D'Anne Witkowski
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Writer, poet, mom, humorist, book hoarder, political nerd, heavy metal enthusiast, breast cancer survivor. I have a wife and am a wife. U-M MFA alum. She/her.
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Articles by D'Anne Witkowski
Creep of the Week: Dennis Hastert
I have to admit, I had forgotten about Dennis Hastert. In fact, if you’d told me he’d already been dead for years, I would have accepted that without question. Or mourning. The former Republican speaker of the House died Oct. 3 at his home in Plano, Illinois. He was 84. What can I say? It’s really hard to keep track of the many elected officials who turn out to be total creeps. Over the course of my lifetime, I’ve watched the Republican Party become the party of creeps. It didn’t start with Trump.
Creep of the Week: Title IX Must Be Destroyed in the Name of Saving Women and Girls from Sports
The first time I heard the words “Title Nine” I was in junior high. It was the ’90s, and those two words together had no meaning to me. One could argue that my school should’ve been teaching middle schoolers about civil rights law. But don’t worry. I wasn’t taught about civil rights in high school or college, either. I learned about Title IX by reading a lot of feminist nonfiction in my teens that radicalized me and turned me into a lesbian.
Creep of the Week: Boebertjuice Boebertjuice Boebertjuice
It’s been a long time since I thought about Lauren Boebert. I think the last time she was on my radar was when she was giving Beetlejuice handies to some guy and then crying that she was acting out while going through a divorce and “simply fell short” of the values she’s happy to legislate for everybody else. But now she’s on my radar for adamantly not being “a lesbian or bisexual.” Or so she claimed in a statement “refuting a complaint filed with the House Committee on Ethics on Sept.
Doing It For the Clicks: Boebertjuice Boebertjuice Boebertjuice
It's been a long time since I thought about Lauren Boebert. I think the last time she was on my radar was when she was giving Beetlejuice handies to some guy and then crying that she was acting out while going through a divorce and "simply fell short" of the values she's happy to legislate for everybody else.
Creep of the Week: Marcy Kaptur
Stop telling trans people they have to vote for anti-trans Democrats. Stop telling them they’ll be responsible for the fall of democracy unless they do. I’ve been thinking a lot about something @nome.bsky.social posted to Bluesky on Sept. 15: “I do not understand the folks furious at trans people for responding in anguish when the party that they’ve been told would protect them treats their existence as negotiable,” he wrote.
Creep of the Week: Anti-Trans Hysteria
I was at a concert recently and a person next to me was wearing a cross-body bag that read, “Speak Up for Your LGBTQ+ Friends.” This person appeared to be your average straight white guy. The fact is, straight guys, even those who consider themselves to be allies, do not speak up for LGBTQ+ people often enough. There are a lot of straight guys who aren’t against LGBTQ+ rights, but it’s not “their fight” because it doesn’t directly affect them.
Creep of the Week: Trump Spends Dolly Parton’s Death Centering Himself
I want to say Dolly Parton was too good for this world, but I don’t think she’d agree with such a statement. But I think it’s fair to say she was better than most. After her death, it seemed like no one had a single bad word to say about her. Unlike, say, Lindsay Graham and Charlie Kirk. The invective hurled at their corpses was understandable, if not exactly equal to the ugliness they perpetuated while alive.
Creep of the Week: Log Cabin Republicans and Their Hatred of Trans People
The Log Cabin Republicans is an absolutely worthless organization. Actually, they’re worse than worthless because they gleefully help to advance the Republican anti-queer agenda. So of course they’re anti-trans now. In an Aug.
Creep of the Week: New York Times
A recent New York Times opinion piece titled “Cutting Your Parents Off Isn’t the Answer” has resulted in a lot of chatter by people I follow on Bluesky about whether or not queer people who aren’t accepted by their parents or other family members should cut ties with them. The author of the piece discusses her relationship with her father and how both of them worked to repair that relationship. Which, you know, good for them. But it is hardly a universal experience.
