Every Saturday we send you a summary of the week's top LGBTQIA+ news, queer content you don't want to miss and a beyond the binary spotlight on the voices that deserve to be heard.
💬 In this week's issue:
- Gay cake. Why it matters that a business can refuse to put a gay cartoon couple on one.
- Four lives. A devastating drama that serves as a reminder of the failures of the Met police with Stephen Port.
- Trans Joy. The series you need to skip the algorithms and jump 'straight' to.
Skip the doom scrolling. Live your best queer life, on your own terms.
We are QueerAF – and so are you.
🎆 A queer new year, here's everything you missed
Happy (queer) new year. With the festive period drawing to a close, and everyone starting to kick back into gear - we wanted to bring to you what ended up being a bust couple of weeks of queer news. Here is everything you missed.
🏳️⚧️ In the build-up to the holiday, the Womans and Equality committee told the Government must ‘move closer’ to gender self-identification for trans people. Boris Johnson's administration now has just a few weeks left to respond. - The Independent
🎄 Christmas day, Tom Daley delivered the alternative Queen's speech on Channel 4. He used the spot to criticise awarding of the football World Cup to Qatar and the F1 Grand Prix to Saudi Arabia because, queer rights. There was also a healthy dose of knitwear of course... - Channel 4
🎁 Boxing day, Alex Woolhouse became the first trans woman to host a scheduled daytime show on BBC Radio 1. It follows QueerAF podcast alumni Jacob Edward going on to become the first non-binary presenter in a previous holiday season takeover at the station.
🙁 Just before the year ended, on the 29th of December, we lost an icon. April Ashley, the British model and transgender pioneer, died at age 86. She modelled for Vogue, danced with Elvis and became one of the first British women to undergo gender confirmation surgery. May she long RIP - Obituary, Washington Post
🧙🏾 New Years Day, JK was all over the headlines because of the Harry Potter reunion not including her. But let's not dwell on her. Let's take solace in how it sits as part of a wider trend, that will only grow as we head into a new year. Young people embrace and understand the diversity of gender. And corporations are listening. It's why BuzzFeed now has an editorial note on all Harry Potter content saying it doesn't condone hate. It's why Warner Bros and Sky made the decision to distance themselves from transphobia. It might drive clicks for some papers now, but transphobia doesn't sell. Here's to trans joy in 2022.
🏳️🌈 What's coming in 2022? QueerAF's newsletter, and work as a community interest company are launching to the public. So a big thanks to new founding members Char Bailey (Education & Inclusion officer, UK Black Pride) and Tom Guy (National Student Pride founder) who signed up over the holidays!
My fingers can't tap fast enough to get us there, and I'm so excited to bring our work to loads more voices. We'll tell you the launch date real soon, and then?
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