i am once again making a silly little zine abt covid safety but this time it is very unserious and not educational at all so if ur new here and dont know what the Heck i am on about. here's a place to start!
id:
slide 1:
a photo of the front cover of a black & white printed zine held up in front of a quilt in the background. top text of the zine cover reads: "reasons I love wearing my mask in public" with bottom text in parentheses: "besides the on-fire garbage can that is public health these days." a cartoon drawing of Maria, a pale genderfluid person with a buzzcut and glasses, is winking and doing a peace sign. she is wearing a boat-style mask with a star mask chain and crayon earrings.
slide 2:
top text: "1: I haven't had a man tell me to smile in 6 years." Below is a drawing of Maria walking down the sidewalk wearing a black mask, a cat cropped t-shirt, patched jeans, & star earrings. They are carrying a Mitski tote bag and look unbothered with their eyes closed as a man who looks a lot like the distracted boyfriend meme holds up a finger as if he was about to speak, but just looks confused as his speech bubble reads "..." Bottom text: "I simply cannot go back."
slide 3:
Top text: "2: I don't have to make facial expressions." Below Maria is waving and wearing a polo shirt, blank face emoji earrings, & an apron that says "JOB" with a name tag attached. Maria stares blankly behind her mask. Bottom text: "autism wins!"
slide 4:
Top text: "3: I can sing to myself on walks without being spotted by traffic." Below is Maria strolling down the sidewalk with cars in the background, wearing a mask, a baseball cap, and a Phantom of the Opera t-shirt. Maria has a speech bubble of floaty text singing "aangel of muuusic" with music notes floating around.
slide 5:
Top text: "4: mask chains!" below is a boat-style mask with a mask chain made of letter beads that spell "yippee." Bottom text: "another layer of accessory-maxxing."
slide 6:
Top text: "5: adds to my aura of being the mysterious and unknowable coworker." Below Maria stands in their job apron with a black mask & mushroom earrings surrounded by question marks. Text around Maria reads "what do they look like??" "we are literally on the clock!!" "wouldn't you like to know weatherboy!!"
slide 7:
Top text: "6: nobody knows I'm eating fruit snacks." Below is Maria with her mask on wearing strawberry earrings looking nonchalant as text points to her saying "maria acting normal." In the bottom left corner we see through the mask like an x-ray showing Maria chewing as she holds a scooby-doo gummy. Text pointing to this drawing reads "the REAL maria."
slide 8:
Back cover of the zine shows Maria shrugging wearing a striped shirt, overalls with a heart patch on the front, and worm earrings. Top text: "of course none of these things are more important than keeping you & your community safe from preventable illnesses but if for some wild reason you don't care about that. this is everything the government doesn't want you to know!!" Below is the instagram logo and Maria's handle: @maria.therese.art
Because my year continues at a breakneck pace, I have three more public events coming up in July, all in Maryland.
From July 23- 25 I will be attending the Graphic Medicine International Collective Conference at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. This conference is ticketed, and fairly expensive, so if you are planning to attend I assume you've already made your travel plans. I'll be speaking on one panel and also leading a workshop with Dr Sarah Peitzmeier, my co-author on BREATHE: JOURNEYS TO HEALTHY BINDING.
Friday, July 24: Session IV - 4:45-6:00PM Workshop - Why Not Both? Developing Educational Graphic Medicine Comics that Use Both Narrative and Instructional Teaching for Greater Impact (Gilman 132) Facilitators: Sarah Peitzmeier (University of Maryland School of Public Health) and Maia Kobabe (author)
Saturday, July 25: Session V - 10:45AM-12:15PM - Panel Discussion - Keywords/Keyimages in Graphic Medicine (Mudd 26) Organizers: Lisa Diedrich (Stony Brook University) and Briana Martino (Simmons University) Panelists:
• MK Czerwiec & Ebru Ustundag, BODY MAPS
• Maia Kobabe, NON-ADJACENT SEQUENCE
• Emmy Waldman, OCD
• A. David Lewis, CANCER
• Anna Mukamal, THERAPEUTIC PERFORMANCE
• Marianne Pe-t, LAYERS
• Paul Flippen, DRUGS
• Liz Argall, LOSS OF CONTROL
• Sofia Varino, SOLVING/SOLUTIONS
Saturday, July 25, 7pm- New Books in Graphic Medicine: Comics and Healthcare Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, 3128 Greenmount Ave, Baltimore, MD. Featuring the work of Maia Kobabe and Sarah Peitzmeier, Lisa Diedrich and Briana Martino, Elly Teman and Zsuzsa Berend, MK Czerwiec, A. David Lewis, Sydney Halpern, Laura Godfrey-Isaacs, Grace Farris, and more! This event is free and open to the public, though you can RSVP here to give the bookstore a sense of the audience headcount. This page also has longer bios for all of the participating authors.
