This Pride month is going to feel different. The season ahead will be rightly charged with a palpable anger, passion and vigour that requires a sense of urgency.
The UK is following the footsteps of the US, and we're not the only country where right-wing, authoritarian rhetoric is rising, and fast.
By the end of June, it's extremely likely that the EHRC Code of Practice, which recommends segregation for Trans+ people in most public places, will be in force.
The long-discussed and often trite 'is Pride still a protest?' conversation, has a clear and present answer this year - fuck yes.
As a cis disabled, not so occasionally camp, queer man. I'm under no illusion that all of this anti-trans rhetoric doesn't affect me either. Beyond the argument that, gays will be the next target, we already are. This code of practice means that access to disabled loos, already sparse for disabled people, is going to get more difficult. Then, as a queer lad who's happy in a crop top, I'm no way near 'man enough' to hit the gender sterotypes we're going to see increasingly used by the small, but vocal minority, who want to police what gender should look like.
No matter what kind of queer we are, we challenge the status quo.
As Kit Heyam told the QueerAF podcast, "what history tells us is the backlash doesn't last forever, and it's for specific reasons". And as we cover in this week's edition, perhaps one reason for that is because 'transphobia' is going through an extinction burst, where in the progression of history, it's making one final tantrum.
But if we don't learn from our history, that tantrum could last a long time, or indeed - win out.
And to fight back, we all need the bigger-picture context. Examples of when, and how we win. Alongside investigations that reveal the information, we need to fight back.
Without connecting the dots between the stories as we do in this newsletter every week, we could slip into an authoritarian Britain, that does not reflect the support, care and values we all know should be front and centre.
When I launched QueerAF, a lot of people either laughed off or called the work I planned 'admirable' with a tone of: 'Lovely, but it will never work.'
Four years later, our small but mighty publisher is modelling the change. A media company oriented around delivering for our community. One that legally locked its profits and assets into the queer community. Since launching, two of the UK's most significant legacy gay media have announced a shift in our direction, while others have moved in the opposite direction, with 'reporter-free newsrooms'.
We often hear how important independent media outlets like QueerAF are. And we're biased, but we agree. But in an age where Meta is culling queer accounts, and our rights are under attack - we need your help getting the word out about how our community can fight back.
Change the media, change the country.
If you find our journalism and investment in queer talent valuable. Imagine what more QueerAF could do for LGBTQIA+ people with a little extra capacity?
I know you probably have subscription overload - who doesn't? But QueerAF is more than a subscription - it's a movement, to help our whole community turn the tide on the attacks against us.
We're looking for 50 members to sign up this Pride month. I know that's totally doable, especially when memberships start at just £3.60 a month, and we have such an incredibly loyal audience.
So today, we're launching our membership drive.
And we get it, times are tough - that's part of the reason we're running this drive. So to make supporting us as accessible as possible, we're running a sale on our memberships.
We're looking for 50 members to sign up this Pride month. So today, we're launching our membership drive.
And we get it, times are tough - that's part of the reason we're running this drive. So to make supporting us as accessible as possible, we're running a sale on our memberships.
And as a paid member, you're already helping us so much. So this month, our ask to you is - can you persuade your friends, family or colleagues to sign up and support us?
Better yet can you gift them a month, or year's subscription to QueerAF so they can see the value?
It's never been easier to gift a membership with our new gift membership portal.
The more perks you choose, the better the discount you can grab:
- 10% off 'Supporter': Monthly / Annual
- 15% off '100% QueerAF': Monthly / Annual
- 20% off 'Editor': Monthly / Annual
We know all too well how terrible so many of the mainstream media titles have been to our community. And while they lean into anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric to chase clicks and rage-bait, some of the gay news sector has too gone against its founding intentions and divested from news.
We're modelling the change we want to see, to fill the gap in the sector - to help you understand the LGBTQIA+ news. But we're not just firefighting. If we want to sustain our movement, we need to change the media too.
That's why almost everything you read, listen to, or watch from QueerAF is developed through mentoring and training programmes, designed to give a new generation of LGBTQIA+ journalists the craft, portfolio and tools they need to build media careers.
Our not-so-secret queer militant agenda is to pack the newsroom full of us - and change the narrative at the source of some of the most pernicious transphobic sources.
No news is bad news. And I don't use this word lightly: this is a crisis issue for the LGBTQIA+ community.
So this Pride month, skip the consumerism and rainbow t-shirts that benefit big corporations, take an action that will have a year-round impact.
One that will continue to fuel activists all over the UK by ensuring their leading source of news, investigations and timely explainers can do more of our award-winning work.
We are Queer As Fuck. And so are you.
So this Pride month, ask your friends how they're spending their money. Maybe suggest, instead of buying a rainbow t-shirt that benefits some big corporation, that they could take an action that will have a year-round impact.
One that will continue to fuel activists all over the UK by ensuring the leading source of news, investigations and timely explainers can do more of our award-winning work. Or better still, gift them a membership, from just £4.
We are Queer As Fuck. And so are you.
Understand the LGBTQIA+ headlines and keep track of the latest queer content and perspectives. This week's QueerAF newsletter is written by Sophie Perry.
💬 This week:
- School suspensions: We look at new Department for Education suspension data and discuss it in context of the upcoming RSHE guidance, dubbed as 'Section 28 2.0'.
- EHRC Code of Practice: The fall out of the Equality and Human Rights Commission's Code of Practice continues.
- Extinction bursts: The behavioural science concept of ‘extinction bursts’ might be useful for the Trans+ community, writes Nicola Anne Beck, in collaboration with Transcribe, for the Queer Gaze.
Skip the doomscrolling and support queer creatives instead. We are QueerAF – and so are you.
Anti-LGBTQIA+ school suspensions soar amid anti-bullying cuts – and transphobic policy may make it worse
TL;DR: A sharp rise in school suspensions over homophobic and transphobic bullying in England has been revealed by the Department for Education. The data comes as new statutory RSHE guidance that frames Trans+ lives as a debate, widely reviled as ‘Section 28 2.0’, is due to come into force.
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