So many of HE’s problems are the product of these efforts to generate market structures that just simply don’t work because the conditions that markets need to work really aren’t there, and all they do is create uncertainty (and financial problems) for students, staff, and institutions.

The QUEER DATA SHOWCASE is returning in 2026 – and we’re taking the show to Manchester! An opportunity to showcase work with an audience enthusiastic about all things queer and all things data! 📢 The CALL FOR PRESENTERS is now live! www.ai-ethics.org/queer-data-s...

Went to see Oh, Mary! in London, it's very very funny and very very gay. Worth a trip to the foul capital to see!

Thinking about what’s next after graduation? 🎓 Join our upcoming lunchtime webinar to hear from geography professionals working in sustainability. 🗓️ Wednesday, 7 January ⏰ 12.00pm – 1.00pm Book your place 👉https://ow.ly/gRz250WWCyM

As things wind down for the holidays, @sheffielducu.bsky.social members are facing a threat of 100% pay deductions from January, thanks to our Scrooge-like management. We’ve now set up a fundraiser to bolster our local solidarity fund. If you can spare some change, please do! gofund.me/ac2b3adcb

🏫 Curious about engaging with schools and teachers as a professional geographer? Come and join an afternoon webinar with our Education team to hear more about how the Society can support your work with students. Book your place 👉https://bit.ly/3MFvT1V

📕 We have recently launched a guide for employers navigating the education landscape, outlining opportunities available for businesses to inspire, inform and enable the next generation of geographers. Find out more 👉https://bit.ly/4oVgiZC

Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252: Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email. Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk

Do you remember the Candy Bar in #Brighton? Our Community Champion Kate Wildblood, one half of legendary DJ duo Wildblood & Queenie has created a deep-dive into the story behind this much-loved club and venue over on the Queer Heritage South website: www.queerheritagesouth.co.uk/s/queer-heri...

A UK-wide survey has revealed the highest and lowest performers in UK universities’s LGBTQ+ inclusive rankings, with the University of Brighton being crowned top spot. www.attitude.co.uk/news/uk-univ...

Brighton students - come and work with me! 🐻 We're hiring 1 student researcher from April to July 2026 (part-time, paid at National Living Wage). If you're interested in applying, you can see full details at lnkd.in/dfGEwhap - and get in touch with me if you have any questions!

I’m contributing to Inherent Vice, a new queer heritage & arts zine launching in January 2026! It’s an independent, non-profit project exploring queer stories, objects, creativity, and community across the heritage and arts sectors. www.inherentvice.co.uk

This 100% tracks w my experience. I tried drumming up support from UCU friends & colleagues, there was 0 appetite for this strike & widespread belief that it would kill courses & jobs. Folk completely disconnected from the union after the marking boycott & I think this has made things worse tbh.

Beyond excited to be launching this study examining people's experiences of hypervigilance and wellbeing post-UK Supreme Court ruling. Recruitment info can be found on the image below and more detailed info can be found at: lnkd.in/eQV8cJRh Please repost and share within your networks! 📢✨

Then a field trip to Soho to investigate changes to LGBTQ neighbourhoods. Discovered that they have gentrified both poppers and the f-slur. I had to ask the bf wth the toppers are - apparently they're plastic caps for poppers to get deeper up your nostrils 🐽

Sometimes forget I have this account, anyway I've been doing some cool stuff w my students recently. First off a trip to the always excellent Queer Britain museum - thanks to the volunteers for speaking to us about less visible aspects like funding, community-building, curation etc.

Coming up on Nov 13th, 'A Sense of the Possible: Trans Geographies in Dystopian Times' - online & organised by Royal Geographical Society research groups. Learn about the role of the discipline in a time of reactionary anti-trans politics. www.rgs.org/events/upcom...

Voting for strike action is never done lightly but I've voted Yes & Yes in our UCU ballot. We're demanding uni bosses stop cutting pay & jobs, AND work with us to lobby government to fix 15 years of catastrophic funding policies. This last bit is vital & I'm glad to see my union taking the lead!

We’re looking for passionate, values-driven people to help shape the future of LGBTQ+ communities in Brighton & Hove. If you believe in equity, community, and collaboration—we’d love to hear from you.

Come and work with us in #Sociology at University of Glasgow! #Lecturer in the Sociology of Social Justice and Inequalities, LTS 2 year post. Teach to change societies! #SocialJustice #Inequalities @uofgsociology.bsky.social @uofgsps.bsky.social @uofgsocsci.bsky.social @uofglasgow.bsky.social

READ: Locktober (and beyond) – Thinking About Chastity. “why would anybody lock themselves up and deny themselves pleasure?! Well, this blog discusses some of the things people give up, the impact of chastity, but also explores why ...” by @liamwignall.bsky.social. 📲 bit.ly/Article-Chas...

New article in GLQ on bears and aging, nods to the revalorisation of youth, slenderness, muscle in Spanish bear scenes - maybe more than UK. The framing of 'queer elders' (🤮) as passive archives rather than active participants in queer life/politics is v familiar tho! share.google/zK0qfkkYZ76m...

