#its lgbt history month here in the uk

[seagull-scribbles]

Saw some artists draw Rise Raph’s mask in a bow and I fell in love ♥️

[larktb-archive]

"lgbt history is so america centric here..." as an american i am so sorry for the world being so american focused. this is you... this is for the world (blows up washington dc)

ok not joking around anymore i genuinely get mad at that, i talk to my friends who live in other countries and i guess the same thing happens over in their countries too??? its revolting...

Jwkwjjeje you are forgiven for your crimes (/jk)

But yeah I feel like individual countries struggles are... pasted over by an overarching American story that starts at Stonewall goes through the AIDs Crisis and kinda climaxes at the legalisation of gay marriage. I think people would massively benefit from learning other countries LGBT history and learning about how these identities are negotiated through history in a non-American context.

Like even when I went to that lgbt black history month talk I complained about going to, I did learn things but only because... we don't talk about lgbt history in Britain in general nevermind black lgbt Brits in specific. Its similar to how we talk about Black history in the USA but not Black history in the UK which makes it seem like black brits have had no struggles when they absolutely have and still do. I kinda went off on a tangent here but ye... the americanisation of lgbt history is a probleem to say the least.

[artemisbarnowl]

Even if you, personally, have never had the term queer directly levelled at you in a harmful manner, if you are part of the LGBT+ community, it is inherently part of both your history and a present risk at any given moment. I live in the UK. Until I visited Dublin, Ireland, I'd never had someone call me queer in a negative light. But even so, at any given moment, someone could.

Tell that to black people, I dare you. Not least; yes. It is. Inherently. If you don't like the word that's your choice. Nobody can force you to accept it and nobody should force you to identify by the term. But trying to take it away from other people makes you no better than those using it as a slur.

You don't understand why its important to some people as their identity. That's fine. You don't get to tell them they're wrong, though.

If you could just point out the part where im taking it away from other people or that other people are wrong that would be great.

-----------------

In a post where i am talking about my personal feelings on something that pertains to me you've given me these counterpoints(?)

1. Someone could at any time call me queer.

Yes, I know. Increasingly it happens by woke leftist people who want to reclaim it and wont stop when I ask them not to call me that. Which really doesnt align with all that respecting identity philosophies yall are so keen on.

2. The idea of telling black people they shouldn't call themselves the n word is Very Bad. (For reasons you havent explained.)

I'm not. Im complaining about being called queer against my will. But, this is also a discussion the black community have. The idea that all black people refer to themselves, or other black people, by a slur is stupid and not true. So it the idea that they all IDENTIFY with the term. Where is the campaign to call it N***** History Month???

3. To be fair this is my fault for phrasing my second point as a y/n question but HOW is slur reclamation powerful? "It inherently is" doesnt explain anything. Whats inherent? Wheres the power? People not being annoyed or frightened to hear 'queer' leveled at them because they identify with it is not a power. How does calling yourself queer actually improve your standing in society? Are laws changed to be more equitable for you? Does this only work with queer or does calling myself a lezzo, or gaybo, a fucked up slut, or whatever else people call me without asking or caring if I also identify with those terms also give me power?

People are attempting to force me to identify with Queer every time they use it as an umbrella term. I am bisexual. I might experience attraction to someone of my own or different sex. Im not queer, im not part of the queer community. I dont know what it means to be queer. In my post i am complaining about other people calling me shit that i dont like. I am lamenting other slurs I used to be called and find it sorta funny that slurs have a trend cycle. Its true i dont understand why people want to use it as an identity. Making a post that says "heres what i dont get" isnt telling people their wrong. My second point is a question. This shows where i dont have the info others might.

Yesterday i was just complaining because i heard the world gaybo for the first time in 15 years and this highlighted to me that i see no difference betwern slurs. Today im gonna actually discuss things until i get bored.

[glyphsn-noises]

ITS PRIDE BABYYY

Ik i already made this a month ago but i love doing picrew!!

These are me roughly from age 11 to now (15) or from y6 to y10 and i really think it’s important to understand especially this year more than any other year that trans people will always and have always existed. As a trans person currently living in a country that is not very tolerant of lgbt people and continues to discriminate towards queer people constantly in the government.

When i was 12 i fully knew something was wrong, I knew that to some extent something was wrong , i felt a disconnect but i thought that surely had nothing to do with my gender , i mean it seemed almost as if it was a foreigner concept because i never saw or was exposed to any trans people or at least trans people where i’m from. I struggled a lot and just assumed it had to mean i was a lesbian it wasn’t until the first year of middle school when i read a book about a trans girl it opened up the concept that maybe that could be me. But it felt super far away so i kept it hidden until the second year of middle school where i just could not take it anymore. I could not take the constant feeling of disconnect and disassociation, I don’t even think i fully felt alive for most of those years. The day i cut my hair i had spent the day before wishing i could have tried to find a way to permanently die.

And yet i’m here right now i’m 15 and i’m thinking about my university options and i’m one of the highest in my class in History and English.

I wish there was more representation for transgender people outside of the US or Uk because we never get to hear about the ones that the rest of Europe seem to forget or the rest of the countries of the world seem to have forgotten trans people exist in their countries too. Transgender kid and adults will always exist , it’s a matter of whether you want to watch us die or not that’s the difference.

[salted-caramel-tea]

hi hello happy pride month !!! been thinking a lot recently and not a lot of people are aware of queer history outside of the states so I thought it'd be fun to explore the history of lgbt rights and community in the UK!!

Criminalisation and Abolition

this is going to be condensed as possible so bear with me. To start as a general statement, sodomy was illegal across the UK for a good majority of history. The earliest date I can find was an English bill from 1533 making sodomy punishable by death, and this law was extended to Wales (1543) and Ireland (1634), but was not applied to Scotland. This doesn't mean we were any better we had a similar bill although i'm struggling to find out when it was introduced.

The death penalty for sodomy was overturned in 1861 and instead was punishable by 10 years imprisonment, but this decision only effected England, Ireland and Wales, Scotland was excluded on grounds of 'civil attitudes', or the idea that sodomy was not well accepted in these nations. Scotland followed suit with the abolition of the death penalty in 1887.

this isn't that great it was still illegal to commit any homosexual act at this point as stated by the Criminal Law Amendment in 1885, which was actually used to send Oscar Wilde to jail- that one is for the straight guy literacy nerds who still in the year 2022 say people were exaggerating calling him gay, he was literally arrested for homosexuality .

it stayed that way until 1967, the introduction of the Sexual offences Act partially legalised private homosexual activity between men over the age of 21 in England Northern Ireland and Wales, and it took another 13 years literally it was 1980 when Scotland made the same amendments. Its important to note that female homosexuality was never explicitly discussed in legislation on the basis that it was harder to prove and that politicians were scared that the sheer mention of it would encourage women to pursue lesbianism.

Scotland was the first to legalise same sex marriage in February 2014 with England and Wales following suit a month later, but it wasn't until 2020 that Northern Ireland passed a bill legalising same sex marriage.

Researching bills protecting transgender rights in history is a little harder but I can say that the earliest legal thing I can find would be that transgender people have been changing their sex on legal documents and passports since 1970, and again 1999 amendment to the Sex Discrimination Act that states that discrimination of people based on their gender reassignment in the workplace is prohibited. It was declassified as a mental health condition in 2002, although was instead classified as a "widely recognised medical condition". 2006 saw the Equality Act and Gender Equality duty in Scotland that included transsexualism under basic equality and discrimination and that harassment was to ben taken as a serious mater and includes all transgender people.

there is still a long way to go, especially in regards to transgender rights and protection with Bills realted to banning conversion therapy being dropped and trans girls being banned from most girls private schools as well as transphobic microaggressions in politics and education and general public attitudes as well as legally recognising nonbinary identities (Mx titles and nb indicators in schools are allowed).