Tuesday, July 28, 6pm- I'll be talking about OPTING OUT at People's Book in Takoma Park, MD! This event is free and open to the public, though you can RSVP here to give the bookstore a sense of the audience headcount. I'll be in conversation with Sarah Peitzmeier. We are still trying to figure out if we can get Lucky to attend on zoom or something, since they won't be present in person for this event. I will bring some of my zines to sell at the shop, so if you'd like a copy of The Nonbinary Bunny I will have that and some of my other self-published work. I'm also happy to sign copies of GENDER QUEER or BREATHE!
Let me know if you'll be at any of these events, I'd love to say hello!
Hi! I went to FanExpo Anaheim today and got a signed copy of your book "Genderqueer"
I read it for a comics class in university and I loved it so much I HAD to buy it.
Thank you for making it!
Oh very nice! So glad you read it for school and enjoyed it :) Did you buy it from the Prism Comics Booth? I just signed a ton of copies of my books for Prism, which will also be available this month at San Diego Comic Con (which, sadly, I cannot attend this year- but my books will be there!)
I post my reviews throughout the month on Storygraph and Goodreads, and do roundups here and on patreon.
The federal book ban bills HR 7661, HR 2616, and HR 8705 are unfortunately still alive and well- see my info comic and please call your reps about them!
Reviews below the cut.
Oasis by Guojing
A very beautifully illustrated, often wordless post-apocalyptic comic for young readers. Two children, siblings, live alone in a shack in a sand-blown wasteland. They journey out to collect water from a shaky pump and try to call their mom on an ancient payphone but can rarely reach her. Then one day they find the broken body of an android in a trash heap and they carry the head and torso back to their home. They awaken the android, which starts a cascade of changes in their life. This is a simple story, but poignant, touching on tech and wealth inequality, climate change, and how poverty separates parents from their children.
Maid To Skate vol 1 by Suzushiro
Hana is a maid in training at a school for maids; she lives in the dorms with other girls, eats meals with them and cleans the massive house they live in. But when she is sent out to town on errands, Hana is able to show off her true skills as a maid: her ability to skateboard, to leap obstacles, grind down railings, and use the city's architecture as her own personal skate park. Not only is this allowed, it's encouraged: all of the maids are trained skaters and it's a skill they polish with pride. This book has SUCH a goofy premise, but carries it off with such sincerity and genuine love of it's subject matter. The author clearly loves skating and sprinkles explainers on the sport between chapters. This is not a vehicle for fan service- if anything, it's a nerdy ode to the board.
Hello, Sunshine by Keezy Young
Noah returns from Bible Camp to discover something terrible has happened in his absence. The boy he was secretly sort of dating, Alex, has gone missing. And horrible rumors swirl around his disappearance- that he threatened or attacked someone with a knife, that he went crazy, that he was stalking Noah, that he was a danger to himself and others. None of this matches what Noah knew of Alex, a gentle daydreamy stoner who loved drawing, music, watching horror movies, and walking around town with his dog. Noah teams up with a set of other teens who aren't willing to accept that Alex is gone- Alex's friends Izzy and Sky, and his twin brother, Jamie. As the four begin snooping deeper- breaking into police files and prying up vents in the old Victorian house Jamie and Alex grew up in- they become more and more convinced that something terrible, and possibly supernatural, happened. They find blood and human teeth under the floors. They start having lucid dreams in which Alex tells them to stop looking for him. This is a horror story, but it's also a very compassionate look at living with schizophrenia, loving someone schizophrenia, and how to reach and build trust with someone experiencing their first massive mental health break. I am wuss, and there were times this book felt almost too scary for me. But by the end I found myself thinking about how much scarier it would be to live trapped by the cruel voices of your own mind, which is exactly what I think the author was hoping to communicate. Extremely well executed and astonishingly gentle for a book which also contains demons, murder, and an alternate paranoid hell reality.
