Sam Rutherford (he/him)
@echomikeromeo.bsky.social
Lecturer in LGBTQ+ History/History of Sexuality, University of Glasgow.
I wrote this book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/teaching-gender-9780198937494
I wrote this book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/teaching-gender-9780198937494
Pinned
The summer has seen anti-trans campaigns across the UK and US, alongside a crisis in healthcare. But what use could trans history have in these time, beyond proving 'we have always been here'?
Sam Rutherford @echomikeromeo reflects on Imagining Trans Futures:
www.historyworkshop....
Sam Rutherford @echomikeromeo reflects on Imagining Trans Futures:
www.historyworkshop....
I wrote something quite personal about what use trans history In These Times:
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
I wrote this about fighting Section 28 for National Galleries Scotland, part of the brilliant 'Resistance' exhibition - there are some really interesting blogs on there too:
www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-arti...
For info @womenslibrary.bsky.social
www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-arti...
For info @womenslibrary.bsky.social
Words of Resistance | Fighting Section 28 and Changing Hearts and Minds by Sue John | National Galleries of Scotland
Continuing our Words of Resistance series, feminist and lesbian activist Sue John, looks back on fighting Section 28, repealing the law and changing hearts and minds 25 years on.
www.nationalgalleries.org
October 14, 2025 at 4:54 PM
I wrote this about fighting Section 28 for National Galleries Scotland, part of the brilliant 'Resistance' exhibition - there are some really interesting blogs on there too:
www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-arti...
For info @womenslibrary.bsky.social
www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-arti...
For info @womenslibrary.bsky.social
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
Esther Ghey is kind of allergic to talking about the transphobic murder of her daughter as a transphobic murder, huh
Phones did not murder Brianna Ghey in cold blood.
November 10, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Esther Ghey is kind of allergic to talking about the transphobic murder of her daughter as a transphobic murder, huh
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
What an amazing essay from the former chair of Africana Studies at Bowdoin. I'll share a few sections in the reply but seriously, read the whole thing. It's all insightful and beautifully written.
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 8, 2025 at 7:11 PM
What an amazing essay from the former chair of Africana Studies at Bowdoin. I'll share a few sections in the reply but seriously, read the whole thing. It's all insightful and beautifully written.
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.
WAC wrong-headedness
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
WAC wrong-headedness - Illuminations
John Wyver writes: Some of you will know that I have been very involved over the past months with attempts to reverse the wrong-headed changes to access at the BBC Written Archives Centre (above, with...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
Nuremburg trials is the moderate position
He said that the agents would throw food at them to eat. The agents threatened to withhold food for a week and to beat him up if he didn't sign deportation papers. He said he saw others refuse and get beaten/receive no food. He signed because he was afraid.
November 7, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Nuremburg trials is the moderate position
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
"They know this is likely to cause suicides. They don’t care! We jumped through every hoop for years and we followed what the government asked of us. I’m in Surrey, her doctor is in Brighton, you can imagine what this is doing to us."
northwestbylines.co.uk/news/health/...
northwestbylines.co.uk/news/health/...
NHS threatens GP practice over trans care
With NHS reply – a GP practice in Brighton and Hove is under investigation for legally providing gender affirming care to trans teens
northwestbylines.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 9:29 AM
"They know this is likely to cause suicides. They don’t care! We jumped through every hoop for years and we followed what the government asked of us. I’m in Surrey, her doctor is in Brighton, you can imagine what this is doing to us."
northwestbylines.co.uk/news/health/...
northwestbylines.co.uk/news/health/...
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
Just over two weeks to go until 'We Can't Keep Waiting', a day of action and collaboration to push for trans healthcare in Scotland. We're collaborating with some incredible community organisations and groups - sign up for your ticket here!
www.outsavvy.com/event/30917/...
www.outsavvy.com/event/30917/...
November 5, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Just over two weeks to go until 'We Can't Keep Waiting', a day of action and collaboration to push for trans healthcare in Scotland. We're collaborating with some incredible community organisations and groups - sign up for your ticket here!
www.outsavvy.com/event/30917/...
www.outsavvy.com/event/30917/...
Modern British historians: favourite examples of work that takes the UK as the category of analysis, and is not *imperial history* per se, but acknowledges the UK's situatedness within an empire, while not making an argument specifically about the relations between metropole and empire?
November 5, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Modern British historians: favourite examples of work that takes the UK as the category of analysis, and is not *imperial history* per se, but acknowledges the UK's situatedness within an empire, while not making an argument specifically about the relations between metropole and empire?
