Sorry for the miserable post.
Law lecturer, dog parent, imported Bristolian, Irish. Using law for trans liberation, reproductive justice, post-/de-coloniality. They/she. AuDHD. Fond of penguins. Views personal. 🇵🇸 Header: @mxfrankduffy.bsky.social eireannach.ghost.io
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Sorry for the miserable post.
Oh look, Robert Jenrick is talking absolute nonsense about migration again Here's what he doesn't want you to know: Migration is good for this country - the real problem is that his govt destroyed our public services Time to break up the Home Office and fund our communities
This isn't a new observation but it is genuinely so hard to just try and continue going to work, do chores, clean, cook, all the menial life shit whilst waiting for stat guidance that will inevitably remove you from public life and the outcomes of a NHS report which will limit healthcare further
For your own sanity I'd stay that way, honestly. You get told it every so often when you're doing trans rights work because apparently equality for minorities is just ~too much~.
Oh no, people really do say this stuff! It's ridiculous.
Scottish Greens leading the way for Palestine solidarity ✊🇵🇸 www.thenational.scot/news/2543951...
Post a PERFECT album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana or Pearl Jam
Also, there is no such thing as 'too much' civil, social, and economic rights!
[mysterious circle of robed figures] JK Rowling: hello children Rowling: tonight i want to talk about the ssscourge of ssslightly taller than average department sstore clerksss Rowling: when will we be free of thiss long national nightmare? Kathleen Stock: a just question, my liege!
I am finding the fact that "is it acceptable and proportional to call for trans women to be assaulted in public" is now a subject of public debate in the UK really very upsetting.
That's the thing, I haven't got aggro for it because I block loads of them, it's just got a surprising amount of attention!
Aww, I just thought I'd try my luck as we're on the same continent for a change! NZ is a big goal for both of us someday but we'd have to have a *lot* of holiday time spare.
You're not coming to the UK are you? I hear Bristol is LOVELY this time of year.
Did this hit Discover or something?
Signed up immediately!
I can't even give students the thought experiment 'if you were Prime Minister, what would you do?' any more because apparently the answer is 'the exact opposite of human rights law.'
100%. He's so (wilfully?) ignorant.
I love a good moderation list!
Starmer the 'human rights lawyer' apparently knows less than my undergrads after Week 1 of human rights class.
The point of the European Convention on Human Rights is that it is a set of basic rights provisions, the interpretation of which can move with the times. There is already a 'margin of appreciation' given to states, frequently VERY generously, in that interpretation, by the Court.
I need to go back on beta-blockers.
Bring 'em on.
(What is 'semi-protected speech'? It doesn't exist, but I am using it to mean 'speech that would normally be subject to legal scrutiny but instead will get you support from the government if you point it in the right direction')
It's just so frustrating. Endless talk about how the country doesn't have enough money, but there's this whole untapped vein of taxation waiting to happen when we consider the very rich.
I do not and cannot advocate that anyone makes these jokes, but it is interesting to see that they are now apparently semi-protected speech.
Don't let Rayner off the hook, she's in government, she should pay her taxes and she should be subject to scrutiny if she does not. I'd just like to see a big lead news story about the 'tax the rich' proposals that @carladenyer.bsky.social is putting forward today, as well.
I think politicians should be subject to scrutiny about paying their taxes, yes, but I would love to see this much uproar over the fact that billionaires are also avoiding tax.
No doubt but it is.
1. A 2% tax on assets over £10 million, raising up to £24 billion a year 2. Equalise tax on income and capital gains, raising around £12bn a year 3. Abolish upper earnings limit on NI - raising around £11bn a year
The frequent desire to try and contrasts trans people's oppression with racialised abuse reinforces a white centric trans advocacy and at the same time leads us away from understanding that govt racism helps strengthen the risk of govt transphobia and vice versa.
Let's see how many people this line in my draft upsets: 'Let me be clear: I write based on the fact that transgender women are women. Ontologically, yes, but also legally...'
Alternatively I could just tell myself that if Wes Streeting read this article his head would explode, which is cheering.
Trying to badger myself through this draft by promising that when it's over, I don't have to think about FWS again until November when I go to workshop said draft.
The problem is that when I go 'ah, this writing break has been full of unpleasantness about trans law, I will go back to writing' is that I am going back to writing about unpleasantness about trans law.
Its not about me - at least, no more than it is about anyone else - but I really did hope that the political landscape of my life would be slightly less gruelling, and slightly less deliberately cruel.
First worldiest of first world problems is that I didn't get Florence tickets in the presale. Sigh, sad, etc.
I am a trans woman in the UK. My most influential enemies are the guy who co-created a sitcom about Catholic priests back in the 90s, a woman who wrote some children’s books about wizards, and the prime minister. Sometimes I feel a little crazy about this.
Yeah, he only routinely denigrates trans people. It's not like he was doing something dreadful like protesting an ongoing genocide.
Please help my friend Adham, he is in the worst situation possible with horrendous things happening all around him. www.gofundme.com/f/adhammadi
Ach, he's alive.
Produce the bodies, be they alive or dead.
That was my thought too, dissertation/similar on the theme of AI, possibly with a module attached like we'd normally do diss prep/research skills.
I'd love to know how Ireland plan to take on New Zealand at the weekend given that they are attempting to score tries at different ends of the pitch?
Commenting on politics on bsky like:
26. Pillow Queens - Handsome Wife when the right man comes along singing the right song it's gonna be me www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BQE...
25. Mic Christopher - Heyday Song of my youth for real. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcnP...
24. The Mary janes - Sham www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dak3...
23. The Mountain Goats - This Year Because we've all been young and reckless and full of joy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7fB...
