It’s 13th June, which means it’s almost halfway through this year’s Pride Month. I’ve been so busy that I am very late in posting about Pride 2025. I usually post something to mark Pride Month on 1st June (e.g. here). In fact I hadn’t even noticed the Pride Progress Flag flying on Maynooth Campus (between the Arts Block and John Hume Building) until today. I didn’t see anything on Maynooth’s social media about Pride either. I didn’t see the flag yesterday when I left the Science Building and assumed it wasn’t there. It was however raining heavily so my view may have been obscured by the rain on my spectacles, so I went back today to check. I am relieved it is there, as we need such symbols now more than ever.
With its origins as a commemoration of the Stonewall Riots of 1969, Pride remains both a celebration and protest. It’s more necessary than ever now because of the sustained abuse being aimed at trans people from all quarters, including those in political power and those sad losers who have nothing better to do that spend all day tweeting their bigotry on social media. Bigots will always be bigots, but the lowest of the low are those that masquerade as some sort of progressive while spouting their hate and prejudice.
Someone asked me the other day whether we still needed Pride. I replied that I think Pride will be necessary for as long as there are people who are annoyed by its existence. As well as a celebration and a protest, Pride is an opportunity for us all to show solidarity against those who seek to divide us. Though many LGBTQIA+ people in many countries – even those that claim to be more liberal – still face discrimination, hostility and violence, Pride Month always reminds me of how far we’ve come in the past 50 years but also serves as a reminder that the rights we have won could so easily be taken away. As I get older, I find I have become more and more protective towards younger LGBTQ+ people. I don’t want them to have to put up with the crap that I did when I was their age.
Latest issue of GCNlist of patrons
To mark this year’s Pride I decided to become a patron of Gay Community News, a free magazine that is, I hope, a vital resource to for the Irish LGBTQ+ community. I hope to take part in the Dublin Pride March on 28th June too. More generally, I would like to wish all LGBTQIA+ people around the world, but especially staff and students at Maynooth University, a very enjoyable and inspiring Pride 2025!
I was saddened to hear of the death on Tuesday at the age of 85 of novelist Edmund White. Like many gay men of my age I read his semi-autobiographical novel A Boy’s Own Story as a teenager, and it had a profound effect on me.
It’s the story of an adolescent boy coming to terms with his sexuality in the American mid-West during the 1950s. It is as frank about the description of gay sex as it is truthful about the confusion that goes with being a teenager. When I bought it I didn’t realize it was going to be so sexually explicit, as the whole subject of gay sex was very much taboo in those days. I didn’t think it was possible to write about such things in such a matter-of-fact way and at the same time so beautifully. The book is also unflinching in its description of the personality flaws of the central character.
The Irish Times has a collection of reflections by various writers on Edmund White that say far more, and far more eloquently, than I ever could. I’ll just say, as a (now) sixty-something gay man that Edmund White helped me on my journey to self-acceptance when I was a struggling teenager all those years ago, and for that I will always be profoundly grateful.
Attitudes in many places are more enlightened than they were decades ago. Next week, for example, sees the 10th anniversary of the equal marriage referendum in Ireland. But the rights we have won could easily be (and indeed are being ) lost if we do not defend them.
The theme for IDAHOBIT2025 is “The Power of Communities”, shown above in Irish. Even if you are not a member of our community we still need your support. Here is a useful guide I posted a few years ago about how to be a good ally.
On reflection it was inevitable that the UK Supreme Court would make the decision that it did today, i.e. to decide to deprive trans people of the protections from discrimination that they should have under the 2010 Equality Act. After all, the Court did not consult with a single trans individual or organization representing trans people in the course of its deliberations, preferring instead to base its conclusions only on submissions from known transphobic groups. That alone renders the process indefensible.
That said, the Supreme Court had to twist itself in knots in its judgment to find some semblance of an argument. For example, the judgment claims that the definition of “sex” to be used in the context of the Equality Act is “biological sex” which is “binary”. I paraphrase, of course, but it doesn’t really matter that the argument about biology is wrong – ever heard of intersex people? – because they don’t use it anyway. In fact the judgment does not even attempt to define in biological terms what sex is nor what is a woman is. The definition asserted is “sex at birth”, which actually means what is written on a birth certificate. As a matter of fact, my birth certificate actually says “Boy”…
Whatever is written on an official document is not biological, but bureaucratic, and also non-binary. Intersex people sometimes have “intersex” written on their birth certificate, a fact that thus refutes the binary claim, but sometimes they are arbitrarily assigned “male” or “female” with potentially damaging consequences. I used intersex merely as an example. Very few things in nature are actually binary, and sex – whether it be genetic, hormonal , gonadal or whatever – is emphatically not one of them, particularly not in humans.
Here’s a helpful graphic.