Community and Pride

Did the criminalisation of homosexuality stop anyone? absolutely not.

as early as 1603 King James VI of Scotland (and I of England) was presumed to have had homosexual preferences. The son of Mary Queen was written by historian Pauline Gregg to have said 'You may be assured that I love the Earl of Buckingham more than anyone else and more than you who are here assembled... Christ had his John and I have my George'. ok

anyway there's so many things to cover so I won't be able to get to everything but the LGBT+ community made up such a large and vibrant subculture of cities across the UK. the 19th century has the introduction of 'Molly-houses' which were essentially taverns, coffee-houses or social situations for homosexual men to socialise with and pursue each other. there was also a large fashion element in gay culture including the 'Macaroni' culture which referred to men who dressed flamboyantly or with a sense of femininity. this would involve waistcoats with a floral patterned silk or softer colours as apposed to the standard plain fashion of the 19th century and into the 20th century.

The First pride parade was held in 1972 as a political movement in response to the treatment of queer individuals by the police force and the Stonewall riots in New York a few years prior. Attendants from the 1978 pride event were seen wearing multitudes of badges like these but not limited to these

Important ones to note here are the pink triangle worn worldwide to remember the gay men who died as a result of nazi incarceration during the Second World War, and the 'Scrap the Section' Pin referencing the bill that was passed in the UK prohibiting the publication or teachings of ideas which may 'promote homosexuality' which directly affected areas like schools and libraries .

A lot of jewellery worn by WLW in this time reflects the labrys, a double sided axe that was associated with the Amazons, to subtly display their pride as a lot of different identities did in a society that could have them fired, publicly outed or arrested.

Hidden Identity

honestly I just wanted to fight the idea that being queer was a new thing. so here's some cool queer ppl that u might find interesting

1812 Dr James Barry earned a degree from the Edinburgh school of medicine, after death he was discovered to have been assigned female at birth

English novelist Mary Shelley aids her novelist friend Walter Sholto Douglass (pen name David Lyndsay) in gaining a passport so he can travel to frabce with his fiancé and helps to make that reflect his identity as male in 1827

look we can go back to roman Britain and talk about the grave of a transwoman Gallus, who transitioned to become a priestess serving under Cybele from around 229 AD

Obviously Oscar Wilde was a huge MLM figure in the 19th century i love the picture of Dorian Gray

The first female doctor in Scottish history, Sophia Jex Blake, graduated from the University in Edinburgh and retires in 1899 to live with her partner Dr Margret Todd.

Great Welsh artist Gwen John was known to have affairs with both men and women throughout her life although never settled down and was largely outcast in her later life.

Former spitfire pilot Roberta Cowell became the first woman to receive vaginoplasty in 1951, and had a successful career as a racer driver after transitioning

Irish pirate Anne Bonny and English Pirate Mary Read both confessed their identity as female to the other after admitting that they experienced a romantic attraction to the other

there’s so many things to talk about that i didn’t get round to - like the governments handling of the aids crisis and protesting throughout u.k. history how, the experience of queer women and a lot more but it’s so long already but my point is . learn your history . know your history

[nationalgendertraininguk]

Promoting Allyship: 5 Ways to Support the Trans and LGBT+ Community

Introduction: Transgender and LGBT+ people are individuals who identify with a different gender or sexual orientation than the one assigned to them at birth. They contribute to society in various ways but also face discrimination, violence, and stigma due to their gender identity or sexual orientation. In this article, we'll explore five key steps to being an ally to the trans and LGBT+ community, along with the role of National Gender Training in enhancing your allyship journey.

Key Takeaways:

- Transgender and LGBT+ people face discrimination, violence, and stigma in many aspects of their lives. - Allyship is the act of supporting and advocating for marginalized groups, such as the trans and LGBT+ community. - Allies can promote inclusion, diversity, and respect by educating themselves, challenging prejudice, amplifying voices, creating safe spaces, and taking action. - National Gender Training offers courses and workshops on transgender awareness, LGBTQIA+ awareness, and diversity management for professionals and organizations.

1. Educate Yourself

The first step to being an ally is to educate yourself about the issues and experiences of the trans and LGBT+ community. This means learning about their history, culture, identities, challenges, and achievements. Here are some educational resources: - Transgender Awareness Week: Held every November, it raises awareness about the trans community and their issues. - Pride Month: Celebrated every June, commemorating the Stonewall riots of 1969, a pivotal moment in LGBT+ rights history. - Genderbread Person: A visual tool explaining gender identity, expression, biological sex, and sexual orientation. - Transgender FAQ: A comprehensive guide by the National Center for Transgender Equality. - LGBTQIA+ Glossary: A list of terms and definitions by Stonewall UK. By educating yourself, you gain a better understanding of the trans and LGBT+ community and can challenge stereotypes and misinformation.

2. Challenge Prejudice

As an ally, you must confront prejudice whenever you encounter it. Prejudice can take many forms, including discrimination, hate speech, and microaggressions. To challenge prejudice: - Interrupt: Politely but firmly interrupt prejudiced remarks or actions. - Educate: Explain why such behavior is harmful and how it affects trans and LGBT+ people. - Support: Offer assistance to those targeted by prejudice. By addressing prejudice, you create a more inclusive environment for all.

3. Amplify Voices

To be an ally, amplify the voices of the trans and LGBT+ community: - Follow: Engage with trans and LGBT+ activists, organizations, and influencers on social media. - Share: Promote their content and recommend their work to friends, family, and colleagues. - Donate: Support trans and LGBT+ causes and organizations through time, money, or resources. By amplifying their voices, you help increase their visibility and influence in society.

4. Create Safe Spaces

Creating safe spaces is crucial for the well-being of the trans and LGBT+ community: - Ask: Respect preferred names, pronouns, and labels. - Display: Show support through symbols like rainbow flags. - Organize: Host events and activities that celebrate or support the community. By creating safe spaces, you make trans and LGBT+ individuals feel welcome and valued.

5. Take Action

Advocate for the rights and well-being of the trans and LGBT+ community: - Vote: Support candidates who champion trans and LGBT+ rights. - Lobby: Communicate with representatives to influence policies. - Educate: Spread awareness about allyship and its importance. Being an ally is a lifelong commitment that can make a significant impact on the lives of trans and LGBT+ people. Conclusion: Allyship is rooted in love—for oneself, for others, for diversity, and for humanity. It requires continuous learning, courage, and compassion. Join us at National Gender Training to embark on your allyship journey. Together, we can create a more inclusive, diverse, and respectful society for everyone. Read the full article

[kafkasmelomania]

June 5, 2021: American Queers by SuperKnova

*Bandcamp here

SuperKnova is SO cool. Did you know that she not only writes all her songs and records all of her songs completely by herself but also taught herself how to produce and master music so that she could have total creative control? That’s really impressive! What’s also cool about her is that she’s setting an example for people who feel like outsiders in the music scene, especially queer people of color. She talks about that in this article, which is really good and something that you should definitely read:

Only now, as SuperKnova, Ellie is beginning to finally overcome the impostor syndrome that influenced her artistic confidence for the majority of her professional life. “I had a degree in music and I still felt like I wasn’t a real musician”, she looks back on her younger self. Today, Ellie strives to create “more of these media images, the ones [she] never had growing up” in all of her work.

