About Me

My name is Brittany Rook, and I am a trans woman reporting on queer rights in the Deep South, focusing on Georgia. As the federal and many state governments have taken Trump's win in 2024 as an excuse to crack down on trans rights, local reporting on Southern trans life and activism is more important than ever.

I am starting this project because I believe we need transgender people on the ground to show up and document our fights and our victories at every level. Erin Reed simply can't report on day-to-day activities of the Georgia General Assembly. Georgia Recorder does great work every legislative session, and wrote story after story of the legislative assault we have endured in Georgia, but I don't want them to be the only outlet for great and necessary work.

According to an analysis from GLAAD about Georgia news coverage of the battle in the General Assembly this year, most news outlets like the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Macon Telegraph, and Capitol Beat were particularly bad at including trans voices in their reporting. Meanwhile Georgia Recorder—namely Ross Williams—was regularly including trans people's testimony and voices in their reporting. Not only does this highlight the importance of local news, but queer-led news. That is what the Southern Queer Newsroom (SQN) intends to solve.

You can email me at southernqueernewsroom@proton.me for tips, questions, or corrections. If you are emailing me to leave a tip, I highly suggest creating a throwaway email account on Proton Mail.

In solidarity,
Brittany Rook