Wynter began by telling us that the whole conversation was going to be held around the ideology of abolition. This basically means one is anti-prison, anti-state and pro-anarchy. Much prettier words were used obviously, but this is the bones of it. Wynter believes in the revolution and that post-revolution black-, trans- and working class people would finally be centred. Needless to say Wynter herself is white, trans – only in the sense that anyone is -, and massively massively middle class, even if she did try her best to drop her aitches. The door to Oscar Wilde’s cell at Reading Gaol was on display in the museum, supposedly a timely reminder of today’s ‘totalitarian government disguised as a liberal one’ (you know, the one who just paid us all during the pandemic to sit around doing fuck all for months on end, that government). There was also the ‘rising threat of terf ideology’ to contend with.
Category: In Conversation
Queer and Now at Tate Britain
The session was called WHAT DOES A GENDERQUEER MUSEUM LOOK LIKE? and part of a day-long festival called Queer and Now held at the Tate Britain. For the very full programme see here. You will note that themes of transness and intersex dominate and the acronym honoured is LGBTQIA+. ‘Tate members of staff wearing Vibe Checker lanyards will be on hand to help you enjoy the day,’ we are told.
The T in LGBT: Tea with Jamie Raines
Jamie Raines aka Jammidodger has over a million subscribers on YouTube. At the time of writing her latest post, uploaded three days ago, had already received 77 thousand views. It’s normal for her to get over one hundred thousand hits, or even millions of hits, for her posts.
Her current pinned post is ‘Bad Women’s Anatomy is Getting WORSE’. In it, she’s ‘natural’ and chatty on camera, including clips of herself tripping up over the phrase ‘trans inclusive’, which could easily be edited out, but clearly kept in to add to the aesthetic of her don’t care/affable persona. In the video she makes simplistic links between women’s bodies and misogyny. So this is a ‘man’ who wants to lecture her teen girl audience about how awful men are, showcasing her ability to empathise with women, which is all too understandable when she is one. This is who her audience is then, girls who are unsure about their changing bodies.
A Trans Man Walks into a Gay Bar: Book Launch
Written by ‘Harry’ Nicholas, the book is exactly what the title suggests it to be, a woman’s experience of cos-playing as gay in the world of the sauna and Grindr. As per the usual, a roll call of trans activists provide the endorsements. There’s an overwrought endorsement from fellow heterosexual trans activist Fox Fisher, damning with faint praise from Christine Burns, but Daniel Harding, author of the book Gay Man Talking, gives it a thumbs-up. Nicholas also writes for Pink News and is just 26 years old (according to her Twitter bio).
Profile of trans activist Sarah Jane Baker
Introduction Sarah Jane Baker, formerly Alan Baker, is a trans-identified male who has spent 30 years in prison for two violent offences. This is a
In conversation: Roxane Gay at WOW
Introducing Roxane Gay onto stage was one of the organisers of the Women of the World festival, who praised Gay’s great contribution to a ‘fully intersectional just world’ which would ultimately ‘help our LGBT kids’. Gay was to be interviewed by fellow race card holder Afua Hirsch, who, when she interviewed Patrisse Cullors for the WOW festival the previous year, asked precisely not one incisive question.
I have to say, unlike most of the people I have covered for this blog, Gay was naturally funny, often deflecting Hirsch’s asinine and fake observations (Hirsch: ‘Your range is actually extraordinary-‘, interrupting, Gay quipped ‘-I do have the range’). Hirsch went onto list her many projects, which included fiction writing, TV and film projects, writing the World of Wakanda for Marvel and a podcast. And, of course, her cultural criticism.
The Lies They Tell 
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