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This is an extraordinary tale and a wonderful piece of journalism. This is what happens when a Christmas movie plot unfolds in North Idaho: It’s a story that involves armed “patriots,” secret recordings, Fox News, claims of anti-Christian bigotry, reports of vandalism, a lawsuit, a countersuit, depositions and even — a la Miracle on 34th… [more]
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If you’ve been online as long as me you’ll know Heather Havrilesky, who wrote for the much-missed Suck.com. Among other things, these days she writes the Ask Polly advice column for The Cut. It’s a frank, insightful and occasionally uncomfortable read. This week’s edition has caught a lot of people’s attention: it’s powerful stuff. Havrilesky responds… [more]
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My friend Karie Westermann has started something really lovely on Twitter: 24 days of love. Tomorrow is December 1st and I’m starting 24 Days of Love. Every day I’ll share something I love instead of filling your feed with things that make me unhappy. Putting into the world what I want to see: light &… [more]
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The Daily Mail: Elsewhere in an American high school, members of staff attempt to break into a locked toilet stall because a trans  teenager is in it. In a different school, a lesbian student is beaten up because of her boyish presentation. In October a lesbian woman was kicked out of a bowling alley… [more]
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One of the weird things about being trans – and it’s one thing from a long list – is that if you’re male to female, you move from a life of great privilege to one where you’re among a minority. That’s not to say pre-transition you live a life of great power and glory, but… [more]
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SNP MSP John Mason is outraged by plans to reform the Gender Recognition Act. In a letter to Glasgow’s Herald newspaper, Mr Mason says he is deeply concerned that Scotland is “trying to override science” by recognising that trans people exist. I’ll save you the scientific evidence, which I’ve linked to endlessly, and simply post… [more]
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I’ve written about my love of children’s books before, but I didn’t mention one of my absolute favourites: Oh, The Places You’ll Go! It’s the last of Dr Seuss’s books to be published during his lifetime, and it’s a very warm, witty and wise book that’s as relevant to adults as it is to children:… [more]
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A bit of light Friday reading for anybody interested in trans rights: the Scottish Government has published its analysis of its consultation over possible reforms to the Gender Recognition Act. It’s interesting for all kinds of reasons, including numbers: the anti-trans hysteria hadn’t really got into gear in time for this one, so there were… [more]
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I’ve written a lot about my love of pop music, but I don’t think I’ve included a particular favourite: pop music played on chainsaws. What I mean by that is strong melodic pop music played in a very aggressive way, usually through ridiculously distorted amplifiers by young men and women full of substances they’ll regret… [more]
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It’s international men’s day today. This, on masculinity, is very good. There’s nothing wrong with masculinity. But to be a man often means trying to live up to a very narrow definition of what masculinity means, and that can be suffocating if you don’t fit that definition. Fraser Stewart articulates it very well in this… [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.
