Last month there was a minor kerfuffle in the internet spaces when Boris Johnson said he would not support expanding the definition of hate crime to include misogyny. This was mildly controversial, with some protesting that it was a crucial step to aid women.
I want to talk about something that’s been on my mind for a while now. For many years now, it has been a staple rhetoric of the queer liberation that nobody ‘chooses’ to be gay: a backlash against those who call it a ‘lifestyle’, who try to push conversion therapy and deviant labels on us.
Here in the UK, life appears to be returning to at least some semblance of normalcy. Pandemic restrictions in England are gone; in Scotland, whilst masks remain, there are no limits on gatherings. Nightclubs are opening up again. Students are going back to universities.
Have you ever told someone about a problem you’ve been having, and had the always-infuriating response, “Oh, that’s all just in your head”? Have you ever been told that by a doctor?
When I was younger, living in the north of Scotland, we would have some pretty miserable winters. It would be dark at 3pm, wet and cold and windy. The one silver lining was that on clear nights, even when your fingers felt like they would fall off as you broke the ice in a water trough, you could see so many stars overhead. I could stand with my neck craned back and stare at them for hours.
Hey, Ma? Don’t read this one. The reason the above warning exists is because whilst I am queer, I’m not actually out to my parents, or many people in the small town I grew up in and have recently moved back to. There are a lot of reasons for this, though I am lucky enough that it is not because I feel unsafe, or that my parents would reject me.
In all the kerfuffle of the last six months or so, one piece of news from November passed by without much comment: the Equality and Human Rights Commission declared that the government’s ‘hostile environment’ policies on immigration broke the law.
So, what have you all been unlearning this month? I’ve been working on a few things, mostly regarding productivity and self-worth. There’s always going to be something you’re getting wrong, and that’s alright!
It’s been two months now since Scotland moved into Phase 3 of lockdown restrictions, and pubs, shops and workplaces are beginning to reopen. I recently started a new job, and received a long policy email about how to fight COVID-19 in the workplace as part of my starter pack. Unfortunately, not every woman has been given this privilege: experts have found that women in the workplace have been set back ‘decades’ by the effects of lockdown…
It’s starting to become a familiar refrain when I watch television in the evening: first the music, sounding enough like that one Beyoncé song to suggest power, followed by various shots of women with truly flawless skin staring unashamedly down the camera, or doing something cool like skateboarding. A voiceover with buzzwords…
Our Political Editor, Caitlin Flavell puts together a compelling and informative case as to why the police should be abolished: “The world has watched in horror over the last few days as the police in America have responded to protests – protests demanding that the police be held accountable for their actions – with an outpouring of violence and hatred…”
The notion that the best place for a woman is the home is, for the most part, seen as an outdated one in the 21st century. In 2020, the home is the best place for everyone! However, this extended period of being at home has set me thinking about what home represents for women, and the fact that women can often have a complicated relationship with the notion of home…
Has anyone noticed a weird trend in Guardian articles? Not across the board, no, but specifically the ones about feminism. The Guardian is known as an institution of liberal media, one of a few remaining left-leaning papers that isn’t behind a paywall. So it’s deeply troubling to see that they’ve published multiple pieces calling for the rolling back of rights for trans people…
Our Politics Editor Caitlin brings you the latest on the UK’s proposed long-term measures to contain the virus…
Read about why our wonderful Political Editor, Caitlin Flavell has complicated feelings about Elizabeth Warren… “Following Super Tuesday in the US, the day in which the majority of states vote on which candidate they want to run for President, one issue is being thrown around here and there…”
In the US, the presidential primaries have kicked off for real, with the first round of votes being held in Iowa. The Iowa Caucus is regarded by most as a good indicator of how the rest of the contest is going to play out. You know what’s really bugging me? Nobody is talking about the Republican primaries, at all. What’s going on with them? Trump might have pulled out of the race altogether, but nobody would know because everyone is talking about the Democratic primaries all the time…
Meet the Clitbait Team: an interview with Caitlin Flavell, our political editor…
Home Secretary Priti Patel has revealed a whole raft of counter-terrorism measures following the attacks on London Bridge last year, including a new Counter-Terrorism Bill. Now, I could go into intense detail about how often government measures to decrease crime are misguided, but one point in particular caught my eye…
An employment tribunal decided that “gender critical feminism” was not protected speech in a case this week in which Maya Forstater, tax consultant, claimed that she had been discriminated against by her employer when she lost her job for repeatedly expressing transphobic views online…
There’s generally a common perception around table-top roleplaying games regarding who they are for. They’re for white, male nerds, right? That’s the kind of people who play Dungeons and Dragons. The reality may surprise you…
Yeah, so…we’re having a general election. For the third time. In four years. If anyone needs me, I’ll be out in the garden burning my framed copy of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011 and weeping for what could have been…
MSPs have organised an event in order to launch a “Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights,” an unashamedly transphobic document. This declaration has been created by an international lobbyist group known as the Women’s Human Rights Campaign which believes that the rising tide of rights afforded to trans people is a threat to those of cis women…
Just over a year after Carrie Gracie announced she would be resigning as China Editor for the BBC due to the disparities in pay between her and her male equivalents, for which the BBC was forced to apologise, Samira Ahmed has brought a court case against the broadcaster complaining about the disparities in pay between her and her male equivalents…
Black people have always been a part of the LGBTQ+ rights movement. The struggle for queer liberation has included black people throughout its history, and unfortunately at times their voices have been quieted in favour of white activists (anyone seen the movie about Stonewall?). Luckily, it’s not too late to give thanks to these people that have helped to pave the way for acceptance of queer people, and as such, here are six queer black icons that we should be appreciating more…
A lot of stuff went down these last couple of weeks, and every other week, in Westminster, and particularly a lot of stuff regarding our exit from the EU. You want specifics? I got them right here…