She also discusses why she wants to be a role model in this article:

She also said her art is intentional. She hopes to make the kind of art she needed but never found in the world while younger. Whereas other artists might balk at a role model designation, Kim somewhat embraces it, or at least embraces the responsibility, actions, and intentions of someone set on giving voice to populations often ignored.

“Half of what I do as SuperKnova is create interesting, creative music. But I want to create the art I wish I had growing up as a closeted trans teenager growing up in a transphobic community, to be like queer therapy,” Kim said. “I never started this to be some mainstream thing like Justin Bieber or Ariana Grande. I want to make the art for my community and then if people outside of the community like it, great. If not, they don't need to listen to it.”

Also! She has a Tumblr! You can follow her at @superknovamusic.

Because it’s Pride Month:

Here’s some queer history from around the world, not just the United States.

Here are some LGBTQIA+ GoFundMe campaigns: Rent Fund For Black LGBT Family, Help Roze get somewhere safe (Non-Binary LGBTQ), Survival and Gender Affirming Needs for Black Enby, College Fund for a Black Trans Woman, Tito’s top surgery and recovery fund, Omi’s Transition Fund: Health, Housing, & Security, Help Emmett Pay for Emergency Surgery

If you’d like to get involved with stopping the atrocities against Palestine, here’s where you can start (text in bold for readability):

This Carrd is full of information, petitions, and places to donate.

Here are some organizations to which you can donate. This post now includes a list of corporations to boycott.

Here is some information about the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund and a list of other organizations.

Decolonize Palestine has an FAQ about Palestine here.

This is a list of actions you can take (somewhat UK-specific). This is a reading list of texts with more background information.

UK petitions: This is a petition for the UK government to formally recognize the State of Palestine. This is a petition to introduce sanctions against Israel. This is a petition to condemn Israel for their treatment of Palestine and Palestinians.

Here’s the Wikipedia overview of the current iteration of the crisis.

If you’re curious about the United States’s involvement: this is a report about U.S. foreign aid to Israel. This is the Wikipedia page for Palestine-United States relations and this is the Wikipedia page for Israel-United States relations.

Here are some perspectives from on the ground in Gaza. This is also explains why spreading the Palestinian point of view. is so important.

This is one Jewish person’s explanation of the conflation of Jewish identity with the modern Israeli state. They mention the Nakba, which is important – per Wikipedia, “the Nakba, […] also known as the Palestinian Catastrophe, was the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland in 1948, and the permanent displacement of a majority of the Palestinian people.”

This Vox video gives a brief overview of the conflict from its inception until the present day, although it’s from 2016, so it’s not entirely up to date. This CrashCourse video does the same, and I think it’s actually a little better than the Vox video because within the first minute they shut down everyone who claims that this is a religious conflict. That video is also not entirely up to date, as it is from 2015.

This post has some resources with information about the history of Palestine, Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and updates about the current situation.

Do you like podcasts? Here are some podcast episodes about Palestine.

Here are some miscellaneous resources for helping Palestine.

Black lives matter and here are some ways you can get involved in the  fight against racism, specifically anti-black racism (text in bold for readability):  

This Linktree and this Carrd are full of ways to confront and fight against anti-black racism: places to donate, advice for protesting, educational resources.

This post is specifically about Daunte Wright and how to help his family. This is Daunte Wright’s memorial fund.

The  Minnesota Freedom Fund is doing good work, and since so many people have been recognizing that work and donating to them, they ask that you  instead donate to Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, the Racial Justice Network, Communities United Against Police Brutality, the Minneapolis NAACP, the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Minneapolis, and the Black Immigrant Collective. You can also donate to the Bail Project, which operates in multiple states.

Other organizations to which you can donate are the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, the NAACP, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Okra Project, the Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative, For The Gworls, G.L.I.T.S., the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, the Black Trans Travel Fund, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, and the Black Trans Femmes in the Arts Collective.

GoFundMe: Justice for Breonna Taylor, In Memory of Jamarion Robinson, Rent Fund For Black LGBT Family, Esperanza Spalding’s BIPOC Artist Sanctuary, Survival and Gender Affirming Needs for Black Enby

(via https://open.spotify.com/album/3HAKCGSBK2CdNR94iSKMLS?si=ifgUe8PhQrC8Q4ipuGqGqQ)

[tanadrin]

Off topic but do you have any thoughts on how you predict trans liberation playing out in the future (and how to stay sane in the mean time)? Should we ignore or try to deradicalize people spreading deliberate ignorance and misinformation like terfs, Nazis, fundis, etc?

I think as with any struggle for civil rights and social acceptance, you muddle through and things continually get better; but there's always room for improvement. And there's no inevitable arc to these things; the way things are going in the UK, it's possible (not especially likely, but certainly possible) that you could see a reactionary anti-trans backlash the equal of anything in Poland or Russia sometime in the next couple of decades. You already kind of have one in progress with the anti-HRT/puberty blocker laws passed in some US states--while those are contested, states pretty clearly have the right to pass those laws in the same way that more progressive states have a right to pass anti-conversion-therapy laws, unless and until a Roe-style decision prevents them. And there are plenty of places in the world where trans rights, along with more general kinds of LGBT rights, are just a total non-starter, and will be probably for the rest of our lifetimes.

Berlin provides a useful example: in the 1920s, it had a rich queer culture, and with the rise of the Nazis in the 30s there was a long, bleak winter that seemed to last basically until West Berlin, due to its unique status under international law, became a haven for young people dodging conscription in West Germany, and the city began to rebuild its countercultural credentials. If you were alive here in the 30s and 40s, it would have felt like the end of the world; in the 60s and 70s, like a dark episode in a complicated history; in the 2000s, perhaps like a momentary lapse in the natural progression of society becoming ever more tolerant; but in the future, who knows?

The lesson to me is that while you can and should care about the bigger picture, you can't let anxiety about the bigger picture prevent you from living your life now, nor fears (nor hopes) about what might eventually happen putting off what happiness you can seize for yourself today. It is possible to become too invested in the big picture, to the point where anger about politics (and climate change, and everything else going on in the world) leads you to overlook already present possibilities of fulfillment in your life right now. I don't want to blow rainbows up anybody's ass here; there are people stuck in genuinely awful situations, their personal equivalent of Berlin under siege, with the Gestapo still arresting gay people even as the Red Army closed in and the city starved. But if that's you, your goal isn't systemic political change, or convincing your enemies to see your point of view, it's to survive--a month, a year, however long it takes until the spring.

As for convincing people: that's not really the goal. By which I mean, convincing specific individuals is an extremely hard problem, and not usually worth the effort. You will likely never convince the diehard transphobe or religiously-motivated bigot, and the greater population of fencesitters and soft transphobes that it is important to sway from a political coalition-building perspective are only useful if you can persuade them in large numbers. That's a quite slow process, at least at first, but thankfully, it's far from futile. LGBT people have an advantage that other groups seeking civil rights don't: they're randomly distributed throughout the population, and often invisible unless and until they come out. To put it mildly, few white segregationists in the 60s would have had to reckon with learning by surprise that someone they loved was black and having to square their racism with their personal relationships. But by and large the dominant form of political change on (for example) gay rights seems to have come from people discovering that 1) homosexuality is actually very common, and 2) they likely know and love someone who is gay. That's not a silver bullet for homophobia, but boy is it persuasive!

