Left voices, unfiltered, unedited, Ungagged.
“We live in the age of the refugee, the age of the exile” Ariel Dorfman This is a story told to me by a remarkable student. She attends my Philosophy classes and the classes I teach. Gabriela Inostroza de Gatica is very Latin, the native blood of South America flows in her veins. She is […]
Ungagged asked me to write a piece around the latest row on women’s representation in the Yes movement. The story arose after Rhiannon Spear questioned whether any women would be asked to speak at a demonstration and has re-ignited the debate around “manels” – all male panels – and whether it is damaging to […]
Antisemitism in the UK Many minorities are said to be ‘the new Jews’ because of the hate and bigotry they face. But this can sometimes ignore how Jews are still ‘the new Jews’. Antisemitism has become a serious problem in the UK since 2008. This article will attempt to analyse the reasons why. The […]
Pride Glasgow 2018 Saturday the 14th July Glasgow, there was a bright and colourful March in the west end today and it wasn’t an orange walk. Led by the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, who accepted the grand Marshall position of the pride parade instead of meeting with a big orange balloon. Over 12,000 […]
May, You Live In Interesting Times I was an enthusiastic participant in the original Pussy march in London on 21 January 2017, along with an estimated 5 million people worldwide – there were over 400 anti-Trump marches in cities across the world that day. It was unlike any other protest march I had previously joined, […]
The STUC organised #dumptrump Anti-Trump Rally in George Square, Glasgow was a colourful and enjoyable affair. I suppose the good weather helped but there was a party atmosphere. Many different groups (there were three I’m a part of) there under the one cause of being against the racist, misogynistic, ruthless capitalist… you […]
Those of you who follow me on Twitter will have seen me tweet this headline from The Spectator: With the words “is this real life?” so I apologise if this feels like I’m going over old ground for some readers, but I do feel like this sort of headline is harmful on a number of […]
I’m a heterosexual man. I always have been. I was a child in the 1970s and a teen in the 80s. I have made lots of mistakes in my life and my attitudes have evolved over time – I’m sure that despite my trying to live in a better way, I have attitudes and unconscious […]
History has been far from generous to the LGBTQIA+ community. Bullying, hatred, societal prejudice, oppression and laws criminalising our existence has generated an unnecessary amount of torment throughout the centuries. Although numerous acts have been introduced in recent years to try protect LGBTQIA+ people from the systematic injustices inflicted upon us, it wasn’t all that […]
Everyone’s opinion of Pride is different. Pride events have increased in size and the number of events being held in large cities tends to have a mainstream festival feel. I find that small town Prides, such as Kirkcaldy, who are holding their second Pride this year, try to have the local community at their heart […]