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Vaneet speaks about #BisexualMenExist and why bi visibility is so important
CW: asylum, mental health.Today is Bi Visibility Day and we've asked Vaneet Mehta, a bi activist, to tell us what it means to him. This year, Vaneet's hashtag #BisexualMenExist trended worldwide and helped countless people see themselves reflected in society. Today is Bi Visibility Day, a day that has been celebrated since 1999. This is a day to recognise bisexual history, celebrate the bisexual community, and talk about the issues and experiences that bisexual people face. While bisexual…
Everyone should feel welcome in sport – and that includes trans people
Sport has the power to change lives.From kicking a ball around in the park at the weekend to elite competition, sport at all levels helps people come together, work as a team, push themselves, and achieve amazing things. Lesbian, gay, bi and trans people should all have the opportunity to be part of sport, and we surely have a lot to offer to the sporting community.Right now, many LGBT people feel unwelcome in sport, often from an early age, with bullying and harassment driving some people away…
It’s #ButchAppreciationDay, and this is what butch means to me
What is butch? Traditionally, in lesbian culture, the word ‘butch’ refers to a woman whose gender expression and traits present as typically ‘masculine’. Being butch is about playing with and challenging traditional binary male and female gender roles and expressions. The contemporary Western idea of butch gained a formal identity in 1940/50s American underground lesbian bars, where the butch/femme dynamic both mirrored and subverted the expected gender norms of mainstream…
New report tells us how the public actually feel about trans people
Today, the Equality and Human Rights Commission published a new report on public attitudes to trans people – drawing on data from the British Social Attitudes Survey.At the moment, trans people’s lives are an almost constant part of our media narrative. But while the media can help reflect societal views and trends, it doesn’t give us a true impression of how people are thinking and feeling about things in real time. That’s why this data is so important.So, what does it tell us?Well, this data…
The fight for marriage equality is not over
As Northern Ireland celebrated its first same-sex marriages in January this year, we rejoiced in having made marriage equality a reality throughout the UK.But, that’s not quite the case. In the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas territory, same-sex marriage is still banned, as it is for many British Overseas Territories. And in many there is no legal recognition of same-sex partnerships at all.Last week (27th July 2020), we were concerned to hear that the Cayman Islands’ legislature failed to…
Groundbreaking research on lesbian, bi and trans exclusion across 21 countries - Out of the Margins
Today, Stonewall launches a report from the Out of the Margins network. Between February and September 2019, the network documented the profound exclusion facing lesbians, bi women and trans (LBT+) people, showing the hardship, discrimination and violence experienced by their communities across the globe.The network built through the Out of the Margins project spans 21 countries. Using the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a template, they produced research…
The journey to becoming an LGBT inclusive school
I teach in a large secondary academy in Derbyshire. As a safeguarding lead, I receive a high volume of concerns from staff and parents about our students. This can involve anything from feeling low to experiencing family issues, mental ill health and self-harm. To make sure I can do the best for my students, I’m always looking for opportunities to improve my understanding of our young people and how I can improve their life chances.This is what led me to attend Stonewall’s ‘Creating a…
Today, all of us at Stonewall are celebrating RSE Day. If you haven’t heard of it before, that’s OK! RSE Day was created two years ago by Nottingham City Council and now, with the support of the Sex Education Forum, it seeks to improve the quality of relationships and sex education provided for children and young people by highlighting best practice in this area.RSE is a subject very close to our hearts here. We were founded back in 1989 to oppose Section 28 – the devastating law that…
The data is clear: most people are supportive of trans rights
We see a lot of misinformation and ‘debate’ about trans people. But actually when it comes to the data, it is clear. The majority of people, and specifically women, support trans rights.As Stonewall’s new Chief Executive, and one with a penchant for data, I want to show you how the numbers – which show that most people, particularly women, are supportive of trans people - do not add up to the narrative we see in the…
LGBT people of faith share their experience of lockdown
The last few weeks have seen people of faith mark significant annual festivals.The last few weeks have seen people of faith mark significant annual festivals. Pesach, Lent and Easter, Ramadan and Eid, and Beltane to name just a few. These are usually times for people to join together, to share food and worship, and to feel connected as a community. But this year, celebrations have had to change due to lockdown and restrictions on public meetings or visiting family.As a member of Stonewall’s…