It should be obvious by now that free speech in incredibly unequal societies is not a useful aim Without a level playing field, some voices are far louder and some far easier to shut down Free speech can only be worthwhile if it's accompanied by radical reform of our public space to democratise it

"How Are the Very Rich Feeling About New York’s Next Mayor?" A Dramatic Reading of The Recent New York Times Dispatch from the Hamptons. Presented by The Gilded Age's Morgan Spector.

Still intrigued… maybe some geographers have leads? @queerdrew.bsky.social @deanphelan.bsky.social @aidanobrien.bsky.social @pbresnihan.bsky.social

I’m intrigued by this… hope somebody can help!

Toilets for everyone. It’s so simple. Makes everyone feel safe & cuts out the ridiculous queues for women’s loos while men have no queues. Inclusive policies help everyone. Well done @electricpicnic.bsky.social #transrightsarehumanrights

As it's still valid, presumably if I don't keep following it, I am also breaking the law and subject to arrest. The law of the land simultaneously requires me to be both a man and a woman and if I do either then I am breaking the law and subject to arrest. (11/13)

I fully support the Basic Income for Artists scheme, with only one caveat. My caveat is that I think that it shouldn’t be restricted to artists, but be made available to everyone (many of whom will turn out to have been hidden artists all along)

Delighted with this review of New Arcana in the the Poetry Book Society autumn brochure 🍂 @bloodaxebooks.bsky.social

Banshee Press will open for book submissions from 1-15 October. More details to follow soon. Ready your manuscripts! 📝 bansheepress.org/read/banshee...

Just giving this another spin on the socials because that’s how dissemination seems to work these days

27 years ago, two years after the introduction of effective HIV treatment, the Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco’s lesbian and gay community newspaper, ran ‘No Obits’ as its headline. It was the first edition not to report an AIDS death in almost 15 years.

I love this

A question for #NatureSky #speirgorm I'm in West Kerry for a few days. One of my favourite things about Dingle in late summer is the hedgerows (and yes, I know most of those flowers are non-native/ invasive, and still I love them). This year, I don't see any foxgloves. Where are they all?

The biggest-selling Irish novel of all time must surely be Gulliver's Travels.

Fascinating thread. Interesting that it’s almost entirely men that come up. In music, mine is 100% Paul Simon, who is a prick all the way up and down and wrote some of the most perfect lyrics which I love to sing. Graceland: musical perfection, ropey politics, and then he doubled down 😬😬

Three writers & a visual artist share their experiences on the BIA pilot scheme. Read the full interview stingingfly.org/2025/08/07/b... ”...the Basic Income meant I could choose to have a child without the same financial insecurity and without the fear that I would have to give up creative work“

“A wild fluctuator”; “an unsure scintilla”; such depths in this tiny poem, I love it…

Thanks to @laurencassidy.bsky.social for selecting four of my poems to be included in the Quare Éire anthology. Great to be among such a strong selection. www.eoghancarrick.com/post/four-po...

ALSO @cballantine.bsky.social published a non-fiction piece that explores motherhood, the experience of raising a trans* child, the Irish language, and more. It's incredibly moving & seamless in its ability to explore how Ireland has changed & how it has not quareeire.wordpress.com/thats-the-wa...

I've had the chance this weekend to absorb some of the glorious poetry, imagery, music and story-telling in @laurencassidy.bsky.social's marvellous anthology. I especially loved this gorgeous image, by @justinegc-artist.bsky.social quareeire.wordpress.com/scathach-and...

For *Quare Éire*, I wrote about a queer primary school performance of Grease: the musical. It felt like a perfect queering of gaeilge and Irishness. The essay is at the end of this thread, but first, I want to tell you something… quareeire.wordpress.com

For *Quare Éire*, I wrote about a queer primary school performance of Grease: the musical. It felt like a perfect queering of gaeilge and Irishness. The essay is at the end of this thread, but first, I want to tell you something… quareeire.wordpress.com

Congratulations Lauren, I’m so thrilled to be featured in this gorgeous anthology ✨✨✨

Hey abortion friends, consider submitting a proposal for my edited collection 'Abortion Within and Beyond Medico-Legal Frameworks' 👇 call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/06/... #repro #abortion

Saving for later/ citations…

It me (late 40s)👇🏼

Excited to be starting interviews on reporting SGBV in Irish Higher Education Institutions. You may see yourself in the study and consider taking part. Or you may be involved in networks that include survivors (I assure you, you are). Please read, like, share! 1/2 borg.ie/current-proj...

I wrote this with @kathbrowne.bsky.social about the last research project I worked on, Beyond Opposition

Please share widely! I'm seeking to interview people about their experiences of Irish Higher Education Institutions when they disclosed, reported, or did not disclose sexual violence and harassment. More information and sign up here: borg.ie/current-proj... Please spread the word!!

Always listen to Alex de Waal

I found this entire thread amusing and chuckle-inducing....

I have to be honest. Bluesky is fine and all. But I miss what Twitter used to be. 😔

Just out! Our peer-reviewed critique of the Cass Review has been published by BMC Medical Research Methodology. Please read and share. We show that the Cass Review is fatally flawed and should not be the basis for policy or practice in transgender healthcare. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

A must read from @cballantine.bsky.social

Carol Ballantine says she worries about parents like her trying to make sense of gender in an ever-more polarised context. www.thejournal.ie/readme/trans...

Don’t we want kids to play sports?

Hear me out…. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/s...

The J. Michael Samuel Prize for Emerging Writers Over 50 awards an unpublished writer over the age of 50 with $5000. Link to apply: lambdaliteraryawards.submittable.com/submit/32430...

This moment when the penny drops that trying to implement bathroom bans is an impossibility for the former Tory Chief Secretary Simon Clarke is delicious.

The Dublin Small Press Fair (2025) is now open to applications from publishers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, experimental literature, literary journals, artists’ books, zines, chapbooks, broadsides, and more! dublinsmallpressfair.com

This marvellous essay about 2 v different rulings on trans identities has something for all my followers. Queer scholars will enjoy the postcolonial analysis of the UKSC ruling. Irish trans rights supporters will welcome the analysis of implications here.

Thanks to my friend Harriet for pointing out that the women went to Christ's tomb and saw he was not there, the angels showed up to describe what happened, & the women then told the apostles, who dismissed them. A Biblical account of women not being believed.

This is a devastating piece from the refugee camps in Chad. A detail that stood out is that Chad, a country far less affluent than any in Europe, welcomes refugees in such numbers and allows them to work, settle and access land. Poverty and justice can - with will - co-exist.

This is a terrific piece, unbelievably I had never explicitly connected the Irish apology gene to this aspect of institutionalised Catholicism.

Categories used by the state to sort people into boxes are never neutral. Some thoughts on the UK Supreme Court case ruling and the wider anti-trans campaign to narrow sex and gender categories in policy, data and law. 📝 kevinguyan.com/2025/04/16/t...

I always liked this one. I guess this could be endlessly expanded.

We remember what happens when we allow stigma, fear & conservatism to dictate our policies & we won’t be going back Friendship, community, family, & love-will always win ❤️ Thank you @irishtimes.com for publishing our letter #TransRightsAreHumanRights #freesafelegallocal

I've emailed Conor Pope about this at [email protected] Others should too.

My Sexual Orientation Is Spring - Kyla Jamieson We change time, make the days longer. I start to forget the pact I made with unhappiness, take myself to the ocean, say I just need to catch the last few minutes of light. This is how spring is love, the way it pulls us towards pleasure.

My friends are among the things I’m most grateful for