to order, so we're delighted to serve lattes with much richer cooked vanilla syrup now.
Stop by the shop! We're open 7am – 4pm on weekdays and 7am – 7pm on weekends
Bikes
Discounts for cycling & running groups
We give cycling and running groups of 6 or more people 10% off food and drink. If you're organizing a BIG event, let us know in advance. We can maybe request access to the big outdoor space at 1208 Chicon Street for ya.
Assemble your friends
Early Bird Special Thursdays at 7:30am
Also! If you want to make new friends some Thursday morning, Team Snacks hosts a chill little group ride at 7:30am. Team Snacks is a cycling club for intermediate Women / Trans / Femme riders. The Early Bird Special is open to WTF peeps as well as allies. Be sure to check Team Snacks' IG for deets. The ride might become monthly instead of weekly with Kat moving away. She was the primary ride leader.
Since Kat is moving, I could use help with this ride. If you're a W/T/F cyclist and want to help lead it, lemme know!
Sneak preview: Team Snacks Cat Kit!
Dear Diary Coffee designed Team Snacks' cycling kit this year! Weeee! You'll be able to pre-order your kit (plus a lot of matching apparel & accessories) really soon. Like, in June?
We'll be sure to put a sign up at our shop as soon as the pre-order window opens. We'll advertise on Instagram too.
Follow @teamsnacks for pre-order announcement
June 11th – Black History Run (jog, or walk)
We’re excited to announce a special collaboration with Black History Bike Ride!
Join us for a 3ish mile run and learn about just a small amount of the Black History in Austin from our friends! Lots more to learn here: https://blackhistorybikeride.com/
When: Sunday, June 11th at 6:45AM
Where: Courtyard just South of Dear Diary Coffee (1208 Chicon St)
RSVP for the run and follow @SportsBraRunATX
June 17th – Juneteenth Parade in front of Dear Diary Coffee
Every year the Juneteenth Parade passes right in front of Dear Diary Coffee. Weee! It's so fun. We suggest riding your bike over since parking is nutzo. We'll have a couple canopies set up in front of our shop to provide shade. We'll also have a water cooler so you can refill your bottles. AND! We're introducing ice cream!
ICE CREAM
You know that freezer we used to keep tacos in? Well, I broke it. I broke the glass door on top in a very dumb way. Anyhoo, we're gonna get a new freezer in time for Juneteenth, and fill it with various vegan ice creams.
...Would you happen to be selling an under-counter freezer?
Mark your calendar
Black History Bike Ride is June 18th
That's the only info we have at the moment, but definitely keep an eye on @blackhistorybikeride. It's such a well organized event & basically a free, very professional bike tour from one historical site to another.
Dear Diary Coffee
Congratulations, Rachel!
Did you know our sweet Rachel is a total math wiz? She asks fantastic questions, and she's a natural problem solver. She'd make a great business analyst one day.
So! Moving forward, our senior barista is digging into numbers! Rachel is still our senior barista, but in addition to this, she's our new Analyst / Admin. Her first presentation at our team meeting last month was so good! She's already doing an amazing job and offering great ideas.
Did you know our baristas get $5 for each 5 review that mentions them by name?
Congratulations, Grey!
The artists know Grey, but the rest of y'all might not. Grey joined us as a member of the kitchen staff initially. Turns out, though, they are super interested in design and unafraid to learn new software. Moreover, they have experience doing markets and honestly love that scene.
Grey understands Dear Diary better than I do, and with their help, the company will put more focus on art and artists (and maybe a little less on bikes... whoops). I'm sure you've noticed the much nicer presentation of our consignment area.
Grey is bursting with ideas for the community, and we're so lucky to have them on board!
Shout out to Miles
Unsurprisingly, Miles received THE MOST customer praise on Google Reviews, Yelp, and Toast. They're just really charming. Great quality for a barista to have!
⚧ ⚧ ⚧ ⚧ ⚧ ⚧ ⚧ ⚧ ⚧ ⚧ ⚧ ⚧ ⚧ ⚧
Dear Diary Coffee stands by LGBATI+ people
First, I'm going to list the things Dear Diary Coffee's solutions because I assume you know what's up. But then I'm going to summarize the problem just in case you want a refresher.
Solutions
1. We're making a PRIDE map
Dear Diary has volunteered to design a PRIDE map of local businesses who are unafraid to stand with their LGBATI+ employees and customers.
Help us build the list at
dd.coffee/pride
The deadline is this Friday, June 2nd because we need time to finalize the design and distribute it.
2. We're organizing a support group series
I'd like to use our space after hours for a free community support group. It will most likely take the form of a sharing circle, and our intent is to help gender-queer people and their families not feel alone during this very scary time.