Shoe-horning people into binary categories is wrong not only because it fails to accept scientific reality but also because of the harm it causes to human beings worthy of acceptance and respect. People who dismiss the non-binary nature of sex and gender often say words to the effect that “oh I know there are exceptions, but there aren’t many of them”. But:
if there are so few then why are you so obsessed with them?
one exception is sufficient to refute what purports to be a logical argument!
it’s precisely because trans people are a small minority that means they deserve legal protection.
Today’s judgment looks set to cast an already beleaguered group entirely to the wolves. You can bet your bottom dollar that there will be a tidal wave of follow-up cases targetting trans people with the specific intention of stirring up more hostility. The Supreme Court actually acknowledges the existence of transphobic hate and offers some words to suggest that trans people will still have some legal protections. There can be no doubt however that the judges know that their ruling will be seen as a green light for bigots and their rich backers to engage in still more bigotry. I also fear a rise in the already appalling number of trans suicides that the UK Government is trying so hard to conceal. I think it goes without saying and contrary to the claims of those who brought the case, this ruling does absolutely nothing to protect cis women.
I can’t understand the mindset of people that can look at the evidently complex and nuanced of human sexual identity and respond by putting on blinkers and insisting that it is what it clearly isn’t. Some people just seem to need their bigotry to survive in their joyless unimaginative lives. Whatever that mentality is the Supreme Court shares it. They didn’t listen to any contrary views. It was a foregone conclusion, a sham contrived by a group of reactionary duffers.
I have tried throughout this piece to refer to trans people rather than trans men or trans women. Obviously the ruling today was in response to a case brought by cis women who hate trans women. It will almost certainly lead to more trans women being harassed and victimized (as was the intention of the case). But there are at least as many trans men as trans women. Under the new ruling trans men will presumably be forced to use “women-only” lavatories and will run the risk of hostility should they do so. Trans women using “male only” toilets are likely also to be harassed. The Supreme Court knows this is what will happen, but apparently doesn’t care, and is content to go along with a trajectory set by far-right activists who won’t stop here.
It’s no consolation to my friends living on TERF Island, but at least in Ireland the law is a bit more progressive and better grounded in reality. It’s a grim day for trans people in the UK. All I can do is send a message of solidarity and point you to this list of resources for trans people and their allies. I know it’s only a gesture but I’m proud to share the Trans Pride flag here too.
Update: 27th April. The British Medical Association has just passed this resolution:
I got up at Stupid O’Clock this morning to catch an early morning plane from Dublin to Cardiff. It was very cold when I arrived but it soon warmed up and turned into a lovely day.
I had a nice breakfast at Bill’s when I arrived in the City then did tour of the National Museum of Wales where there is an exhibition about the Miners’ Strike of 1984/5, from which this display case caught my attention:
I also had time for a round of Name That Artist (scoring a miserable 3/12, for Sutherland, Ernst, and Magritte).
After that, I took a stroll around Bute Park before heading to my hotel in Cardiff Bay to check in and have a rest before the reason for my visit, an event which will take place here at 7pm:
I won’t be able to blog about that until I get back to Maynooth tomorrow afternoon.
The only thing that has surprised me about Donald Trump’s assault on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is the speed with which he has imposed his bigotry on individuals and federal institutions. The first step came within hours of the Felon-in-Chief assuming office with an Executive Order intended to dismantle crucial protections for transgender people and deny the validity of gender identity itself. The new order withdraws a range of executive orders issued by Joe Biden, including those allowing transgender people to serve in the military, advancing the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, and interpreting federal sex discrimination protections in domains like education, housing, and immigration to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. And this is just the start, and I don’t think it will be confined to the USA for very long.
The attack on LGBTQ+ rights is part of a wider assault on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies intended to create a level playing field for women and minorities. The intention is to turn the Federal government into a system of oppression operated by people of Trump’s hate-filled mindset that diversity is a threat to white male privilege and must be crushed. He and his crony Elon Musk got where they are not by merit but through inherited wealth. It’s no surprise that they wish to deny others the chance to succeed.
I have addressed the question “why should we care about diversity?” many times on this blog in many contexts, though usually in science and usually in reference to LGBTQ+ rights. The obvious answer _ think – is based on notions of fairness: we should do everything we can to ensure that people have equal opportunity to advance their career in whatever direction appeals to them. But I’m painfully aware that there are some people for whom arguments based on fairness simply don’t wash. Trumpists, for example. For them there’s another argument that should work better. As scientists whose goal is – or should be – the advancement of knowledge, the message is that we should strive as hard as possible to recruit the brightest and most creative brains into our subject. That means ensuring that the pool from which we recruit is as large and as diverse as possible. In large and complex research collaborations, such as the Euclid Consortium (of which I am a member), the range of ideas and perspectives is a real asset when it comes to solving problems. The problem is that this argument doesn’t work either as they are driven purely by mean-spirited ideology and the desire to fill the institutions of state with those of a similar ilk.
