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At 10pm on Friday night the equality and human rights committee published an interim update – not guidance, let alone statutory guidance – about trans people’s access to services and facilities. The document is not law, makes no sense, and flies in the face of settled law. But the goal is to persuade people that… [more]
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I was absolutely delighted to chat with Alistair Braidwood for the Scots Whay Hae! podcast about Small Town Joy. Here’s the video. Our chat is also available as an audio podcast. More details and listening links are here. [more]
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It’s publication day for Small Town Joy, my book about how queer musicians changed the sound of Scotland. It’s based on two years of interviews with musicians, music fans, grassroots groups and other fascinating folks, and I hope it’ll make you excited about the music it describes and the musicians who’ve been so generous with… [more]
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Writing in The Nation, Sophie Lewis delivers clarity about the UK Supreme Court judgement. The fact, already now, is this: If I am perceived not to be what I say I am, and I don’t have the relevant documents, I can be strip-searched by male transport police, and legally barred from single-sex spaces. Trans people… [more]
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As of yesterday, Observer columnist and leader writer Sonia Sodha, LGB Alliance co-founder Malcolm Clarke, Rosie Duffield MP, For Women Scotland and many other very high-profile “Gender Critical” figures were still following Nicola Murray on X/Twitter. Murray is one of Scotland’s best-known anti-trans activists; she was one of the key figures in the witch-hunt against… [more]
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Helen Belcher on the Supreme Court verdict and its horrendous aftermath: The UK has moved into a space where all women, trans or not, will now be legally judged on their appearance. …I, and every other trans woman I know, will continue to use women’s facilities. I’ve done it without any problems for over 20… [more]
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After the champagne celebrations, the hangover: the people who’ve spent the best part of a decade trying to remove trans people’s human rights and dignity have succeeded, and now they’re sad about it. Katelyn Burns, in the pithily titled You have no friends because you’re a transphobic asshole: The loudest TERFs are still not satisfied, and… [more]
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In a full-page article in The Telegraph today, Sex Matters’ Maya Forstater claims that the tens of thousands of peaceful pro-trans protesters who took to the streets yesterday are a “violent mob” because one of the protesters scribbled on a statue with a bit of chalk. On Twitter today, Sex Matters supporter and washed-up former… [more]
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The Supreme Court decision to effectively destroy the Gender Recognition Act and reverse the Equality Act has been described in newspapers as bringing “clarity”, which is ironic: it’s created anything but, and the anti-trans groups and their pals in the press have used the judgement to spread lies. One of the biggest lies is that… [more]
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A superb piece by Morgan M Page on the Supreme Court shitshow. How this ruling will play out in the everyday lives of trans people across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland isn’t yet understood, but what is expected is that this will open up revision of the Equality Act, an important goal of Britain’s… [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.
