WHO(MST) IS KIERYN DARKWATER AND WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?
You might have read I Was Trained for the Culture Wars in Home School Awaiting Mike Pence as Messiah on Autostraddle once (or even the follow up pieces), their reporting on Project 2025 for Prism, or maybe you know Kieryn from their work with the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, East Bay for Everyone, Mayoring YIMBYtown2017, cohosting the Kitchen Table Cult Podcast, running the Laney Queers, tenant unionizing, serving as an Assembly District Delegate to the CA Democratic Party, practicing mutual aid in their neighborhood, or organizing KDE’s Akademy.
(Photo by Eve Ettinger)
Maybe it’s none of those things and you wound up here on the way to the Delta Quadrant but found yourself asking who is Kieryn? and where did they come from?
Kieryn was homeschooled in the 90’s-00’s and grew up in a cult and cult-like environments. The reality of being the eldest daughter in a large conservative quiverfull family meant there wasn’t much (if any) time for having in-person friends. So they started blogging in 2005, and met other homeschoolers with similar backgrounds. When they escaped in 2009 they continued writing and documenting their evolution first of adapting to married life, then coming out as bi, leaving christianity, and abandoning the gender binary.
Between 2017 and 2019 Kieryn became a student organizer and senator at Laney College where they grappled with the impact of educational neglect, learning disabilities, and navigating school (with a structure) while trans. They studied Industrial Maintenance Machining and Labor & Community Organizing.
Now, Kieryn can be found advocating for protections for homeschooled kids, making YouTube videos about art, living in Berlin or Minecraft, organizing in KDE, and occasionally updating this blog.
Listen to the latest Kitchen Table Cult episode
S6E12: Children's Rights and Parents' Wrongs – Kitchen Table Cult Pod
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I should be working on the annotated bibliography for my english class(!!!) right now but so much has happened since… Read more: Showing Up for Myself - Thirty-Three
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The leftist Discourse(tm) contains a lot of valid feelings on the futility of voting in US elections. I have been… Read more: Why do I still suggest voting as an action? - 37c3
My partner has been telling me about Chaos Communication Congress since we met. This year, we were finally able to… Read more: 37c3
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