Creep of the Week: Donald Trump and His O’Donnell Derangement Syndrome
She’s back, baby! Rosie O’Donnell is back in the United States after moving to Ireland shortly after Trump was elected for the second stupid time. She was on the cover of People magazine, has a one-woman show called “Common Knowledge” that she’s performing on Broadway and she’s slated to guest-host “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Oh, and she still hates Trump. As one should. The media likes to talk about Trump and O’Donnell’s “feud,” but that’s not really an accurate term.
Creep of the Week: The Anti-Trans Mob
When I was in elementary school, my twin sister and I played in a youth soccer league. We were the only girls on an otherwise all-boys team. Now, I don’t know how or why this happened. I do not know if this was a league where boys and girls played together on the same teams or if our dad talked our way onto a boys’ team (which is something he probably would have done, overstating our talent and abilities, but I can’t ask him because he is dead).
Creep of the Week: The False Accuser of Pete Buttigieg
When you’re a parent, there are a lot of potential nightmares. When they’re babies, you worry that they will suddenly stop breathing. When they’re school-age, you worry about school shootings. When they’re teenagers, you worry about car crashes. Honestly, it never stops. There is so much that’s outside of your control. It’s scary. But one nightmare that a lot of parents don’t consider is being falsely accused of abusing your child. The fact is, anyone can make such an accusation.
Creep of the Week: Transphobic Democrats
I have always voted for Democrats. This means that for much of my voting life, I’ve been voting for people who did not support my right to marry or adopt a child or to be protected from discrimination. Granted, I was voting against people who were very vocal about seeing me as a pervert hellbent on destroying the “traditional family.” So the choice wasn’t hard. But it sure wasn’t gratifying. I believed that Democrats would eventually come around and start supporting my civil rights. Because I had to.
Creep of the Week: Lindsey Graham
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) died of a hardened heart (no, seriously) on July 11 at age 71. He’d been in office since 1992, first as a state representative, then as a congressman, and then, in 2003, as a senator. And look, I know very well that it’s frowned upon to speak ill of the dead. But here’s why I’m going to do it anyway: Graham spent his political life attacking people like me.
Creep of the Week: Florida Congressmen
I just plugged “Is Riverdance Irish dancing” into a search engine. Turns out the answer is yes. Do you remember the Riverdance craze? In the late ’90s, people could not get enough of this traditional (probably?) style of Irish dancing, often performed in tap shoes and without arms. Wait, that’s not what I mean. I don’t mean that the dancers didn’t have arms. They did, they just kept their arms to their side much of the time as their feet skedaddled and went clickity clack. And people loved it.
Creep of the Week: The U.S.
I recently had a post go viral on Bluesky. As I write this, it has close to 11,000 likes and has been shared nearly 2,400 times. This has never happened to me before. Apparently I struck a nerve. I also gained a number of new followers on Bluesky who will inevitably be disappointed that I mostly post about metal music. Here’s what I said in the post: Watching episode of ER from 2001. Dr. Chen & Dr. Carter are trying to diagnose an unconscious preschooler. Carter: “Could be measles.” Chen: “Measles?
Creep of the Week: The Trump Administration Still Has Time to Hurt Trans Kids
Dear Reader, In an effort to thwart the rise of AI, I am choosing not to use a computer to write this week’s column. I am, instead, writing it by hand using both manmade and natural materials. You will notice various shades of green and a certain American Flag Blue throughout. That’s right. I am writing on peeled scraps I’ve salvaged from the bottom of the Reflecting Pool in D.C. as well as whatever algae I could scrape from the surface of the water.
Creep of the Week: Josh Hokit
In 2004, the band Modest Mouse released an album called “Good News for People Who Love Bad News.” I think of this album title every time I get any news about politics in the U.S. The lead-up to this country’s 250th anniversary has brought much misery to my timeline. Take the UFC ring built on the White House lawn so that Trump could have a fight in his yard for his birthday. To say it’s tacky is an understatement. But with Trump in office, everything about the White House is tacky. Or gone.