Which makes sense, given the affective nature of politics. And of course it's a situational advantage; you don't come out in a place where it would be suicide even if it might actually convince some marginal homophobes to rethink their homophobia. That's why progress on gay rights was so slow for so long. This isn't a categorical imperative: it's not a duty of any individual trans person to come out regardless of circumstances. It's a circumstantial tool, along with political organization, and pushing to make transphobia socially unacceptable in more and more places, in the manner of racism or homophobia.

From where I'm sitting, in Western Europe, the U.S., and Canada, trans rights seem relatively secure in the gains they've made, with important exceptions like the UK and several specific U.S. states. Further progress outside of those exceptions seems to be linked primarily to the fortunes of socially progressive political parties, e.g., an SPD or Green-led government is likely a precondition for the Selbstbestimmungsgesetz in Germany, and in Europe stridently anti-trans positions are mostly the province of far-right parties that are (for now!) political pariahs. In most of the rest of the world, the situation ranges from bleak to dire, and except for those in a position to move, I don't know what I would do. But I would say this, in general: I don't think anybody has an obligation to emotionally mortify themselves to try to convince a bigot they are wrong. If you enjoy arguing for sport, or you feel particularly called to it, by all means go ahead. But if the idea gives you a headache, I give you permission to ignore the assholes. You have a far higher moral obligation to yourself, to live the happiest life that you are able, and to take joy wherever you are able to find it. That is in fact a political act, a positive propaganda of the deed, and a refutation of the canard that goodness and joy are inherent only in the moralistic and restrictive bounds created by prejudice.

[bicommunitynews]

Each year we publish a roundup of bi events at the end of December. Naturally this one will be a little less packed than usual. Nonetheless wishing you a very different and better year ahead! At the start of the year very few of us realised what might be ahead as the COVID-19 virus was still thought to be far away and most likely confined to a corner of China. So for those first ten weeks or so of 2020 things were happening as normal. So it was at the start of January when Layla Moran became the first UK MP to come out as pansexual. Courts compensated a worker who had been told to pretend to be gay rather than bi in the workplace and returned confiscated medals to an ex serviceman. Northern Ireland started to consult on same-sex marriage while we learned women are more likely to divorce one another than men. There was good news on HIV figures and from the European Court declaring that government inaction on LGBTphobic hate was no longer acceptable. And the Welsh Government declared it would go a step further than merely repealing Section 28 with active work to ensure children are making informed choices on sex and relationships. In February Bi Pride got a mention in the House, while LGBT History Month saw many more bi-related talks than usual. Overseas Switzerland voted to recognise LGBT hate crimes. There were bis on TV in Doctors and I Am Not OK With This as well as a new season of Atypical to look forward to. And new research showed peculiar findings about bi people and skin cancer.

With the pandemic seeing the start of lockdown in the UK during March events started to be cancelled like Birmingham BiFest and BiFest Wales. As Prides started to fall like dominoes, Eurovision announced its first ever rollover winner. In the USA a St Patrick’s Day parade barred a beauty pageant winner from marching on account of her bisexuality. We had more bi representation on TV in Love Is Blind’s demonstration of double-standards over bisexuality, BBC polyamory drama Trigonometry, and Batwoman. The House of Commons held its first ever debate on LBT women’s health while Canada declared its intention to outlaw so-called “gay cure” so-called “therapy”. And new figures showed more people identifying as bi in the UK than ever.

In April many of us were starting to get used to life indoors and wondering how much a loo roll could fetch on eBay there were sobering thoughts about how the lockdown meant a lot of bi and LGBT people were now trapped in unsafe situations. The USA responded by relaxing its limitations on bi and gay men donating blood with Australia contemplating the same shift. The first LGBT club closure of the pandemic was announced in Brighton. On TV we had a raft of fresh bi viewing with the return of Flack, Killing Eve and Harley Quinn. But the big bi drama of the month was away from TV as BiNetUSA abruptly tried to claim copyright over the public domain bisexual flag.

Most LGBT magazines stopped publishing for the time being due to the pandemic but we took the decision to keep BCN coming out as one little strand of bi life we could keep fairly normal, so our April edition was the second of six in 2020.

Staying indoors gave people some time to organise and so in May there were online campaigns about the blood donation ban and conversion therapy. Being indoors also meant people could virtually visit museums worldwide. New research showed bi men were the most closeted group across Europe.

As the Black Lives Matter movement drew headlines worldwide in June dating app Grindr dropped its race filter. One of those “how did that take so long?” moments. There was a big victory in the US Supreme Court, while over here a new faux LGB equality campaign group came out against same-sex marriage, for anyone who hadn’t already realised they weren’t on the side of any queer folks. The BBC nonetheless carried on quoting them as if they were a serious human rights campaign. The annual Bi Book Awards winners were announced, though without (for now) the usual glamorous awards event. The Grammys got their tongue tied online. In good news, Gabon decriminalised sex between women and between men and Scotland opened up civil partnerships to any couple regardless of gender. BiCon had a bumpy month with two organising teams quitting in the space of a week.

In July we had more happy news from abroad as Montenegro recognised same-sex civil partnerships and South Africa changed its rules on how marriage ceremonies are conducted. It was less good elsewhere as the budget for PrEP was cut in the UK and in Poland the presidential election came down to a knife-edge before going the wrong way. We learned bis have worse experiences of crime than other people and the GLAAD annual review of film releases noted cinema was getting Whiter and gayer, with no bi male representation in major film releases.

We are used to a host of Prides in August so it was a hot summer with so much less to do every Saturday! However some ran online and BiCon happened in a very slimmed-down online form. The run-up to Bi Visibility Day began with more Town Halls deciding to fly the bi flag. New US research showed bi youth experience of bullying.

It’s Bi Visibility Day, Bi Week and Bi Month in September and among the delights was improvements in dictionary definitions. Northern Ireland inched further forward on equality while the UK courts rules that the Equality Act includes nonbinary people. Coming-out guide Getting Bi came out for the Kindle. In the USA we saw the first research on how the COVID-19 pandemic was hitting the LGBT communities while here Stonewall had research on how many bis are out to their families – not many.

In October we learned there would be a biopic of former US Congresswoman Katie Hill. Netflix dropped GLOW. In good news for millions the Pope made a small shift toward a better attitude to LGBT lives on the part of the Catholic Church. And in bad news here, a BBC which was veering increasingly far from balanced and responsible reporting of LGBT issues warned staff they should not attend Pride events even in their own time and private lives.

All eyes were on the USA in November as Donald Trump lost by a huge margin in the election there – albeit not as wide a margin as many opinion polls had predicted. Biden won with over 80 million votes in the end – more than any previous candidate. Biden’s speech missed out the “B”. Europe considered its next five year plan on LGBT work without the UK, and in Poland there were symbolic protests against the hateful “LGBT free zone” populists. We all realised we had been too distracted by COVID to notice that the LGBT inclusion work in schools that had started under the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition had been quietly dropped by the new minister for Women and Equalities.

Most important, COVID vaccines started to be approved. After a very hard year, change was at last in sight.

In December the three month ban on blood donation for bi and gay men and their partners was completely rewritten – for better and for worse – though the new rules don’t come in until a few months into 2021. Kyrsten Sinema rocked a great wig and coat in Washington. There was divine justice as a homophobic MEP got caught breaking COVID rules at a gay party. And Switzerland – whose good news on hate crime kicked the year off – decided to let same-sex couples marry. And so ILGA’s annual world map of LGBT rights showed a ripple of changes. And our fifth edition of the pandemic landed on subscriber doormats, more or less in time for Christmas.

