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Author: Rachel Badham

BBC defends anti-trans article

Posted on by Rachel Badham

In response to a large number of complaints about an article titled: “We’re being pressured into sex by some trans women”, the BBC has insisted that the piece was “carefully considered” before publication and complies with the broadcaster’s editorial standards. The article was published in October, and detailed the experiences of some lesbians who said they are “increasingly being pressured and coerced into accepting trans women as partners”.

It sparked widespread backlash from the LGBTQ+ community and trans allies, with over 20,000 signing an open letter to BBC that criticises the “deeply flawed” study of 80 individuals sourced from Get The L Out, an anti-trans pressure group. The letter blasted the BBC for implying that “transgender women generally pose a risk to cisgender lesbians in great enough numbers that it is newsworthy” when the incidents are actually “a matter of incredibly rare, isolated experiences”.

Despite receiving numerous complaints, the BBC has continued to defend the article, saying: “The article was carefully considered before publication, went through a rigorous editorial review process and fully complies with the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards.” The broadcaster also said that it strives to “explore a wide range of issues and perspectives”, while insisting that it remains impartial. 

Government sets out plans to ban conversion therapy

Posted on by Rachel Badham

Equalities minister Liz Truss has announced the government’s proposal to ban LGBTQ+ conversion therapy while launching a 6-week consultation on the matter. According to the official government website, Truss confirmed that the ban will bring an end to any practices that aim to alter a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, as well as outlawing “coercive” therapies for adults. 

Explaining the proposal, Truss said: “There should be no place for the abhorrent practice of coercive conversion therapy in our society…I want everyone to be able to love who they want and be themselves.” However, the proposed ban will still allow anyone to “free to seek out professional help and guidance”, causing concern among activists who suggested that conversion therapy can still cause “severe psychological harm”, even if the individual appears to have consented to it.  

The consultation survey has been launched today, with officials encouraging “everyone with an opinion on how we should introduce the ban and urge those with an interest and particularly those with experience of conversion therapy to come forward.” Stonewall UK has described the proposals as a “huge step” towards banning conversion therapy, adding: “Conversion therapy is coercive and abhorrent, and does not work. You cannot change an LGBTQ+ person from being who they are, and to try to do so causes lasting damage.” 

 

‘Anti-trans’ Professor Kathleen Stock resigns from the University of Sussex

Posted on by Rachel Badham

Philosophy Professor Kathleen Stock, who is known for her allegedly transphobic views, has officially resigned from her position at the University of Sussex following a student-led campaign for her to be removed. Although Stock previously denied that she is transphobic following a controversial interview with The Argus, the students running the campaign said: “Transphobes like Stock are anti-feminist, anti-queer and anti-intellectual, they are harmful and dangerous to trans people.”

Announcing her departure, Sussex vice-chancellor Adam Tickell reaffirmed his support for Stock’s right to “exercise her academic freedom…free from bullying and harassment.” Although Tickell “hoped” Stock would return to work, he stated: “[Stock] has decided that recent events have meant this will not be possible…We will miss her many contributions, from which the University has benefited during her time here.” Stock also said that she is “sad” to be leaving after a “very difficult few years”.

The student campaigners, known as @antiterfsussex on social media, have not yet responded to Stock’s resignation. 

Photo: Instagram @antiterfsussex

Study: Nearly 70% of intersex people have experienced discrimination in the past year

Posted on by Rachel Badham

Following Intersex Awareness Day (October 26), a new study from the Center for American Progress (CAP) has found intersex people face disproportionate rates of discrimination, with over two-thirds (69%) of respondents saying they have experienced discrimination in the past 12 months. In comparison, 35% of other LGBTQ+ people said that they had faced discrimination in the past year. 

Out of 1,528 LGBTQ+ adults, 61% of intersex respondents said that they actively avoided visits to their doctor, while an additional 57% said they often refrained from visiting public places such as restaurants out of fear of discrimination. Approximately 9 in 10 reported experiencing healthcare discrimination, with some saying they were refused care or subjected to abuse, compared to 19% of non-intersex respondents. 

