First time making falafel using @polphilpod.bsky.social’s recipe went great!

At SPA conference, Baroness Ruth Lister just described surviving the Thatcher years as maintaining “finger in the dyke” politics. I’d like to check the provenance of the phrase but I’m afraid to Google it in a professional setting.

RTiE has put out a statement on Edinburgh Council’s decision to condemn the EHRC guidance, including the powerful deputation by Zoe Harding @rtie.org rtie.org/2026/06/25/e...

Edinburgh Council condemn transphobic EHRC guidance

Resisting Transphobia in Edinburgh applauds the City of Edinburgh Council for voting today, by an overwhelming majority, to condemn the transphobic new guidance from the Equalities and Human Rights…

rtie.org

Kit Colliver@presentlyincorrect.bsky.social · last mo.

Edinburgh Council condemn EHRC guidance, passed 34 to 19. Thanks to excellent drafting by @alexstaniforth.bsky.social and four powerful deputations from @rtie.org @scottishtrans.bsky.social @transpridescotland.bsky.social and the Education Institute Scot democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/documents/s1...

Edinburgh Council condemn EHRC guidance, passed 34 to 19. Thanks to excellent drafting by @alexstaniforth.bsky.social and four powerful deputations from @rtie.org @scottishtrans.bsky.social @transpridescotland.bsky.social and the Education Institute Scot democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/documents/s1...

Alex Staniforth@alexstaniforth.bsky.social · last mo.

Edinburgh council just agreed to condemn the proposed EHRC Guidance as discriminatory against trans people, unworkable and potentially incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Last week saw the culmination of two years of fascinating work on criminal landlords operating in the private rented sector. We launched our final reports live to an audience of almost 80 local authority, policing and third sector professionals. www.criminalityintheprs.org/outputs-and-...

Reports

Reports from each work package Criminal landlords in the shadow private rented sector in England Short summary available here Full report available here Enforcement against slum landlords Short sum...

criminalityintheprs.org

Ironically, it appears that AI chatbots hallucinate for the same reason that students feel compelled to use them: They were socialized in a high-stakes testing culture that rewards guessing and maybe getting it right over admitting when there's something you just don't know.

How much did this failed experiment in social cleansing cost, we wonder? God forbid they engage in meaningful consultation before titting about like this.

EdinburghMinute.com@edinburghminute.com · 11mo ago

🌤️ Good morning Edinburgh. Today’s headlines: Mental health cuts, Kirkgate benches to return, Marionville fire station consultation opens + a look inside the Leonardo factory ⏰ Edinburgh’s ad-free local news: edinburghminute.substack.com/p/the-edinbu... #edinburgh #scotland

This looks rather wonderful!

The Love Tank CIC@thelovetankcic.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Exciting new post-doc fellow post just announced at University of Edinburgh - working alongside The Love Tank on the new Medicine Without Doctors collaboration. Closing date 02 Oct 2025. elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Gratifying to see a legal view line up with my own instinctive interpretation. @reactiveashley.bsky.social is arguing that the Supreme Court ruling is consistent with implementing a ‘bigots toilet’ and retaining trans-inclusive single-sex facilities.

Ashleeee 🌊🪭@reactiveashley.cat · last yr.

7/ “We are providing a limited set of “statutory single-sex services” to some cis women because we need to provide a generally available set of “extra-statutory trans-inclusive single-sex service” to all women.” If this is not objectively justifiable, then the law is inconsistent with Article 8.

In the time it’s taken me to write up my research on the impact of voter ID on trans people, the UK has managed to slide from a position of impinging on trans citizenship rights to setting off alarm bells at anti-genocide organisations.

My overall impression is that the EHRC guidance does not make it clear how to deliver trans inclusive services. It is effectively advice on how organisations can exclude trans and gender diverse people from services, which is an unusual approach for a human rights organisation to take.

Spent the entire evening writing up the EHRC response for @rtie.org And that’s with members’ feedback already collated. That guidance and the consultation are trash - lengthy, confusing, mired in bigotry - and I feel like my eyes are bleeding.

Its the final day to complete the EHRC's consultation on their draft code of practice. If you want to fill it in and share your voice in support of trans inclusion, today’s your last chance! We've created a full guide w/ Mermaids & TransActual, on our website - www.scottishtrans.org/supreme-cour...

I've added FOUR new peer-reviewed academic articles to my round-up post, "What's wrong with the Cass Review?" Together, these highlight serious ethical issues with the Cass Review's design, recommendations, and implementations. It's important to keep this story live! ruthpearce.net/2024/04/16/w...

For Pride month, @ashstokoe.bsky.social and I have a blog in Transforming Society, 'From bathrooms to the ballot box: UK trends undermining trans* citizenship'. We're looking at the Supreme Court's 'sex' ruling in light of our voter ID research. www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2025/06/11/f...