That was 2020. To our most sincere delight, it is in the past. Here’s to a very different year ahead.

[wweassets]

Have you ever seen Cinderella movie with Brandy and Whitney Houston? I highly recommend if you haven't. Perfect for black history month. 🥰

i watched when i was a LIIIITTTLE kid, i heard its coming to disney+ so im going to be watching FOR SURE. if yall have any other good black films to recommend, send them my way.

also its not black history month in the uk, thats in october here. its actually LGBT+ history month here! but still send the films my way x

[aion-rsa]

Doctor Who: Why Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor Needs an ‘Everybody Lives!’ Moment

https://ift.tt/39pw5MX

Doctor Who! The children’s own show that adults adore.

Doctor Who, as a format, requires an intrinsic joyfulness in its stories to be so adored. If adventures become too continually grim, or not sufficiently fun, then ultimately there’ll be a tipping point where it becomes implausible for the story to continue. Why, ultimately, would the character keep travelling if they weren’t enjoying it? And even if they did, would this be something that would sustain a family audience?

It’s not that you can’t have darkness in Doctor Who, it’s just that it can’t be sustained and eventually something has to give. As such, there’s an inherent optimism in a lot of Doctor Who, even in episodes where it isn’t high in the mix. For the show to make sense, there has to be some hope that wrongs can be righted.

For example: even though William Hartnell’s Doctor starts off trying break his own programme by getting rid of Ian and Barbara as quickly as possible, the show quickly settles into “a great spirit of adventure”; the Second Doctor comforting a grieving Victoria by pointing out that “nobody else in the universe can do what we’re doing” followed by the Doctor letting Victoria leave the TARDIS because it’s the best thing for her. In both cases, the gesture is one of compassion. The Fourth Doctor refers to Sarah Jane Smith as his best friend and she only leaves because he has to go somewhere she can’t (His home planet of Gallifrey, something that on original broadcast had more dramatic weight as he’d only visited it once before in the series and then been forced into regeneration and exile).

When Russell T. Davies relaunched the show in 2005, the unspoken idea became explicit. “Can I just say: travelling with you…I love it,” says Rose Tyler, who – despite portentous trailer statements – survived her travels. In episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures Russell T. Davies expanded on the Tenth Doctor’s victory lap in ‘The End of Time‘ to make it more celebratory, giving past companions happy endings (some in stark contrast to their grim fates in Nineties’ spin-off media). The departures of Rose and Donna are tragic, but the journeys to get there are framed in terms of joy and excitement.

The next showrunner, Steven Moffat, preferred happy endings. Companions had previously been married off (Susan, Vicki, Jo, Leela, Peri) as they left the show. Amy Pond got married and stayed, travelling with her husband. This was a leap forward, but unfortunately the following series’ pregnancy storyline was handled poorly and attempts to deal with its repercussions were not successful either. Clara, the next companion, dared to be like the Doctor but unlike Donna managed to both die and have a happy ending.

Moffat enjoyed Immortal LGBT+ Women Having Adventures in Space so much that he used it again for Bill Potts in Series 10. An important aspect of both characters’ storylines is that they suffer a terrible fate, but the version of Doctor Who in which companions die is rejected in favour of one where they get what they live happily ever after. Moffat, a comedy writer to his core, was unwilling to make Doctor Who a story where travelling on the TARDIS left you in a worse place. Davies also tried to give his companions happy endings of sorts to ameliorate their loss.

If we look at the populist peaks of the show, Doctor Who has never been overwhelmingly cynical. Whenever it’s been taken in a darker direction it usually rejects that approach in favour of a lighter balance. In Season 21 the show put its characters through a series of almost unrelenting grimness (‘The Awakening’, the story where a demonic entity attempts to get an entire village to slaughter each other is the light and fluffy one) culminating in the Fifth Doctor’s heroic regeneration story ‘The Caves of Androzani’– voted the best Doctor Who story in several polls – where the Doctor goes to extreme lengths to save his companion and distances himself from the violence that surrounds him.

And then in the next story ‘The Twin Dilemma’, the Sixth Doctor strangles his companion.

Read more

TV

Why Doctor Who can’t sustain dark storytelling

By Andrew Blair

TV

Doctor Who : Revolution of the Daleks to Air on New Year’s Day, Trailer is Here

By Louisa Mellor

Taking ‘Grimdark’ storytelling to mean stories in which violence and misery is perpetuated throughout the story universe in a seemingly never-ending cycle, that period in the show’s history is a perfect example of it. Why diminish one of the finest stories ever by immediately negating the heroism involved? Why would you have the main character reject the violence that he’d become a part of only to immediately embrace it again? Among the many problems it means we have a Doctor/companion relationship that seems grim at best. Why would you keep travelling with someone who strangled you, refused to apologise and then continually harangues and shouts at you? I don’t watch Doctor Who to see the companion trapped in an abusive relationship. I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that the ratings went down as the production team systematically removed as much hope from the show as possible, ridding it of that great spirit of adventure. After ‘The Twin Dilemma’,the show was put on hiatus, and ultimately cancelled.   

Which brings me to the current version of the show.

I don’t think Jodie Whittaker is miscast or that the current version of the show is woke nonsense – which is a relief because I think using the phrase ‘woke nonsense’ unironically is quite the red flag. I think that the enthusiasm Jodie Whittaker has for the part hasn’t been used well, because we currently have a Doctor who is great at showing unabashed joy travelling the universe, but whose stories lean towards grimdark and don’t give her anything approaching ‘Everybody lives!’

One of the most lauded episodes in Series 11 is ‘Rosa’, which was co-written by Malorie Blackman and showrunner Chris Chibnall. In it, the TARDIS crew see Rosa Parks in the run-up to her being arrested for violating segregation laws, and need to stop Krasko – a mass murderer from the future – interfering in this event and stopping it from happening.

The inclusion of Krasko makes an interesting and depressing point in this story, and I’d be fascinated to know the villain’s development in the writing process. For what we have here is a story about an important act of defiance that changed human history, and is celebrated for its impact, alongside an acknowledgement that there will still be racists in the future. In fact, there will be racists who murder 2,000 people in the future. Racism and its associated violence is not, the episode says, going to go away.

In isolation this might seem like optimism tempered with caution, but since Chris Chibnall became showrunner, edgy, provocative ideas have crept in and given stories a cynical edge. Small moments have a cumulative effect, such as Epzo’s story about his mother in ‘The Ghost Monument’, Robertson surviving ‘Arachnids in the UK’ without learning any moral lessons and indeed likely to cause more suffering, ‘Kerblam!’ ending with the system that blew up an innocent woman being allowed to continue (while closing the warehouse for four weeks and offering employees two weeks’ holiday pay), Daniel Barton escaping freely in ‘Spyfall’ while the Doctor wipes the memories of someone doomed to die, ‘Orphan 55’ shows us the unavoidable destruction of the human race, as does ‘Ascension of the Cybermen’. Under Moffat, we had some episodes ending with cynical quips that left a bad taste in the mouth, but under Chibnall the bad taste is there before the outro quip.

Series 11 showed us a joyful Doctor in a nasty universe, and the latter regularly overwhelms the former, but at least ended with Graham and Ryan clearly rejecting murder as a solution. Series 12 was less focussed on real-world evils, and uses them on the fringes of its storytelling (with the Doctor now seemingly embroiled in the universe’s cynicism, using Nazis to imprison a Master now played by a British Indian actor), but we’re still getting real issues reflected back at us along with the message that the Doctorcannot sort this, which is based on the false assumption that this is what Doctor Who is for.