Haikyu!! Vol 33 by Haruichi Furudate translated by Adrienne Beck
Karasuno battle their way to the end of the Inarizaki match and next they face Nekoma! The match this entire series has been building towards :D
Haikyu!! Vol 34 by Haruichi Furudate translated by Adrienne Beck
Hinata digs a ball so well that Kenma compliments him on it :) Nekoma takes the first set of their match!
The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez read by Shayna Small
After climate devastation on Earth, humans move into the stars, living on a series of space stations and colonized worlds. Travel between them is done in the currents in which time passes at a different rate; a journey that feels like weeks or months to the travelers in the ship is equal to 10 or 15 years on the planets and stations. This means that ship crews are dislocated from the chronology of their loved ones, leaving families and friends behind them in time. One genius inventor yearns to solve this time slip problem and will go to great lengths chasing down a lead on instantaneous space travel. Caught in the crosshairs of her scheme are a lonely ship captain, Nia, and a mute and abused boy who comes under her care. These two have the chance to build a kind of fragile family together, but their peace and happiness are under threat from the very beginning. I picked this up on the strength of Simon Jimenez's masterpiece of a second novel, The Spear Cuts Through Water. This debut is not as strong, though I enjoyed seeing the themes Jimenez returns to present here, even if in a less developed form. This book suffers from some pacing issues, and underdeveloped secondary cast, as well as a not entirely satisfying ending. But I did like how it played around with time, and the consequences of both space travel and cryosleep as forms of time-travel.
The Moon Without Stars by Chanel Miller
Luna is a quiet, observant student entering seventh grade. She has one best friend, Scott, and the two of them are happy sitting in their own little spot under the redwoods at lunch. After watching a classmate injured by a cruel comment, Luna start gifting books and writing zines to her fellow students to cheer them up and make them feel less alone. Her vulnerability and wit end up catching the attention of the popular girls, and suddenly Luna starts getting invites to sleepovers, mall trips, and the cool kid's lunch table. Luna is entranced by this access to a new social world, but in attempting to keep up with her new friends, she ends up participating in some of the judgy and unkind behavior she was previously trying to treat with her writing. Will Luna loose her best friend over this? What kind of person does she want to be? This is a short and sweet coming of age story with a lot of playful language and very relatable preteen emotions. There were parts of the plot which I wished had unfolded a bit more slowly, but overall I thought it was very delightful and I love seeing kids making zines in books!
Witch Hat Atelier vol 1 by Kamome Shirahama (reread)
Review from 2019: Coco is the daughter of a tailor but she has a passion for magic. She was given a book of spells and a wand as a child, but she knows she'll never be able to use them because witches are born, not made. Or so she believes until she spies on a witch casting a spell and realizes that magic is cast by drawing. She tries her hand at some of the spells in the book, and is amazed to find she can summon light. But her next experiment has a darker outcome: she turns her other and her home to stone. She is taken in by witch who runs a rural atelier, or school, with three apprentices. Her new mentor encourages her passion for magic, but is also protecting her, as he suspects the rogue sorcerer who contacted her as a child will contact her again. As Coco grows, she has to use her new skills to solve a series of increasingly difficult problems. Watching her learn is both joyful and satisfying, and I was extremely impressed by the beauty of the art. Traditional manga aesthetics are mixed with influences of Maxfield Parrish and Little Nemo in Slumberland. I devoured this book and jumped directly into the sequel!
Re-read in 2026 and enjoyed it just as much a second time!
