Hi there, I'm Amara Jones.

Welcome to the Translash podcast, a show where we tell trans stories to save trans lives.

On behalf of everyone at Translash, we are hoping that you are settling into the fall or the

unofficial part of fall. Well, we know that it can be a transitional time and just are sending

you the best as you move through that particular change. Online spaces have always been a

double-edged sword for trans people. On the one hand, they're an essential

lifeline, especially for those who are isolated in places or surrounded by people who are not

supportive of who we are. These online communities and connections are essential. And, of course,

the other side of the sword is the fact that it's been a place of harassment

of trans people, especially for those of high visibility, such as Trace Strangio and

Angelica Ross, who have been longtime recipients of online hate because of their mass

visibility and work within our community.

But over the summer, we started to notice something different happening.

That is, the targeting of trans people who were at much lower levels of visibility.

They were susceptible and experienced trolling and doxing and swatting, which will explain,

and also greater forms of harassment beyond what was happening in some places to others.

And it got us to thinking that there's something different that's happening in terms of

the online spaces for our community. Additionally, we noticed that

not only were people at much lower levels, the victims of what seemed to be coordinated attacks,

but so are the places which support us, such as Boston Children's Hospital and educational

institutions and, of course, libraries.

And so we thought that it was really important to have a conversation to unpack exactly what's happening in the cyber world for trans people

...