Look Forward: Assigned in 2023

Assigned is barely more than 3 months old. Here’s what we’re thinking about for the new year.

by Assigned

Nice! (a picture from our first few days)

It feels like only yesterday that Assigned began, but really it was the very end of September 2022. We soft-launched the site a bit earlier than planned because a story about a girls’ volleyball team at a high school in Randoph VT felt too important not to cover in real time. We’ve learned so much, and we’re excited to make 2023 the first full year of the Assigned Media project’s coverage of transphobic propaganda and misinformation in the US.

The big question hanging over 2023 is whether opposition to trans rights and demonization of trans people will remain a core message of the Republican party despite a lackluster performance in the 2022 midterms. On one hand, there’s common sense in the idea that trans issues would fade in relevance after failing to usher in a red wave. However, the prominence of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis militates against that coming to pass. DeSantis is seen by many Republicans as the future of the party after Donald Trump, and he has made opposition to transgender rights one of his core concerns. If the Republican party blames Trump’s toxic brand for their midterm losses and continues to view DeSantis as their best answer to Trumpism, then the focus on scaremongering and demonizing trans people will likely continue. or even escalate, until the next presidential election in 2024.

In the next year, Assigned will continue to bring you daily coverage of these issues. We’ll do original reporting when someone targeted by the right deserves to have their voice heard, or when we just want to know more. We’ll track emerging trends in anti-trans propaganda such as the recent one of highlighting individual trans women who have committed crimes (a tactic that has been used against the Black community and other marginalized groups since time immemorial). We’ll cover failures in the mainstream press, holding them accountable when they get the story wrong. And, if necessary, we’ll cover extremist violence targeting our communities and ensure the mainstream does not look away.

All of this, and more, is coming in 2023. But we can’t keep it up without reader support. Become a member, and recieve a bonus essay by Evan Urquhart in your email inbox every Thursday. Or, if you prefer, make a donation to our project in any amount you like. Thank you to all our supporters. Here’s to 2023, to the fight for trans rights and trans lives, and to all of you, from Assigned.