Creep of the Week: Fascist Democrats
Happy Pride! A new poll shows that support for LGBTQ+ rights is dropping in the U.S. I’ve got to admit, that bums me out, but it’s also not a shock considering the sustained attack on queer people being carried out by the most powerful people in the country. Especially the attack on transgender people, which is particularly vicious.
Creep of the Week: These Eight Dems
I’m writing this on June 1, 2026, the first day of Pride. Pride month is a time to celebrate LGBTQ+ people and history and to demand full protection of LGBTQ+ people under the law. It’s also a great time for allies to be even more vocal about their support. (It should go without saying that if you’re an ally then you’re vocal about your support for LGBTQ+ people. If you’re NOT vocal about your support then you aren’t an ally.
Creep of the Week: Wait Until You Hear What This Billionaire in California Said About Trans Rights
I don’t like billionaires. I think having that much money while so many people suffer for lack of resources is immoral. That said, there’s one billionaire with whom I agree on at least one issue: trans athletes participating in high school sports. That billionaire is Tom Steyer, and he’s running as a Democrat to be California’s next governor. Currently, Gavin Newsom has that job. I do not like Newsom at all for many reasons.
Creep of the Week: Turning Point USA
It’s hard to believe that Charlie Kirk died only eight months ago. Honestly, it feels like years ago. It feels like yesterday. It feels like time is a cruel trick, a series of absolutely insane events perpetuated by a continually gaslighting U.S. government. Republicans are very firmly at the heart of this, but Democrats are much less an opposition party than they are an appeasement party.
Creep of the Week: Conservative extremists
Creep of the Week: Conservative Extremists (Image by Ed Hahn) My teenage son has been watching the show Ted lately. A couple of years ago, I watched the first Ted movie with him at his request. It was, um, not to my taste. I’m not a huge fan of blue humor, especially when it comes from a sentient teddy bear. He showed me a clip of the family sitting around the table.
Creep of the Week: Conservatives Interfering with the College Mission to Make Everyone Gay
My teenage son has been watching the show “Ted” lately. A couple of years ago, I watched the first “Ted” movie with him at his request. It was, um, not to my taste. I’m not a huge fan of blue humor, especially when it comes from a sentient teddy bear. He showed me a clip of the family sitting around the table. Gayness comes up as a subject and the mother character chimes in that the father character always says, “College makes you gay.” My son thought this was very funny. And it honestly was.
Creep of the Week: Transphobic Democrats
If you are a Democrat who participates in the scapegoating and dehumanizing of transgender people, you are a disgrace, you should be ashamed of yourself, you should take all of the seats and shut all of the fucks up. Leave transgender people alone or, even better, work against their oppression as opposed to participating in it. Republicans have gone all-in on trans hate. They think it’s a winning issue.
Creep of the Week: Transphobic Democrats
[WEB]Creep of the Week: Transphobic Democrats (Image by Ed Hahn) If you are a Democrat who participates in the scapegoating and dehumanizing of transgender people, you are a disgrace, you should be ashamed of yourself, you should take all of the seats and shut all of the fucks up. Leave transgender people alone or, even better, work against their oppression as opposed to participating in it. Republicans have gone all-in on trans hate. They think it’s a winning issue.
Creep of the Week: Toxic Masculinity
Fuck Ron DeSantis. I mean, not literally. But yeah, fuck that guy. While signing anti-DEI legislation that would let “individuals sue local governments that implement DEI programs,” Florida Gov. DeSantis said, “I would think with DEI the disfavored groups, number one obviously, would be white males and I think they’ve been discriminated against.” Give. Me. A. Fucking. Break.
Creep of the Week: Toxic masculinity
Creep of the Week: Toxic Masculinity (Image by Ed Hahn) Fuck Ron DeSantis. I mean, not literally. But yeah, fuck that guy. While signing anti-DEI legislation that would let “individuals to sue local governments that implement DEI programs,” Florida Gov. DeSantis said, “I would think with DEI the disfavored groups, number one obviously, would be white males, and I think they’ve been discriminated against.” Give. Me. A. Fucking. Break.