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
Project MUSE - Queer Men and Networks of Communication in Northern Ireland Before the 1970s
muse.jhu.edu
November 3, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
Long tails and important outcomes. Finally, it's live - the website for the report, "Conversion Therapy' and the University of Birmingham c.1966-1983'!
There's material about the history, the project, its organisation, and there are resources there too.
#HistPsych #HistSTEM #QueerHist #HistSex
There's material about the history, the project, its organisation, and there are resources there too.
#HistPsych #HistSTEM #QueerHist #HistSex
‘Conversion Therapy’ and the University of Birmingham c.1966-1983 - University of Birmingham
Between c.1966 and 1983, the University of Birmingham employed researchers who orchestrated so-called 'conversion therapy' for same-sex love
www.birmingham.ac.uk
November 4, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Long tails and important outcomes. Finally, it's live - the website for the report, "Conversion Therapy' and the University of Birmingham c.1966-1983'!
There's material about the history, the project, its organisation, and there are resources there too.
#HistPsych #HistSTEM #QueerHist #HistSex
There's material about the history, the project, its organisation, and there are resources there too.
#HistPsych #HistSTEM #QueerHist #HistSex
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
What happens when nationalist history meets the horrors of empire? For @jacobinmag.bsky.social, I reviewed a new exhibition on British counterinsurgency at the Imperial War Museum jacobin.com/2025/11/brit...
Reckoning With Empire at Britain’s Imperial War Museum
An exhibition at London’s Imperial War Museum offers a welcome corrective to the nostalgia for empire common among Britain’s elites.
jacobin.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:05 PM
What happens when nationalist history meets the horrors of empire? For @jacobinmag.bsky.social, I reviewed a new exhibition on British counterinsurgency at the Imperial War Museum jacobin.com/2025/11/brit...
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
All day, many of you have been asking for a Cheney obituary from me. Get ready:
His Works Completed, Dick Cheney, Mass Murderer of Iraqis and American Democracy, Dies
As much as the Trumpists claim to disavow the War on Terror, they walk a path paved by the most powerful vice president in U.S. history.
www.thenation.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:55 PM
All day, many of you have been asking for a Cheney obituary from me. Get ready:
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
The asserted ownership by antitrans activists of the "meaning" of the Supreme Court decision, to "mean" something that the Supreme Court explicitly declared it DID NOT MEAN, is a masterclass in the aggressive seizure of a public agenda by wishes in place of facts.
Don't believe me. Believe the Supreme Court. In the second paragraph of the bloody judgment.
November 4, 2025 at 9:34 AM
The asserted ownership by antitrans activists of the "meaning" of the Supreme Court decision, to "mean" something that the Supreme Court explicitly declared it DID NOT MEAN, is a masterclass in the aggressive seizure of a public agenda by wishes in place of facts.
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
In Chicago, a woman was driving to get coffee when a DHS vehicle fleeing an angry crowd crashed into her car. Armed agents jumped out of the vehicle, yanked her door open, pulled her by the legs out of her car at gunpoint, held her incommunicado for hours, then released her with no charges.
November 3, 2025 at 6:34 PM
In Chicago, a woman was driving to get coffee when a DHS vehicle fleeing an angry crowd crashed into her car. Armed agents jumped out of the vehicle, yanked her door open, pulled her by the legs out of her car at gunpoint, held her incommunicado for hours, then released her with no charges.
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
November 3, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
This is my commute!
“In May 2025, Scotland’s largest city [Glasgow] reached a milestone that would make any transportation planner in Portland or Montreal do a double take: during the morning rush hour, there were more bicycles than cars traveling along Victoria Road, a major artery…” Via @momentummag.bsky.social
When Bikes Outnumber Cars: What Scotland’s Cycling Surge Can Teach North America
Scotland’s largest city reached a milestone that would make any transportation planner in Portland, or Montreal do a double take.
momentummag.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:16 PM
This is my commute!
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
NHS Sussex blackmailed a GP practice with withdrawal of contract unless they shared data of Trans patients against the wishes of those patients & families.
- Pre determined outcome
- Staff concerns ignored
- Families traumatised
- NHS Sussex refuse to meet with families
- Trans youth at risk
- Pre determined outcome
- Staff concerns ignored
- Families traumatised
- NHS Sussex refuse to meet with families
- Trans youth at risk
"Laura fears all will be lost if ICB Sussex forces her child off the medication.
If ICB Sussex get their own way in a matter of weeks and they force detransition, Olive may well take her life."
northwestbylines.co.uk/news/health/...
If ICB Sussex get their own way in a matter of weeks and they force detransition, Olive may well take her life."
northwestbylines.co.uk/news/health/...
