Kit O’Connell

Kit O’Connell is a GLAAD Media-award nominated movement journalist from Austin, Texas. They are the former Digital Editor of the Texas Observer, with bylines at The Advocate, Truthout, and The Barbed Wire, among others.

ASLE 2025: Femme Friendship as Eco-Resistance—From Barton Springs Attack to Poland’s ‘Sister Rivers’

Amid rising attacks on trans people, ideas from ‘queer ecology’ can light the way toward an alternative environmental politics capable of honoring ‘femme-coded’ ways of thriving beside and beyond our waterways.

By Kit O’Connell

/ 14 Aug 2025

ASLE 2025: Femme Friendship as Eco-Resistance—From Barton Springs Attack to Poland’s ‘Sister Rivers’

To Force Vote on Gaza Ceasefire—A First in Texas—San Marcos Activists Ran Their Own City Council Candidate

Even though the measure failed under withering threats from Governor Greg Abbott, organizers say the struggle for Palestinian liberation in this small college town has had positive cascading effects for other justice struggles.

By Kit O’Connell

/ 16 May 2025

To Force Vote on Gaza Ceasefire—A First in Texas—San Marcos Activists Ran Their Own City Council Candidate

Greg Abbott Could Defund San Marcos Police, Flood Control Over Resolution Decrying Israeli Violence

If the resolution passes, San Marcos would be the first city council in Texas to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. But the move could cost them funds that support expectant mothers and public safety.

By Kit O’Connell

/ 3 May 2025

Greg Abbott Could Defund San Marcos Police, Flood Control Over Resolution Decrying Israeli Violence

Texas ‘Mask Blocs’ Struggle to Fill COVID-19 Health Gaps as Federal and State Attacks Ramp Up

Volunteer- and anarchist-led groups are working overtime to keep their communities safe from COVID-19 even as Texas lawmakers debate a ban on masks and a warming planet promises more pandemics on the way.

By Kit O’Connell

/ 9 Apr 2025

Texas ‘Mask Blocs’ Struggle to Fill COVID-19 Health Gaps as Federal and State Attacks Ramp Up

LGBTQ+ Rights: To Survive Attacks on Trans And Queer Texans Stronger Communities Are Needed

Nonprofits that serve LGBTQ+ Texans are struggling with the limits of the old playbooks, while fighting renewed attacks on transgender and queer rights.

By Kit O’Connell

/ 28 Feb 2025

LGBTQ+ Rights: To Survive Attacks on Trans And Queer Texans Stronger Communities Are Needed

Disability Rights: ‘We Don’t Want to Go Into the Fetal Position and Do Nothing’

Legendary disability rights organizer Bob Kafka and Cathy Cranston speak with Deceleration about the incoming 89th session of the Texas Legislature and inauguration of a president promising cuts to vital services.

By Kit O’Connell

/ 22 Jan 2025

Disability Rights: ‘We Don’t Want to Go Into the Fetal Position and Do Nothing’

Opposing Jewish National Fund, Dallas Protesters Plant ‘Tree of Life’ Against Genocidal Greenwashing

A dozen arrests and days of creative resistance spotlight determination to continue challenging Palestinian deaths and displacement, even in a new era promising increased crackdowns on protest.

By Kit O’Connell

/ 22 Nov 2024

Opposing Jewish National Fund, Dallas Protesters Plant ‘Tree of Life’ Against Genocidal Greenwashing

Protesters Disrupt VP Harris’s Houston Rally to Demand An End to Genocide

A local coalition faced a hostile crowd at Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium while repeatedly interrupting Presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s speech.

By Kit O’Connell

/ 2 Nov 2024

Protesters Disrupt VP Harris’s Houston Rally to Demand An End to Genocide

Texas State Troopers Called the Real ‘Outside Agitators’ at UT Austin Protests

Anti-Zionist Jewish protestors speak with Deceleration against the occupation of Gaza and the violent crackdown on pro-Palestine demonstrators at the University of Texas at Austin campus.

By Kit O’Connell

/ 15 May 2024

Texas State Troopers Called the Real ‘Outside Agitators’ at UT Austin Protests

‘Viva Viva Tortuguita!’ Atlanta Mayor Chased Out of SXSW Conference

In Austin, Texas, to discuss city-state government conflict, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens was forced to flee the popular convention after protesters chanted, unfurled a massive banner, and distributed flyers demanding an end to the ‘Cop City.’

By Kit O’Connell

/ 13 Mar 2024

‘Viva Viva Tortuguita!’ Atlanta Mayor Chased Out of SXSW Conference