From bathrooms to the ballot box: UK trends undermining trans* citizenship - Transforming Society

Ash Stokoe and Kit Colliver argue that, amid intensifying anti-trans rhetoric and legal rollbacks, trans* people in the UK are increasingly excluded from public life, with voter ID laws and a recent S...

transformingsociety.co.uk

Big Trans Picnic @ Porty Pride 07 June 1-3pm! Bring blankets, food, water and sunscreen to share or just for yourself, well behaved children and badly behaved pets. This is an outdoor event. If the rain gets bad we will use our contingency venue @ Porty Town Hall - look out for our stories!

The Queer Data showcase is fantastic. Lots of excellent funny, thought-provoking presentations and my highlight so far has been @katherinewyers.bsky.social with improv sax accompanying her story of the emotional toll of queer fieldwork.

A single sociologist. Not a medic. Not even an expert in gender and sexuality. A guy whose academic contribution and teaching is on social movements and protest actions, gone entirely off-piste for the sake of bigotry.

Cal Horton (they/them)@fiercemum.bsky.social · last yr.

Worth noting that bone health was not the key reason for the ban on blockers backed by the Commission on Human Medicine. It was the even less evidenced (=totally fabricated) "impact on gender and sexual development", with an article by Michael Biggs as sole citation.

Data collection has sure gotten me about a bit. smstone0.github.io#/uk-map

One sock. Now two socks.

Our new report on the Household Support Fund, part of the @safety-nets.bsky.social‬ project, is out today. It draws on analysis of HSF admin data and interviews with LAs and @changingrealities.bsky.social‬ participants to identify how the HSF can be improved in a long-term settlement /Thread

Renew and improve • Resolution Foundation

This briefing note, part of the Safety Nets project, assesses how the Household Support Fund could be improved in a longer-term settlement, through analysis of administrative data and interviews with ...

resolutionfoundation.org

Voting ID requirements cause significant anxiety for trans* individuals🏳️‍⚧️ 🗳️ In this new paper, @presentlyincorrect.bsky.social & Ash Stokoe explain how this impacts participation intentions ✨OPEN ACCESS✨ doi.org/10.1332/2515... PoliSky GenderSky

The number of people living in temporary accommodation has reached record levels in the UK. Those from Black African, Black Caribbean and Arab backgrounds are heavily over-represented in the homeless population. Learn more about ethnic inequalities in housing affordability here ⤵️ buff.ly/4U3ZPBb

New paper out, open access 🎉 @johnhudson.bsky.social and I argue that criminal justice regimes are an under-acknowledged dimension of the varieties of capitalism, lining up with ideal type patterns including welfare regimes and economic coordination doi:10.1017/ics.2025.15 #academicsky

The #RainbowMap 2025 is live! Find out how 49 European countries rank on LGBTI human rights and see which ones are leading, or falling behind. Check it out now! rainbowmap.ilga-europe.org

This work by @ashstokoe.bsky.social and I highlights the importance of administrative records - and ways they are scrutinised and policed - on trans people’s participation in public life. It’s a topic that feels increasingly relevant in the UK 🎓🌈

European Journal of Politics and Gender@ejpgjournal.bsky.social · last yr.

🚨NEW ARTICLE ALERT🚨 How does the introduction of voting ID impact trans* individuals' views of political participation? 🏳️‍⚧️ 🗳️ @presentlyincorrect.bsky.social & Ash Stokoe provide the answer. ✨OPEN ACCESS✨ doi.org/10.1332/2515... PoliSky GenderSky

UCU's LGBT+ UK standing committee (of which I'm a member) is drafting a statement. Unity, sharing and solidarity are vital. Please do reach out to the national committee (me or others) to know what's going on at a national level, so that we've got each other's backs: www.ucu.org.uk/article/2971...

Equality standing committees

Fighting for equality in education and beyond.

ucu.org.uk

Fran Amery@franamery.bsky.social · last yr.

Getting some early signs that universities' responses are going to diverge quite dramatically. From 'we'll keep trans inclusion guidance in place until forced to change it' to refusing to meet with unions about it at all. Any union reps feel free to DM me to discuss or share strategy

I'm pleased to announce that my paper 'Trans* people’s perceptions of political participation in the wake of voter identification requirements: evidence from the UK', co-authored with Ash Stokoe, is now available Open Access with the European Journal of Politics and Gender doi.org/10.1332/2515... 🌈🎓

Trans* people’s perceptions of political participation in the wake of voter identification requirements: evidence from the UK

The UK Elections Act 2022 introduced a photo identification (ID) requirement for voting in person in UK general elections and local elections in England and Wales. Fiercely debated, civil society grou...

doi.org

Saturday 19th April 1pm Foot of the Mound - Resist transphobia! Resist erasure! Resist the UK Supreme Court ruling! We will gather at 1pm at the Foot of the Mound - in front of the National Gallery. We will rally with speeches for 30 minutes, and then march to the UK Government building.

I’m excited to be setting off to #HSA2025 this morning, despite the slings and arrows of the rail system.