Impt to understand that this slow (but quickening) collapse of UK unis is by design, not accident. ~15 years of government policymaking & some key policies (tuition fees + removal of caps on course sizes) actively sought this outcome, & VCs eagerly took the bait then swanned off to other posts.

Out on my walking tour of Brighton's LGBTQ+ spaces, with members of u3a (Third Age Trust for lifelong learning) 🌈 The guided walk covers Brighton's infamous cottaging sites, half-straight half-gay bars, lesbian activist spaces, HIV memorials, & bars dealing w a changed social & economic landscape.

Last week saw the Royal Geographical Society's inaugural Asexual Geographies panel! @rachelbayer.bsky.social & I were delighted to present alongside Wenmei and Zofia, following our previous article's invitation for scholars to #joinus in this new field of inquiry. Thanks to the 20+ attendees too!

Final day of my first scoping visit investigating the US history of gay/bi/queer Bears. Today was mostly mid-to-late 2000s, w Bear becoming a huge phenomenon in the USA - multi-day Bear events now v large & complex undertakings (mostly volunteer-run). Note the welcome from then-mayor Gavin Newsom!

Photos from Golden Age of Bears day 3! Today we got a more digital and material culture. First up some early Bear social media (websites & mailing lists).

Day 2 in the Bear History Project archive at Cornell, here are a few snapshots from today! First, some merch from various Bear media, events and regional groups.

Day 1 of research in the Bear History Project archive at Cornell now complete! Exhausted but kinda floored by the incredible materials Les has captured over the decades. Will post some daily highlights before too 👇

Final day in Ithaca before work starts. Checked out more of the town (person w the Kamala 2024 poster in the window - give it up mate). Then since it's Labor Day went to a picnic hosted by the local workers' association. Nice people, learned just how much tax you can avoid as a property magnate uni.

One look at his approval ratings should tell you everything you need to know about the strategy and yet centre left elites continue to insist it be followed

After a long sleep I've been out exploring Ithaca today, a few for my physical geography colleagues here with some beautiful post-glacial gorges and shale formations!

It's been so long since I was on the apps that I didn't realise Scruff has a 'Bear mode' now?! An entire research project, send me yr PhD proposals 👨‍🎓

Off to the USA! Fingers crossed I'll be in Ithaca NY in... 12 hours 💀💀💀 The things I do to look at old copies of Bear Magazine...

Research equipment packed for the first phase of 'A Golden Age of Bears?'. Heading to Cornell University for 1 week scoping out the Bear History Project archives with Les Wright. Expect lots of pics of big hairy guys!

Finally met up with the original Bear researcher Les Wright, author of the Bear Books 1 & 2 (& soon 3!) 🐻 We'll be seeing more of each other over the coming year, as we explore his Bear History Project archive together

I've been working on a queer history walking tour with OutStories this past year and we're almost ready to launch it! If you're in Bristol, Bath and surroundings - watch this space 💙

More @ctsgbrighton.bsky.social merch coming soon! 🌈

Last month I hosted an online research symposium focused on Bears, explicitly aimed at non-academic and community audiences. We had over 70 attendees from around the world, and 3 presentations from leading Bear researchers (inc me!). Check them out here: youtu.be/YoXnSAzBPUA?...

Bear Tracks: Transbears. Trans pioneer Lou Sullivan was arguably the first transman to publicly identify as gay. Les K Wright explains their friendship and Lou's very interesting journey, and also delves into more transmen stories. bearworldmag.com/bear-tracks-...

Excellent piece by Finn Mackay on endless typologies of masculinity, the (frankly offensive) conflation by scholars and campaigners of men with masculinity, & why 'masculinity is to liberation what carbon capture is too a green future'. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

I'd been wondering myself how this ruling could be squared with the empirical, lived realities of 'sexual orientation'. Are we now to reclassify cis gay men who think trans men are attractive as bisexual? How many trans guys do you need to find attractive to count as bisexual?

Come and work with me and nurture trans* thriving in Leicestershire

It's me! 🐻

Final plug for Tuesday's Box Breakers gathering @ctsgbrighton.bsky.social! 📢 Just had a peek at the programme and it looks FANTASTIC - excited to meet others working on sexuality, gender and/or box breaking topics! 🔗 Register to attend (in-person or online): blogs.brighton.ac.uk/ctsg/2025/04...

It's today! We're gonna be talking Bears and developing future research directions. Hear original Bear scholar Les Wright reflect on 25 years since his Bear Books; historian Vini Flauaus on changing Bear culture in Brazil; & me on why researchers need to think carefully abt Bear as a category 🐻

The UK's 4 biggest Pride events have come out swinging in support of trans people - all political parties banned 👍

I've written to @brightonpride.bsky.social enquiring about the participation of groups making anti-trans statements/actions. These include Barclays, the Conservative Party, the EHRC, & the Labour Party. Will share any response. Letter also available to read at drive.google.com/file/d/1DWHJ...

533 geographers worldwide call for action on transphobic developments in the UK, its Supreme Court, and the EHRC - out now with intro in @antipodeonline.bsky.social. Do share & show how academic geographers stand united & ready to defend trans liberation antipodeonline.org/2025/05/06/5...

Glad to have been a contributor to and signatory of this letter 🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