Understand the LGBTQIA+ news: Helen Joyce, Nick Offerman and Biological Essentialism

I love reading your comments, emails and responses. I reply to everyone - though it sometimes takes me a few days.

They ground QueerAF in the experiences our broad intersectional community. It means we're always growing, learning and developing our approach - with you in mind.

Indeed, one of our founding values was that our community of readers and QueerAF members are our most valuable editors, not gatekeepers.

So when we announced our first ever launchpad initiative, designed to share our secrets and enable queer creatives to create their own social enterprises using our values - this was a crucial part of the plan.

This weekend we're launching a survey to capture what kinds of stories and storytellers you'd like us to focus on as we invest in 20 Trans+ Creatives for the first ever Trans+ History Week.

Trans+ History Week is a reflective period to learn and celebrate the momentous and millennia-old history of transgender, non-binary, gender-diverse and intersex people. It will begin on 6th May 2024 - the 91st anniversary of the Nazi raid on the world’s first trans clinic.

The guiding principles for the stories we'll tell are:

1. Our joyful stories are just as important as our traumatic ones.
2. All stories have a learning we can apply in our present.
3. Our intersectional community guides commissioning through tools and forums.

And so we invite you to take part, have your say - and help us tell Trans+ history stories.

Understand the LGBTQIA+ headlines and keep track of the latest queer content and perspectives.

QueerAF is written by Jamie Wareham, and another queer creative each week.

💬 This week:

• Helen Joyce. If an LGBTQIA+ person was caught reading erotic fan fiction about teenage characters tagged as a story about "minors" on a train, the media response would have been very different. We explore the Sex Matters allegations.
• Nick Offerman. Analysis from Anthony Crocker in the latest QueerAF member contribution celebrates the actor's now-viral speech - with one crucial counterpoint.
• Biological Essentialism. Mizy Judah Clifton explores why the endless search for the origins of transness does more harm than good in the Queer Gaze.

Skip the doomscrolling and support queer creatives instead. We are QueerAF – and so are you.

Sex Matters director Helen Joyce admits to reading erotic 'fanfic' for "research" after being spotted reading 'minor' tagged NSFW content on a train

TL;DR: A viral social media thread captured images of Sex Matters director and staunch anti-trans lobbyist Helen Joyce reading erotic fan fiction about teenage Harry Potter characters on a train. The organisation admitted Joyce was on the train and reads fan-fiction, claiming it was for research purposes.