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Back in March, I wrote about the people protesting outside a Birmingham school over inclusive education and noted that while the protests were reported as Muslim, many of them were Christians. Also in March, I wrote that “US money is incoming and these protests will become more widespread.” Yesterday, INews reported that the protests are… [more]
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Inviting organisations to talk about issues in schools can be a positive thing: for example, the Time For Inclusive Education campaign helps battle the bullying of LGBT+ kids. But what if the organisation has a track record of falsification and shock tactics? In an article about the tactics of anti-abortion groups, The Overtake notes that the… [more]
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One of the things that characterises the anti-trans movement in the UK is its use of crowdfunding, essentially an online begging bowl. But unlike many women’s organisations, the anti-trans groups don’t seem to put much effort into promoting their crowdfunders; also unlike many women’s groups, they attract suspiciously large donations. For example, the Transgender Trend… [more]
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The Guardian, and pretty much every other newspaper, reports today that acceptance of LGBT+ people is in decline. As The Guardian put it in a social media headline: Acceptance of gay sex in decline in UK for first time since AIDS crisis That’s not what the social attitudes survey, which the headline refers to, says… [more]
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[Content note: homophobia and transphobia] Last year, a group of anti-trans bigots delayed the London Pride march. This year, the march was led by trans-inclusive women. I’m quite sure the above image, from Picadilly Circus during the march, caused a few bigots’ mouths to froth. In the same week, a YouGov poll investigated people’s attitudes… [more]
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It’s not a great day for news about trans people. In Antwerp, a teenage trans woman was gang raped by three men on her very first day presenting female. Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, no doubt upset some of her transphobic members by tweeting about it: Important to remember that – far from being responsible… [more]
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Frances Ryan, in The Guardian: Medics often use life expectancy as a barometer of the health of a nation and by official measures, Britain is getting sicker. For the first time in 100 years, Britons are dying earlier, leading a team of specialists to meet at University College London this month to investigate it. The… [more]
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Let’s post this picture again. Everybody in this photo is trans, and it’s important that you see that. Because conventionally attractive trans women are the last thing the anti-trans bigots want you to see. One of the things the “reasonable debate” crowd really like to do is to scour the internet to find photos of… [more]
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I start lots of things I don’t finish. I had a go at being a novelist for a while and made a bit of money doing it, but I lost interest after publishing the first one and writing half of its sequel. I’ve got a huge non-fiction book on my hard disk that’s almost but… [more]
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The Scottish anti-trans group For Women is currently putting anti-trans leaflets through Glasgow doors, trying to whip up fear and hatred of trans women. Do you want MEN changing with your daughter? Do you want MEN in the same toilet? That kind of thing. The photo above is of people they want you to be… [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.
