Author: Cheryl

Coronavirus – Day #106

~ Cheryl

What have I done today? Hmmm…

I did a bunch of trans stuff on social media.

I answered a lot of emails, mainly Diversty Trust work. It is good to see that ramping up again.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how to do online training effectively. My thanks to a bunch of academic friends on Twitter for sharing the learning that is being sent their way.

I finished writing a thing for next year’s LGBTHM, which involved reading a PhD thesis about “sex changes” in 1930s Britain.

I gave a talk on trans history to a trans youth group.

And I finished the June issue of Salon Futura.

There were a few more things as well, but that will do, I think.

Meanwhile in the so-called real world, the Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, suggested on Radio 4 that cis women need to be protected from the likes of me. Apparently he has also challenged Bozo to 50 press-ups at the next Prime Minister’s Question Time. I think I can join every other woman in Britain in echoing Nicola Sturgeon’s, “Oh for goodness sake…”. There is not enough facepalm in the world. Who let men be in charge of anything?

Coronavirus – Day #105

~ Cheryl

The most significant event of today is that I have discovered that Duolingo has finally added a Finnish pack to their list of languages. I am so there. I doubt that I will ever be able to speak Finnish well because I will have trouble pronouncing the various vowel sounds correctly, but at least I should be able to learn to read it, and to understand something of what people are saying.

I have a huge collection of back issues of Thätivaeltaja to practice my reading on.

One of the Sunday papers apparently featured a picture of Bozo doing press-ups to prove how fit he is. He was wearing a suit (minus jacket) and tie. And of course it was a still picture so there’s no proof he actually did any. Goodness only knows how patriotic British people manage to avoid dying of embarassment. Queen Victoria is doubtless spinning in her grave. How on Earth is anyone supposed to write satire about this nonsense?

Locus Award Winners

~ Cheryl

Once again things have happened in America while I was asleep. You can find the full lists of finalists and winners here. I want to talk briefly about the winners.

Charlie Jane won two and Yoon Ha Lee one. That’s three of 17 awards going to people who are out as trans, one of them to a Korean-American. Seanan has always been a great ally and has written some great trans characters. Marlon is an ally too and has a strong interest in the history of gender diversity, not to mention being Jamaican and gay. Gideon the Ninth and This Is How You Lose the Time War are both books about lesbian couples. Not bad for starters. Who else have we got?

Ellen and John are both good friends. Ellen is Jewish, while John is Mexican-American and well known for his work promoting Latinx authors and artists. Ted is Asian-American. Nisi is African-American and gets that extra award for Writing the Other which is a project all about improving minority representation. Tempest gets a share in that one.

I don’t know much about the winners in the non-fiction and art catagories. Tor won both the corporate categories and is, of course, a corporation, not a person. But it is a corporation that has been very supportive of diversity.

And these are popular vote awards.

Don’t let anyone tell you that science fiction is a genre that is only by and for straight cis white men.

Coronavirus – Day #104

~ Cheryl

Today has mostly been spent working on the new issue of Salon Futura. It will probably go up on Monday.

In the outside world I woke up to the news that a particularly nasty transphobe has been permanently banned from Twitter. People have been calling for this for months, if not years. What he finally did wrong was go after the Women’s Institute, who had made a trans-supportive tweet.

Twitter bans tend to happen in two ways. Firstly they may be the result of mass reporting. That’s the way that people from minority groups tend to get banned. It doesn’t matter what was actually tweeted, if enough people complain at once a ban is automatic. The other mechanism is when someone important complains. The WI have a lot of members, and they are very respectable so Twitter listens to them.

Anyway, Twitter bans for right-wing trolls are bit like deaths in superhero comics. I’m sure he’ll be back in a few months, once he’s found the right person to whisper in Jack Dorsey’s ear.

