Our lovely poetry editors Marnie and Clea have put together some of their favourite submissions from June. Read on for some beautiful queer love letters.
On Joyland: why does Pakistan have a problem with trans love stories?
Our co-founder, Laila Ghaffar, analyses the political and cultural significance of the Pakistani film, Joyland.
Transfeminine masculinities – structural [trans]misogyny
I feel that the label ‘transmisogyny’ is a bit opaque. It often describes many of the moments where transfemme people are understood and treated as ‘biologically male’ by one means or another; an intersection between misogyny and transphobia. I want to talk through a little of what’s going on in the different moments and processes that make up these interactions and situations of transphobia, to give an insight into my world of masculinities. Within the bounds of transmisogyny, there is no room for me to explore my gender nonconformity; no room for my experimentation with pronouns, presentation, or personality; no room for any subversive tendencies without or beyond the original sin of my transfemininity. There isn’t a lot of room in people’s consciousness for masculinity from transfems. It’s hard for us to embody our masculinities as non-men without the people around us eroding, invalidating, and redefining us.
The Home Front of the Culture War
Considering that we are currently witnessing one of the most serious conflicts in Europe in recent decades, you’d be forgiven for wondering why so much of the surrounding discourse appears preoccupied with pronouns, gender, and sexuality – topics that perhaps, on their surface, appear only tangentially, if at all, related…
Reflecting on Becoming More Myself
There was a time when my room was devoid of mirrors, where the sight of myself disgusted me. Where acknowledging my appearance in such a way was abhorrent to me. I dreamed of transition, of change, that I might escape the form that had been dealt me and become something more than I was. That, given enough time, I would finally be beautiful…
PRIDE 2020: A BRIEF HISTORY AND HOW TO CELEBRATE FROM HOME
Lauren Hurrell explores LGBTQ+ History, celebrating pride from home and the connections between the Black Lives Matter movement and the LGBTQ+ movement, especially given the role that black transgender women have played in its history…
What is the Guardian Doing?
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…
Fighting Transphobia Part 2
The following essay is the second part of a discussion on Transphobia by Hazel Sanderson…
Fighting Transphobia
We’re going to look at some prominent transphobic myths and statements, why these statements are false or misleading and why a minority of people believe them anyway. By doing so we will examine how people get to be transphobic in this way and how to prevent these movements from growing and gaining support…
Scottish Parliament to host transphobic activists and academics
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…