After three brilliant years, @beckierutherford.bsky.social's fellowship is coming to an end. A historian of health, gender, and activism in modern Britain, Beckie has edited a selection of incredible articles focused on the experiences and ideas of disabled people.

Radical Object: The Radar Key

The Radar Key is a small but crucial part of the history of disabled people demanding rights and independence in modern Britain. Kirstie Stage explores the little-known history of this radical object.

historyworkshop.org.uk

Very happy to announce that my article on sexual practices in 1980s Hungary is now out and Open Access in Sexualities journal! It will be part of a Special Issue on investigating sexual practices through the history of sex work, coming soon! journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

‘Have you ever climaxed… during business?’ Investigating Sexual Practices in Late State-Socialist Hungary through Histories of Commercial Sex - Priska Komaromi, 2026

Beginning in the late 1950s, state socialist discourses on sexuality emphasized centrality of emotional attachment for fulfilling sexual relationships and the i...

journals.sagepub.com

Reposting as this is now CBH’s 4th most read article of those published in the last year!

Lola Dickinson@loladickinson.bsky.social · 4mo ago

New article (open access!!) online now with Contemporary British History www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

My academic book, ‘JK Rowling and the Anti-Trans Panic,’ is out September 2026. It is my analysis of the moral panic from Edinburgh, the ‘city of JK Rowling,’ where I study and work at JKR’s former university as it became a hub for anti-trans organizing … ohiostatepress.org/books/titles...

J. K. Rowling and the Anti-Trans Panic

Weaves the author’s lived experience as a trans woman with pop culture and media analysis to dissect J. K. Rowling’s emergence as an anti-trans activist within the context of the UK’s anti-trans moral...

ohiostatepress.org

NHS Wales have "paused" (cancelled) all upcoming gender-affirming surgeries, and the statement released strongly implies that this was done because - unlike NHS England - they actually process patients. Reprehensible, sadistic decision making from the board.

Cwiar Cymru@cwiar.org · 2mo ago

The Welsh Gender Service has now released a statement regarding the cancellation of all surgeries: 'We have been asked to immediately pause referrals from the WGS for gender affirming surgery and existing scheduled surgeries while further independent clinical review work is carried out.'

New article (open access!!) online now with Contemporary British History www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

‘In the eyes of the law I might be a man but what do I look like?’: trans women and sex work in 1980s and 1990s England

This article considers the precarious position of trans sex workers in 1980 s and early 1990 s England by examining the ambiguities of medico-legal interpretations of their identities and labour. D...

tandfonline.com

“Pimping in the Non-Traditional Sense”: How Police Discretion and Abuse Allowed Authorities to Benefit from the Labor of Sex Workers in Late-1970s and Early-1980s Boston www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

“Pimping in the Non-Traditional Sense”: How Police Discretion and Abuse Allowed Authorities to Benefit from the Labor of Sex Workers in Late-1970s and Early-1980s Boston | Law & Social Inquiry | C...

“Pimping in the Non-Traditional Sense”: How Police Discretion and Abuse Allowed Authorities to Benefit from the Labor of Sex Workers in Late-1970s and Early-1980s Boston

cambridge.org

This is great research which brings together histories of sex work and trans histories in England. The article notes that trans women who sold sex were targeted using laws on homosexuality, furthering our understanding of the ways medical and legal models were used to construct sex.

Lola Dickinson@loladickinson.bsky.social · 4mo ago

New article (open access!!) online now with Contemporary British History www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Finally after editing & refining, my article was published online today. Many thanks to Prof Hilary Marland, @fabiolacreed.bsky.social for your invaluable help ‘Kind, Judicious Treatment’: Infanticidal Mothers, Criminal Insanity, and Institutional Care, 1895 to 1919 academic.oup.com/shm/article/...

‘Kind, Judicious Treatment’ 1: Infanticidal Mothers, Criminal Insanity, and Institutional Care, c. 1895 to c. 1919

Abstract. Between 1895 and 1919, 185 women were admitted to Broadmoor and Rampton State Criminal Lunatic Asylums for the murder or attempted murder of thei

academic.oup.com

Still in shock but so pleased to say I passed my viva this afternoon. Couldn’t have done it without @julialaite.bsky.social and her fantastic supervision. And of course, my brilliant examiners Matt Cook and Janet Weston! 🎉🎉🎉

Julia Laite@julialaite.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Congratulations to my PhD student @loladickinson.bsky.social on passing with no corrections! Her PhD, 'Sex work, public health & activism at the height of Britain's HIV/AIDS crisis' is an immensely important intervention in the history of sex work & of HIV/AIDS & is an absolute tour de force. 🎉

Just read this article (open access!) by Lola Dickinson about trans women sex workers in 80s and 90s England. 👌 scholarship all round - a really interesting source base and writing that's really engaging with the context the sources exist within www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

We've known for a while that trans exclusionary radicals (I've decided they don't deserve the F) don't speak for the majority of women; and that the majority of people see these policies as cruel, unworkable, and against human rights. So let's prove it. Sign and support: goodlawproject.org/s/d23a8a

I stand with trans people | Good Law Project

goodlawproject.org

I am so delighted and honored to be a part of this Past & Present Supplement, “Medicine, Race, and Slavery in the Transatlantic World, 1600–1850.” It was a pleasure and so enriching to work with @hsmurphy.bsky.social and the editors at @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/past...

