This story was originally published on Passionfruit.
In September 2022, Erin Reed (@erininthemorn) was profoundly moved while listening to teacher Dawn Riggs passionately testify in front of the Ohio Board of Education against a policy that would require teachers to out their transgender students.
Watching Riggs so fervently defend the rights of her students, it occurred to Reed that these testimonies often contained powerful stories that would usually go unreported. Reed decided to platform these stories on TikTok.
As of March 2023, anti-trans legislation is at an all-time high. Only three months into the year, the Human Rights Campaign tracked a record 150 anti-trans bills. Crucial to the success of these bills has been an active disinformation campaign on social media, through accounts such as Libs of TikTok. Reed’s social media content and activism have been at the forefront of documenting the full extent of these bills and combating disinformation.