Coronavirus – Day #103

~ Cheryl

Today I have mostly been working on stuff for next year’s LGBT History Month. You’ll learn more about that in due course. Also I had a 3:00pm Zoom meeting, which meant no siesta. I am very tired so I will keep this short.

Today the weekly rolling average of deaths in the UK ticked upwards again. Only slightly, but that’s two days on the trot.

Coronavirus – Day #102

~ Cheryl

It has been rather warm in the UK over the past few days, and having no air conditioning I have resorted to siesta. I’ve been working in the morning and evening, and sleeping in the afternoon. It seems to work.

The inevitable result of the combination of good weather and people being furloughed is that huge numbers of people are heading to the beaches. That seems unlikely to help with virus containment, but Bozo lost all moral authority on that subject when he refused to sack Cummings. And in any case he doesn’t care. As usual he will assume that if people die that will prove that they were unfit to live.

The 7-day rolling average of UK deaths ticked up again today. And we are back over 1000 new cases per day.

Coronavirus – Day #101

~ Cheryl

Odd as it may seem, I spent part of today doing convention planning. While most of the forthcoming events have had their face-to-face component cancelled, several are continuing online and I need to work out how best to represent Wizard’s Tower at them. There will be announcements in due course.

For some time now I have been tracking the state of the C-19 pandemic in the UK via the official government data portal. I’ve been a little suspicious of it, but not greatly so. Yesterday, however, I saw people citing this site which claims a death toll from yesterday of 280, as compared to 171 on the government site. As the total number of deaths are the same on both sites, I presume this is another case of the government sneakily allocating some of the new cases to previous days so that the “today” figure doesn’t look so bad.

Today, however, people were sharing a leaked report from Public Health England which claims that the actual numbers are much higher. In particular for June 18th, when the government claims there were only 1346 new cases of infection, the actual number was 7000. That’s terrifying, especially with Lockdown restrictions being lifted.

The trouble is that this government lies so often, and so transparently, that no one believes anything they say any more.

Thankfully I have no need to go anywhere except to Tesco once a week.

Coronavirus – Day #100

~ Cheryl

Wow. 100 days of not seeing any of my friends in person, and not leaving the small town where I live. I’d like to say something profound, but really it hasn’t been that hard. I’ve been constantly in touch with friends around the world by email, social media and Zoom meetings. I’ve continued to have work. I have probably gained weight and saved money. I’m upset not to have got to Sweden, Canada and Finland as planned, and not to be going to Croatia, but right now it seems that international travel will come back eventually so I’m OK about it.

As I have said elsewhere, I am far more afraid of the government than of the virus.

I have got to the end of She-Ra, season 5. If Noelle Stevenson doesn’t get a Hugo for that there is no justice in the world.

Coronavirus – Day #98

~ Cheryl ~ 2 Comments

I appear to have spent much of today watching TV. There was housework as well, and an online meeting, but lots of TV. Or, to be precise, Netflix.

So, yes, I have watched Disclosure. It is rather painful to be reminded of the many awful ways in which trans people have been portrayed in film and TV, but it is also quite powerful to be reminded of what the media has done to us. Because something that has been done can be undone.

After which, I needed a reward, so I binged the rest of season 4 of She-Ra. Tomorrow, season 5.

Wait, no, tomorrow back to work, what am I saying…

She-Ra.

In the outside world, the 7-day rolling average of deaths in the UK ticked upwards again. Its only one day. We’ll be fine. I hope.

Coronavirus – Day #97

~ Cheryl

Today was the first day I can remember since Lockdown started that I didn’t have urgent things to do. Obviously I have a huge backlog of things I should do, but nothing urgent. I am so very tired.

Fortunately New Zealand is out of Lockdown by now so there is live rugby on TV. Also I read about half of a novel. And I have started watching Avatar: The Last Airbender. Yes, I know, I’m very late to that. But it is now on Netflix so I can watch it and I’m doing so.

I haven’t seen anything much about the outside world today, but I assume that the government will have been lying about something.