I hope that this is building towards a reversal, that the Thirteenth Doctor gets her Androzani moment where she gets to take a stand against everything that she’s seen. However, we have now had a fully grimdark finale as the lasting impression of Doctor Who for nine months. ‘The Timeless Children’ has proven controversial for its approach to continuity; as well as the retcon of the Doctor’s history this was a ‘Twin Dilemma’(also the last story in its season) to ‘The Day of the Doctor’s Androzani. The heroism is now nullified. When we watch ‘The Day of the Doctor’and the day is saved at the end of the story, now we know all the Doctor has done is defer those deaths (those two billion children’s deaths) and the cycle of violence will continue. At the end of ‘The Timeless Children’the following is presented to us as the good guys winning:

The heroine cannot bring herself to destroy the animated corpses of her entire species, so Joe from Derry Girls has to do it for her. An entire planet now a lifeless husk. The main character’s centuries of trauma are revealed. Their best friend is now a genocidal maniac.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

This is Doctor Who in 2020: violent, cynical, cyclical. A mirror when it should be a window. If Series 13 repeats these trends then I fear history may repeat itself once more. But then, what is Doctor Who mostly about if not seeing a cycle of oppression and then breaking it?

The post Doctor Who: Why Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor Needs an ‘Everybody Lives!’ Moment appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/39z4Rn4

[dyn-marv]

This is a long post, but it's here to get you started.

In these times, simply changing your profile picture isn't enough. There is more that we can do to help than that. We can donate money, we can attend protests (there are UK protests too), we can sign petitions.

https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/in-the-news/blackout-tuesday/

Here's a link to a site with a lot of the petitions and places to donate are kept. A lot of them take international payments too:

https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

"I want to donate but I have no money. "

Watch this playlist. Watch the videos all the way through, turn off your ad blocker, don't skip the adverts. Creators are using ad revenue to donate to BLM funds: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtooIklzheqzORPbQBiEZKsw2T4s6SUxv

"I can't protest because of my situation."

Spend your time educating yourself. Listen to the black community:

- https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/20/magazine/1619-intro.html

- https://youtu.be/-G45l5Yw69E

- https://www.tulsahistory.org/exhibit/1921-tulsa-race-massacre/

- https://www.history.com/.amp/topics/black-history/segregation-united-states#section_1

"The UK isn't as bad as America."

The least racist is still racist. Here's some UK specific information:

- https://www.creativereview.co.uk/the-truth-about-racism-in-the-uk/

- https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.graziadaily.co.uk/life/real-life/racism-uk/

- https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/in-the-news/anti-racism-resources-ally-social-media/

If you are LGBT+, remember that black individuals play an important part in the rights you have today:

- https://www.stonewall.org.uk/our-work/campaigns/black-history-month-x-stonewall

- https://youtu.be/G7blKMfW4rM

- https://www.glaad.org/publications/blackhistorymonthkit

- https://www.riverside.org.uk/black-culture-and-its-effect-on-lgbt-history/

- https://www.stonewall.org.uk/about-us/news/stonewall-uprising-50-years-lgbt-history

Racism isn't always visible. This can come in many forms, for example in the form of microaggressions. We may not be aware that we are being racist. It's not our intention at all. But the first step to fixing that is to become aware of it (see the images attached for examples of microaggressions):

- https://www.apa.org/monitor/2009/02/microaggression

- https://youtu.be/OCBJZQrqXG0

"But all lives matter!"

Yes, they do. But all lives only matter than black lives matter.

[Image Description: A chart showing types of microaggressions, with examples, the themes they portray and the message it sends to the receiver. To access the PDF and source, please go to:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.sph.umn.edu/site/docs/hewg/microaggressions.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjK37yT9ufpAhXPQkEAHSwhAWUQFjAEegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw2bpwhB0m06LTjRqH5sfU5O&cshid=1591266145141]

[jenniferdiazisatransgirl]

Why LGBT people get a Pride Month while straight cisgender people don't?

So while corporations make their support of Pride apparent, for their various capitalist reasons and Pride events are being organised across the world. Once again as always, groups of straight cisgender people are coming out in opposition. Yelling at us for shoving it down their throat, asking why they don't get a parade and then when we answer, they using whataboutism.

Now before I continue with this, I am first going to get the whataboutism out of the way. While there are many other issues in the world, this post is focusing on LGBT issues. So while somewhere in the world children are starving and somewhere else, Hindus are being persecuted and elsewhere Christians are being slaughtered. This post is not about that. If every issue were expected to list every other issue happening in the world, they'd have a very long post. I'd in fact say a never ending post given the nature of humanity. So this post is solely focusing on LGBT people and issues.

The short of why we have LGBT Pride and straight cisgender people don't, is never in the history of our species has it been illegal to be straight or cisgender. Meanwhile it has been illegal to be LGBT and in some places across the world it still is. It has never been legal to discriminate against someone solely just because they are straight or cisgender, yet throughout the world and even in the the USA to this day, it remains and has been perfectly legal to discriminate against someone for being LGBT. In fact in the US, recent roll backs in legislation that protect LGBT individuals now mean it is perfectly legal for a doctor to decide they do not wish to treat a trans person in medical need. And to make this clear, that includes life threatening situations.

One of the earliest peices of legislation I know of which criminilised homosexuality is the Buggery Act of 1533 introduced under the reign of King Henry VIII. And yeah, for those of you who think being gay is a recent thing, if it is seriously so recent why is there legislation that far back. That act made it illegal in statute law in England for people to be LGBT. And laws such as this still exist in many countries across the world. In Iran and Saudi Arabia it is illegal to be gay and they often put people to death for the crime. In Iran, trans people have it slightly easier as Iran recognises transsexualism within its law, but even then trans people suffer discrimination. It has also lead to a unique situation in Iran, where sex changes are treated like a cure for homosexuality and there have been stories of lesbian and gay people in the country being forced to undergo gender reassignment by their families.

And even in countries where it is no longer criminal to be gay, there are inadequate laws to protect us. For example, I just mentioned the US where it is now legal for a doctor to refuse medical care to trans people. In some states it is legal for your employer to fire you because you are LGBT, for your landlord to evict you, for your local store to refuse to serve you and believe it or not in some States you can even make the case that discovering someone was gay was a justifiable reason for you to murder them. It is known as the "panic defense" and while it has been made invalid in most States now, I believe in some it is still perfectly valid.

And lets move to the UK, where being LGBT has been decriminlised and we have laws that protect us. Even here we suffer discrimination, just a recently a lesbian couple were beaten by a group of men on a bus. And before you say, "Oh they shouldn't have been flaunting their sexuality." If a straight couple were to kiss and hold hands in public would you classify that as flaunting their sexuality? In schools, LGBT people are still bullied disproportionately to their fellow students. People protest even the slightest education of our existence. Even a same sex couple in a childrens TV show can quickly be targetted as somehow sexualising children, yet if a straight couple were to hold hands in a kids TV show or even kiss that would be perfectly fine. How many straight kisses could you count in Disney movies alone? LGBT young people still fear coming out, are made homeless by their parents not accepting them, are forced to live in youth hostels. And just because we have law offering us some protection, it doesn't mean public attitude has caught up and is offering us equal treatment. I even know at work of colleagues speaking behind my back about myself.

