#PinkNews

[buddieisgoingcanon25]

Here’s Part 3 of Oliver’s expanded PinkNews Interview.

This is the Buddie/ Buckley-Diaz Family question.

[queerliblib]

“This year has seen countless attempted book bans across the US, and many banned titles come from authors dealing with LGBTQ+ themes, with activists explaining that pushes to ban books is “harmful to students from historically marginalised backgrounds”.  One project, the Queer Liberation Library (QLL), is now aiming to combat this, launching in October with an entirely online catalogue that can be accessed anywhere in the country – even in states enacting bans on certain titles."

-How this online library is fighting back against US book bans, by Emily Chudy, PinkNews

[coochiequeens]

Two men who had a baby through exploiting a woman want to talk about equality in parenting.

When Paul Morgan-Bentley and his husband welcomed their son, Solly, they were struck by how little is expected of men when it comes to raising kids.

Solly was born in 2020, just as lockdown began, via a surrogate. So far, Paul and Robin’s parenting journey has been beautiful and life-affirming, without any of the homophobia they feared they might encounter. 

But it’s also been an incredible lesson on how gendered society remains.

“Lots of people were lovely or didn’t bat an eyelid which was lovely, but what we did find repeatedly just how little was expected of men at all when it comes to being a parent – being a fully engaged parent with primary responsibility,” Paul tells PinkNews.

Paul, who is head of investigations at The Times, wants parenthood to be equalised, and believes that can only be achieved by doing away with gender norms and encouraging all parents to pull their weight equally.

“In a non-traditional family, you just get the job done and you can feel really liberated from expectations,” he says.

“Lots of women face years and years of cultural expectation about what it means to be a woman and how that means you should be caring. 

“We write it on the slogans of young girls’ t-shirts that are sold in supermarkets – it’s all about caring and nurturing and boys are ‘cheeky little monkeys’ and are not expected to be nurturing. It’s nonsense.” 

Before and since becoming fathers, Paul and his husband were surprised by just how gendered things still are.

“To our faces we haven’t faced much direct hostility – often it’s embarrassment,” he continues.

“In the IVF clinic, even going through that process, all the paperwork is mum and dad – we had to cross off mum all the time. 

“We’re not massively sensitive about it but society has changed in lots of ways and actually what we found is that often the institutions haven’t kept up.

“Often with hospital births, most hospitals in the UK kick dads out – or any partner out – and you can only come back in visiting hours. What message does that send to the mother?

“It’s all geared towards a heterosexual couple and there’s this idea that there is a mother who will be looking after the baby.” 

Those attitudes also extend into the way parental leave and childcare work.

“If you look at how childcare is organised in the UK, you have some help – very little help, actually – financially from the state during that first year of parental leave, and then nothing for most families until your child is three. 

“Either the government doesn’t believe one or two year olds exist, or there is still fundamentally this subconscious belief that a wife is at home looking after the baby.” 

These realisations inspired Paul to write The Equal Parent. Released in March, the book interrogates societal attitudes towards parenting and looks in-depth at the mistakes we’re making when it comes to raising children.

Paul believes it’s time society moved into the 21st century and accepted that parenthood doesn’t look the same as it did in the 1960s.

“We should be playing to our strengths and communicating as parents and couples in relationships and working out what’s best for everyone – not just doing things because it feels like the normal thing to do because of our gender,” he adds.

[evangelineartemiasamos]

Fascists wanting to "protect families" by stabbing families in the back

[buddieisgoingcanon25]

New ranking by PinkNews

[joe-england]

Texas 'trans ban' bill aims to end gender-affirming care in the state

History will never validate the sheer, stupid, seething hatred for transgender people. Bigots will forever be condemned. But in the here and now they will cause suffering and call it victory. Let's not give them that.

[genderqueerear]

Seen a while ago but still a great one!

[coochiequeens]

“We think there will be some threats in that way, but we are working with the police… we’ll have dozens of people there to keep it a safe situation, we’ll have first aid and field support to offer any kind of support.“ Yes that’s something truly oppressed people say. 🙄

Students at Oxford university will stage a protest on the same day as “gender-critical” Kathleen Stock’s address to the Oxford Union this month. 

Various student groups announced the Oxford Trans+ Pride event on Sunday (7 May) in an effort to counteract the contentious pundit’s planned speech on 30 May.

Controversy arose last month after the union announced that former University of Sussex philosophy lecturer Stock, who has argued that self-ID “threatens a secure understanding of the concept ‘lesbian’,” had agreed to speak.

The Oxford University LGBTQ+ Society condemned the union’s decision to give Stock a platform in April, saying that she “has been campaigning against trans rights, labelling them as dangerous to women”.

The society’s president, Amiad Haran Diman, told PinkNews that the collective effort by society organisers is not just about protesting against Stock’s views, but also about celebrating the trans people of Oxford.

“Our motivation is not to attack the union or attack Kathleen Stock, because we think they love the attention. The reason we are doing this is for the trans community of Oxford – it’s for our trans siblings so that they know someone is standing up for them.”

The event is set to begin at 2pm in the Lincoln College building, with panels of trans, non-binary, gender-nonconforming and intersex speakers.

It will then move to Bonn Square, where protestors will hold a rally promoting transgender rights.

“The previous protest for queer rights in Oxford got around 200 attendees, we’re hoping to get double or triple that,” Diman said. “We need that because there will be counter-protestors and hateful transphobes. To counteract that, we need a loud voice.”

