Leonora (Leo) Gunn
@leonoragunn.bsky.social
PhD student at the University of Leeds, researching the philosophy of disability and the social model. Working with Chronic Illness Inclusion. Writer of weird little stories. Living with ME/CFS and trying to stay safe from covid!
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
Alice Wong, Presente. Thank you for everything.
“Don’t let the bastards grind you down. I love you all.”
November 15, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Alice Wong, Presente. Thank you for everything.
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
Disabled people who can’t work should get more than the minimum wage in benefits.
This should not be a controversial thing to say, especially when being disabled costs more than £1000 extra per month on average.
You cannot “incentivise” work for those unable to work.
This should not be a controversial thing to say, especially when being disabled costs more than £1000 extra per month on average.
You cannot “incentivise” work for those unable to work.
August 16, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Disabled people who can’t work should get more than the minimum wage in benefits.
This should not be a controversial thing to say, especially when being disabled costs more than £1000 extra per month on average.
You cannot “incentivise” work for those unable to work.
This should not be a controversial thing to say, especially when being disabled costs more than £1000 extra per month on average.
You cannot “incentivise” work for those unable to work.
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
PUBLIC LECTURE:
My end of @leverhulme.ac.uk fellowship lecture is on the 24th of September! It will be in person at @durhampsych.bsky.social and also streamed online. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/centre-for...
My end of @leverhulme.ac.uk fellowship lecture is on the 24th of September! It will be in person at @durhampsych.bsky.social and also streamed online. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/centre-for...
Centre for Neurodiversity and Development Public Lecture
Why autism isn't what you think it is (and why that matters) - end of fellowship Public Lecture by Dr Monique Botha
www.eventbrite.co.uk
July 17, 2025 at 10:26 AM
PUBLIC LECTURE:
My end of @leverhulme.ac.uk fellowship lecture is on the 24th of September! It will be in person at @durhampsych.bsky.social and also streamed online. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/centre-for...
My end of @leverhulme.ac.uk fellowship lecture is on the 24th of September! It will be in person at @durhampsych.bsky.social and also streamed online. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/centre-for...
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
Just over two months until RAMPING UP RIGHTS: An Unfinished History of British Disability Activism is out!
It brings together over 100 years of action and looks at how we use that to fight for disabled people's rights now.
You can preorder here:
www.hurstpublishers.com/book/ramping...
It brings together over 100 years of action and looks at how we use that to fight for disabled people's rights now.
You can preorder here:
www.hurstpublishers.com/book/ramping...
Ramping Up Rights | Hurst Publishers
A 100-year history of enraging injustices and inspiring campaigns: the fight for British disability rights isn’t over.
www.hurstpublishers.com
May 5, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Just over two months until RAMPING UP RIGHTS: An Unfinished History of British Disability Activism is out!
It brings together over 100 years of action and looks at how we use that to fight for disabled people's rights now.
You can preorder here:
www.hurstpublishers.com/book/ramping...
It brings together over 100 years of action and looks at how we use that to fight for disabled people's rights now.
You can preorder here:
www.hurstpublishers.com/book/ramping...
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
So this phrase “able-bodied” has clearly been on the most recent list of R talking points. It comes from the first round of English labor laws, which were instituted after the Black Death.
A mini medieval story time!
A mini medieval story time!
Jim Jordan: "If there's an able-bodied adult out there now who is in our welfare system, guess what -- that person is going to have to work ... that is far from immoral."
July 8, 2025 at 8:12 PM
So this phrase “able-bodied” has clearly been on the most recent list of R talking points. It comes from the first round of English labor laws, which were instituted after the Black Death.
A mini medieval story time!
A mini medieval story time!
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
Channel 4 to show BBC-commissioned documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack
BBC last week announced it had dropped the film over concerns it may create a ‘perception of partiality’
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...
BBC last week announced it had dropped the film over concerns it may create a ‘perception of partiality’
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...
