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Author: Jenny List

An Open Letter To Matt Lucas

An Open Letter To Matt Lucas

Posted by | Mar 26, 2019 | |

Dear Matt, We are sure we are joining many trans men and women in appreciating the gesture you recently made when you supported the #GWithTheT campaign and stood in solidarity with the transgender community. We are facing an unprecedented level of abuse at the moment, and it means a huge amount to us when our allies stand alongside us. However while in the case of many other celebrities we would be over the moon at this news, in your case we’re afraid it’s an endorsement that comes with some baggage. Because when it comes to abuse of trans women,...

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We Need To Chat About That Important Thing, Too

We Need To Chat About That Important Thing, Too

Posted by | Jan 23, 2018 | |

A couple of months ago some stories made the news in my everyday world, they involved well-known figures on the computer/hardware/software/hacker scene being exposed as serial harassers. It’s a community that has had its fair share of issues in that direction and even scandals, so this was a big enough story for my editor in my day job to let me write a piece about it. We Need To Have A Chat About Something Important for Hackaday.com used the iconic cereal packet whistle of legendary phreaker John “Captain Crunch” Draper as a device to ease into the tricky topic, before...

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Misgendering And The Real Woman

Misgendering And The Real Woman

Posted by | Jan 11, 2018 | |

It is a sad fact of life for transgender people of all varieties, that sometimes we will be misgendered. Often instinctively even by people who are trying to get it right, but sometimes by unpleasant people doing so with malice. We can all tell which camp the offenders fall into, and we know how easy it can be for those doing it innocently because if we are honest with ourselves we may admit to have done it by mistake sometimes ourselves. We politely say the correct pronoun or honorific and move on, and in nearly all cases the person...

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Whose Voices Do You Want To Do The Speaking?

Whose Voices Do You Want To Do The Speaking?

Posted by | Dec 18, 2017 | |

It’s been difficult to escape the storm of transphobic commentary from an unholy alliance of TERFs and right-wing dinosaurs over the last few months. The Government is to reform the Gender Recognition Act, and since this is anathema to the unholy alliance we have seen some very dark days indeed. A moment of light in the wilderness came from Owen Jones in the Guardian, a paper that has been problematic to trans people in the past due to its provision of an unquestioning platform for TERF hate speech, but which is slowly showing signs of mending its ways. In it, Jones...

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The Elephant In The Room When It Comes To HRT

The Elephant In The Room When It Comes To HRT

Posted by | Nov 15, 2017 | |

Of the many medical options open to someone embarking on transition, it is probably hormone therapy which delivers the most benefit. You feel *much* better, some of the undesirable characteristics of what you are trying to leave behind go away, and you gain some of the characteristics appropriate for your gender identity. It’s no panacea, but life feels much better after HRT. There are several routes to HRT depending on which medical practitioners you are seeing and which protocols they follow, but the most usual seems to be that you can access a hormone prescription after a stay on...

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