'And THAT'S why everyone hates moral philosophers' is just the best repeated joke.
I'M GONNA DJ
My best friend has a master's in philosophy and Chidi made me cry laughing repeatedly. Make of that what you will.
(the artist website is in the lower left corner, it is birdandmoon.com)
Commenting on politics on bsky like:
Right, I have to go write again, can there be less news for a few hours please.
There's too much transphobia in and around it for me, I'm afraid. See this and the reply for sources: bsky.app/profile/did:...
I waited less than a month and Your Party is facing a situation where two key figures (Adnan Hussain and Mark Serwotka) have endorsed transphobic positions and/or are associated with transphobic groups and orgs.
You are not wrong.
I purposely didn't make comparisons! Just talking about the talking point that's in the posts on my tl at the moment.
But of the two options for leader, he was the right choice. Now it's about whether he can translate a good campaign into effective leadership and whether he keeps flying the flag for, eg, trans rights, when it gets tough.
New on NOTCHES 🚻✨ “Dolled up to the nines to go to a flippin' public toilet!”: Cruising in Belfast During the Troubles by Niall Herron. How did queer cruising unfold during the Troubles, and what can it teach us about sexuality, space, and conflict? Read the full feature here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Pq
The 'boob hypnotist' thing shows bad judgement and a willingness to tell people anything to make money out of them, that's why it gives people pause. Trying to pretend it's not a bit dodge as a CV entry isn't worth the time. Most politicians are a bit dodge - it's whether you accept he can move on.
We entered the lottery for a few games in Bristol and Exeter - my wife and our friends went to France v Italy a couple of weeks ago (I wasn't well so missed it). It's really cool to have World Cup games happening in my city. Brighton isn't half bad as a location as well though!
Omg I'm so envious, what a match to see! We have qf tickets for one of the games but it depends the result of this one whether it'll be the Ireland game.
Ooh, I want to hear about this when I see you!
Is anyone of aware of any local polling data for Bristol/south west? Particularly on LGBTQIA+ related matters?
Kick the transphobes out of YP first though :/
This is my favourite comic strip ever. I think 'I'm not a lawyer at all, am I?' far too frequently.
Of the many writers to predict AI, only Douglas Adams got the tone right
It's so GOOD to see clear messaging that says 'hello, we're the opposition.'
This is the way!
Some bands I have a clear favourite, and then some are just so broadly brilliant that it's impossible.
I forgot ROCKVILLE. Wtaf.
I really really hope so 💜
I just really love REM, lads.
Yes yes yes! Can't believe I forgot World Leader Pretend, it's on a bunch of my playlists. Accelerate is an underrated album, also.
I never got to see them live and it is my biggest music regret, I'll carry it forever. I was at karaoke for a friend's grad one of those nights in Dublin and I did The Great Beyond because I was so annoyed I hadn't got tickets :D
I'd love to know how Ireland plan to take on New Zealand at the weekend given that they are attempting to score tries at different ends of the pitch?
Other than the Supreme Court ruling, the Dr Upton case is undoubtedly the most horrible and distressing news story this year to read as a trans woman. The way she’s been treated is horrific, and I know outrage is overdone at this point, I am shocked English progressives have spoken about it more.
Oh, also At My Most Beautiful Daysleeper Walk Unafraid I Believe Ignoreland
This is like choosing a favourite child: Find the River. But also: Strange Currencies Houston Cuyahoga Imitation of Life Fall on Me Supernatural Superserious Nightswimming It's the End of the World... and more.
Over the moon to see my paper with artist Travis De Vries has been published in @law-and-humanities.bsky.social. Our paper is framed through a series of conversations about art, law, and justice. You can read it here: doi.org/10.1080/1752...
aware my followers might not know about uk flag politics. basically if a guy flies the union flag (🇬🇧) he has really strong views on anthony eden's handling of the suez crisis. if a guy flies the england flag (🏴) he's saying that he's thrown a can of foster's at somebody's head at 11:30 am*
Working as a legal academic and writing on LGBT rights is not an abstract intellectual exercise. It’s deeply emotional. It requires political accountability and intellectual vulnerability.
Question to Zach Polanski at the leadership announcement: "Q: How can you take on Nigel Farage when your policy on immigration is so different?" Everything wrong with British politics and media summed up so succinctly in a single absolutely unhinged question.
Right, well, it's Zack, so now - show us what you've got.
Days of news cycle on this clown archipelago nothing but
Thanks. *Laughs in academia*
"The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), a 500-member body of academics founded in 1994, passed a resolution on Monday, stating that Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza fulfil the definition of genocide" www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/...
Me at 11 watching the X-Men movies: Xavier is doing his best in a difficult world! Me now: Magneto should be allowed to hunt every senator that supported the mutant registration act for sport
Brexit never ended, and it never will
You are very wise tbh. I do like my MACs though.
Aww, I like this way of looking at it!
Monsieur Timetabling, with these timeslots you are really spoiling us.
15. A song that is a cover by another artist Blondie's 1980 version of "The Tide Is High" was originally a 1967 hit for The Paragons, a Jamaican rocksteady group. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAb8...
Nice! Good on you!
Jfc, no I hadn't. That's ridiculous. I think makeup has gotten way more expensive recently, even Boots brands are now in the £10-20 range for lots of their lipsticks and MAC is 25 (weren't they 17.50 like, a blink ago?). I still balk at over 30, though!
Noooo! I don't think I've ever bought anything of hers full price, she's extortionate. Do you remember a few years ago she used to make all the lipsticks $12 for Black Friday? Those were the days.
Every! Day!
22. REM - UBerlin I know, I know, I know what I am chasing I know, I know, I know that this is changing me www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZITh...