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In today’s Scottish Sun, there’s a story about the 2021 census. Like most things the Murdoch press prints in its ongoing campaign against LGBT+ people and trans people in particular, it isn’t true. It’s just an excuse to get the usual crowd of reactionaries – anti-trans academics, vocally anti-trans MSP Joan McAlpine, the Catholic Church [more]
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Do you know what endocrinology is? It’s the branch of medical science that studies the endocrine system, the glands that secrete hormones. Hormones regulate our metabolism, our physical development, our reproductive function, our sleep, our mood… you get the idea. The Endocrine Society is the international organisation for endocrinology experts, and it works in association [more]
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Thanks to an important new study, I now realise that I have been possessed by a ghost. It’s not just me. As this wonderful PinkNews headline puts it: Completely legitimate, rational and not at all offensive study says 85% of queer people are possessed by ghosts It seems that even in the spirit world, ghosts [more]
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Former Smiths singer and current racist Morrissey appears to have reached a new low: the man whose latest look was wonderfully described on Twitter as “a member of the EDL who’s come to creosote your fence” has found a new way to fleece his long-suffering fans. I was a fan of The Smiths back in [more]
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There’s a fun and fascinating piece from PBS News Hour about food and how it became gendered: steaks for the boys and salads for the girls. Although it’s specifically about American culture, that culture has long been exported globally; the trends there were trends here too. For most of history, men and women ate the same [more]
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The Christian Post is yet another evangelical newsletter from America, and it’s part of an axis that includes the Heritage Foundation and the Family Research Council – two organisations with strong links to the British anti-trans movement. It’s just published an article about the “trans cult” that could have been lifted from The Sunday Times. [more]
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There’s an old Billy Connolly routine where he talks about The Queen. “A guy once told me that The Queen thinks the world smells like paint, because ten feet in front of her there’s a guy going [mimes frantic painting].” Like the best jokes, there’s a grain of truth in it. When a dignitary comes [more]
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There’s a fascinating piece in the New York Times by Whitney Curry Wimbish, an American writer living in Scotland. It’s about our witch trials, the ones we didn’t get taught about in school. …the authorities targeted more than 3,000 people throughout the country, from the largest cities to the most remote and sparsely populated islands. [more]
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It didn’t take long for the newly created LGB Alliance’s mask to slip. As if its supporters weren’t bad enough – it’s being promoted by the likes of racist far-right troll Katie Hopkins and what appears to be the entire US alt-right on social media, and the list of people it follows on social media [more]
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Yesterday was just another day in the UK press. The Telegraph suggested that trans people should be made to carry ID cards in order to go to the toilet. The Times lauded a new anti-trans hate group specifically set up to exclude trans people from the wider LGBT+ rights movement. The Daily Mail and The [more]
Read me in books
My debut memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was a Scotsman book of the year and Damian Barr’s Literary Salon book of the week, and it was shortlisted for the 2023 British Book Awards book of the year in the Discover category.
My latest book, Small Town Joy, is a celebration of queer influences on and queer artists in Scots music and is out now.
I’m also a contributor to the excellent anthology Fierce Salvage, which is also out now.
