Chris(tyn) Parkes
@parkesland.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in history. Views my own. Historian of US politics and sexuality, especially Sumner Welles. Canadian. Non-binary (they/them). Fabulous.
Oof. You and me are like ships passing in the night, transition-goals-wise.
November 3, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Oof. You and me are like ships passing in the night, transition-goals-wise.
No, *you* celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving too stereotypically!
(At the Maple Leaf Pub on Monday)
(At the Maple Leaf Pub on Monday)
October 15, 2025 at 6:03 AM
No, *you* celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving too stereotypically!
(At the Maple Leaf Pub on Monday)
(At the Maple Leaf Pub on Monday)
Amazing show of solidarity for the LGBTQIA+ Greens at the first day of conference.
Elect the dolls!
Elect the dolls!
October 3, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Amazing show of solidarity for the LGBTQIA+ Greens at the first day of conference.
Elect the dolls!
Elect the dolls!
This will probably get lost in the news today, but a FOI request just confirmed that the EHRC produced no documents in the last 5 months on what prompts it would use to review the Code of Practice submissions.
It's friggin' amateur hour there.
It's friggin' amateur hour there.
September 2, 2025 at 11:24 AM
This will probably get lost in the news today, but a FOI request just confirmed that the EHRC produced no documents in the last 5 months on what prompts it would use to review the Code of Practice submissions.
It's friggin' amateur hour there.
It's friggin' amateur hour there.
And, lo, a third circle was added for those who shamelessly screenshot a post and then @ the OP to evade their disabling of replies and quote reposts.
Was @davidallengreen.bsky.social surprised?
So what? It will make no difference.
Was @davidallengreen.bsky.social surprised?
So what? It will make no difference.
August 30, 2025 at 9:18 AM
And, lo, a third circle was added for those who shamelessly screenshot a post and then @ the OP to evade their disabling of replies and quote reposts.
Was @davidallengreen.bsky.social surprised?
So what? It will make no difference.
Was @davidallengreen.bsky.social surprised?
So what? It will make no difference.
The excellent @vickerystamp.bsky.social is looking for volunteers to participate in a study on LGBTQ+ life and chronic illness.
Sign up if you can. Share widely, too.
Sign up if you can. Share widely, too.
August 23, 2025 at 8:52 AM
The excellent @vickerystamp.bsky.social is looking for volunteers to participate in a study on LGBTQ+ life and chronic illness.
Sign up if you can. Share widely, too.
Sign up if you can. Share widely, too.
I take it back. This *definitely* isn't about Labour. My apologies.
August 19, 2025 at 6:11 PM
I take it back. This *definitely* isn't about Labour. My apologies.
Neat! Senate House is doing a display about Labour.
August 19, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Neat! Senate House is doing a display about Labour.
Not really related, but my brain connected these because of the confusion over a word starting with 'ch'.
August 19, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Not really related, but my brain connected these because of the confusion over a word starting with 'ch'.
This crucial passage in the conclusion draws attention to something that I think has been lost in all the arcane and abstruse legalistic discussion lately
To justify its transphobic judgment, the Supreme Court infamously invented a criterion for assessing 'biological sex': the 'ordinary meaning' /2
To justify its transphobic judgment, the Supreme Court infamously invented a criterion for assessing 'biological sex': the 'ordinary meaning' /2
August 8, 2025 at 7:37 AM
This crucial passage in the conclusion draws attention to something that I think has been lost in all the arcane and abstruse legalistic discussion lately
To justify its transphobic judgment, the Supreme Court infamously invented a criterion for assessing 'biological sex': the 'ordinary meaning' /2
To justify its transphobic judgment, the Supreme Court infamously invented a criterion for assessing 'biological sex': the 'ordinary meaning' /2
My Fantastic Four
July 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
My Fantastic Four
There are dark room slings with less extreme ratios than this @lgbtfdn.bsky.social statement.
July 18, 2025 at 2:09 PM
There are dark room slings with less extreme ratios than this @lgbtfdn.bsky.social statement.
I'm not just venting spleen here. Check out the comments underneath the video. They are unanimously critical, some of them vituperatively so. No one who isn't paid to do so buys the notion that these organizations or attendees are making a difference or even just not contributing to the problem. /18
July 18, 2025 at 12:23 PM
I'm not just venting spleen here. Check out the comments underneath the video. They are unanimously critical, some of them vituperatively so. No one who isn't paid to do so buys the notion that these organizations or attendees are making a difference or even just not contributing to the problem. /18
He closes: '... this is a government committed to the fundamental principles of respect, to dignity, and equality.'
There's the magic word: dignity. It was what the Labour manifesto pledged it would treat trans people with. It's the catchall verbal tic for every Labour pol's stock answer. /13
There's the magic word: dignity. It was what the Labour manifesto pledged it would treat trans people with. It's the catchall verbal tic for every Labour pol's stock answer. /13
July 18, 2025 at 12:23 PM
He closes: '... this is a government committed to the fundamental principles of respect, to dignity, and equality.'
There's the magic word: dignity. It was what the Labour manifesto pledged it would treat trans people with. It's the catchall verbal tic for every Labour pol's stock answer. /13
There's the magic word: dignity. It was what the Labour manifesto pledged it would treat trans people with. It's the catchall verbal tic for every Labour pol's stock answer. /13
Starmer seems to realize this, as the next line is: 'But of course there is almost more work to do.' Listen closely and you'll hear his languid delivery break as he adds '... and I accept that', rushing his words seemingly out of frit recognition that plausible deniability has stretched too thin /12
July 18, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Starmer seems to realize this, as the next line is: 'But of course there is almost more work to do.' Listen closely and you'll hear his languid delivery break as he adds '... and I accept that', rushing his words seemingly out of frit recognition that plausible deniability has stretched too thin /12
'the UK has become a better place where people are freer to be who they are, love who they love'.
Has it, though? The progress of 50 years is significant, but the advances implied here are conditional, limited, and as shown for trans people since Starmer took office, very much reversible. /11
Has it, though? The progress of 50 years is significant, but the advances implied here are conditional, limited, and as shown for trans people since Starmer took office, very much reversible. /11
July 18, 2025 at 12:23 PM
'the UK has become a better place where people are freer to be who they are, love who they love'.
Has it, though? The progress of 50 years is significant, but the advances implied here are conditional, limited, and as shown for trans people since Starmer took office, very much reversible. /11
Has it, though? The progress of 50 years is significant, but the advances implied here are conditional, limited, and as shown for trans people since Starmer took office, very much reversible. /11
Let's turn to the voiceover. Starmer, doing his best HR-director voice, lauds the 'transformational work' of 'everybody in this garden'. I guess it's fair he praises the people who paid for the champagne and bunting, but the focus on the people in the garden over the wider movement is telling. /10
July 18, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Let's turn to the voiceover. Starmer, doing his best HR-director voice, lauds the 'transformational work' of 'everybody in this garden'. I guess it's fair he praises the people who paid for the champagne and bunting, but the focus on the people in the garden over the wider movement is telling. /10
To be clear, the traditional Pride flag is lovely and a signifcant part of queer history. It's not bad to use it. But it is a throwback. It's an icon and a relic, a sign of what the community *was* more than what the community *is*. Using it as your bunting now is borderline anachronistic. /7
July 18, 2025 at 12:23 PM
To be clear, the traditional Pride flag is lovely and a signifcant part of queer history. It's not bad to use it. But it is a throwback. It's an icon and a relic, a sign of what the community *was* more than what the community *is*. Using it as your bunting now is borderline anachronistic. /7