Posted on Mon 21 April 2025 in Trans • Tagged with women, gender, Oxford, Classics
I am just getting ready for tomorrow's round-table event at Oxford, discussing women's experience of Classics and of Oxford specifically, as part of their Athena/Swan process. Thanks to the organiser, Emma Greensmith, for inviting me, especially in this atmosphere of whipped-up hostility to trans women, now of course further …
Continue readingPosted on Fri 18 April 2025 in Trans • Tagged with trans, history, classics, religion
Since the UK Supreme Court have seen fit to rewrite the Equality Act in this Easter week (at least in the Western Christian calendar), it seems fitting to think about the crucifixion of trans people. Before the far-right who have never entered a church, still less opened a Bible, yell …
Continue readingPosted on Wed 13 November 2024 in trans • Tagged with trans, politics, rights, healthcare
The arrival, today, of my updated birth certificate prompts many thoughts. Where should I stash the second copy in case we have to make a run for it? Why is my dad's profession on my birth certificate? How miraculous is it that the …
Continue readingPosted on Sat 30 March 2024 in trans • Tagged with trans, healthcare, politics
Today I went to the annual Scottish Trans Pride march, which this year took place in Kilmarnock. After the march, there were the usual stalls, but in a new departure, there were workshops, including a panel discussion with political and NGO figures. The …
Continue readingPosted on Sat 19 November 2022 in misc
As someone who works on ancient comedy and satire, it's obviously exciting for me to see that the nature and effect of comedy on social and political topics has become a matter of public debate. From online TV specials by Ricky Gervais and other transphobic men, to Jerry Sadowitz waving …
Continue readingPosted on Wed 25 May 2022 in comedy • Tagged with tans, comedy, classics
Another week, another culture war/comedy crossover. This time it is the arrival of a hotly, er, anticipated return to the screen of one Ricky Gervais, in what has been billed in some quarters as Netflix's most transphobic show yet. Still, I'm not just interested in this phenomenon as a …
Continue readingPosted on Thu 14 April 2022 in trans • Tagged with trans, comedy, tragedy, history
Timing has never been my strong point, and so now that LGBT History Month has gone by, it is the obvious time to write a post about trans history. There are two main reasons for me doing so now. First, a couple of pieces of mine have recently emerged, one …
Continue readingPosted on Tue 21 December 2021 in comedy • Tagged with comedy
Once again the death of comedy has been announced. On this occasion, one-time national treasure Maureen Lipman, still most famous for a British Telecom advert, has asserted (apparently without any examples) that punishment for saying socially unacceptable things was in danger of ending careers and indeed comedy itself more generally …
Continue readingPosted on Sat 09 October 2021 in trans • Tagged with transphobia, terfs
No-one likes being labelled, especially when one feels it to be pejorative or unkindly meant, or demeans you as part of a category of people. As a trans woman, I understand this. Nor is name-calling much help if you are minded to have a reasoned debate, if there is a …
Continue readingPosted on Wed 30 June 2021 in trans • Tagged with trans Classics
An allegation of corrupting the young, particularly when it involves experts or educators, is an old favourite of the reactionary or the fearful. It can be exploited by unscrupulous politicians to create or inflate a moral panic, sometimes with devastating consequences. If I were spiritually minded, I might even suggest …
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