Coronavirus – Day #96

~ Cheryl

Today’s big excitement was taking my car in for an MOT. I’m delighted to report that she passed with flying colours yet again. Not bad for a car that cost me precisely £0.

Also today I was phoned out of the blue by my hair salon. They are opening in July and wanted to let regulars book up. Obviously I can survive longer without a haircut, but I’ll be very pleased to get one if it is still safe to do so by then.

Taking of which, the infection and death rates in the UK continue to fall very slowly.

Elsehere our Foreign Secretary has demonstrated conclusively that he has no idea what is going on in the USA at the moment. I mean, it is only a country that we are supposed to be negotiating a major trade agreement with. Fortunately there is good news. He is well up on events in Westeros. Perhaps we’ll be able to tuck into some juicy White Walker steaks alongside our chlorinated chicken and Vegemite. It will make a change from having to eat each other, which is looking increasingly plausible as each day goes by.

Clarke Award Shortlist

~ Cheryl

The Shortlist for this year’s Arthur C Clarke Award was announced today. Here they are, with links to my reviews where they exist:

Of the three I have read, I’d pick The Light Brigade as the clear winner. But Clarke juries are notoriously unpredictable. In any case, I have some reading to do.

Raising Money For SARSAS

~ Cheryl

Due to the ongoing health crisis, lots of charities are reaching out for addiitonal support. One campaign that has just been brought to my attention is for SARSAS, the local rape crisis centre for Bristol and surrounding regions (the acronym is Somerset & Avon, but of course Avon no longer exists as a county).

SARSAS is looking to raise £15,000 through the Aviva Community Fund. As to what the money will be used for, they tell me:

  • There are currently 360 women and girls on their waiting list for support
  • On average they are receiving 90 new referrals each month — that’s 3 referrals every day
  • In some areas the estimated waiting time is nearly four years…

Much of the problem is that government doesn’t care about women’s issues, and local councils are being squeezed for cash so that they can’t help even if they want to. Another major problem is that it is now so hard to obtain a prosecution for rape in this country that the Crown Prosecution Service is starting to decline to progress cases because it would be a waste of money. Sexual predators know that they can get away with their crimes, and that emboldens them.

SARSAS are great folks. I have done training for them on several occasions. As a member of the Women’s Equality Party I am, of course, dedicated to ending violence against women and girls. And as I woman I am only too aware of the need. Please help if you can.

Coronavirus – Day #95

~ Cheryl

I made my weekly run to Tesco today. I was pleased to see that they are finally selling facemasks, though it is still the case that the vast majority of shoppers are not wearing one. The staff aren’t either, but I’m assuming that they have all been tested and are COVID-19 free which makes it less of an issue.

Talking of the virus, I’ve seen a few people posting in the last few days that they have had serious relapses. One was the TV historian, Dr. Janina Ramirez. I’ve been coughing quite a bit over the past week, which is annoying because I thought I was over that. Maybe it is something to do with the weather. Or perhaps it is just a case that if you get too tired the virus comes roaring back.

In Parliament today the Minister for Men and Inequality, Liz Truss, was required to take questions. Because none of the other political parties are prepared to stand up for trans rights, she got few questions on her plans for equality law reform. Those she did get, she bumbled past saying nothing of substance.

On the one hand that is good news. She could have said a bunch of awful things. It is also possible that yesterday’s letter-writing campaign had some effect. As of close of business today over 25,000 people had sent letters to Bozo via the Gendered Intelligence gateway that I wrote about yesterday. More people have written directly, or written to their MPs. Apparently some MPs experienced website crashes and overflowing mailboxes today.

I don’t expect that this will have any effect on the government’s plans. Truss did not come up with this idea by herself. Dominic Cummings will be patiently explaining to panicked Cabinet members that the whole point of leaking the plans ahead of time was to allow the public outrage to run its course so that by the time the plans are officially announced people will be tired of the subject and only those directly affected will complain. We will need to prove him wrong.