Creep of the Week: Transphobes
Creep of the Week: Transphobes (Image by Ed Hahn) “It’s a great day for transphobes to eat shit.” That’s the first thing I saw when I opened Bluesky today. It was posted by John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats. Darnielle was responding to an article by Erin Reed about a federal judge ruling against the Trump administration regarding gender-affirming care for transgender youth. “U.S. District Judge Mustafa T.
Creep of the Week: Transphobes
“It’s a great day for transphobes to eat shit.” That’s the first thing I saw when I opened Bluesky today. It was posted by John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats. Darnielle was responding to an article by Erin Reed about a federal judge ruling against the Trump administration regarding gender-affirming care for transgender youth. “U.S. District Judge Mustafa T.
Creep of the Week: Trump Says He Doesn’t Know Pope Leo, Dismisses Him as Weak
I have a song stuck in my head. You know, by Mötley Crüe, big hit in 1989. At the end of the video, a rich criminal’s life literally goes up in flames. “He’s the one they call Dr. Jesus, he’s the one that makes you feel all right.” Those aren’t the actual lyrics. But that’s what started playing in my brain when I heard what Donald Trump said about posting an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus online. “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor making people better,” he told a reporter.
Creep of the Week: Donald Trump
Creep of the Week: Donald Trump (Image by Ed Hahn) I have a song stuck in my head. You know, by Mötley Crüe, a big hit in 1989. At the end of the video, a rich criminal’s life literally goes up in flames. “He’s the one they call Dr. Jesus, he’s the one that makes you feel all right.” Those aren’t the actual lyrics. But that’s what started playing in my brain when I heard what Donald Trump said about posting an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus online.
Creep of the Week: Trump
Creep of the Week: Trump (Image by Ed Hahn) Did everyone have a happy Easter? Pretty important day for people who like hard-boiled and/or chocolate eggs. Also, Christians, I understand. No doubt our very authentically Christian president observed the day in a reflectful and respectful way. Or not. On Sunday, April 5, Trump posted a little Easter message to Iran on Truth Social. “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” he wrote.
Creep of the Week: Trump’s Easter rant
Did everyone have a happy Easter? Pretty important day for people who like hard-boiled and/or chocolate eggs. Also Christians, I understand. No doubt our very authentically Christian president observed the day in a reflectful and respectful way. Or not. On Sunday, April 5, Trump posted a little Easter message to Iran on Truth Social. “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” he wrote.
Creep of the Week: Conversion Therapy
Creep of the Week: Conversion Therapy (Image by Ed Hahn) It’s a windy day here in Michigan. As I write this, a transgender pride flag is whipping around wildly on my front porch. The flag keeps getting tangled up, and so I periodically go out to unwind it because it’s Transgender Day of Visibility. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let the wind fuck it up. Of course, I have no control over the wind. And even less control over the United States Supreme Court.
Creep of the Week: Conversion Therapy
It’s a windy day here in Michigan. As I write this, a transgender pride flag is whipping around wildly on my front porch. The flag keeps getting tangled up and so I periodically go out to unwind it because it’s Transgender Day of Visibility. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let the wind fuck it up. Of course, I have no control over the wind. And even less control over the United States Supreme Court.
Creep of the Week: SAVE Act
Creep of the Week: SAVE Act (Image by Ed Hahn) There are plenty of things that America needs saving from.
Creep of the Week: SAVE Act
There are plenty of things that America needs saving from.
Creep of the Week: Trump Says Gays Should Be Grateful They’re Not Being Thrown Off of Buildings in the U.S.
A message to blood-thirsty, death-loving, human rights-hating conservatives: Stop using the gays to justify the war in Iran. Stop acting like we should be grateful or something. It’s long been a talking point of the antigay right that LGBTQ+ people have nothing to complain about when it comes to their rights in the United States because LGBTQ+ people in other countries have it much worse. The most high-profile bearer of this nonsense is Donald Trump himself.
