I was recently asked for a “one or two sentence quote” about what pride means to me and I have to admit it took me a while to get a hold of my feelings before I was able to put something together that didn’t resemble the first draft of a TED Talk! This Pride month […]
#SoapboxSunday: Discrimination at Gay Venues
UPDATE: The unicorn and I attended the Hay Festival earlier this month and went to see Amy Lamé in conversation with Jenny Valentine, talking about her new book From Prejudice to Pride. During the Q&A I asked Amy what she thought, as the Mayor of London’s first Night Tsar, about gay venues in London turning […]
Coming Out in High School with Section 28
On the 30th anniversary of the enactment of Section 28, I wanted to share my story about what it was like growing up and coming out while Section 28 was still being enforced in UK schools. I came out to my parents when I was 15, at a time when Section 28 was still very […]
Why I Cried When I Saw Wonder Woman on the Big Screen
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of superhero movies, but when it was announced that Wonder Woman would get her own origin film as part of the DC Justice League franchise, it was more than just another instalment in the timeline… Wonder Woman has been a symbol of feminism since she landed on comic […]
Celebrating the LGBT Community – 50 Years Since the Decriminalisation of Homosexuality in the UK
February is LGBT History Month and this year is a particularly poignant one as it marks 50 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK. Homosexuality, or more specifically in this instance, sex between two men in private, was decriminalised on 27th July 1967. This may seem a very liberal thing to have happened […]
Throwback Thursday – The Question Mark (January, 2001)
Today’s creative writing Throwback Thursday is a cute little poem that I penned back in 2001 at the grand ol’ age of 12! A couple weekends ago The Unicorn and I were back at my parents and my dad asked me to go through some old boxes that he’d hauled down from the loft. I […]
Throwback Thursday: “Why I Want a Girlfriend” (2004)
At the tender age of 16, without even realising it, I was given my first taste of powerful feminist satire. Judy Syfers’ article (now Judy Brady) ‘Why I Want a Wife’ appeared in the first issue of Ms. Magazine launched in the summer of 1972. The essay is perhaps one of the best-remembered pieces from the […]
PAPYRUS with PRIDE 2016
Last month was Birmingham Pride 2016 and for the second year in a row, The Unicorn and I walked in the parade with Papyrus to raise awareness of suicide in the gay community. When I first began volunteering with Papyrus through their Young People’s Champion’s forum (YPCF) I knew right away that I wanted to […]
Throwback Thursday: What Happened? (2007)
Going back to the old skool again today for Throwback Thursday. Here’s a piece of poetry from my late teenage angst years, circa 2006/7. I’m pretty sure I wrote this when I was a Learning Support Assistant at my old high school. I was going through a break-up (the first of many with this particular […]
The Day of the Dead Festival – Mexico City
When I was in my second year of uni I was given a book for my birthday called ‘Make The Most Of Your Time On Earth – A Rough Guide To The World‘. It was a travel book unlike any other that I’d read — instead of just showing you popular destinations to visit, it […]