And throughout history, especially in the past 50 years we have had to fight time and time again for our rights making slow and gradual progress and every time we ask for that extra bit of equality, you'd think were asking a £1 million. And LGBT people throughout history have been targets of discrimination. During the holocaust, the pink and black triangles were used to label gays and lesbians who were like the Jewish, locked in concentration camps and gased. During the Churchill's last premiership, it was reported to his Cabinet that LGBT people were being disproportionately targeted and inprisoned under a sexual deviancy act that was in place at the time and Churchill launched an inquiry that 10 years later lead to the decriminilisation of homosexuality. In New York State are bars were routinely raided as it was illegal to serve gay people alcohol and this lead to many of the bars that would serve us, to be operated by the Mafia. Safe to say the standards of these bars weren't to code. On one night, when the police decided to stop accepting bribes from the Mafia, the police raided the Stonewall Inn, which lead to the Stonewall Riots breaking out. A major turning point in the LGBT rights movement.

This riot took place in June, 50 years ago. The UK charity Stonewall is named after these riots, a year later Pride Parades were held in several cities across the US to mark the anniversary of those riots. That is why June is Pride Month, this is why we have a Pride Month. While LGBT people have had to fight for our rights and while we still have to fight for our rights. Straight cisgender people have not had to fight for and do not need to fight for these same rights. You can walk down the street holding your partners hand without worrying you will be beaten or yelled at, you can go to the doctors without fear that you will be refused treatment cos you are straight, etc.

And yes, while there are many reasons why some straight cisgender people will experience discrimination in the street and in day to day life, once again this post is not about that. This post is about why LGBT people have a Pride and straight people don't. And within this, I have missed a lot of things out because to go over every single bit of history, to go over every single way LGBT people are discriminated against in various parts of the world would simply take too long. But when you see a corporation sporting the rainbow logo, or a Pride Parade rather than acting offended, perhaps asks the reason we have those parades? Why we have this month?

[autismserenity]

One of the most frequently-repeated bits of exclusionist misinformation is that asexuality didn’t even exist before 1999. (Why this would be relevant, even if it were true, is beyond me. A lot of the people who make this argument didn’t exist before 1999 either, but that doesn’t seem to mean that they’re imaginary, or don’t belong in the larger community, or aren’t oppressed.)   

There are a lot of counterexamples, like these ace history pieces from Making Queer History, and these 1970s mentions of asexuals in the straight media and LGBT+ media. (And, of course, there are plenty of studies and examples of ace oppression.) One of the most common examples of people calling themselves asexual, before now-ish, is this 1989 episode of “Sally Jesse Raphael,” above. Where she interviews someone, who uses the alias “Toby,” about being ace. 

Well, my ace, autistic, queer, and genderqueer friend Nat just spoke at the Asexuality Conference in the UK, and showed me “the 2012 conference talk that I made into an excessively detailed blog post [about ace community history online]....” 

and GUESS WHO TOBY IS.  

also, guess how far back the autistic community was talking about ace stuff! (golly gee, come to think of it, we probably didn’t exist as an organized community before about the 90s EITHER, bad news for us, guess we don’t exist and aren’t oppressed) Here’s an excerpt from that “excessively detailed blog post”: 

-----------

A 2017 SIDE NOTE ON TOBY’S IDENTITY:

A few months after this 2012 Asexual WorldPride Conference talk, I finally got to see the Sally Jesse Raphael “Toby” interview, thanks to YouTube account BetamaxBooty, and immediately recognised that xe was Autistic Rights pioneer and co-founder of Autism Network International (ANI), Jim Sinclair, who features heavily in the 2000 “Autreat” short documentary film.

I had just recently been formally diagnosed as autistic myself, and remembered being strongly affected and influenced by Jim’s Don’t Mourn For Us in my earliest days on the internet, 15 years before. But I had never realised that Jim was also the near mythical nonbinary figure that so many described to me as genderqueer community folklaw.

Jim also coined the phrase “self-narrating zoo exhibit” (and watching the Sally Jesse Raphael interview with its amazingly invasive audience Q&A, it’s not hard to see why!) and prominently spoke out against ‘person first’ language.

When I attended the UK Autscape conference a month after the Asexual Conference, many people I met had no problem understanding my gender neutral nonbinary identity or my asexuality, because they knew Jim. Although some were surprised that I was trans rather than intersex. This is where I’d first discovered, via Wikipedia, that in 1997, xe “remain[ed] openly and proudly neuter, both physically and socially.”

Then while reading the 2012 ASAN essay collection ‘Loud Hands: Autistic People Speaking‘, I was astounded to discover that the very first Autistic-run autism conference stream in November 1995 had included a panel on asexuality.

Jim Sinclair is a true pioneer of so many of the communities and identities I was a part of, and influenced so many of us, whether we knew it or not.

[lsesu]

Being LGBT at LSE

LGBT History Month is an exciting time to be LGBT. It’s an amazing opportunity to meet new people from all around the world, to explore your sexuality and gender in a largely inclusive environment, discover the queer history of our forebears, and enjoy life in one of the most LGBT-friendly cities in the world.

However, like all people, LGBT people may struggle while undertaking their studies. This can be for a myriad of reasons, whether connected to their sexuality or gender, or not. We know the research shows that LGBT people are at greater risk of experiencing poor mental health, and LGBT people may face issues with their studies that might not affect their straight peers. Studying at LSE can be an intense experience for anyone; for LGBT people, many of whom come out whilst at university, or who must navigate persisting homophobia and transphobia found in society, this can be significantly magnified.

The important thing to know is that there are a range of support systems available, including services bespoke to LGBT students, as well as services accessible by the whole LSE student body. Here are some of the main ways to get support as an LGBT student whilst studying at LSE.

1.       Coming out at university

Many students realise that university is a good opportunity for them to first ‘come out’ as LGBT. For many students it is the first time away from family and friends, and a chance to reintroduce themselves to the world as their authentic identity without fear of judgement or disappointment.

There is no right way to ‘come out’, and it is important to recognise that coming out is purely personal, and should be done in a way you are comfortable with. Disclosing to a friend you think will celebrate you is often a great first step.

LSESU has the Pride Alliance, the Students’ Union’s society where people of all genders and sexualities find a safe and celebratory space to meet, share their experiences and have fun. Contacting the society’s President or a committee member if you are nervous about your first time attending a meeting will mean they will be aware to look out for a new member, and provide you with a warm welcome. They can be contacted at pride.alliance@lsesu.org

LSESU also has an elected LGBT+ Officer, whose responsibility is to speak for the union on issues pertaining to sexuality and gender. They will be able to signpost you to a range of opportunities to get involved in the LGBT+ community at LSE, and meet new friends. They can be contacted at Su.lgbt@lse.ac.uk

2.       Discrimination

Although London is one of the most tolerant cities in Europe towards LGBT people, homophobia and transphobia sadly persist. Whether from a fellow student, or a member of staff, if you experience anti-LGBT discrimination, homophobia or transphobia while at LSE, there are people trained to support you through this.

If you would like to make a complaint to the university about treatment you have faced, speaking to the LSESU Advice Team is a great first step. You will be provided with a friendly and confidential personal adviser, who will help you navigate the process and seek an outcome that makes you feel safe and respected.

The LSE website has further information about how to report bullying and harassment.

3.       Mental health support

We all have mental health, and university can put strain on it for a number of different reasons. LGBT students may face additional strain on their mental health, and need someone to talk to.

LSE Counselling Services provide professionally trained counsellors, free of charge, to LSE students. They run drop in sessions, as well as providing individual and group counselling, each suited to the needs of the student. Individual counselling is normally available for six sessions or fewer, dependent on the student.