I don't have exact details yet because I'm in the process of finding qualified facilitators for these sessions. If you know someone, please email-introduce us!
3. We're working toward an LGBATI+ group art show
Grey, our new community director, wants to have a LGBATI+ group show at the shop this month. If you want to be part of our art community and stay in the loop, I suggest applying for our consignment program and/or signing up for our art newsletter. I'm guessing they will also have an open call at some point, so keeping an eye on our Instagram is not a bad idea.
Problems
Preface
Allow me to preface this summary by saying I do not think conservative voters are dumb or bad or anything of the sort. I'd probably have the same reactions if presented with the same information.
My own family lives out in West Central Texas. They've all met Kat, and she has completely melted their hearts. But, this was not without some initial resistance. At some point, the reality of Kat had to override town knowledge.
My Dad, who is a Republican, military vet, and Christian minister, asked me, "Litsa, are they really performing gender surgeries on children?" Being bilingual, he volunteers/ministers on the Mexican border quite a lot, so this is not the first time town knowledge and his first-hand experience have been at odds.
I related to him what I knew: the goals of gender affirmation, and how gender affirming care is practiced in Texas. No, Texan pediatricians never perform bottom surgeries, and rarely perform breast reduction surgery, on minors. Also, not all breast reduction surgeries performed on minors relate to gender — sometimes girls get breast reductions because the weight of their breasts is painful or inhibiting. One of my own peers in high school (the 90s!) got a breast reduction for that very reason.
My answer came as a relief to him. He was just concerned. To him, transgenderism is not a political issue, so my answer had no bearing on his political leanings. He's still conservative.
I do believe, very strongly, that transgenderism is political for elected officials. I feel so, so sorry for the parents of transgendered kids, and I feel compelled to come to their defense.
I hope this helps. ♥
Summary
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The US Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade
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Texas SB-8 makes abortion illegal unless it can be proven the mother would have otherwise died without one. At this time, Five women have sued Texas for better clarification of "life threatening" because the law takes such broad strokes, doctors must take women all the way to sepsis before they can intervene. Here are a couple of examples: Mrs Zurawski and Mrs Weller. Even though all pregnant Texas are put at risk by this law, only a small percentage suffer near-fatal (or fatal) pregnancies. Big picture, the backlash has been minimal.
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With 2024 presidential elections on the horizon, the GOP has a new, thematically similar platform upon which to campaign. This "war on child abuse," allows GOP leaders to demonstrate strength while tearing down their political opponents. 141+ bills reveal a list of battles that support an overarching narrative: the woke Left is harming Texas children.
"I support any law in any state that protects vulnerable children from the sexual predations of the left." Attorney Gen. Paxton
Here are some of the bills:
SB-14 Campbell, HB-41 Toth, & SB-250 Alvarado make gender affirming care for minors is illegal if it is of a medical nature.
"As Lt. Governor, I believe the practice of child gender modification is abhorrent and must be stopped in Texas." Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick
"Thankful to Joint Author HB 1686/SB 14 with [Sen. Oliverson]. Banning this evil practice of gender mutilation of children can’t wait any longer." Sen. Toth
HB-319 Oliverson allows doctors to turn patients away on the basis of their sexual identity.
HB-436 Patterson classifies the use of hormone therapy in the context of Gender Affirming Care as child abuse.
SB-476 Hughes defines "drag performance" as "a performance in which a performer exhibits a gender identity that is different than the performer's gender assigned at birth" and calls for venues that allow drag performances to be reclassified as "sexually oriented businesses."
See also SB-12 Hughes, SB-1601 Hughes, HB-643 Patterson, HB-708 Patterson, & HB-1266 Schatzline
"Children should not be exposed to sexually explicit performances like drag shows. I presented SB 12 and SB 1601 today to the State Affairs Committee to protect kids from these shows." Sen. Hughes
SB-15 Middleton, SB-649 Middleton, HB-25, & HB-23 Swanson limit college sports teams transgendered students may join.
"A lot of times we say bills are transformational. This is actually one that drew the line in the sand: that biological females should stay with biological females and biological males should stay with biological males."Sen. Perry
"How does the Left define a “trans woman”? While they don’t know, they believe they should be protected. No dudes in Women’s sports." Sen. Toth
HB-1541 Toth enables parents to sue a school district if teachers talk about sexual orientation or gender identity, HB-900 takes "Adult-Designated Educational Resources (READER)" out of schools, and SB-8 allows parents to use vouchers should a school violate their moral or religious ideology
"After more than 18 months of fighting alongside concerned moms and dads throughout Texas, I am proud to say we have passed legislation to halt the sexualization of Texas children through library materials." Rep. Patterson
"Our children are being taught a radical, woke agenda. Listen, there’s no reason why any student should have a woke agenda pushed on them. Our schools are for education, not indoctrination. Gov. Abbott
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From a tactical perspective, each battle is more easily won if backed by public opinion. In a brilliant (albeit evil) move, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote a public memo to the Department of Family Protective Services ordering public servants to report parents of transgendered children on the basis of child abuse. This struck terror into the hearts of kids, parents, social workers, and pediatricians.