In the meantime there has been a public statement of support for the trans community from Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. Not from Kier Starmer, of course. He is sticking to his policy of not getting involved least JK Rowling stop donating to his party, but at least we have got Labour a little bit rattled.

And yes, as you may have noticed, billionaires are a very bad thing all round, regardess of which political party they support.

Today On Ujima – The Last Show

~ Cheryl

Today was my last show on Ujima. I have really enjoyed doing it, but right now my life has other priorities. I need to devote as much of my time as possible to fighting the government’s plans to strip civil rights away from trans people. And of course to being ready to leave the country should it become impossible to live here any more. The radio show is great fun, but takes up a huge amount of time.

On the other hand, I think I had a decent last show. I had one interview, with Rebecca Manson Jones of the Women’s Equality Party. She’s their spokesperson on health issues, and we talked mainly about the care industry, which has become vital in this time of a global pandemic, but which is still grossly undervalued.

Something went a bit weird with the scheduling today. The first segment of my show cut out after around 7 minutes. The rest of the first hour was then off schedule. The scheduling system stuck in some music on automatic at the end of the hour, and from then on we ran as normal. I have no idea what happened. But at least we didn’t lose any of the interview.

Anyway, you can listen to the show here.

And if you’d like to join the Women’s Equality Party you can do so here. I note that WE are the only political party in the UK to have a Black person as party leader.

The full playlist for today, including a couple of songs that got lost, was:

  • Trombone Shorty – Dirty Water
  • ChiLites – Power to the People
  • Chic – Rebels We Are
  • Alicia Keys – Superwoman
  • Earth, Wind & Fire – Side by Side
  • Aretha Franklin – Respect
  • Sade – Please Send Me Someone to Love
  • Fontella Bass – Rescue Me
  • Dreadzone – Earth Angel
  • Amanda Lear – I Am What I Am
  • Saara Aalto – Dance Like Nobody’s Watching
  • Shawnee – Warrior Heart
  • Tegan & Sara – Faint of Heart
  • Jackie Shane – Any Other Way
  • Janelle Monae – What an Experience
  • Tracy Chapman – Across the Lines
  • Prince – Purple Rain

Coronavirus – Day #94

~ Cheryl

I did a webinar. I’m told it has been recorded and will be online soon. I will let you know when it is. My thanks to everyone at Benefex, and to Trish Driver, for a fun time.

I’ve also done some politics, which is badly needed right now.

I keep watching the virus data, and the numbers for the UK keep dropping ever so slowly. Given the mess we are in, I take this as very good news. We could easily be in the middle of another big spike right now.

Dear Prime Minister

~ Cheryl

There is a thing going around social media today to the effect that Downing Street will be making a decision tomorrow as to whether to back Liz Truss’s plans to roll back trans rights. Consequently we are all being urged to write to the PM. Personally I suspect that Bozo has already had his mind made up for him by Cummings, but you never know. Recently we have seen:

1a. A climb down over whether overseas staff in the NHS should be charged a £400 fee for using the service should they get sick.

1b. Except we learned today that the government lied and the fee is still being charged.

2a. Another climb down today over providing school meals to poor kids over the summer holiday, something that Bozo flatly refused to do until get got yelled at in Parliament over it.

2b. And I’m betting that come summer we will find out that this was a lie too.

So it is possible that we might squeeze some weasel words out of Bozo about bowing to public opinion, but come mid July when the proposals are published they will be exactly as outlined in the Sunday Times (if not worse).

Anyway, if you are a UK citizen and feel like writing a letter, Gendered Intelligence have provided a nice little template for you to use.

Here’s what I wrote.

I’m writing to you today as a UK citizen deeply concerned about proposed rollbacks to safeguards for trans dignity and safety in this country. On 14th June, The Sunday Times had as its front page an article on how the much-needed reforms to the Gender Recognition Act were being shelved. In the same article, plans were revealed that would restrict the access of trans people to single-sex spaces, and educe their access to medical treatment.