For more information about LSE Counselling and how they can be contacted, click here

Outside of LSE, you also have Switchboard, who provide free and confidential advice to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people across the UK. They are able to listen and talk through any issues you are experiencing for however long you like (they will never end a call until you do). All staff define as LGBT+ themselves, and they can advise on issues such as housing, wellbeing or the LGBT+ community. More information can be found at their website.

- Blog written by Calum Sherwood. Calum Sherwood is the Senior Policy and Research Officer in the LSE Students’ Union and a member of Policy and Advice Team. He identifies as gay.

The LSESU Advice Team is based on the 3rd floor of the Saw Swee Hock Building and we provide free, independent and confidential advice to all LSE students on academic and housing matters, along with administering our hardship and childcare funds.

[internalcommunications]

The Benefits of Building Trust

Grant Springford is the news, stories and campaigns lead at the DfT, a ministerial department that works with 24 agencies and public bodies — such as the British Transport Police Authority, the Civil Aviation Authority and Network Rail — to support the transport infrastructure and keep the UK on the move.

The DfT consists of around 3,000 employees in the central department — and this includes remote workers.

Grant joined the Department around three years ago with a specific remit to lead its Be Yourself diversity and inclusion campaign. His team forms part of the Internal Communication (IC) function, which reports into the Department’s People function, and works closely with DfT’s wider Communications Directorate.

Education & awareness

The DfT already had in place various self-managed networks for staff who are disabled, colleagues who are black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME), LGBT+, 50+, young people and individuals with young families, to name but a few. The DfT’s family of networks has continued to grow and now includes support for ex-service men and women, and neurodiversity.

These networks operate a busy calendar of events and other opportunities “to help people understand the different aspects and cultures of pretty much everyone who works in the Department”, says Grant.

They all work closely with the Department’s Diversity and Inclusion team, which has three overriding objectives: 1) to ensure that people feel safe and happy to bring their whole selves to work; 2) to encourage people to celebrate that fact in the workplace; and 3) to reflect and represent the general public that the Department serves.

As part of this, they also embed educational strategies that run across the civil service. For example, ensuring people have the right training to reduce unconscious bias in selection processes.

Clearly, a diverse and inclusive culture was already established and embraced at the DfT. What it was lacking, from an internal communications perspective, was direction.

Walking the talk

“People were sharing their stories, but we certainly didn’t have a campaign to spearhead it and we didn’t really have clear objectives to make that happen,” says Grant. “So, the Be Yourself campaign was created to really get the message out to say: ‘Look, we celebrate diversity and inclusivity at the Department. We don’t just simply write stories about the strategy and the importance behind it. We’ve got a campaign to make it happen.’’’

Grant and his team decided to take forward a storytelling approach to help bring the strategy to life, being careful to use the voice and idiosyncrasies of individuals. They also developed specific branding for all visuals, news pieces and screens.

The campaign was launched with a ‘Bring Yourself to Work Day’, encouraging people to wear an item of clothing or bring something to work that would reflect who they are as an individual.

It received a tremendous response.

“In previous Departments I’ve worked in, if we’d done such a thing, we might get a handful of people. But, even then, we’d have to twist their arms to take part.

“I think because there was already this nice positive vibe to the organisation, people threw themselves into it. There were close to a hundred people who took part; they wore T-shirts, they wore hats, and they brought in items that reflected who they are.

“We got lots of photographs. We got lots of goodwill. We got lots of stories we were able to start sharing. And that kind of led the way.”

We celebrate diversity and inclusivity at the Department. We don’t just simply write stories about the strategy and the importance behind it. We’ve got a campaign to make it happen.

Listening & insights

It was at that stage that Grant and his team started really talking to the networks and people around the business, asking: “OK, we’ve had some fun with this, but what serious stories have we got? What can we do to start sharing and celebrating the fact that we’re open and honest and we’re all individuals.”

A breakthrough moment came early on in the campaign when one brave individual from the network supporting mental health got in touch with Grant, saying he wanted to share his story about his battles with suicide.

Grant spoke with him about what that might look like. “He was very candid and honest. But I think because we’d already done that publicity around the campaign and spoken about this culture we’re trying to build around positivity and support, he was up for it.

“He wrote a really powerful story for us about the fact that on several occasions, he’d attempted to take his life. And, thankfully, he got the support he needed. Although it was an ongoing battle for him, he was still with us and he was getting the help he needed.”

The story received a huge amount of comments via the internal news channel, says Grant. One or two individuals even said that by sharing his story, he’d given them the courage to reveal to the Department that they’re in the same boat: feeling the same and going through the same battles.

Support, honesty & empowerment

“I get goosebumps when I talk about that,” says Grant. “Because, to me, that’s one of the powerful things about internal communications. If you can nurture a culture where people feel supported — where they feel they can open up and share something that personal and know they’ll be supported — that’s when you know you’re getting things right.

“For me it was a real turning point for the campaign. The doors really opened on a number of topics: really tough, personal stories around, for example, depression and battles with cancer. Also, some lovely light-hearted stories as well; not everything was hard-hitting or soul-searching. We had lots of stories about volunteering and different aspects of life in different cultures.”

One of Grant’s favourites included a lady who’d been a carer for many years and hadn’t told anyone at work for fear of issues. Feeling empowered by the campaign, she felt she could open up to her line manager. As a result, they figured out a working pattern that would better suit her. Plus, she went on to become chair of the carers’ network.

The Be Yourself campaign has proven such a hit, the blog space is now booked weeks, if not months, in advance.

Campaign evaluation

Clearly, this is a strong indicator of campaign success. But what other measurement tools do the team use?

“In addition to measuring the engagement of our stories, like the number of hits and comments, we use our people survey. This is an annual survey to help us learn how people are engaged within the civil service, what’s important to us, and what issues need to be tackled,” explains Grant.

Meanwhile, as part of their regular news items and stories, they introduced a sister channel a year ago. Entitled ‘Who am I?’ this is intended as a fun, 10- to 15- question interview, aimed at all levels of seniority. In addition to some diversity- and inclusion-focused questions, it asks things like: what makes you proud to be a civil servant? What’s your job at the department all about? What’s the most embarrassing moment in your life? Who would you play in the movie of your life?

“That channel skyrocketed,” says Grant. “It’s really encouraged people to engage.”

2019 also saw the rollout of a campaign to mark the Department’s centenary: DfT100. A lot of the team’s diversity and inclusion stories were absorbed into this campaign to help talk about the history of the Department and the networks. “We were absolutely delighted when DfT100 was given the ‘Best Ongoing Communication’ award at last year’s IoIC Awards — judges fed back that they were impressed by the extent to which employees were actively involved in the campaign,” says Grant.

What’s next?

So, what does 2020 have in store for Grant and his team?

“We’re now looking to embed DfT’s new vision and values — and the message that diversity and inclusion is important to us will be an integral part of this work.”

Grant says he and his team plan to take certain elements from the DfT100 campaign, such as involving staff at an early stage in the thinking and development around content and activities.

They’re also working closely with their colleagues from the Communications Directorate to help staff better understand how their work positively impacts on the public and using this to further develop the DfT’s employer brand.

“We want to ensure people are aware of the fantastic culture we have here at the DfT, so they start to realise it’s a brilliant place to work. We want potential new recruits to think: ‘It’s an inclusive department. Just look at all these stories that are being shared internally. It’s a place I really do want to come and work.’”

Original Source: The benefits of building trust