On Wednesday this week couples in civil partnerships in England and Wales were able to convert their civil partnerships to marriages for the first time. Scotland follows suit next Tuesday, though as yet there are no provisions in Northern Ireland. It was a landmark moment, as Stonewall rightly point out, another step towards full equality. […]
Author: chriscreegan
Feminist t shirts, Ched Evans and male panels
Feminism first entered my lexicon as a student in the late 1970s. Since then pretty much every female friend I’ve had has defined herself as a feminist. I can’t really imagine having a female friend who isn’t a feminist. Yet I’ve never called myself a feminist. And I’m not about to wear a t shirt. […]
LGBT rights and the Commonwealth Games: Equality begins at home
The recent LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth conference in Glasgow provided a welcome and vital focus on the plight of sexual minorities in across the Commonwealth. It’s right and timely to highlight the abuses facing those in many of the countries who will be attending the games. Not to do so would be more […]
Equal Marriage: The real vote of conscience today
Today was a historic day for LBGT equality in Scotland and I for one shed a tear as the final vote came. Years of campaigning have led to this change, not just for equal marriage but for the rights, acceptance and inclusion of LGBT people in all spheres of life. And so equal marriage is […]
Celebrating the power of adoption
‘ADOPTION is the most wonderful experience on the planet… when you see the number of children out there looking for homes and families, it’s just wrong not to go for it.’ These are the words of Anne and Mark, adoptive parents in BAAF Scotland’s film, made to help recruit more adopters. This is National Adoption […]
Pits and Perverts: the magic of LGSM
Last night a new play opened at the Derry Playhouse. Pits and Perverts is written by Micheal Kerrigan and is about an extraordinary moment in British labour history. It tells the story of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM). I wrote about LGSM earlier this year in my blog about Margaret Thatcher’s legacy for […]
One of them or one of us?
During her premiership in the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher famously asked of anyone outside her political circle, ‘is he one of us?’ At my secondary school during the previous decade, an often heard refrain from those who wanted to assert their heterosexuality was ‘are you one of them?’ ‘One of them’ was a ‘homo’, a ‘puff’ […]
Cardinal sins and Catholic futures
The Catholic church is back in the news again this weekend with the story of Cardinal O’Brien’s ‘exile’. It’s been a tough time for Scottish Catholics. And wherever they stand on the issues that divide opinion within and outwith the church, the Cardinal’s fate is one story many would surely like to see the back […]
In praise of Running
Ever since I started this blog I knew I’d eventually get round to writing about running. It’s been one my life’s enduring passions. On the things that matter to me scale it’s up near the top. And the experience of running in last Sunday’s London marathon finally propelled me to blog. Reflecting on the day […]
How true blue Thatcherism helped paint society pink
There are occasions when the blogosphere becomes consumed with one event. The passing of Margaret Thatcher was inevitably just such an occasion. Within no time she was trending on Twitter. And then an avalanche of blogs and comment appeared from every part of the political spectrum. For many who lived through her premiership and were […]