The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang (reread)
Review from 2018: I know it's early, but this comic may very well end up being my favorite of the year. I have been following it's progress on Jen Wang's instagram for a long time; when I finally got the book in my hands it did not disappoint! The story starts with Frances, a seamstress who works long hours in a Paris dressmaker's shop. She designs a rule-breaking gown that catches the eye of an unusual client: Prince Sebastian of Belgium, who sometimes wants to dress as a Princess. Frances and Sebastian's growing friendship is at the heart of this fairy tale; the charm and warmth of these characters shows through on every page. It's like a cross between Cinderella and Ru Paul's Drag Race, and I've never heard of a more enchanting combination :D
Re-read in 2026 and enjoyed it just as much a second time!
Tamon’s B-Side vol 2 by Yuki Shiwasu translated by Amanda Haley
It turns out Tamon is not the only member of the idol group F/ACE to have a very different personality on stage and off stage. In this book Utage meets the maknae of the group, who is challenging Tamon's place as center on a competition show. Utage tries to build up Tamon's confidence to win. I liked this one more than Vol 1, because it's settling into a comfortable rhythm of its central comedy dynamic, and the more intense side of Utage's personality gets to come out to place. She also has a B-side!
The Fight of Our Lives: Aids in America by David Levithan and Gabriel Duckels
This an excellent intro to the history of HIV/AIDS in the US, the government neglect, the activism, and many personal accounts. Timelines are woven through with poetry, personal essays, memoir accounts. I've read other books and watched documentaries about the impacts of HIV (Pedro and Me by Judd Winick, Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt) but this collection filled in a lot of pieces I hadn't encountered yet. I learned about Ryan White, who became the teen face of HIV, about the combative friendship of Anthony Fauci and Larry Kraumer, the early journalism work of Sarah Shulman, and the voices of many people who worked in patient care including Ed Wolf. Despite it's 450+ page count this book was a fast read, and the audiobook version is great as well (I traded between reading in print and audio).
On Censorship by Ai Weiwei
A slim but impactful essay on the tools and purpose of government censorship from an artist who has faced some of the most extreme versions of it. The conversations around censorship in the US I have seen recently mostly focus on banning books from school and public libraries, cutting library and school funding, and the increasing censorship of online platforms. Ai Weiwei expands this to talk about censorship of activism (such as Columbia University's actions against students raising awareness about genocide in Gaza), surveillance (from physical stalking by police, hidden devices planted in homes, and online surveillance, all of which he has experienced) and government pressure on international institutions to censor culture and art. Ai Weiwei was detained and questioned for 81 days by Chinese police, and even after leaving the country started to see his gallery shows and films pulled out of festivals, museums, and exhibitions when Chinese embassies pressured institutions to remove them. He also discusses AI and the rise of fake information, as the void left by censored information is generally filled with lies and propaganda. Ai is extremely clear-eyed about the purpose of censorship, which is to create a more ignorant, fearful, and passive population which is easier for authoritarian governments to control.
Navigating With You by Jeremy Whitley and Cassio Ribeiro
Neesha Sparks plans to keep her head down on her first day at a new high school. As a Black, queer, disabled, recent New York transplant, she isn't expecting to make friends on her first day in North Carolina. But it turns out she isn't the only new girl- Gabby Graciana just moved up with her family from Florida, and Gabby's bubbly charm is impossible to resist. The teens bond over a shared loved of an obscure manga series, and vow to find the rare out of print volumes and finish reading it at last. This is a sweet coming of age romance, woven through with moments of real vulnerability. As a teen who also bonded hard with friends over shared love of media, the fandom aspects felt very real. I also really appreciated the disability representation. Sweet and wholesome!
Do you have a Bluesky? I want to share those fliers you made about the book ban and have more followers there.
Yes I have a bluesky, and I put up my comic about the horrible federal book ban bills HR 2616, HR 8705, and HR 7661 which you can share here! Thanks for asking!
Please call your representatives: VOTE NO on the FEDERAL BOOK BANNING BILLS HR 2616, HR 8705, and HR 7661!
Transcript below the cut.
Page 1:
There are currently THREE FEDERAL BOOK BAN BILLS aiming to ban all TRANS BOOKS from U.S. public schools! HR 2616, HR 8705, HR 7661
June 2026 / Maia Kobabe (a trans author, for three years in a row the most challenged author in the U.S.)