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Paxton's public memo strongly suggests, without technically accusing, pediatricians of performing gender surgeries on children:
"As OAG Opinion No. KP-0401 makes clear, it is already against the law to subject Texas children to a wide variety of elective procedures for gender transitioning, including reassignment surgeries that can cause sterilization, mastectomies, removals of otherwise healthy body parts, and administration of puberty-blocking drugs or supraphysiologic doses of testosterone or estrogen."
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Paxton's letter created a hypothetical bad guy knowing most people would assume it is real. Texas pediatric surgeons do not perform "bottom" surgeries on minors and very rarely performed breast reduction surgeries as part of gender affirming care.
"Minors can sometimes undergo surgeries on their breasts and chests — but only around ages 16 or 17, and only in specific circumstances after doctors weigh a patient’s situation with family support. Accessing puberty blockers at the start of puberty can help trans people avoid transition-related surgery later in life.'
"Cisgender people also get the same or similar surgery, like when they have breast augmentations and breast reductions.'
"Standards of care dictate that bottom surgery shouldn’t happen until a person is 18."
Jason Rafferty, American Academy of Pediatrics -
Paxton's letter uses KP-0401 as evidence, which is a legal opinion he had written earlier on. KP-0401 reaches back in history to sterilizations performed on minorities as part of eugenics, a scientific theory popular amongst white supremacists and Nazis in the first half of the 20th century.
"While the spike in these procedures is a relatively recent development, sterilization of minors and other vulnerable populations without clear consent is not a new phenomenon and has an unsettling history. Historically weaponized against minorities, sterilization procedures have harmed many vulnerable populations, such as African Americans, female minors, the disabled, and others."
Notably, the opinion does not cite present-day examples.
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These tactics led to the passing of Texas' first big anti-trans bill, SB-14 by swaying public opinion in its favor.
The social significance of SB-14 far outweighs its practical signficance:
Surgeries were not performed on kids to begin with, so that part of the bill was moot
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The #1 treatment in gender affirming care is social affirmation. If a child is allowed to express themselves without shame or fear of punishment, they are more likely to accept the body that they are in and less likely to develop dysphoria.
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Children suffering from dysphoria are sometimes prescribed puberty blockers so they are less likely to elect surgery as adults. There is a real desire amongst many transgendered adults to gain social acceptance by passing as cis-gendered, and that can be very difficult to do if their transition happens late in life.
Gender Affirmation is so-called because people with gender incongruence simply desire love and social acceptance (affirmation) like everyone else. Social stigma over a possibly genetic phenomenon that cannot be helped only leads to depression and suicide. In an accepting society, medical intervention could be necessary less often.
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Not all gender-queer people are transgendered, and not all transgendered people suffer from dysphoria. It is important for young people who are developing their sexuality and gender identity to have access to information like that.
In the words of Texas State Senator Donna Campbell, who authored the bill,
“Sometimes you need to work hard against something in order to fight for some things,” she said. “Our children need counseling and love, not blades and drugs.”
Yes, parents and doctors of transgendered children would 100% agree, Senator Campbell!
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Public opinion is on course to snow-ball, and Texas, like Florida, could enjoy a landslide of political wins.
Each bill that passes builds upon hostility toward and oppression of gender-queer people in the following ways:
Denying the existence of transgenderism
Associating transgenderism with sexual deviance and predation
Conflating drag and transgenderism
Using vague phrasing such that laws could be used against gender-queer people
Fabricating evidence of wrongdoing through the existance of the law itself
Defunding institutions which aid gender-queer people, including schools, hospitals, social services, and libraries
Silencing gender-queer people and allies that fear legal repercussions
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Ironically, children are the casualties in Texas' war against child abuse. Their bills attack clinical recommendations and make it far more difficult for transgendered children and adults to achieve safety and acceptance. Parents who want to help their gender-queer children avoid depression and suicide must now navigate a political, social, and legal landmine.
But — just like with the anti-abortion laws — while an entire demographic is affected, only a small percentage will die. I strongly suspect the backlash will be minimal.
I don't like just ending on a sad note. My best solution at the moment is to organize a series free community support groups during PRIDE month. I'll let you know as soon as I figure something out! ♥
“Ever since Friday, I’m just waiting for someone to knock on the door” — Amber Briggle, parent
Photo courtesy of Mrs Briggle
