This issue includes two expert interviews on the topic of transphobia and trans misogyny with @franamery.bsky.social amery.bsky.social and @celestinekunkeler.bsky.social 🤓

We are delighted to present the latest edition of the @ecpr-ead.bsky.social e-Extreme Newsletter, co-edited with @sabinedvolk.bsky.social and @lazaroskaravasilis.bsky.social, and with the work of our book review liaison @ghibordieri.bsky.social 🤩

The Supreme Court has today "strip[ped] fundamental human rights protections from potentially hundreds of thousands of severely disabled people" say a group of National Charities for disabled people. www.mind.org.uk/news-campaig...

Parliamentary debate on Code of Practice - @sarahowen.org.uk describes code as ‘fundamentally trans exclusionary’ and cites worry of drop in European LGBT rankings

@reacpolrn.bsky.social reading group vibes

[two people with the same opinions] strange bedfellows

When I say that @amnestyuk.bsky.social have overlooked the obvious funding of Gender Critical activists by Christian groups and that these groups aren't actually distinct, here's the weekend's round up email from Christian Concern who are open about funding the GC Darlington Nurses tribunal.

Since the concept is being misunderstood and misused, let's talk about what "third-sexing" means as a mechanism of transphobia. I built on an idea first discussed in @juliaserano.bsky.social's "Whipping Girl" that discussed how, interpersonally, cis people refuse to acknowledge our genders.

The number of different communities living in fear in the UK is astonishing.

other people have said this, but you aren't an "ally" if you are chummy with transphobes or are friendly with other journalists who work at the racism factories. expressing mild displeasure in a tweet does not absolve you.

It's not escaped my notice how few of the people interacting with this (aside from a few usual suspects) are politics researchers. There is transphobia in our field and pretending the 'trans question' is somehow irrelevant to us - especially those of us in gender&pol! - is an expression of it.

Politics academics, I'm looking at you. That means you too, gender and politics researchers!

Am I understanding correctly that an establishment, eg a pub, that currently only has separate men's and women's toilets (and no space for a third toilet) is going to have to make these mixed sex as this is now a requirement? It would be ironic if this led to there being fewer 'single sex' spaces...

My feeling for a while has been that in the case of a transphobic CoP, one of the most practical things unionists etc can be pushing for at institutional level is to make as many facilities 'mixed sex' as possible. The new version seems to strengthen this, even. Would welcome others' thoughts!

The defining characteristic of this current moment

Politics academics, I'm looking at you. That means you too, gender and politics researchers!

i want to see major artists boycotting the UK the way they did US states with bathroom bans

Awaiting interpretation from legal experts, but 'third sexing' is the correct impression based on my initial read. The CoP does also say that service providers shouldn't be routinely policing toilets, which is... something?... but as has been pointed out over and over, just quietly incentivises

The Minister has confirmed that she has laid the new Code of Practice. But the Code itself has not yet been published for members of the public to view. We are watching closely and will have more analysis once we have seen it.

New EHRC guidance is due today. Remember: ➡️ Early reports based on unattributed briefings are spin, not facts. ➡️ This is civil law around who can and cannot bring discrimination claims - not criminal law. ➡️ Whatever it says, it is a choice by this government. They can fix it. ➡️ We will keep going.

🔴EXCLUSIVE🔴 Analysis of Reform, far right and Reform supporting X accounts by me & @fullerproject.org found a 40% increase in mentions of abortion over 4 years, with language becoming more extreme, and accounts sharing US-influenced disinformation www.opendemocracy.net/aabortion-re...

📣New interview📣 'Hate doesn’t do compromise.' @furtadoht.bsky.social discusses liberal fantasies of reconciliation with the far right. reacpol.net/reconcile-fa...

every time “birth rates” come up in the discourse eventually someone remembers its because teenagers arent really getting pregnant anymore and then we all go “oh yea” until we forget again a few weeks later and start all over again

In one state, CPS took a teenager from her home to prevent her from having an abortion—threatening her mother with murder charges if she helped her daughter get out-of-state care. Another mother was investigated by CPS and police for helping her teen get an abortion *in a pro-choice state*

The BMA critique is a compromise between 'viewpoints' (you know the ones) but these themes shine through. The key thing is that a ban on affirming treatment was not supported and represents a policy creep/extension by government.

Ok, so here's the real headlines from the newly-published BMA critique of Cass: 1) the evidence being weak means it does not clearly support treatment withdrawal either; 2) the policy decisions by NHS and government went beyond what Cass recommended;

Sharing, without comment, British newspapers’ depictions of the only Jewish person currently leading a UK political party . Times. Mail. Telegraph. Sun.

