-
Byline Times: Just days after Rishi Sunak reportedly dropped plans to introduce a conversion therapy ban, Byline Times can reveal that a project of a charity registered in Northern Ireland held a conference in Poland where delegates heard about conversion therapy techniques, how fundamentalist Christian leaders met with British MPs and lords to convince them… [more]
-
Is there any sport that trans women won’t dominate with their superhuman strength, laser vision and ability to fly without wings? Apparently not: the latest news out of Bigot Central is that, and this is a direct quote, “Irish dancing has fallen”. Which is astonishing language considering the news item the post is sharing: in… [more]
-
As we once again move to new social networks, an old and very boring trope raises its head once again: is it okay to block people? And the answer, of course, is: no. It’s more than okay. It’s essential. Block early, block often, block the bigots and the blowhards and their fans and their followers,… [more]
-
The Tory government have confirmed that they intend to ban conversion therapy but not for trans people: according to equalities minister Kemi Badenoch, providing a safe space for kids to explore their feelings about gender rather than mentally torturing them is the real conversion therapy. It’s egregious bullshit, of course, but it’s entirely in keeping… [more]
-
Bigots like to pretend that being trans is easy, that it’s something people do on a whim to make themselves more interesting and popular. The reality, of course, is very different, as this piece in Byline Times points out: “Call me Chloe”: the reality of life for my transgender daughter. I bristle when I hear… [more]
-
Bath Moles, one of the UK’s endangered grassroots music venues, is no more. And Mark Davyd knows why. Bath Moles is closing because right now, in 2023, it simply isn’t possible to present original live music in a 220-capacity venue without losing money. He’s right, and he’s also right that by ignoring what’s going on… [more]
-
It’s yet another week in the ongoing demonisation of trans women; former prime minister Liz Truss wants to introduce a member’s bill that would ban healthcare for trans teens and make it illegal for trans women to use women’s spaces, and a bunch of bigoted right-wing shits have made a film mocking trans women in… [more]
-
The trial of the teenage killers of Brianna Ghey, the young trans girl murdered in broad daylight earlier this year, has begun. And I’d strongly advise you not to read about it, because the details are horrific – a lesson I learnt the hard way. But on the basis of the prosecution’s evidence so far,… [more]
-
I was thinking some more about yesterday’s idiotic Washington Post editorial that attempted to blame women for men’s loneliness. Posting on Bluesky, writer Ian Boudreau made an excellent point: If guys are suddenly very lonely it’s probably worth asking what they expected by following the advice of influencers who tell them to be maximally selfish,… [more]
-
There’s an astonishing editorial in the Washington Post today about a looming marriage crisis – its framing, not mine – in which it highlights an apparent problem: increasing numbers of single women don’t want to marry whiny fascist man-babies who get their life advice from misogynists such as Andrew Tate. And rather than come to… [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.
