Category: LGBTQ+

  • A simple message

    Liberty: Liberty joins other UK human rights organisations to say: trans rights are human rights. In a joint statement with Amnesty International UK and Human Rights Watch it says: “Human rights are universal and belong to everyone. Yet too often in the UK trans people are spoken about and treated as though their rights don’t…

  • What is transphobia, anyway?

    I mentioned that today is the international day against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia but I don’t think I’ve ever explained what transphobia actually is. The Trans Actual website has put together a comprehensive explanation. Transphobia, like homophobia and biphobia, is an umbrella term to describe various negative attitudes towards people based on a single characteristic:…

  • “I am proud of the progress I intend to reverse”

    Equalities minister Liz Truss has marked international day against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia with a feel-good Twitter message: 🏳️‍🌈 It’s the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. We are proud of the progress 🇬🇧 has made on LGBT rights. We will be hosting an international LGBT conference on the theme of Safe to Be…

  • What was won can be lost

    There’s a famous cartoon by artist KC Green: As Green told The Verge, it’s popular because: it’s a feeling we all have, apparently. It’s a feeling we all get of, just like, “Things are burning down around me, but you got to have smile sometimes.” It’s a basic human [feeling], “Well, what are you going…

  • The ministry of bigotry

    Many people believe that the Conservative MP Liz Truss is stupid. She may have said many stupid things in her career, but she isn’t thick. She’s much worse than that. Truss was previously the UK’s Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, where she was responsible for defending the independence of the judiciary and…

  • LGB Alliance fundraisers closed after campaign of abuse against gay MP

    PinkNews: The anti-trans lobby group LGB Alliance has had not one but two fundraising pages taken down, following an abusive campaign against gay MP John Nicolson and “violent and abusive” language from its supporters. Fundraising platforms JustGiving and GoFundMe have both permanently removed pages set up by the pressure group. This follows weeks of targeted…

  • A matter of Pride

    If you’re straight and cisgender, you probably don’t give Pride events much thought: they’re just parties, right? But if you’re LGBT+ you know that they’re much, much more than that. They’re places where, however briefly, you know you’re not alone; places where you aren’t hated or tolerated, but celebrated. Pride events are among the many…

  • “How discriminatory do you have to be before you’re called out?”

    Helen Belcher of Trans Media Watch explains why UK trans people are really scared right now. For some time trans people have understood the current media debate in the UK isn’t actually about the Gender Recognition Act. Instead, it is about our basic rights to live and move as full members of our society. …Most…

  • Hormone treatment for Covid-19

    I’ve mentioned before that coronavirus appears to be deadlier to men than to women, and that because of that difference some anti-trans bigots have been deliberately hounding trans people with the virus and wishing them dead. The trans women may get the last laugh, because it’s possible that the hormones they take are helping them…

  • Never trust a Tory

    The UK government’s new equality minister, Liz Truss, has set out her priorities for the coming months. It isn’t good news for trans people. This isn’t a surprise. In 2019 Andrew Gilligan, the journalist who spearheaded The Sunday Times’ scaremongering about trans people, was appointed as a key advisor for No. 10. The conservatives have…