What This Is

Welcome to Tell Me Where It Hurts. I’m Travis Joseph Manint—a public health communicator, policy analyst, and essayist writing at the messy, charged intersection of policy, identity, and lived experience. This space is where I untangle the systems that shape us—and tell the truth about what it takes to survive them.

I cover a lot of ground, but it all comes back to a few core threads:

• Healthcare access, HIV advocacy, and harm reduction

• Mental health and addiction policy

• Queer identity, faith deconstruction, and personal resilience

• The collision of politics, power, and public health

Subscribe to get full access to the archives, new essays as they drop, and the occasional bonus resource or action item.

What You’ll Get

Expect a mix of sharp policy analysis and raw personal storytelling. Some days I’m dissecting health legislation or calling out public health theater. Other days I’m writing about queerness, recovery, or the grief of becoming someone new. Sometimes both. Usually with receipts.

Why It Matters

I don’t separate the personal from the political—especially not when the stakes are this high. I write to challenge power, break silence, and build connection. This is advocacy with a pulse, storytelling with teeth.

If you’re here for lived experience backed by analysis—or analysis shaped by lived experience—you’re exactly where you need to be.