LGBTQ

Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual rights

older

Tories say they’ll review school trans guidelines

A case brought by parents of a child on the Isle of Wight is now said to have “prompted the government to revise its gender-related guidance for children”. The case goes back to 2017. Nigel and Sally Rowe, who are described as “Christian parents” (presumably self-defining), took legal action against the government for failing to intervene against school policy, and the government eventually conceded the case. Mr Rowe is reported as saying: “To cut a long story short, in the school, when our boys were six years of age, in the classroom one of their friends decided to transition from being a boy...

Threats force trans-rights cancellations

Transphobes have prevented two events through threats and intimidation. The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, a LGBTQ venue in South London, was forced on 13 October to cancel a fundraiser for Mermaids, a charity who support trans youth, after “severe threats” to the safety of the venue’s staff by transphobes. Local Labour councillors have spoken out in solidarity with those targeted. This comes after a barrage of transphobic attacks on Mermaids by the right wing press and the prime minister, with The Telegraph likening much-needed support for trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming young people to...

Women's Fightback: Transphobes lose it over story-telling alien

Transphobic twitter is ablaze with news that a home counties library service has introduced a new mascot: Tala the Storyteller, a brightly coloured alien. Hertfordshire Council (Tory-controlled) confirmed that Tala the Storyteller is a “bright, vibrant creature” and “the star of Hertfordshire libraries” for a series aimed at catching the attention and imagination of toddlers and babies. Tala’s creators, Emma Phillips and Eva Povey, said they were inspired by the children’s artwork at library workshops. “They helped us to understand what children liked best in a creature,” they said in a...

Belgrade reminds us: Pride is a protest

It’s time — two words that set the scene for Belgrade’s EuroPride in 2022. “It is time for laws on same-sex unions, time for equality, solidarity, and much, much more,” said Goran Miletic, longtime coordinator of the country’s EuroPride. “It is time for Belgrade.” It was also time for the community to come together against a backdrop of thousands who had gathered to march in the weekends leading up to Pride. “There was a strange mix of different right-wing groups, extremists, right-wing political parties, and religious groups who held joint protests, twice,” Goran explained. “They are vocal...

Social reproduction and the roots of transphobia (in full)

Read a substantially abridged version of this essay here (or in Women's Fightback 27 ). As revolutionary socialists, we fight for the expansion of freedom and human flourishing, and seek to rid our world of oppression and discrimination. We stand in solidarity with the downtrodden, champion individual self-determination and bodily autonomy, and organise to empower people to take control of their own lives, and to determine how they socially identify, present, and relate to others. For all these reasons and more, we fight for the liberation of trans, nonbinary, intersex, and gender non...

Berlin’s ‘Third Sex’: Magnus Hirschfeld and the first LGBT rights movement

Costume party at the Institute for Sexual Research in Berlin. Magnus Hirschfeld (in glasses) holds hands with his partner, Karl Giese Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935) was the founder of the Institute for Sexual Research in Berlin, a pioneer in the field of sexology and an outspoken advocate for the rights of sexual minorities. Gay, feminist, socialist and Jewish, he was anethema to the Nazis, and it’s no coincidence that on 6 May 1933, a bust of Hirschfeld was thrown onto the fire along with his extensive library and archives, at the one of the first and largest of the Nazi book burnings...

The "Tranvestigators"

The wave of reactionary opinion against transgender people in the UK is continuing to intensify. The Tory leadership race was a posturing contest in which the contenders fought over who could be “toughest” on the issue of trans rights. Sunak’s pledge to crack down on “woke nonsense” and protect children from “inappropriate material” used language reminiscent of Section 28. Meanwhile, Truss took aim at the Gillick competence of young transgender people, opposing their right to seek out care that makes “irreversable changes to their own bodies”. In amongst this there has been a rise in a small...

Collaboration between transphobic feminists and the far right — some facts

Transphobic feminist Julia Beck on the far-right Tucker Carlson's show To confront the current resurgence of transphobia requires that we acknowledge and understand the phenomenon of collaboration between many prominent transphobic feminists (who now often describe themselves euphemistically, and inaccurately, as 'gender critical' ['GC'] feminists) and the hard right. When Judith Butler wrote in The Guardian that 'GC' feminists were allying with the worst sorts of reactionaries ( 1 , 2 ), some left-wing activists were genuinely surprised or sceptical to hear such an accusation. This article is...

Women, class struggle and the crisis in Sri Lanka

From March 2022, Sri Lanka was convulsed by protests against collapsing living standards and state authoritarianism, leading in July to the resignation of right-wing nationalist president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Niyanthini Kadirgamar, a member of Sri Lanka’s Feminist Collective for Economic Justice, explains how the current crisis in her country intersects with women’s oppression and women’s – particularly working-class women’s – struggles. The Feminist Collective for Economic Justice is a network collective of feminist economists, scholars, activists, university students and lawyers, working in...

Social reproduction and the roots of transphobia

Substantially longer version of this piece here As revolutionary socialists, we fight for the expansion of freedom and human flourishing, and seek to rid our world of oppression and discrimination. We stand in solidarity with the downtrodden, champion individual self-determination and bodily autonomy, and organise to empower people to take control of their own lives. For all these reasons and more, we fight for the liberation of trans, nonbinary, intersex, and gender non-conforming people. This struggle flows naturally from our liberatory principles and our commitment to solidarity, combined...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.