Views from the Street in DC

Assigned Media’s street photographer shares some of her best photos from outside of the Supreme Court before and during oral arguments at U. S. vs Skrmetti on December 4, 2024.

by Piper Bly

Valorie Van-Dieman and Evan Urquhart of the Assigned Media team arrive at the Capitol.

The overnight line to enter the Supreme Court. Line-standing service folks wait out the hours to get their shot at one of the few first-come-first-serve tickets, passed on to those with the money to pay for entry.

Film crews begin to set up before the protests.

The anti-trans side of the protest line definitely had some...expressive characters. Half of them, however, just looked like they had stumbled into the protest on their way to collect their senior citizen's discount day at the local Hardees.

This man with a sign saying puberty blockers equals anti-gay who looks like he’s eating the phone of his compatriot is representative.

I originally titled this one "chud opera" due to the angry lady in the beret belting out what I assume is the most operatic slurs ever heard, but someone in our Signal chat pointed out the protester in the right-hand corner, and now I can't unsee him.

I don't mean the person in the hoodie, mind. I mean the stuffed duck they're carrying. That duck's clearly just here for the McDonalds bag behind him, and you cannot convince me otherwise.

As goofy as some of the anti-trans protesters are, it's important to keep in mind how dangerous and hateful their ideology actually is.

Some bozo in a silk-screened parka calling us “worse than animals” in “the national zoo” may seem absurd, but in the context of the wider normalization of the dehumanization trans folks have to live with on a day-to-day basis, to see it blatantly broadcast in public is chilling.

I want to give a special shoutout to this guy from the pro-trans side who spent every second we were there directly in the middle of the anti-gay protest, equipped with hangover aviators, a bullhorn, and a bottomless set of pipes projecting his voice across the Capital grounds whenever a bigot so much as looked at the stage.

I wish I had gotten a better snap of him at some point, and it’s a shame that I didn’t; every time I pointed the telephoto at him, he saw me, smiled, and started dancing.

You’re doing God’s work, you fabulous man.

Finally, around nine, the gays arrived; bearing joy and hope and PA systems of their own, laden down with flowers and fashionably late.

The best thing about the queer community rolling up was the immediate improvement in protest slogans and signs. You can really only tolerate so much in the way of mass-produced signs and slogans before it all starts to blur together.

Genuine shout-out to these two, who brought their own sign-making kit for anyone who forgot theirs in the car.

You remember how the only food we saw on the anti-trans side was a single bag of cold McDonalds? Well, the Lambda Legal table had homemade cookies. Solidarity stays winning.

Sometimes you have to consult the script, sometimes you consult the scriptures.
A guy in a Lambda Legal hat shows a clipboard to a drag-queen-nun in full makeup and full regalia.

One of the best fits at the protest. 10/10, no notes. Also, if anyone knows where to find that patch, let me know; very much want one for my jacket.

Call it an occupational hazard, but I've a soft spot for handmade signs. Just like in my chosen medium, fonts never look as good as when you take the time to hand-letter your work.

I didn't get as many impactful frames of the protest signs as I'd have liked, but I do very much like this one, which says “Every Child Deserves the Chance to FLY As Their True Self.”

I also didn't get as many impactful frames of the speakers as I'd have liked, but at least with this one I do have an excuse; I'm somewhat short, and had a bit of trouble getting my telephoto over people's heads.

With that stated, I am very glad I got this one.

This paddy wagon rolled up fairly early during the protests--I imagine to be used for kettling--but thankfully we were off the scene before things got hectic. Sadly, I don't think this will be the last time any of us reporters will be seeing these vans any time soon.

And there you have it; some of the best photographs from our DC trip. Thank you to everyone who helped us get there and to everyone who kept an eye on us and helped us out while we were on the ground.

Until next time...stay safe, fly the flag proudly, and be who you are. We'll see you again soon, friends.

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Piper Bly is a professional illustrator and underground cartoonist. When she’s not busy plowing away at her drawing board, singing dirges in the moonlight, or wandering throughout the United States, she can often be found tending to her ivies, frying up some biscuits, spending unreasonable hours in the gym, or floating above the Mississippi River at midnight, waiting for the tide to wrap her in its loving embrace and take her away. Her whereabouts are currently undisclosed. You, however, can find her at piperbly.com.