Lily Wakefield

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President Biden’s World AIDS Day message proves he’s a very different president than Trump

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oe Biden has promised tackle LGBT+ health inequality in his World AIDS Day message, proving once again that he’s a very different president to Donald Trump. Ahead of World AIDS Day (1 December), the president issued a proclamationin which he said his administration was “focused on addressing health inequities and inequalities and ensuring that the voices of people with HIVare at the centre of our work to end the HIV epidemic globally”. Biden “honoured and remembered” the “36 million people, including 700,000 Americans” that have been lost since the start of the AIDS crisis, and noted the impact of COVID-19 on access to HIV-related healthcare. […]

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The terrible, brutal history of Margaret Thatcher’s homophobic Section 28

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It is 18 years today since the controversial and homophobic legislation known as Section 28, introduced under Margaret Thatcher, was repealed in England and Wales. The clause – an amendment to the Local Government Act 1988 – banned local authorities and schools from promoting homosexuality and was brought forward by Thatcher’s government. The legislation has been labelled “toxic and regressive” by deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey, who introduced the clause that led to its repeal, and told PinkNews that Section 28 left young people feeling “alone and vulnerable”. “I am proud to have moved the clause that abolished Section 28 […]

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Boys and non-binary student ‘suspended from school for having long hair’ sue school district

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Six boys and one non-binary student are suing a Texas school district after they were reportedly handed suspensions for having long hair. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas filed a lawsuit last week against the Magnolia Independent School District on behalf of the students, aged between seven and 17. According to the ACLU, the district has been “engaging in explicit gender discrimination” by enforcing sex-specific dress and grooming rules for students, and “harshly punishing” them if they do not comply. The Magnolia ISD handbook states that hair must “be no longer than the bottom of a dress shirt collar, bottom of the […]

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A fearsome, ancient army was made up entirely of gay lovers; endorsed by Plato

In the fourth century BC, a fearsome army named the Sacred Band of Thebes was formed, and it was made up entirely of gay couples. Lawmakers in countries across the world have been banning LGBT+ people from their militaries for more than a century, from America’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and trans military ban, to the UK’s ban on LGBT+ people in the armed forces, which was only lifted in 2000. While the US insisted during the era of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” that LGBT+ service members “would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order, discipline and unit […]

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Dildo-inspired insemination kit designed to make queer conception more intimate

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A dildo-style home insemination kit is designed to make conception a pleasurable and intimate process for queer couples. Even if queer couples decide to self-inseminate at home, the procedure can feel strange and clinical, but the Way device makes sure that there can still be fun when it comes to baby-making. At first glance, the insemination device looks exactly like a minimalist, silicone, pink and white dildo. But on closer inspection, a small bubble is visible at the base, which is used to hold semen. The kit comes with a jar, into which semen is deposited, before the user sucks it […]

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Cervical screening pilot for trans patients could save lives

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A UK cervical screening pilot programme for trans men and non-binary people was so successful it could be used as a model for programmes around the world. The pilot programme was launched in October 2019 in conjunction with the NHS as part of a study to address cervical cancer in trans and non-binary communities. It offered weekly cervical screening clinics, only staffed by healthcare professionals with experience in treating trans and non-binary patients. Of those who attended the clinic and gave feedback, 100 per cent were satisfied with the service, and a majority (60 per cent), said they would not have been screened if […]

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‘Regressive’ bill threatens to roll back trans rights for Canadians in Quebec

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A “regressive” bill is could roll back trans rights in Quebec, Canada, threatening trans folks’ “equality, dignity and personal integrity”. Bill 2 was brought forward by Quebec justice minister Simon Jolin-Barrette on Thursday (21 October), according to CBC. It aims to change Quebec’s civil code to require trans people to undergo surgery before being able to legally change their gender, and could even bring in separate sex and gender markers on government ID. Trans Canadians in Quebec have been able to change their legal gender without surgery since 2015, and there are currently no other Canadian provinces that require surgery for legal recognition. Some trans people […]

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Italy blocks hate crime bill after unprecedented opposition from Vatican and far right

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Italy has voted down a bill to tackle hate crimes against women, LGBT+ people and those with disabilities, all in the name of religious freedom. The bill – known as the Zan bill after the Democratic Party lawmaker and LGBT+ rights activist Alessandro Zan, who proposed it – was approved my the Italian parliament’s lower house last year. The Zan bill, which would protect Italians from violence, hate speech and discrimination on the basis of sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability, has caused a divide in the country since it was introduced, with critics insisting that it would infringe […]

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Anti-LGBT+ Chick-fil-A promises not to ‘discriminate’… against anti-vaxxers

A sign displayed by a Tennessee franchise of the anti-LGBT+ fast food chain Chick-fil-A has gone viral for condemning discrimination… against anti-maskers and the unvaccinated. The sign, pasted on the window of the Chick-fil-A in Franklin, Tennessee, reads: “We do not discriminate against unvaccinated, religion, race, sex, vaccinated, maskless, mask. All neighbours are welcome.” When the message was shared on Twitter by anti-LGBT+ right-wing YouTuber Lauren Chen, social media users were quick to point out that “equating mask/vaccine policy with religion/ race/ sex is so fundamentally stupid”, and that one significant group was missing from the list. One Twitter user wrote: […]

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Christian groups to investigate impact of ‘toxic’ anti-LGBT+ church rhetoric

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A vital new research project will examine the impact of “the increasingly toxic rhetoric around sexuality and gender identity” on LGBT+ Christians. A survey will be launched on World Mental Health Day (10 October) to measure how safe “increasingly vulnerable” LGBT+ Christians feel. The vital research, looking at the wellbeing of LGBT+ people in religious spaces which “can cause significant harm and trauma”, is being conducted by a consortium of nine Christian LGBT+ organisations. It draws on the theme of government’s international LGBT+ conference to be held next year: Safe to be Me. The survey was instigated by Jayne Ozanne, director of the Ozanne Foundation, who […]

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