Page 2:
HR 2616 threatens to cut federal funding from public schools if they “teach or advance concepts related to gender ideology,” as defined by an Executive Order signed by Trump in Jan 2025. It would also cut funding from schools unless they require “parental consent before changing a minor's gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name on any school form.” HR 2616 HAS ALREADY PASSED IN THE HOUSE! Please call your Senators to say NO ON HR 2616!
Page 3:
HR 8705 threatens to cut federal funding from public schools which teach “discriminatory equity ideology or gender ideology,” as defined by two Executive Orders aimed at suppressing “critical race theory” and trans representation. This bill is named after the late far-right activist Charlie Kirk, “The Charlie Act.” HR 8705 has passed out of committee, but has not yet been introduced in the House. Please call your House Reps to say NO ON HR 8705!
Page 4:
HR 7661 threatens to cut federal funding from public schools which offer material deemed “sexually oriented," treating any LGBTQIA+ identity as sexual content. It specifically forbids “gender dysphoria or transgenderism,” and “lascivious dancing” (drag). This bill, titled “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act,” has 22 co-sponsors and has passed out of committee but has not yet been introduced to the House. Please call your House Reps to say NO ON HR 7661!
Page 5:
CALL SCRIPTS
“My name is [name] and I’m calling from [city, state, zip code]. I’m asking [Senator] to vote no on HR 2616. I oppose HR 2616 because it would restrict student’s access to books and it would specifically harm trans, nonbinary, and intersex students. Please stand against book bans and protect queer students!”
“My name is [name] and I’m calling from [city, state, zip code]. I’m asking [Rep] to vote no on HR 8705 and HR 7661. I oppose these bills because they would restrict student’s access to books and accurate history, and would especially harm BIPOC, trans, nonbinary, and intersex students. Please stand against book bans and support public education funding!”
Page 6:
Author Maia Kobabe: If HR 2616, HR 8705, or HR 7661 pass, it would be almost impossible for any public school in the U.S. to offer or teach my books, unless they’re willing to risk their federal funding. Students would be even less likely to learn about trans stories or accurate U.S. history.
Page 7:
Please call your representatives: VOTE NO on the FEDERAL BOOK BANNING BILLS HR 2616, HR 8705, and HR 7661!
Follow AUTHORS AGAINST BOOK BANS on insta & bluesky for updates on these bills!
insta / patreon / portfolio / etsy / my books / print store / bluesky
Maia always makes these actions clear and accessible and I so appreciate eir work.
If you don't know who your Senators or Representatives are, you can use Ballotpedia's Who Represents Me tool! (Note: there's a field for you to input your email address on their page, but it's not necessary to get your results. They just need a mailing address to confirm who your reps are.)
Once you've got names, you can look up and save your Reps' phone numbers in your phone. I find this makes it easier when I'm wavering about feeling brave enough to place a call. Just pressing a button instead of going and looking up the phone number all over again makes it just a liiiiittle easier, and sometimes that makes the difference between calling and not calling!
I appreciate that the infographics here are marked with a date! (6/10/26), because posts like these circulate for a long time, and I think it's helpful if exact dates are given so that people know what the status of the bill is at the time this was posted or reblogged, and whether it is at a point where the recommended action is still useful or not. It's also good to let folks know where they can easily check on the status of bills like this. (These links also have the full text of the bills available for reading, if that is your thing.)
For example:
HR 2616 (Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act) unfortunately passed the House on 5/20/26 (as mentioned in the infographic). It was received by the Senate on 5/21: "Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions".
8 Democrats joined the Republicans in voting to pass this bill in the House. Had they not, the bill would still have passed (D206 to R209). But it's still worth it, if you are one of their constituents, to give them hell about it and tell them how strongly you do not want to see them vote for the other bills mentioned here (info from govtrack.us):
Cleo Fields (LA-6), Laura Gillen (NY-4), Donald Davis (NC-1), Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34), Eugene Vindman (VA-7), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-3).
At this time, there is no info that I can find that says exactly when the next steps in the Senate will take place.
Here are the Members of the committee on HELP (oh my god...). If your senator is on there, you might want to concentrate on contacting them at this time. It's possible this bill could be killed in committee.
Here is the bill's page on Govtrack.us.