The effects of the latest reactionary steps are already starting to show in the area of astronomy. The Diversity and LGBT+ channels on the Vera Rubin-LSST Slack (which is a Federal project, funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy) have already been deleted. A similar fate has befallen the Space Telescope Science Institute (funded by NASA). It seems to me unlikely that NASA itself will survive long as Musk will have his eyes on dismantling it and using its resources for his own vanity projects.
Over the past year I have given a few talks about my own career in research as an LGBTQ+ person; see for example here. In giving these talks I tried to strike a relatively positive tone, showing how LGBTQ+ rights have improved over the 40 years or so I’ve been involved in cosmological research since I started my graduate studies in 1985. I have, however, ended with a warning that the forces of reaction were gathering, and all the progress we have made could easily be put into reverse. That is exactly what is happening now in the USA.
The question in my mind is who will stand up for diversity? I can quote examples from my own life that prove that some individual institutions have never really taken LGBTQ+ bullying and discrimination seriously. Others may be genuinely supportive, but perhaps that is wishful thinking. It is notable how enthusiastically some US organizations have preemptivly cooperated with Trump’s edicts, even when paused through legal challenge. I grew up in the 1980s when the climate was filled with homophobic hate. It is naive to imagination that all that hate simply disappeared. We will find out very soon whether our self-styled “allies” have only ever been fair weather friends who will happily abandon us when we become politically inconvenient.
(I’m not sure whether the above link will show properly, as I haven’t quite got the hang of this instant gramophone thing that young people use.)
It’s been a very busy day so I’ve just got time for a quick post to mention that this afternoon I gave a talk to Maynooth University’s Pride Society, which was a much less formal reprise of the talks I gave last month at Trinity College Dublin and at Oxford University in June. The talk was originally intended to mark LGBTQIA+ STEM Day on November 18th but it proved impossible to find a convenient time on that day or even near it. Anyway, it was nice talking to the students in this forum, and I would like to use the medium of this blog to say a bit “Thank You” for inviting me!
The forthcoming week is the second-to-last week of teaching term at Maynooth and, as usual at this stage of the Semester, we’re getting busier and busier.
The examinations for January have been sent off for printing and are (presumably) ready to go, so that’s one item crossed off the to-do list. I’m still behind on the coursework grading for one of my two modules, but should be able to catch up in the next few days. Other than that, I am miraculously on schedule as far as teaching is concerned. I should finish covering the respective syllabuses by Friday 13th, which means the following week will be devoted to revision. I expect attendance on campus will be fairly sparse in the last week of term, especially later on. I’ll be there until the bitter end, however, as I have a lecture scheduled on Friday 20th and have to attend final-year student presentations that afternoon. After that I will probably collapse in a state of exhaustion into the welcoming arms of the Christmas break.
While the week ahead will be fairly normal from the point of view of teaching itself, there are quite a few extra things in my calendar, as people try to get various things done before the break. Extra items for next week including a meeting about a staff recruitment (of which, hopefully, more anon) and another about the possible reorganization of teaching in the light of the merger of the Departments of Theoretical and Experimental Physics. Rationalization of teaching could lead to an improvement in the courses offered and also, by removing duplication, reduce our very heavy teaching workloads. Whether it will actually be possible to achieve either or both of these aims remains to be seen. In any case I’m not sure if any significant changes to teaching will be implemented before I retire, but I’ll probably go along to the meeting anyway in case there’s anything I can contribute.
I’ve also agreed to give a talk on Wednesday to the student Pride Society which I am looking forward to, although such events invariably make me feel very old!
As it happens, Friday 13th December is the date for the first Christmas dinner of the newly formed Department of Physics; previously, the Departments of Theoretical Physics and Experimental Physics held separate celebrations. It will be a much bigger group this time and, it being on a Friday evening we’ll have the weekend to recover before the last week of term.
Anyway, although it’s a Sunday I’ll be working all afternoon as I have a task to finish that is due tomorrow so I had better sign off. When I was younger I used to look forward to Christmas as a time for feasts and parties and socialising. Now that I’m older I look forward to it more than anything as a time for the sense of relaxation that comes from the lack of deadlines.
Just a quick post to point out that today is LGBTQIA+ STEM Day, which aims to celebrate to celebrate the work of LGBTQIA+ people in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM), but also to highlight the barriers still facing us.
Today I gave the inaugural EDI Seminar at the Department of Physics of Trinity College, Dublin, in the Lecture Theatre formerly known as Schrödinger. I wasn’t sure what to expect ahead of the event, but it was nice to see a large and attentive audience. At the end I was given the above book and whisked off to a pleasant lunch followed by a chat with some of the PhD students.
I’m going to a concert at the National Concert Hall later this evening. It being a mild evening, and there being no point making a trip to Maynooth and back, I decided to walk around Dublin for a bit.
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In the Dark 