The final stages of clearing out the loft revealed a batch of old T-shirts, kept for sentimental reasons – they were bought during my working life when I weighed 55kg (rather under 9 stone), rather than my current 67kg (ten and a half stone) so no longer really fit.
A couple of them caused me to think. In particular, the “Section 28” one, bought for the massive march in 1988, the occasion that prompted Ian McKellan to come out very publicly. In so many respects, there are parallels with the recent Supreme Court ruling on gender identity, not least that the press and popular media are whipping up hysteria which has the effect of making the ruling far broader and far-reaching than the words actually say. That means a climate of fear, with people massively scared to do even things which are legal, and whips up a (justified) fear verbal or physical violence against those who are being so publicly vilified.
I stand with my trans and NB friends and relatives, of course … how could I not?