Here is the bill's page on BillTrack50.com.
Here is the bill's page on Policy Engage (trackbill.com).
Onward:
HR 7661 (Stop the Sexualization of Children Act) was introduced in the House on 2/24/26, and referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce.
As of 3/17/26, a committee consideration and mark-up session was held, and the bill was "ordered to be reported (amended)".
No further actions on the bill are shown on the various tracker sites at this time.
Here is a page listing the members of the House Committee on Education and Workforce. (lmao: all the Republican members get their photo listed with their name; and then the Democrats are just a list at the bottom, without photos.). There are 20 Republicans on the committee, and 16 Democrats.
Given the way the voting on HR 2616 went, it's useful to contact your Democratic reps if they are on the committee, as well as your GOP reps.
Here is the bill's page on Govtrack.us
Here is the bill's page on BillTrack50.com
Here is the bill's page on Policy Engage (trackbill.com)
Finally:
HR 8705 (CHARLIE Act) was introduced in the House on 5/07/26, and referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce.
As of 5/21/26, a committee consideration and mark-up session was held, and the bill was "ordered to be reported (amended)".
No further actions on the bill are shown on the various tracker sites at this time.
Please see above for a link to the House Committee on Education and Workforce, showing its members. They are the ones to contact about it at this time.
Here's the bill's page on GovTrack.us
Here's the bill's page on BillTrack50.com
Here's the bill's page on Policy Engage (trackbill.com)
Happy Make A Terrible Comic Day 2024!!! I hope you enjoy participating in this annual tradition which we’ve all done for ages!!! You must participate so you might as well enjoy it!!!
If you make a comic (again, it’s mandatory) and you want to share it, post it on the tag #makeaterriblecomicday2024! Or don’t, I’m not a fucking cop.
Remember, the goal is to make something terrible! So if you can’t draw or have never made a comic, or if it’s just been ages since you made something just for fun — that’s perfect! You’re all set! If you fuck up and make something that’s NOT terrible… well, some might say there’s a joy to that too.
Come say hi to us at ALA :) @redgoldsparks and @diamoric-comix
Friday, June 26, 2-3pm, GNCRT Program: Panels, Pages, & People: Queer Community Building Through Comics, Regency Ballroom A & B
Queer comics are both reflections of community and tools for creating it. This panel with creators featured on the RRT x GNCRT Collaboration Core List will examine how queer communities are represented within graphic novels and how comics foster real-world connections through zines, conventions, libraries, and online spaces. Attendees will gain insight about the relationship between comics and queer communities and identify the role of libraries in supporting queer communities through collection development and programming. (Maia Kobabe)
Saturday, June 27, 9:30-10:30am, Creating Comics with Oni Press, Graphic Novel/Gaming Stage #1342
From initial concept to creative execution to bound book beauty, there’s a lot to love and to learn about the process of creating comics! Join Oni Press creators Maia Kobabe (Gender Queer: Annotated Edition), Jarret Melendez (Chef's Kiss Again), George Northy (Yuletide), Angélique Roché (First Freedom: The Story of Opal Lee and Juneteenth), Josh Tierney and Caitlin Soliman (Haunted Comics Club), and Stephanie Young and Allyson Lassiter (The Pancake Trap), as they discuss their newest upcoming graphic novels, where their inspiration stems from, and the joys and challenges of comics collaborations!