Channel 4 to air BBC-commissioned documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack
BBC last week announced it had dropped the film over concerns it may create a ‘perception of partiality’
www.theguardian.com
June 29, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Channel 4 to show BBC-commissioned documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack
BBC last week announced it had dropped the film over concerns it may create a ‘perception of partiality’
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...
BBC last week announced it had dropped the film over concerns it may create a ‘perception of partiality’
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
I hate to say it, but if Long Covid is seen as primarily impacting women then our odds of ever getting it taken seriously go way down.
Misogyny in medicine. It knows no bounds.
Misogyny in medicine. It knows no bounds.
Long COVID Rates Higher in Women: Evidence Grows.
A JAMA study of 12,200+ participants infected by COVID between 2021 and 2024 found women were 31%–44% more likely than men to develop long COVID, even after adjusting for clinical and demographic factors.
Source: archive.md/8OPMy
A JAMA study of 12,200+ participants infected by COVID between 2021 and 2024 found women were 31%–44% more likely than men to develop long COVID, even after adjusting for clinical and demographic factors.
Source: archive.md/8OPMy
July 3, 2025 at 3:33 AM
I hate to say it, but if Long Covid is seen as primarily impacting women then our odds of ever getting it taken seriously go way down.
Misogyny in medicine. It knows no bounds.
Misogyny in medicine. It knows no bounds.
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
If Parliament changed a rule they didn't have to change to specifically ban you the day before you were due to turn up to Parliament, you'd think it was targeted, too.
June 25, 2025 at 7:15 AM
If Parliament changed a rule they didn't have to change to specifically ban you the day before you were due to turn up to Parliament, you'd think it was targeted, too.
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
Olivia Blake, one of the few Labour MPs with a disclosed disability, has accused the government of creating an “unethical two-tier system” by its welfare bill concessions - and urged rebels to stand firm.
My exclusive in tomorrow’s Guardian: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
My exclusive in tomorrow’s Guardian: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Disabled Labour MP says welfare U-turn would create ‘unethical two-tier system’
Olivia Blake dismisses Starmer’s welfare bill changes as ‘plucked from the air’ and urges rebels to stand firm
www.theguardian.com
June 29, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Olivia Blake, one of the few Labour MPs with a disclosed disability, has accused the government of creating an “unethical two-tier system” by its welfare bill concessions - and urged rebels to stand firm.
My exclusive in tomorrow’s Guardian: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
My exclusive in tomorrow’s Guardian: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
By shifting to the right on disability support cuts, anti trans, anti-immigration policies, Labour doesn't draw those who support such policies away from Reform, they provide free advertising for Reform's arguments, while losing those who disagree with such hostile policies. 4/
June 24, 2025 at 5:10 PM
By shifting to the right on disability support cuts, anti trans, anti-immigration policies, Labour doesn't draw those who support such policies away from Reform, they provide free advertising for Reform's arguments, while losing those who disagree with such hostile policies. 4/
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
Allowing assisted dying while savagely cutting PIP is telling disabled people they're allowed to die with dignity but not to live with dignity
June 20, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Allowing assisted dying while savagely cutting PIP is telling disabled people they're allowed to die with dignity but not to live with dignity
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
A young Canadian with the same conditions as me ended her life via Assisted Dying.
What did she want? Palliative care & better pain management.
What was she offered? MAiD.
This is the problem. The safeguards come off & disabled people can’t access the care they need to survive.
What did she want? Palliative care & better pain management.
What was she offered? MAiD.
This is the problem. The safeguards come off & disabled people can’t access the care they need to survive.
Allowing assisted dying while savagely cutting PIP is telling disabled people they're allowed to die with dignity but not to live with dignity
June 23, 2025 at 3:19 AM
A young Canadian with the same conditions as me ended her life via Assisted Dying.
What did she want? Palliative care & better pain management.
What was she offered? MAiD.
This is the problem. The safeguards come off & disabled people can’t access the care they need to survive.
What did she want? Palliative care & better pain management.
What was she offered? MAiD.