When your predecessor first proposed reforming the Gender Recognition Act we were told by the media that this would grant trans people worrying new rights that would put women in danger. The trans community patiently explained that the issues raised were covered by the Equality Act and not the GRA, so the supposed new rights were actually existing rights that had been in operation for 10 years without causing any problems.

Your government has now decided to scrap the reforms, despite an overwhelming majorty of people who expressed an opinion supporting them. But in addition to that you are apparently intending to remove rights from trans people on the grounds that they are a danger to women. How can that be, given that we were told that these dangerous new rights would only be granted if the GRA was reformed? And if these rights do exist, why are they being taken away given that they have been in place for 10 years without causing any problems?

As an active member of the Women’s Equality Party I am very much concerned with women’s safety. I know that between 2 and 3 women are killed every week by men that they know. I know that rape convictions are so hard to obtain in this country that the Crown Prosecution Service is now reluctant to bring cases. These are real and urgent issues facing the women of Britain. And yet your Women & Equalities Minister is instead wasting her time taking away rights from people who, as far as I can see, have done no one any harm. This is surely an inefficient use of government resources.

Please do something to protect women that will actual have a positive effect on our lives, and stop wasting time and effort on this ridiculous persecution of a tiny minority of the population.

Coronavirus – Day #93

~ Cheryl

Today has mostly been spent putting together this week’s radio show. I have a great interview with Rebecca Manson Jones, the Health Spokesperson for the Women’s Equality Party, that I’m eager to share with you. We talked about the care industry, how it is now more vital than ever to the economy, and how government still doesn’t value it, or the people who work in it.

In the news the anti-trans lobby is busily reconfiguring its arguments to explain how rights, that only last week they were still insisting trans people didn’t have, are now an urgent and present danger that must be removed.

But there is good news. The US Supreme Court (SCOTUS to its friends) has ruled that discrimination in employment against LGBT+ people is against the law. That in itself is remarkable. Everyone I know was expecting us to lose that fight. But the way in which the judgement was framed is truly astonishing.

It has long been an argument of the anti-trans lobby that the existence of trans people infringes on the sex-based rights of cisgender women. That is, they claim that there are only two sexes: male and female, and that allowing people to cross from one to the other, or exist outside them, is a direct danger to cisgender women and an infringement of their civil rights.

The SCOTUS judgement, in contrast, accepts that sex/gender is a social construct, and that people may express sex/gender in a variety of ways. (It doesn’t actual use the word “gender”, probably because the more conservative judges would have had a heart attack if forced to utter it, but the word is clearly meant by what they say.) The judgement argues that discrimination against LGBT+ folks happens because we fail to perform sex/gender in narrowly defined ways, but that Title VII, the US law which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex, must protect all forms of sex/gender, not just cis straight male and cis straight female.

And this judgement was carried 6-3, despite the *Unpresident stacking the court with his personal appointees.

I am gobsmacked and delighted. Now I am going to bed, and hoping that I don’t wake up and find it was all a dream.

Please Help Mindline Trans+

~ Cheryl

The last week has been particularly awful for trans people in the UK. I know a lot of people are very frightened and upset. Fortunately the lovely folks at Mindline Trans+, the helpline for trans and non-binary people run by the mental health charity, Mind, is looking to expand. They have a fundraiser going through the Aviva Community Fund and are hoping to hit £10,000 in donations by July 15th. The money will be used to expand their service from 2 nights a week to 3.

I should declare an interest here. The service started in Bristol and I did the initial training for staff from Bristol and Taunton. Also I see that the fundraiser is using a TV interview that Liz Sorapure of Mind and I did for Made in Bristol TV when the service first started up. But I very much believe that this is one of the best projects I have been involved in. And it is never more needed than it is now. Please help.