Can we all calm down about sex ed?
The UK’s current sex education curriculum for schools was last updated in 2000, before we had ever heard of camera phones, Facebook or YouTube. It’s a different world, so an update of schools’...
Category: Europe
UK Government’s zero-tolerance drugs policy is proving deadly
Medical experts denounce policy’s “false claims and empty promises” and doctors join call for decriminalisation of drugs — but is the Government capable of listening? Deaths caused by drugs...
A UK plastic straw ban would be a disaster
I’ve recently got very into eating yoghurt. It’s fruity and fresh and tasty and I can’t believe I didn’t eat any for years, but they were so associated with diet culture that I couldn’t...
Don’t implicate all cis lesbians in your transphobia
When Sheffield Pride announced a few months ago that its parade was going to be a celebration and not a protest, there was widespread outrage. They had completely misunderstood the history of Pride...
It’s a bleeding shame: endometriosis, reproductive health and being believed
When I was at school, it was clear that my periods were a problem. Anybody who knew me could tell that their period pain versus my whatever-the-hell-was-going-on were a different matter, but I was...
Civil partnerships for all! And can we abolish marriage while we’re at it?
This week, the UK’s Supreme Court ruled that opposite-sex couples should have the right to have a civil partnership as well as marriage. This has been a controversial ruling that has been resisted...
What happened? Opiate overprescription led to 456 deaths at Gosport War Memorial Hospital
Dr Jane Barton is a retired GP who, according to the results of a recent inquiry, signed off prescriptions for opioid medications that led to the deaths of up to 650 people at Gosport War Memorial...
Grenfell Towers: a demand for justice one year on
Yesterday, it was 12 months since the horrific fire at Grenfell Towers in London. 72 people died and many more were injured, and a public inquiry is ongoing to look at what caused the blaze and how...
Northern Ireland and abortion rights: we haven’t forgotten you
Two weeks ago, Ireland made the historic decision to repeal its 8th amendment, which had previously outlawed abortion by giving a foetus an equal right to life as the person carrying it. By a...
The shadows of Section 28
30 years ago, a group of four lesbians slipped into the BBC studios and started yelling on the flagship Six O’Clock News. One presenter tried to keep going, while the other sat on one of the...