A total of 80% of intersex participants said that discrimination had impacted their financial stability, with 84% saying that they were not offered job opportunities due to prejudice. InterACT executive director, Kimberly Zieselman, described the results as “staggering and unsurprising”, adding: “For years, intersex people as young as infants have been subjected to harmful discriminatory practices that cause profound lifelong physical and emotional harms…These important new data help quantify what the intersex community has known for years.”

November 8: THE ENBY SHOW, starring Anubis Finch and Carrot

Posted on by Rachel Badham

Bringing together “the best gender-benders and cis-tem offenders that the UK has to offer” for an exclusive comedy variety night, THE ENBY SHOW will be held on November 8 at the Vaudeville Theatre in London. Starring Brighton’s own Anubis Finch, who was a contestant on series 3 of Drag Race, and queer activist Sofie Hagen, the show will be hosted by non-binary drag artist Carrot.

Anubis Finch will be headlining the event. Photo: Instagram @anubisfinch

The headliners will be joined by comedians, dancers, singers, drag artists, burlesque performers and more in what promises to be “a gender-defying spectacle of binary-binning excellence.” The event is part of a four-night show series by Free Now, a taxi-hailing ride service that is aiming to put live comedy back on the map whilst underlining the need to support grassroots performers.

Tickets can be purchased online now.

 

US issues first gender-neutral passport

Posted on by Rachel Badham

The first-ever gender-neutral passport with an X marker has been issued in the US on what has been described as a “momentous day” for non-binary, intersex and gender non-conforming citizens. The passport was issued to Colorado-based intersex navy intersex veteran, Dana Zzyym, who has been fighting for a gender-neutral passport for six years with the assistance of Lambda Legal. 

Zzyym said they are “ecstatic” that their passport has been altered, adding: “I almost burst into tears when I opened the envelope, pulled out my new passport, and saw the ‘X’ stamped boldly under ‘sex’”. Lambda Legal counsel Paul D. Castillo also celebrated the news, saying: “This is a momentous day and its significance cannot be understated…We couldn’t be more delighted, both for Dana and, as important, for all intersex, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming United States’ passport applicants who will soon have access to the accurate passports they need.”

Dana Zzyym

The US first announced that it would be changing its passport policy in June so that trans and non-binary citizens would be able to change their gender markers without medical consent. In the UK, there is still no option to have an X gender marker on passports, despite a 25-year-long campaign run by non-gendered activist Christie Elan-Cane to introduce a new passport policy. Numerous other countries have a gender-neutral X option on passports, including Argentina, Canada, Iceland, India, Malta, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Uruguay, and now, the US. 

BBC condemned for anti-trans article

Posted on by Rachel Badham

The BBC has been heavily criticised by trans activists and allies for publishing an article titled “We’re being pressured into sex by some trans women”. The supposedly ‘investigative’ piece details the experience of some lesbians who say that they are “increasingly being pressured and coerced into accepting trans women as partners” and are then being “shunned” for transphobia. 

The article sparked fury among many LGBTQ+ people, with DIVA publisher Linda Riley tweeting: “In all my years publishing @DIVAmagazine…I have never heard from a lesbian who says she has been pressurised into having sex with a trans woman- @BBCNews is reinforcing myths that are simply not true – #lwiththet”. Stonewall chief executive Nancy Kelley also said that while “nobody should ever be pressured into dating, or pressured into dating people they aren’t attracted to”, those who are “writing off entire groups of people” should consider “how societal prejudices may have shaped your attractions.”

The BBC has also been the subject of criticism for publishing an ‘investigation’ into Stonewall after withdrawing from the organisation’s Diversity Champions programme – a move that left many LGBTQ+ staff members concerned. Stonewall said it makes no apology “for working towards a better world for LGBTQ+ people”, as it continues its current work to ban conversion therapy, support LGBTQ+ refugees and help LGBTQ+ people report hate crimes.

