I struggled, a lot, with accepting that I am non-binary. It went against everything I had been brought up with, and involved unlearning things in myself. Being pushed into sharing pronouns was genuinely hard. It was a choice between outing myself to people I wasn't ready to, or lying about myself.

Possibly controversial point, I hope not, but also, don't make people share pronouns unless they feel comfortable doing so, you know those meetings where people go round as ask everyone their name and preferred pronouns. It can be hard if people aren't "out" to be open. #InternationalPronounsDay

I tend to ask people not to use a title for me, to be honest, just my name. As a purely personal thing I haven't found a gender neutral title, like Mx, which feels right for me.

I am They/Them, but don't mind He/They too much, and fully understand why people would automatically default to He/Him so don't get annoyed when it is a genuine mistake, I do when they continue if, and I rarely do offline, I have corrected them.
#InternationalPronounsDay

Commissioner Michael O'Flaherty adds: 'I observe a tendency to see the human rights of different groups as a zero-sum game. This has contributed to narratives which build on prejudice against trans people and portray upholding their human rights as a de facto threat to the rights of others.’

We have already seen the outcome of harsher border policies across Europe. Geek authorities actively causing people to drown. Polish authorities watching people freeze to death. We need international cooperation on ways to ensure people can seek safety, not more ways to deny it. #r4today

Making life more difficult for migrants helps nobody.
Making it harder for people fleeing war and persecution to find safety helps nobody.
Labour pushing xenophobia as policy helps nobody.
Pandering to far right politics doesn't combat far right rhetoric or "build trust in politicians"
#r4today

If Mahmood wanted to tackle declining in trust in politicians a good step would be being honest about immigration. It isn't migration which is the issue, it's the misinformation demonising migrants which surrounds it. Europe's border policies already cost lives.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Fantastic. Looking forward to reading it

Their feed is full of massive transphobia and a complete ignorance of science, while claiming their views are rooted in science. I suspect that there is very little which will get them to understand the basic principle of respecting anyone apart from themselves.

Most people aren’t asking you mask at all times.

They ask that you mask in essential places: public transit, hospitals, doctors’ offices, pharmacies etc.

Places high risk people can’t avoid.

But if you hate wearing masks? Then advocate for indoor air quality: ventilation, filtration, etc.

Of the many reasons I am going to hell, automatically mentally inserting Sean Connery's "That's the Chicago Way" speech from the Untouchables every time the Pope defends migrants against Trump's attacks is going to have to be added to the list.

www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Woah! So Labour's position really is, 'telling us off for breaching human rights undermines the case for human rights'? Proper Trumpian stuff from Labour's answer to Suella Braverman.

seeing as we're all talking about the proposed language requirement changes for visas: here's the email my wife was sent for her B1 test in 2018. imagine spending about £800 in total across 3 tests, and you're met with

"YOU TEST DAY INFOMRATION"

"a test"? you mean...a violation?

Honestly, what's the point of saying they have to do this to prevent Reform, when outcome is effectively mass deportations by the back door and removal of rights anyway. More people becoming undocumented, which Labour's policies guarantee, lead, because of Labour's policies, to more deportations. 4/

In practice, and even before today's changes, Labour has gone further on anti-immigration policies than any government in decades. The outcome being more families ripped apart, more people forced to become undocumented, fewer jobs for everyone and a crashed economy. 3/

We can all bitch and moan and call out the utterly contemptible policies suggested by the likes of Reform and the Conservatives, but if that same condemnation is not applied to Labour then it shows it is not about supporting migrants, it is about being party political. 2/

Some changes to immigration rules today, not just increasing English language requirements, mean migrants looking to live and work in UK will have to meet far far higher standards than British nationals, while paying vast sums to be allowed to do so. That isn't a system based on "fairness". 1/

Yeah, yeah, it’s nice for the morally superior people to point out that immigrants aren’t actually going to need A level English, but that’s not really the point. What’s the message?

The usual one: we’re going to be TOUGHER on those evil immigrants trying to infiltrate our precious bodily fluids.

It is an absolute increase from the current standard, in line with the Immigration White Paper released in May, albeit definitely ineffectively communicated

“Such a zero-sum approach risks certain inferences being drawn from the UK supreme court judgment that could lead to widespread exclusion of trans people from many public spaces."

"No shit Sherlock" seems inadequate. This is a feature of the guidance, not a bug.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

My guess is that Lord Clive lacked A-level standard in any Indian language when he went to work there

Just as a not so insignificant point, such a level would mean that the majority of people born in the UK would not be able to meet this criteria, considering the percentage (fewer than half) who actually complete A levels, let alone ones which effectively demonstrate an A Level standard of English.