He added that the society received a wave of abuse following its April statement calling on the union to “rescind its misguided invite” and that the decision to hold a Pride protest was an effort to prove that trans joy triumphs over adversity.

“A huge pile-on started”, said Diman. “We received thousands of very hateful, abusive and frightening comments. That was something we weren’t prepared for as a small society.

“The thing I noticed was what annoyed the TERFs the most was trans joy. They were really baffled and threatened by trans joy, so I thought that emphasising trans joy is the best way to counter that.”

Pride is still a protest, Oxford University LGBTQ+ Society president says

Diman continued: “We know that there are some very hateful groups like Students Against Tyranny that are planning to arrive, and this is something that has happened in Oxford before.”

“We think there will be some threats in that way, but we are working with the police… we’ll have dozens of people there to keep it a safe situation, we’ll have first aid and field support to offer any kind of support.

“It will be a celebration, but also come prepared – if you’re worried about being outed, you should probably cover your face, and if you’re worried about heated interactions, you should probably stay away from the edges of the protest.”

With several pro-LGBTQ+ community organisations already supporting the Oxford Trans+ Pride protest, the goal for organisers is to turn it into an annual event.

“We are in coordination with some very large queer organisations here,” Diman said. “This is something that couldn’t really have happened otherwise because the trans community here is not that large, but it is very active.

“I believe it can become an annual event, but currently we are just trying to get this first event underway and assess the success afterwards.”

Stock responded to the announcement of Oxford Trans+ Pride in a tweet on Sunday (7 May), branding the protestors “absolute babies“.

Stock has previously equated trans people with those who claim to be “trans-racial” or think of themselves as another race.

She has made headlines in recent months, both for her co-founding of The Lesbian Project, a group created exclusively for cisgender lesbians, and for her involvement in upcoming Channel 4 documentary Gender Wars.

[invertedaquariumperson]

love this image of the what to buy section of the pinknews site.

like. what a bizzare collection of artists to think are like, specifically gay people artists. here's my guess of how each of these happened:

aespa: people saw that KPOP has a big deep passionate fanbase full of young people and assumed it was a gay thing, & picked the first artist that came up alphabetically ATEEZ: picked the second artist that came up alphabetically Billy Joel: "oh yeah, that one artist from the seventies whos been out for almost fifty years and wrote I'm still standing & Rocket Man. Billy Joel i think it was" Coldplay: listened to Coldplay and simply decided that it HAD to be gay music

[churchhouseconf]

Celebrate Diversity at the PinkNews Awards

Join the vibrant celebration of inclusion and equality at the PinkNews Awards! Hosted at the elegant Church House, this prestigious event honors trailblazers championing LGBTQ+ rights. Experience a night of inspiration, recognition, and unforgettable moments. Be part of a movement making a difference! Visit Church House for details.

[buddieisgoingcanon25]

Here’s Part 5 of Oliver’s expanded PinkNews Interview.

[pandabara]

Sounds about like Chaiya Raichik

Moms for Liberty organiser exposed as convicted sex offender

[wreckingball4good]

As a trans person, I actually don't feel like the way that Rufus Wainright framed his support in this interview was helpful or supportive.

[coochiequeens]

Historically, it’s been considered a binary word – lesbian = girl who likes girl……” Because that’s the definition of lesbian.

The word lesbian can be a fraught battleground – but for Alicia Cordell, it’s a f**k you to the patriarchy, a symbol of solidarity between queer women.

I like the word lesbian, both to say and to be – but when I came out (a decade ago in a Wetherspoons) I didn’t use it. 

I’d been hanging out with the ‘town lesbian’, but the word felt like too much of a commitment for a 17-year old, so I came out as ‘60/40’ and left the ratio questions unanswered. 

Beyond a reluctance to define oneself as anything, the desire to be a constantly changing enigma and the idea that you don’t have to come out as straight, there can also be an ickiness to discussing your sex life with strangers, with family. 

This is strongly felt by Bee Pahnke, who prefers the more overarching term queer. 

“In a world that is so strongly defined by the male gaze, I feel like my sexuality is often reduced to a sexualised idea,” they say. To Pahnke, “queer’ is a word that feels “representative of a bigger entity, rather than honed in on my sex life”. 

Others find power in the world lesbian.

“It can make straight people recoil a little bit.  Like they suddenly start thinking about the kind of sex you have, but the more people worry about it, the more I think it’s important to use the word,” says Lilly Alter.

Historically, it’s been considered a binary word – lesbian = girl who likes girl – and this can translate into a continuation of patriarchal values, even between two women.

To me, “lesbian” represents a freedom to be anything women would like to be. It’s a f**k you to the patriarchy – a non-definable entity.

Rachel Corbman agrees, arguing the word “doesn’t hold any singular definition for us to follow. Rather, it affirms the openness and malleability of ‘lesbian’ as a cultural identity and political label”. 

For India Smith, “labels are important for community, no one is a lesbian alone, we all have our own different intersectionalities”.

India continues: “I didn’t struggle much with accepting my sexuality, but gender has been harder to navigate. I felt as though I needed to decide whether I was masc or femme to be desirable and it wasn’t until I heard the term ‘non-binary’ that I felt seen.” 

Ultimately, the beauty of labels is that they’re a shorthand, an instant click, a shared eye contact of understanding between members of a community.

That’s how it feels when you find people who understand you, who walk through life in the same way you do, or who maybe if they don’t tread the exact same path, will walk through it with you

In this context, the L word is magic.