This is the problem. The safeguards come off & disabled people can’t access the care they need to survive.
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
The world feels emptier having lost a brilliant writer & philosopher, @helendecruz.net - a strong & prescient voice on Covid too. I truly enjoyed this read👇🏼
My blogpost on how acceptance about covid really is denialism masquerading. On hypernormalization, the shining wire warren in Watership Down, and the inability to envisage alternatives to a terrible present situation.
"This is life now", the shining wires of covid denialism
When I returned from a wonderful small-scale workshop in the Peak District, one of my fellow participants wrote in the WhatsApp chat that he had tested positive for Covid-19. He urged us to look out f...
helendecruz.substack.com
June 21, 2025 at 11:32 PM
The world feels emptier having lost a brilliant writer & philosopher, @helendecruz.net - a strong & prescient voice on Covid too. I truly enjoyed this read👇🏼
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
Not enough attention on Blue Labour's insidious relationship with Thiel and Karp's CIA spytech company Palantir who have 24 contracts with UK public institutions, including the NHS, the Police Force, the Ministry of Defence, the Cabinet Office, and the DLUHC. No one voted for this.
June 18, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Not enough attention on Blue Labour's insidious relationship with Thiel and Karp's CIA spytech company Palantir who have 24 contracts with UK public institutions, including the NHS, the Police Force, the Ministry of Defence, the Cabinet Office, and the DLUHC. No one voted for this.
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
Palantir, headed in the UK by the grandson of the head of the British Union of Fascists, are building a police database to surveil people based on these factors. What more is there to say at this point.
Source libertyinvestigates.org.uk/articles/uk-...
Source libertyinvestigates.org.uk/articles/uk-...
June 19, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Palantir, headed in the UK by the grandson of the head of the British Union of Fascists, are building a police database to surveil people based on these factors. What more is there to say at this point.
Source libertyinvestigates.org.uk/articles/uk-...
Source libertyinvestigates.org.uk/articles/uk-...
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
Keep Palantir OUT of our government.
#nzpol
#nzpol
Palantir - as part of secret police contracts creating a “real-time data-sharing network”- is compiling the sexual orientation and the sex life of all people who live in the UK.
Discovery of things like this should result in the collapse of a sitting government followed by an election.
Discovery of things like this should result in the collapse of a sitting government followed by an election.
June 19, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Keep Palantir OUT of our government.
#nzpol
#nzpol
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
“The hospital is not to ask me about suicide. Do not ask. Do not ask. How many times do I have to tell the hospital?”
Roger Foley is a disabled Canadian who went public with recordings of hospital staff pressuring him to do assisted suicide
Now they’re denying him food & water
Retaliation is real
Roger Foley is a disabled Canadian who went public with recordings of hospital staff pressuring him to do assisted suicide
Now they’re denying him food & water
Retaliation is real
Man With Disabilities Begs Hospital To Stop Pushing Suicide
Hospital staff have repeatedly pushed a Canadian man with disabilities to accept euthanasia, cutting off basic needs like food and water.
dallasexpress.com
June 9, 2025 at 2:24 AM
“The hospital is not to ask me about suicide. Do not ask. Do not ask. How many times do I have to tell the hospital?”
Roger Foley is a disabled Canadian who went public with recordings of hospital staff pressuring him to do assisted suicide
Now they’re denying him food & water
Retaliation is real
Roger Foley is a disabled Canadian who went public with recordings of hospital staff pressuring him to do assisted suicide
Now they’re denying him food & water
Retaliation is real
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
Today on the Hall of Shame is Par McFadden who is a supporter of the cuts to disability benefits.
He believes too many disabled people claim sickness and disability benefits, which he says is unsustainable and believes disabled people claiming the benefits they need are dependent on them.
He believes too many disabled people claim sickness and disability benefits, which he says is unsustainable and believes disabled people claiming the benefits they need are dependent on them.
June 6, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Today on the Hall of Shame is Par McFadden who is a supporter of the cuts to disability benefits.