For anyone interested in the anti-trans movement in the UK, here's a thread of all my investigative work on the topic. 🧵 Starting with Bayswater Part 1: How the Tories let abusive anti-trans parents dictate education policy www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2024...

Reporting that includes the two Jewish men that the Golders Green attacker is charged with attempting to murder but does not include the Muslim man he is *also* charged with attempting to murder is wildly inaccurate and distorts the story hugely. Sky News and the BBC have both done that.

It's great to know that the thing we all said at the time was the case (they were using this as a test case to bully universities into removing any stated internal policies defending trans students and faculty from bigoted comments by anti-trans academics in the classroom) was in fact the case

Oh my god the Arif Ahmed/Kathleen Stock email correspondence. It sure looks like he was pursuing a vendetta against Sussex for a personal friend bsky.app/profile/nate...

The 'ideological belief requirements in job adverts' are going to be EDI aren't they. Very cool!

🚨New article🚨 What if the misguided construction of 'right-wing populism' has prevented us from holding the elite accountable and rejuvenate democracy? This is what @alexyates2000.bsky.social and I explore in our new article: 'There is no such thing as ‘right-wing populism’' 1/ shorturl.at/jptiu

📜 RPRN statement 📜 HEPI’s Preparing for Populism is a profoundly unhelpful document that mistakes capitulation for strategy Research, critical inquiry, expertise, and the transmission of knowledge are not incidental irritants reactionary projects, they are its targets reacpol.net/populism-hepi/

📣New publication 📣 'A Cure for ‘Populism’? Diagnostic and Prognostic Framing in Anti-Populist Political Punditry' in @psrjournal.bsky.social. In this paper, I show how the 'cures' prescribed by anti-populists are elite-centric and embolden reactionary politics. 🧵 /1 doi.org/10.1177/1478...

This is a terrible and retrograde step for the recognition of trans people in India, which was already pretty damn bad. timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/lok-sa...

The Danish Social Democrats received their lowest result since 1901 after spending their mandate centring far-right politics and discourse on immigration As we argue in our report below, this strategy is not only a bad electorally, but politically and morally There must be *another* alternative

Handy fact check for anyone in doubt and it’s worth sending to people because I’m amazed at how many sensible people I’ve spoken to who think ‘abortion to birth’ is real www.reuters.com/fact-check/b...

A school leadership team has misused safeguarding procedures against a librarian for stocking 'controversial' books - which, by the way, are not controversial at all. This makes me feel sick to my stomach.

My excellent colleague @katiedd.bsky.social has just published this remarkable investigation into rampant book banning in a Greater Manchester secondary school library. 193 books including The Da Vinci Code, Twilight, White Teeth and 1984 Graphic Novel www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/03/scho...

Really proud of what we've done here and happy to have worked on it with such excellent colleagues!

I am a co-author on this policy study for @feps-europe.eu with colleagues from @reacpolrn.bsky.social. Please give it a read if you want to help resist the far right!

Progressive resistance against the far right must be uncompromising and, as such, must be radically intersectional. Some communities cannot be sacrificed to appease the far right and all must be protected. An injury to one is an injury to all If you want to read more: feps-europe.eu/publication/...

3) Terminological precision is a precondition for any successful strategy 4) Embrace populism and accept polarisation 5) Public opinion is constructed and predominantly shaped in a top-down manner 6) Don't panic 7) Uncompromising radical intersectionality as a starting point 5/

Our recommendations are: 1) Progressive elites, from parties to intellectuals and the media must take responsibility and lead on progressive issues rather than place the blame on a reactionary construction of "the people" 2) The left cannot allow the far right to dictate what is common sense 4/

We argue that the process finds its source in the mainstream itself and in a predominantly top-down manner. This means that mainstream elites, and progressive actors in particular, have a key role to play in countering this trend 3/

The report is co-authored with @franamery.bsky.social, @k8ebrown.bsky.social, @emilykendrick.bsky.social, @georgenewth.bsky.social, @alexepisteme.bsky.social and @alexyates2000.bsky.social The research links to the discussions taking place more widely as part of the @reacpolrn.bsky.social 2/

🚨New policy study🚨 There must be an alternative: Against mainstream defeatism and towards the rejuvenation of the democratic public space We make seven key recommendations to turn the tide @feps-europe.eu 🧵 1/ feps-europe.eu/publication/...

The far right and anti-abortion movement are repeatedly using the language "legalise abortion up to birth". When the reality is that the changes take abortion out of the criminal code - making it a healthcare issue not a criminal issue. This brings us in line with most of Europe.