The cover of Carrie's book, Small Town Joy, and two review extracts. 

"An absolute treat of a read... a mixtape lovingly assembled by a friend's cool, knowledgeable older sister." - Gutter Magazine
"Her exploration of queer music's escapist, visionary powers brings joy, not in small neasures." - The Wire
  • As someone wrote in a song: I hope you have a good one; I hope your Christmas is fun I hope you’re with your family and there’s something for you under the tree And I hope you thank your lucky stars I’m thanking my lucky stars this year: in the run-up to Christmas I’ve been… [more]

  • I’ve just been to pick up my Christmas food order. It was too early to bother with putting on my face or worrying about wigs so I did the lazy-tran thing of slapping on a beanie hat to hide my hairline before jumping in the car. At the checkout, the man on the till and… [more]

  • Today’s story of JK Rowling and an anti-trans tweet is a good example of how lazy reporting reinforces bullshit. If you missed it (and you probably didn’t; it’s been all over the media today): last night, the author tweeted in support of the anti-trans activist Maya Forstater, claiming that her defeat in a tribunal was… [more]

  • One of the many similarities between anti-trans activists and anti-LGBT evangelicals is their belief that they have an absolute right to be nasty to anybody they disapprove of. Inevitably, that means some of them lose their jobs for breaking the terms of employment or find their employers unwilling to renew their contracts when those contracts… [more]

  • It’s time for my annual joke: every queen should have two birthdays. Today is my second one of the year, because I legally became Carrie two years ago. It feels much longer than two years, and sometimes I feel like this. But more often, I feel blessed. This isn’t an easy road to walk but… [more]

  • The Scottish Government has published its draft gender recognition reform bill. It’s here. The consultation closes in March 2020. The Scottish Government does not wish trans people to go through procedures which are demeaning, intrusive, distressing and stressful. That is, quite simply, not right for our citizens. The draft bill goes into great detail about… [more]

  • The Scottish Government will announce its proposals for and open its second consultation on gender recognition reform this week. This is the second consultation because the first one did not get the result that bigots wanted: of the 15,532 individuals and 165 organisations who responded to the months-long, widely publicised consultation, 60% respondents were in favour… [more]

  • Last night, the Hallmark Channel decided not to drop wedding adverts that featured two women getting married. It’s just the latest example of a business discovering that while evangelical and/or intolerant pressure groups can be very vocal, so can the people they hate. Being intolerant is rarely a good look, PR wise, and LGBT+ people,… [more]

  • In the US, the Hallmark channel has pulled a series of bridal adverts because they featured a lesbian couple. Of the six adverts submitted, only two – the only two featuring heterosexual couples – will be aired. The ads were pulled because of pressure from One Million Moms, a far right, anti-LGBT+ evangelical hate group.… [more]

  • Despite the valiant efforts of many trans candidates in the General Election, the number of transgender and non-binary UK politicians remains zero. As PinkNews notes, there are now more UK MPs who believe that there is a Muslim conspiracy to make people transgender than there actually are transgender MPs. The zero MPs elected by 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.

A photo of the book Carrie Kills A Man.