He believes too many disabled people claim sickness and disability benefits, which he says is unsustainable and believes disabled people claiming the benefits they need are dependent on them.
He believes too many disabled people claim sickness and disability benefits, which he says is unsustainable and believes disabled people claiming the benefits they need are dependent on them.
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
As a disabled person, I’ve watched helplessly was govts punch down on disabled people. My mistake was thinking I was helpless. A butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world can hypothetically trigger a hurricane in another. We are not powerless. #takingthepip #DisabilityRebellion
May 27, 2025 at 10:56 AM
As a disabled person, I’ve watched helplessly was govts punch down on disabled people. My mistake was thinking I was helpless. A butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world can hypothetically trigger a hurricane in another. We are not powerless. #takingthepip #DisabilityRebellion
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
14,000 babies are at risk of dying in the next 48 hours in Gaza if aid doesn’t reach them, warns Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs – a figure he called “utterly chilling.”
🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/x26ghx
🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/x26ghx
May 20, 2025 at 12:01 PM
14,000 babies are at risk of dying in the next 48 hours in Gaza if aid doesn’t reach them, warns Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs – a figure he called “utterly chilling.”
🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/x26ghx
🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/x26ghx
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
We've published our full response to the proposed changes to sickness and disability benefits:
1. This is the biggest cut to sickness and disability benefits in a generation. It will push 50,000 children into poverty, and reduce living standards for many more.
1. This is the biggest cut to sickness and disability benefits in a generation. It will push 50,000 children into poverty, and reduce living standards for many more.
May 19, 2025 at 1:24 PM
We've published our full response to the proposed changes to sickness and disability benefits:
1. This is the biggest cut to sickness and disability benefits in a generation. It will push 50,000 children into poverty, and reduce living standards for many more.
1. This is the biggest cut to sickness and disability benefits in a generation. It will push 50,000 children into poverty, and reduce living standards for many more.
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
The “covid is only a threat to the vulnerable” narrative primed the pump for the eugenics movement we’re seeing now.
It conditioned people to see the disabled & vulnerable as acceptable losses. People who were probably going to “die anyways”.
It paved the way for fascism.
It conditioned people to see the disabled & vulnerable as acceptable losses. People who were probably going to “die anyways”.
It paved the way for fascism.
May 12, 2025 at 4:29 AM
The “covid is only a threat to the vulnerable” narrative primed the pump for the eugenics movement we’re seeing now.
It conditioned people to see the disabled & vulnerable as acceptable losses. People who were probably going to “die anyways”.
It paved the way for fascism.
It conditioned people to see the disabled & vulnerable as acceptable losses. People who were probably going to “die anyways”.
It paved the way for fascism.
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
My quick take on Labour's anti-immigration policies, and the inevitable harm which they will cause. Starmer is mirroring Reform, but can never go far enough to appease them. #r4today
May 12, 2025 at 7:44 AM
My quick take on Labour's anti-immigration policies, and the inevitable harm which they will cause. Starmer is mirroring Reform, but can never go far enough to appease them. #r4today
Reposted by Leonora (Leo) Gunn
“Gaza will be entirely destroyed,” Israeli minister says.
Israel is saying the quiet part out loud and have been doing so for a long time. When will its defenders admit they’ve been supporting genocide all along? www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
Israel is saying the quiet part out loud and have been doing so for a long time. When will its defenders admit they’ve been supporting genocide all along? www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
Gaza will be entirely destroyed, Israeli minister says
Bezalel Smotrich says Palestinians will ‘leave in great numbers to third countries’, raising fears of ethnic cleansing
www.theguardian.com
May 6, 2025 at 7:52 PM
“Gaza will be entirely destroyed,” Israeli minister says.
Israel is saying the quiet part out loud and have been doing so for a long time. When will its defenders admit they’ve been supporting genocide all along? www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
Israel is saying the quiet part out loud and have been doing so for a long time. When will its defenders admit they’ve been supporting genocide all along? www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...