You couldn’t make it up.
This week we welcome a tonne of new subscribers from our launchpad project, Trans+ History Week – and JK Rowling picks now as the moment to bring the world's attention to the history behind the initiative.
She questioned the undeniable history of transgender people's persecution by the Nazis, who burned books at the world's first gender and sexuality institute. More details below.
This is the inaugural year of Trans+ History Week. The Trans+ led initiative will begin on May 06 2024 - the 91st anniversary of the Nazi raid on the world’s first trans clinic. It's the week they tried to erase us. It's the week we will remember.
Marty Davies, founder of the initiative, learned about the history they were denied in school, in part because of Section 28, and wrote an article about it for us. It quickly became a tool for people to use to shut down the idea that being trans is a 'modern' invention. This week, the whole world joined us to set out to record, capture and further amplify that history, reminding us:
History is a tool for our liberation.
What really struck me about the latest Rowling story was how clear it made the power imbalance her narrative creates.
Only last month she donated £70K to the gender-critical group 'For Women Scotland', to assist them in a legal challenge in the UK’s highest court over the definition of the word “woman” - The Times
Imagine what good QueerAF could do with 70K? We could:
- Hire a full-time politics and fact-checking correspondent to put our community's stories front and centre in the upcoming general election
- Get a full-time social media and outreach creative to build an even bigger platform for our community of LGBTQIA+ creatives to launch and build their careers on
- Dedicate even more time to our work beyond this weekly newsletter: lobbying, meeting and working with media organisations to shift their approach to LGBTQIA+ representation
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:
- Puberty Blockers. The long awaited Cass review has recommended transgender children should not be prescribed puberty blockers. We explore the decision, and how cisgender children have been prescribed them safely for years.
- Nex Benedict. After initial confusion when the police said an attack on the transgender teen didn't kill them, a coroners report has said the young non-binary teen died from suicide.
- Gaymers unite. Sam Lewis explores what the big video game developers can learn from the indies about queer representation in the latest Queer Gaze in partnership with Inclusive Journalism Cymru.
Skip the doomscrolling and support queer creatives instead. We are QueerAF – and so are you.
Puberty blockers have been used safely for decades. Why is there suddenly a lack of 'evidence'?
TL;DR: The drugs, used safely for decades in children suffering with early puberty based on extensive studies and research, can no longer be prescribed to children under the age of 18 in an NHS review that argues "there isn't enough evidence." Analysis shows the drugs have been the focus of bans across the US and now the UK - but only for trans kids.
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