Saturday, June 27, 9-10am, GNCRT Program: Civic Engagement, Advocacy, and Comics, Clark ABC
Comics, across all forms and genres, have a long history as a vehicle for civic engagement and advocacy. There is a comic for every issue facing society, presenting vital, human-focused information in an accessible form. Join a panel of creators and librarians as they discuss what makes comics the perfect vehicle for these stories and how libraries can ensure our patrons not only have the chance to read about the issues of our time, but how we can help them act on those issues. Authors & Panelists: Alexandra M. Landy, Collection Development Specialist, Waterloo Public Library; Sydney Halpern, Professor Emerita, University of Illinois at Chicago; Justin Eisinger; Jim Terry; Jarrett Dapier; Lucky Srikumar
Saturday, June 27, 1-3pm, Magical Comics Tea, Continental A
Come join the Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table for our 2025 Magical Comics Tea! Visit with creators and other comic loving library staff as we hear about upcoming titles and projects from your favorite publishers! Dress up as your favorite tea-time character (hats are especially encouraged), or just come as you are and share in the comics-camaraderie! Participating creators this year include: Chad Anderson, Sarah Becan, Derf Blackderf, Mike Dawson, Kami Garcia, Cathy G. Johnson, Maia Kobabe, Dan Santat, Mark Siegel, Lucky Srikumar, Josh Tierney, James Tynion IV, Dan Watters, Ben Wickey and Jennie Wood
Saturday, June 27, 4-5pm, Oni Press Signing Booth #3314 (Maia Kobabe)
Sunday, June 28, 11:30-1pm, Scholastic Literary Showcase: Where Stories Take Center Stage, Regency Ballroom A
Featured Authors: Amy Sarig King It Came from the Creek, Jasmine Guillory It’s Only Dancing, Kara LaReau Licorice, Libba Bray Radio Free Texas, Maia Kobabe & Lucky Srikumar Opting Out
Sunday, June 28, 2:30-3:30pm, Oni Press Signing Booth #3314 (Maia Kobabe)
And one event OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! Tuesday, June 30, 7-8:30pm Pride Panel at Anderson’s Bookshop, 123 West Jefferson Avenue, Naperville, IL
Join Anderson’s Bookshop for a Pride Panel event with David Levithan and Gabriel Duckels, to celebrate the release of The Fight of Our Lives: AIDS in America onTuesday, June 30th at 7:00 pm in our Naperville store. Levithan and Duckels will be in conversation with cartoonists Maia Kobabe and Lucky Srikumar, celebrating the release of Opting Out. This event is ticketed, tickets range between $19-$29 depending on which books you buy with ticket. Buy tickets here.
Please call your representatives: VOTE NO on the FEDERAL BOOK BANNING BILLS HR 2616, HR 8705, and HR 7661!
Transcript below the cut.
Page 1:
There are currently THREE FEDERAL BOOK BAN BILLS aiming to ban all TRANS BOOKS from U.S. public schools! HR 2616, HR 8705, HR 7661
June 2026 / Maia Kobabe (a trans author, for three years in a row the most challenged author in the U.S.)
Page 2:
HR 2616 threatens to cut federal funding from public schools if they “teach or advance concepts related to gender ideology,” as defined by an Executive Order signed by Trump in Jan 2025. It would also cut funding from schools unless they require “parental consent before changing a minor's gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name on any school form.” HR 2616 HAS ALREADY PASSED IN THE HOUSE! Please call your Senators to say NO ON HR 2616!
Page 3:
HR 8705 threatens to cut federal funding from public schools which teach “discriminatory equity ideology or gender ideology,” as defined by two Executive Orders aimed at suppressing “critical race theory” and trans representation. This bill is named after the late far-right activist Charlie Kirk, “The Charlie Act.” HR 8705 has passed out of committee, but has not yet been introduced in the House. Please call your House Reps to say NO ON HR 8705!
Page 4:
HR 7661 threatens to cut federal funding from public schools which offer material deemed “sexually oriented," treating any LGBTQIA+ identity as sexual content. It specifically forbids “gender dysphoria or transgenderism,” and “lascivious dancing” (drag). This bill, titled “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act,” has 22 co-sponsors and has passed out of committee but has not yet been introduced to the House. Please call your House Reps to say NO ON HR 7661!
Page 5:
CALL SCRIPTS
“My name is [name] and I’m calling from [city, state, zip code]. I’m asking [Senator] to vote no on HR 2616. I oppose HR 2616 because it would restrict student’s access to books and it would specifically harm trans, nonbinary, and intersex students. Please stand against book bans and protect queer students!”
“My name is [name] and I’m calling from [city, state, zip code]. I’m asking [Rep] to vote no on HR 8705 and HR 7661. I oppose these bills because they would restrict student’s access to books and accurate history, and would especially harm BIPOC, trans, nonbinary, and intersex students. Please stand against book bans and support public education funding!”
