Fruit Camp, a tattoo and art studio in the Remington neighborhood of Baltimore, opened with a bang in February of 2020. “We had a big opening party. It was really fun. Everybody came,” says Geo Mccandlish, one of the co-founders. “It was the last rager I went to,” they said. The pandemic shut down their shop—alongside […]
Author Archives: Henry Carnell
Posted inDigital Equity Lab
5 things a trans scientist wants you to know about AI
Transgender people were no strangers to the heyday of the internet experimenting with AI text to image generation during primarily 2022 and 2023. Trans writers shared about the potential promise of the technology for producing affirming portraits. The same models, however, researchers found also produced stereotypes and over-sexualization of their depictions of transgender people. Since then, AI use has exploded—as have examples of […]
Posted inDigital Equity Lab
The queer couple fighting for DEI — with math
When faced with questions of diversity, equity, and inclusion, detractors often respond with demands for evidence or complaints about cost. Husbands Chad Topaz and Jude Higdon spend their time trying to find answers to those questions — on top of their other jobs as math professor, university administrator, and parents to a son and two dogs. It started when Topaz, […]
Posted inDigital Equity Lab
LGBTQ+ advocates warn Meta’s policy changes ‘putting us back in the dark ages’
LGBTQ+ advocates have expressed alarm in recent weeks, as Meta has taken steps to undermine protections for queer youth and apparently worked to appease the incoming conservative administration in Washington. Meta, the parent company of popular social media and messaging companies Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is owned by Mark Zuckerberg, who was once considered to be an ally of […]
Posted inTop Stories
From TransTape to risk maps, how trans people use technology
In 2021, trans folks on Twitter debated about the ethics and usefulness of a venture-funded app suite called Euphoria, meant to facilitate transitions. While the trans world moved on, one trans guy didn’t. Oliver Haimson was fascinated. In 2019, he opened a note on his phone titled “Trans Technology” and started a running list. It had four initial entries: […]
Posted inDigital Equity Lab
LGBTQ+ youth love TikTok. Does TikTok love them back?
When Jocelyn was stuck inside during most of 2020, they did what any high school senior would do: scrolled through TikTok. They found themself on the hashtag #tiktokmademegay a lot. (To protect privacy, the Blade is opting to only use Jocelyn’s first name). “At the time, I didn’t give it a lot of thought,” they say, […]
Posted inDigital Equity Lab
Lesbian software developer seeks to preserve lost LGBTQ+ history
Up until the early 2010s, if you searched “Babe Ruth” in the Baseball Hall of Fame, nothing would pop up. To find information on the greatest baseball player of all time, you would have to search “Ruth, George Herman.” That is the way online archival systems were set up and there was a clear problem […]
Posted inDigital Equity Lab
How data helps — and hurts — LGBTQ+ communities
When Scotland voted to add questions about sexuality and transgender status to its census, and clarified the definition of “sex,” it was so controversial it led to a court case. It got so heated that the director of Fair Play for Women, a gender-critical organization, argued: “Extreme gender ideology is deeply embedded within the Scottish Government, […]
Posted inDigital Equity Lab
Trans experiences with the internet range from ‘harrowing’ to ‘powerful’
Alex, 29, would not have met their friends without the internet. While living in a small city surrounded by farmland, finding community was not always easy. Alex tried out one of those apps for adults seeking to make friends. It turned out to be a remarkable success. “I’ve made my friend group as a direct result of […]
Posted inArts and Entertainment
TransTech Social is removing barriers to trans success
It is common knowledge that women earn 84% of the average worker. Less common knowledge? Trans women earn 60%of the average worker. Trans men and non-binary people come in at around 70%, while 16% of all trans people make less than $10,000 annually. E.C. Pizarro III was lucky, and he knew it. He had a BFA in graphic design and had […]
Posted inTop Stories
Mass. startup streamlining name changes for trans, nonbinary residents
A guy in America wants to buy a truck. They save money. They have built up good credit. They find a truck in their price range. They go to the dealership to buy it, but when the dealership puts the guy’s name through the system no credit shows up. The problem? That guy is trans […]
Posted inDigital Equity Lab
From LGBTQ+ book bans to internet bans: A bipartisan attack on knowledge
“They had LGBTQ-inclusive books in every single classroom and school library,” Maxx Fenning says of his high school experience. “They were even working on LGBTQ-specific course codes to get approved by the state,” he said, describing courses on queer studies and LGBTQ Black history. No, Fenning didn’t grow up in Portland or a Boston suburb. […]