NHS threatens GP practice over trans care
A GP practice in Brighton and Hove is currently under investigation for legally providing gender affirming care to trans teens
northwestbylines.co.uk
November 3, 2025 at 11:58 AM
NHS Sussex blackmailed a GP practice with withdrawal of contract unless they shared data of Trans patients against the wishes of those patients & families.
- Pre determined outcome
- Staff concerns ignored
- Families traumatised
- NHS Sussex refuse to meet with families
- Trans youth at risk
- Pre determined outcome
- Staff concerns ignored
- Families traumatised
- NHS Sussex refuse to meet with families
- Trans youth at risk
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
We are looking to hire a part-time freelance managing editor at @conteurohistory.bsky.social. Applications are due 30 November and you can find the full details here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Happy to answer any questions via DM or email
Happy to answer any questions via DM or email
November 3, 2025 at 11:44 AM
We are looking to hire a part-time freelance managing editor at @conteurohistory.bsky.social. Applications are due 30 November and you can find the full details here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Happy to answer any questions via DM or email
Happy to answer any questions via DM or email
Something interesting about this report! The researchers received a large number of malicious responses to their online survey - and they analysed those responses too, which provide an interesting window into anti-trans activists' delight at their perceived blanket permission to harass us.
A new report from TransActual looks at the impact of the 2025 EHRC interim update on access to, and experiences within, gendered spaces in the UK.
Read the full report here: transactual.org.uk/gendered-spa...
#TransRights #EHRC #ScrapTheBathroomBan #EqualityAct
Read the full report here: transactual.org.uk/gendered-spa...
#TransRights #EHRC #ScrapTheBathroomBan #EqualityAct
October 30, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Something interesting about this report! The researchers received a large number of malicious responses to their online survey - and they analysed those responses too, which provide an interesting window into anti-trans activists' delight at their perceived blanket permission to harass us.
So great that this is out in the world after years of hard work! My chapter, 'Contestations', is about the global history of home economics as a university subject, and what that tells us about institutional reform, gender, and empire at the turn of the 20th century.
📢 Ed. with @capandgown.bsky.social A Cultural History of Higher Learning in the Age of Industry was published by Bloomsbury today! Many thanks to the series eds & all contributors
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/cultural-...
#histed @sheffielduni.bsky.social @histedsocuk.bsky.social @ische-news.bsky.social
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/cultural-...
#histed @sheffielduni.bsky.social @histedsocuk.bsky.social @ische-news.bsky.social
October 30, 2025 at 2:12 PM
So great that this is out in the world after years of hard work! My chapter, 'Contestations', is about the global history of home economics as a university subject, and what that tells us about institutional reform, gender, and empire at the turn of the 20th century.
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
New incredible detail here: ICE says a match in its facial recognition app Mobile Fortify is a "definitive" determination of a person's status, and that this overrides birth certificates. This is an app ICE is using in the field to scan people
www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...
www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...
October 29, 2025 at 3:03 PM
New incredible detail here: ICE says a match in its facial recognition app Mobile Fortify is a "definitive" determination of a person's status, and that this overrides birth certificates. This is an app ICE is using in the field to scan people
www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...
www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...
I listened to this Gender Reveal episode excerpt with @cassiusa.bsky.social the other day: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b... and was struck by his point about grad students doing trans studies work in depts where they might be the only one/not adequately supported with field expertise!
Bonus: Cassius Adair + new book tour stops!
Podcast Episode · Gender Reveal · 10/27/2025 · Bonus · 24m
podcasts.apple.com
October 29, 2025 at 12:40 PM
I listened to this Gender Reveal episode excerpt with @cassiusa.bsky.social the other day: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b... and was struck by his point about grad students doing trans studies work in depts where they might be the only one/not adequately supported with field expertise!
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
Two teenagers were radicalized by the transphobic political climate into seeing a 15 year old girl as less than human. They killed the girl, and then the girl's grieving mother chose to embark on a moral panic crusade against "self-harm", acquitting the actual perpetrators of her daughter's demise.
October 24, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Two teenagers were radicalized by the transphobic political climate into seeing a 15 year old girl as less than human. They killed the girl, and then the girl's grieving mother chose to embark on a moral panic crusade against "self-harm", acquitting the actual perpetrators of her daughter's demise.
Solidarity with striking BL workers!! A backbone of our national research & knowledge infrastructure and they deserve better!
Nice big loud PCS picket line at the BL this morning. Info on the strike here: www.pcs.org.uk/news-events/...
Support the British Library strikers
More than 300 PCS members at the British Library in London are striking over their poverty wages for two weeks from Monday (27) to Sunday, 9 November and need your support in person and online.
www.pcs.org.uk
October 27, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Solidarity with striking BL workers!! A backbone of our national research & knowledge infrastructure and they deserve better!