Creep of the Week: Trump
Creep of the Week: Trump (Image by Ed Hahn) A message to bloodthirsty, death-loving, human rights-hating conservatives: Stop using the gays to justify the war in Iran. Stop acting like we should be grateful or something. It’s long been a talking point of the anti-gay right that LGBTQ people have nothing to complain about when it comes to their rights in the United States because LGBTQ people in other countries have it much worse.
Creep of the Week: Pete Hegseth, First Semi-Sentient Wad of Chewing Tobacco to Lead DoD
I’m going to go ahead and say something very controversial here that will probably make it impossible for me to ever run for public office as a member of any major political party: War is awful and bad and everyone who disagrees can go fuck themselves. I’m sure you’re wondering why I believe such a thing. And I have to say it comes down to a few things that I believe are objectively bad and cause immense suffering.
D'Anne Witkowski
351 POSTS D’Anne Witkowski is a poet, writer, and comedian living in Michigan with her wife and son. She has been writing about LGBTQ politics for over a decade.
Creep of the Week: Kansas
You don’t change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War if you’re not planning on going to war. Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth and Stephen Miller and all of the other weak and pathetic fascists running the country absolutely love killing and hurting people. It’s their kink. This is definitely a time when kink shaming is more than appropriate, and yet they have no shame.
Creep of the Week: Trump
Creep of the Week: Trump (Illustration by Erika Wittlieb. Image by Ed Hahn) As I write this, the State of the Union Address is scheduled to start in a couple of hours. I am not going to watch it. For so many reasons. For one thing, I already know that the state of the union is VERY BAD. Who besides Kash Patel is having a good time right now? He’s using FBI planes as his personal jets and partying with the U.S. hockey team. But the rest of us? Things suck. The economy? Sucks. ICE? Sucks.
Creep of the Week: Trump, the magician
As I write this, the State of the Union Address is scheduled to start in a couple of hours. I am not going to watch it. For so many reasons. For one thing, I already know that the state of the union is VERY BAD. Who besides Kash Patel is having a good time right now? He’s using FBI planes as his personal jets and partying with the U.S. hockey team. But the rest of us? Things suck. The economy? Sucks. ICE? Sucks. Our country’s international standing? Sucks. The President? Sucks.
Creep of the Week: Fascism
Creep of the Week: Fascism (Image by Ed Hahn) I had a post go viral on Bluesky recently. At least, viral for me. When I left Twitter (which you should definitely do) for Bluesky (which you should do if you want), I had it in my mind that I would use Bluesky solely for heavy metal. Talking about albums I love, getting and giving recommendations, and keeping track of tours and album releases. No politics. I managed it for a short while, but it didn’t last long.
Creep of the Week: Fascism
I had a post go viral on Bluesky recently. At least, viral for me. When I left Twitter (which you should definitely do) for Bluesky (which you should do if you want), I had it in my mind that I would use Bluesky solely for heavy metal. Talking about albums I love, getting and giving recommendations, keeping track of tours and album releases. No politics. I managed it for a short while, but it didn’t last long.
Creep of the Week: The Epstein Files
Creep of the Week: The Epsein Files (Image by Ed Hahn) Big announcement, everyone! ICE, the masked paramilitary force that is terrorizing neighborhoods and executing people in the street with the full support of the federal government, will now have each officer wear a body camera. And not a moment too soon! Of course, if you actually want to see any of that body camera footage, you could file a Freedom of Information Act request.
Creep of the Week: The Epstein Files
Big announcement everyone! ICE, the masked paramilitary force that is terrorizing neighborhoods and executing people in the street with the full support of the federal government, will now have each officer wear a body camera. And not a moment too soon! Of course, if you actually want to see any of that body camera footage, you could file a Freedom of Information Act request.
Creep of the Week: ICE, again
Creep of the Week: ICE, again (Image by Ed Hahn) Turns out the majority of the country thinks that ICE sucks. I’ve got people with whom I agree about very little writing things like, “[ICE and CPB are] doing exactly what this administration has trained them to — impose a reign of fear in blue cities. They don’t need more training. They need to be ripped up, root and branch.” That was posted on Bluesky by conservative Bill Kristol on Jan. 24, 2026.
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