Page 6:
Author Maia Kobabe: If HR 2616, HR 8705, or HR 7661 pass, it would be almost impossible for any public school in the U.S. to offer or teach my books, unless they’re willing to risk their federal funding. Students would be even less likely to learn about trans stories or accurate U.S. history.
Page 7:
Please call your representatives: VOTE NO on the FEDERAL BOOK BANNING BILLS HR 2616, HR 8705, and HR 7661!
Follow AUTHORS AGAINST BOOK BANS on insta & bluesky for updates on these bills!
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Censorship, in your comics scene? More likely than you think!
Join host Iris Jay & cartoonists Maia Kobabe, Taylor Titmouse, and PomPoison to hear more about explicit content expurgation, personal struggles with suppression, and triumphs in the contentious arenas of erotic comics and internet privacy.
Transphobia is about to be signed into law in the UK. We can fight this.
I am begging the UK trans community and its allies to attend the Mass Lobby at Parliament on June 25th, 11am-4pm, organised by Trans Solidarity Alliance.
Last year we broke the record for an LGBT+ mass lobby of Parliament. Will you help us break it again? Join us on 25th June 2026 to demand be
The new EHRC Code of Practice pushes trans people out of toilets, hospital wards, and community spaces. It normalises gender policing based on appearance and stereotypes. It becomes statutory guidance in the UK by the end of June.
Trans people are now legally their assigned gender at birth and must join gendered spaces accordingly, but if they are perceived as their lived gender, they can also be ejected from those spaces. The guidance says: either break the law, or don’t pass too well.
A mass lobby is where you invite your MP to discuss your concerns with you in-person. Ask your MP to:
Demand full parliamentary scrutiny, debate, and use their free vote on the EHRC Code of Practice.
Support any motions rejecting the EHRC guidance. As of June 4th, Labour MP Nadia Whittome has submitted a prayer motion - Early Day Motion 240.
Write to Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities about our concerns
Your MP does not have to be an ally, they do not have to respond to your email for you to show up and greencard them (details below the cut.) What matters is that as many people as possible show up.
I cannot stress this enough: Showing up in person matters. It is much more effective than petitions, emails, and letters.
It is a horrible, stressful time, and I am so sorry if you're trans and live in the UK. But I was at last year's mass lobby and the line for greencarding alone stretched around the back gates. It was a record breaking mass lobby and made us impossible to ignore. Let's do even better this time. Details under the cut:
Worried about what to say?
Bring your personal worries about transphobia being signed into law, and trans friends being excluded from public spaces. You are a living person who deserves dignity. Remind your MP of that. You will also get guidance and brochures from Trans Solidarity Alliance that outlines our demands. This is mine from last year.
Money issues?
Trans Solidarity Alliance provides a travel bursary that you can sign up for via the link.
Got a refusal or no response from your MP?
Come anyway! You can request a same-day appointment with your MP through a process called greencarding. They will come and see you if they’re already in Parliament. Even if they don’t, they’re made acutely aware of your cause because you showed up in person. This is my greencard from last year.
Here is the EHRC Code of Practice in full. It's a tough read, but some highlights are:
Organisations can’t provide trans-inclusive, single-sex services, or they risk being sued for discrimination.
e.g. domestic violence support for women including trans women, men’s rugby group including trans men (12.68).
Trans people will have nowhere safe to pee.
If you’re a trans man, businesses can't allow you to pee in the men's, and you can also be ejected from women’s bathrooms if you’re perceived as a man. Vice versa for trans women. EHRC suggests a ‘third space’ bathroom, which is discriminatory and unworkable for most businesses. (13.130-133)
Sports organisations must exclude trans people from single-sex competitions (13.73).
A women’s only sports competition must exclude trans women because of their biological advantage or face potential lawsuits (13.74), but a trans man who has undergone testosterone treatment can also be excluded based on fairness rules (13.81).
Trans women are stripped of the legal definition of ‘lesbian’, and therefore no longer have legal protections if they’re discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation. (2.50, 2.92).
Here is the Good Law Project's better explanation of the EHRC Code.
I have also made a PDF printout of QR codes for the government petition, email your MP tool, and mass lobby link to pass around your communities. DM me and I'll send it to you.
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