Leading HIV organisations urge government to increase funding

Posted on by Rachel Badham

35 of the UK’s leading HIV organisations have joined forces with the cast of It’s A Sin in an open statement that urges the government to increase HIV funding and achieve zero new cases by 2030. Published on the HIV Commission website, the organisations have jointly requested that chancellor Rishi Sunak boosts HIV funding, saying: “Without proper investment and an ambitious plan, we risk missing this once-in-a-generation opportunity to end the UK’s HIV epidemic.” 

The Terrance Higgins Trust also released a video to coincide with the statement, in which It’s A Sin star Olly Alexander said it is vital the government does “not miss this opportunity” to allocate more funding to ending HIV transmissions when the UK’s autumn budget is announced later today. Fellow It’s A Sin star, Callum Scott Howells, implored healthcare officials to “expand HIV texting, free at-home testing all year round and tests in hospitals and GPs.”

Rishi Sunak is due to announce the government’s autumn budget today

Earlier this year, a report by STOPAIDS, Frontline AIDS and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global LGBT+ Rights (APPG), warned that any more government cuts to HIV/AIDS funding could be “setting the stage for a resurgence of the [HIV] pandemic”. Baroness Barker, vice-chair of the APPG on HIV, added: “Britain is and can be so much better than this. I urge the government to think again. We must save lives and get the HIV response back on track.”

Texas officially bans trans kids from school sports

Posted on by Rachel Badham

Texas governor Greg Abbott has signed a bill to limit young trans people’s participation in school sports, meaning it will now become law. After being passed in a 19-12 vote in the Senate, HB 25 was approved by gov. Abbott, making Texas the 10th state to have officially barred trans kids from joining school sports teams in accordance with their gender identity, rather than their gender assigned at birth. The bill is expected to become law in January. 

The success of the bill has caused concern among LGBTQ+ activists and advocacy groups, with Ricardo Martinez – chief executive officer of Equality Texas – describing it as “cruel and grotesque”. He continued: “[The bill] puts a target on the backs of transgender children and adults, erases intersex people and sends a clear message that transgender and intersex people aren’t welcome or safe in Texas.”

Texas governor Greg Abbott

Despite increased hostility towards trans athletes, a 2021 study found that trans participation in sports poses no threat to cisgender youth, as there is no evidence to “support the claim that allowing transgender athletes to participate will reduce or harm participation in girls’ sports”. It argued that the recent anti-trans discourse relies on “scare tactics, stereotypes, and unwarranted claims that transgender women have a physiological advantage over cisgender women”, meaning there is no scientific reason for banning trans inclusion in school sports. 

Comedian Dave Chappelle responds to transphobia accusations

Posted on by Rachel Badham

Following the launch of his Netflix special, The Closer, US comedian Dave Chappelle has addressed accusations of transphobia for the first time, saying that while he is willing to address his comments on gender with members of the trans community, he is “not bending to anybody’s demands”. The controversy first began after Chappelle said “gender is a fact”, and that he is on “team TERF” with JK Rowling during his new special. 

In a recent Instagram video, the comedian criticised ‘cancel culture’, saying: “You said you want a safe working environment at Netflix. Well, it seems like I’m the only one that can’t go to the office anymore.” He added: “To the transgender community, I am more than willing to give you an audience. But you will not summon me. I am not bending to anybody’s demands.”

The launch of Chappelle’s Netflix special led to employee walkouts, with organiser and activist Ashlee Marie Preston saying that the streaming giant needs to establish policies to “protect employees and consumers” against “harmful content.” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has also responded to criticism for airing Chappelle’s special, telling Variety magazine that he “should have led with a lot more humanity”. 

However, he suggested that The Closer will remain available to watch on Netflix, and said he does not categorise Chappelle’s comments as hate speech, despite many LGBTQ+ activists and Netflix employees disagreeing with this.

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