Pardon the mess, human, but you did get home early, meow! (Under Construction)
(Editor’s Note: The above image is a stock photo & not the work of “Drat & Cat Suggest”.)
Above: Hillary hard at work! Artist: @GwenArts1
Hillary is currently researching resources helpful for her human friends to help us all get through the challenging times we live in. In future we’ll be posting what we can as we can to help the communities of which I, Talia (the “Drat” of “Drat & Cat Suggest”), are a part (transgender, mentally ill, and disabled) and for the LGBTQIA+ community (individually & as a whole). Unlike Hillary, though, there’s a lot I don’t know, including resources for people with lived experiences entirely different from my own (such as for members of the BIPOC community) or resources for those of you not living in the United States. I will do my best to get resources up for everyone as fast as I can, but please do write in with your own favorite websites & resources; so long as the sites/groups are public or, if private, are okay with being linked to by me, then you just may see them here in future! Please email your submissions to: talia_heart@dratandcatsuggest.com.
I must believe that a day will come when all people will be free to proudly be themselves & with equal opportunities to happily pursue and realize their hopes & dreams. That is the real promise of America (and hopefully the whole world, as well). Sadly, I think we all know we’re nowhere near that Utopian society now, but if you are different or marginalized somehow, you have my promise (and that of my Feline Mistress, Hillary, who has VERY sharp claws) that you are welcome, safe & valued here. If you are ignorant but regret your past views or actions, and willing to own your mistakes, apologize, and learn better, then you are welcome here, too (at least as far as Hillary & I are concerned; everyone else is free to make their own judgements).
Again, to suggest resources, make comments, ask questions & give constructive criticism, write to: talia_heart@dratandcatsuggest.com & I’ll get back to you as quickly as possible (if you wish to remain anonymous, please put “ANON” anywhere in the subject line of your email). Resources can be other (probably far better, LOL) resource pages/sections/sites, YouTube videos, Discord servers, phone lines, cat treats & toy mice (kidding!), books, or even just something fun to give us all the good laugh needed to replenish our strength to carry on! Mean emails will be buried in the litter box, but good resources. comments & questions may be used here (after the appropriate vetting) so check back often!
PS- Make sure to follow us at @dratandcatsuggest.bsky.social on Blue Sky! We stuck around on Twitter (now “X”) even after the initial (and very understandable) mass flight to other platforms, and while we’ll still check notifications & PM’s there, more & more of our posts (news, links, updates) will be on Blue Sky & we hope to do some giveaways there, too, in future. See you there!
PPS- Everything on this new resource page is an effort by “Drat & Cat Suggest” (I, Talia Heart & Hillary The Cat) to give back to the community & hopefully at least some of you will find at least some of the resources useful. We’re funded by no one. We have no active affiliations, partnerships, monetized content, and are not employees or contractors of any of the companies behind the items we review here. So while we remain ever grateful to Free League Publishing for helping give us our start, we don’t speak for them, nor they for us. I’m just one disabled mentally ill trans woman living alone in poverty with her aging & demented cat, trying to make what little difference she can. The buck stops with me, so if I ever let you down, I’ll try & make it as right as I can as soon as I can.
Initial Resources
The Trevor Project is full of great resources for & about LGBTQIA+ people. They also have crisis counseling services by trained volunteers. For those in need of crisis services, including suicide prevention, TTP provides these 24-7 via telephone, text, and chat & the following link will take you there:
https://tcpipeline.org/
Trans Continental Pipeline works to help transgender, queer, and other members of the LGBTQIA+ community from cities/states within the United States where they feel unsafe & willing to move to Colorado (which I am told has solid trans protections by law) through a four-step program. This service is in high demand at this time so if you contact them but don’t hear back for a few days, do not lose hope. “Drat & Cat Suggest” has not been able to fully investigate this resource yet ourselves, but the person who recommended it to me is the most credible source of information on transgender issues in all of Texas (In my opinion).
*Suggestions for additional resources to add here or comments/experiences with the ones already posted are welcome! Simply email us at talia_heart@dratandcatsuggest.com & put “DACS RESOURCES” in the subject line & you just may see your suggestion or a quote from you posted here (that respects your anonymity, of course).