Medicine, Race, and Slavery in the Transatlantic World, 1600–1850

As the title suggests, the provocation of this Supplement is simple: that the histories of medicine, transatlantic slavery, and race cannot, and should not

doi.org

Can't help thinking that closing schools because it's hot shifts the problem from cooling one building to cooling a thousand homes

the media and voter messaging should be this: the current government and the government in waiting do not want your children to be able to go to university, they will not support people in the UK to do original research, they do not care about job losses in one of the largest sectors in the economy

Lucy Burke@lucyburkemcr.bsky.social · 4mo ago

It’s wild that politicians don’t seem to grasp the degree to which universities contribute to the economy- local, regional, national. The failure to intervene is a stain on this govt - a shocking dereliction of duty to every worker, every local business, every student, every area that is suffering

Delighted to share my collab with @loladickinson.bsky.social on sex work and AIDs activism in the 80s. Working with oral histories from sex worker activists like Ruth Morgan Thomas of Scot-PEP was so inspiring- so many brilliant stories to choose from. Please read and share!

Lola Dickinson@loladickinson.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Really pleased to share the comic by the fantastic @karriefransman.bsky.social on Sex Work and AIDS Activism in Edinburgh. Research by me and based on an oral history interview with Ruth Morgan Thomas of Scot-PEP.

Science is not neutral or automatic; it is shaped by people. This History of Vaccines blog post highlights LGBTQ+ contributions from Alan L. Hart’s TB work to ACT UP’s transformation of HIV research and drug approval. historyofvaccines.org/blog/people-...

The People Behind the Shots: LGBTQ+ Contributions to Vaccine Science and Public Health

historyofvaccines.org

Really pleased to share the comic by the fantastic @karriefransman.bsky.social on Sex Work and AIDS Activism in Edinburgh. Research by me and based on an oral history interview with Ruth Morgan Thomas of Scot-PEP.

My latest article has just been published in The Historical Journal. It looks at the ways in which HIV/AIDS was positioned as not just an urban problem, but one that was antithetical to rural spaces. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

There's just under 10 days left to apply for this funded PhD studentship on the history of unorthodox health activism in Britain! #HistMed #PhDFunding Strathclyde is a lovely place to work and Glasgow is a seriously great city! www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/...

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static.klipy.com

This new article by @loladickinson.bsky.social on trans sex workers in England in the 1980s and 1990s is really good.

‘In the eyes of the law I might be a man but what do I look like?’: trans women and sex work in 1980s and 1990s England

This article considers the precarious position of trans sex workers in 1980 s and early 1990 s England by examining the ambiguities of medico-legal interpretations of their identities and labour. D...

doi.org

New article (open access!!) online now with Contemporary British History www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

‘In the eyes of the law I might be a man but what do I look like?’: trans women and sex work in 1980s and 1990s England

This article considers the precarious position of trans sex workers in 1980 s and early 1990 s England by examining the ambiguities of medico-legal interpretations of their identities and labour. D...

tandfonline.com

I have a new article out on miscarriage in late twentieth-century Ireland. Special thanks to @delaycara.bsky.social for organising a 2024 workshop from which this & the other articles in the special issue stemmed, and for all the support through to publication. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

‘It’s a really empty feeling’: women’s experiences of miscarriage and pregnancy loss in late twentieth-century Ireland

This article explores women's experiences of miscarriage and pregnancy loss in late twentieth-century Ireland. Drawing on oral history interviews, newspaper and magazine articles, the newsletters o...

tandfonline.com

Coming soon: #Incarcerated bluecoatpress.co.uk/product/inca...

My copy of Dealing With Drugs. New Histories of Risk and Benefit has just arrived. Very pleased to see my chapter published in this wonderful volume!

This women's group wanted to raise £1,000 to help the victims of last night's attacks in Belfast. It's already at £56,000. chuffed.org/project/1854...

Support people and groups impacted by racist attacks

We are raising funds to support people who have been attacked, displaced and traumatised in racist attacks in Belfast.

chuffed.org

I’m really pleased to see my article on “The Asian Mother and Baby Campaign” in the @jbritishstudies.bsky.social Many thanks to @leverhulme.ac.uk for funding this research. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

You are creating that debate. There is no debate. There is a far right talking point and a media willing to traffic it into the mainstream.

Sky News@news.sky.com · 4mo ago

Henry Nowak murder's has highlighted the debate on whether UK police are anti-white

On Henry Nowak www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Henry Nowak was failed in the last moments of his life – and then again by Britain’s disgraceful political class | Jason Okundaye

There are vital lessons to be learned from Nowak’s death. Instead, it has been used to refuel a pervasive lie about ethnic minorities and ‘two-tier’ policing, says Guardian Opinion assistant editor Ja...

theguardian.com