Notes on women, men, trans and intersex: “the gender binary does not fit the facts”
Colin Wilson discusses why the gender binary’s imposition is something to be opposed. One of the most widely accepted “common sense” ideas about society is that human beings – apart from a tiny number of exceptions, none of whom you are ever likely to meet – can be simply divided into two groups, men and […]
Review – Sex and the Weimar Republic
Colin Wilson reviews Sex and the Weimar Republic: German Homosexual Emancipation and the Rise of the Nazis by Laurie Marhoefer. This book offers a glimpse of a different kind of LGBT politics. Today we’ve made advances, but in the context of neoliberalism. In the Weimar Republic – Germany from 1918 to 1933 – there also existed a […]
Why I’m not celebrating the fall of Keith Vaz
Colin Wilson argues that the manner of Keith Vaz’s fall from grace is nothing for the left to rejoice in. I never thought I would feel the slightest sympathy for Keith Vaz. The parliamentary watchdog twice found he had received money without declaring it; he was sacked over his relationship with the wealthy Hinduja brothers; […]
I hope Corbyn wins, but I’m not going to join the Labour Party
There is a danger of people devoting most of their energies to struggles inside the Labour Party.
Orlando vigil: We will not live in fear
Colin Wilson reports from central London. Thousands of people crammed the whole length of Old Compton Street on Monday evening to send the message “London stands with Orlando”. The huge crowd included Jeremy Corbyn and Sadiq Khan, London’s mayor. Gay and lesbian couples stood side by side with tourists. Several young women wearing hijabs took part. […]
Marxism and LGBT politics: a new wave of discussion
Colin Wilson reviews Peter Drucker’s book Warped: Gay Normality and Queer Anti-Capitalism, recently published in paperback. The last few years have seen a thoroughly welcome trend: the publication of a series of academic books which aim to bring together radical LGBT politics – often in the form of queer theory – and Marxism. It’s a […]
Interview: Sex work in France
What attitude should we take to sex work? One approach is that of the “Nordic model” which criminalises those who buy sex, very largely men, rather than those who sell it, most of whom are women. Sex workers, however, object that the rhetoric behind such laws about improving the social position of women doesn’t match […]
What we should learn from Clinton’s lies
Colin Wilson puts Hillary Clinton’s comments on Nancy Reagan and AIDS into a personal and historical context.
LBGT organisations close in the face of Tory cuts despite claims of support
Organisations supporting LBGT people are currently closing down at a rapid rate. Colin Wilson discusses why this is happening despite the British ruling class claiming to support LGBT people. The number of LGBT youth groups in the North West has halved since 2010, reports the Guardian recently in an article headlined “Services for LGBT young people […]
A homosexual Christmas in 1905 Berlin
Colin Wilson rediscovers a forgotten chapter of LGBT history in this account of a “uranian” Christmas, written by a leading campaigner over a hundred years ago. Magnus Hirschfeld was a doctor and a leader of the German LGBT movement from the 1890s to the 1930s.The text translated here is an excerpt from one of his earliest books, […]
Autumn statement: Tories retreat under pressure, prepare new offensives – and show signs of weakness
The Tories have backed down over tax credits, junior doctors and workfare, writes Colin Wilson. Meanwhile they are on the attack over benefits, education and health – but they have real weaknesses that campaigns can target. The autumn statement showed us two things. First, the Tories retreated on several fronts where campaigning has put them under pressure. […]
What challenges does Cameron’s war drive face?
The government wants to bomb Syria. We need to understand the problems Cameron faces making that happen so as to oppose the push to war, argues Colin Wilson. Cameron wants to bomb Syria, but he faces problems doing so. The major problem in parliamentary terms is a report about British bombing of Syria produced by […]
HM 2015: Social reproduction and intersectionality
The Historical Materialism conference that took place in London earlier this month continued important debates around social reproduction and intersectionality. Here, Colin Wilson introduces the concept of social reproduction and summarises the discussions that took place in meetings with Tithi Bhattacharya, Alan Sears, Hester Eisenstein, Kate Davies and Lise Vogel. What is “social reproduction”? The first plenary of Historical Materialism, […]
Turnout drops in Greek elections as Syriza is returned to government
Colin Wilson takes a look at the results of Sunday’s general election in Greece Greece held a general election on Sunday called by prime minister Alexis Tsipras in the wake of his Syriza government’s capitulation to the European Union’s demands for austerity. Syriza was returned to power with a slightly reduced number of seats on […]
A quarter of a million voices for change
Jeremy Corbyn has been elected by a quarter of a million people – but the Labour right is already on the attack, writes Colin Wilson. How do we defend Corbyn and seize this opportunity for the left? An era has ended, and I can actually remember how it began, or at least the moment when I […]
Cops raid gay escort website: time to stop criminalising sex work
Colin Wilson condemns the US authorities’ raid this week on the New York-based website rentboy.com. On Tuesday, the New York Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security raided the offices of rentboy.com, taking away computers as evidence and arresting the site’s Chief Exec and six others on prostitution charges. The defendants face up to five years […]
Greece: the fight goes on, and we can all support it
The news from Greece has gone from the inspiring referendum result to the collapse of the government into implementing austerity. Colin Wilson asks how this happened, and looks at the prospects for future struggles. The last ten days have seen historic developments in Greece. First, we saw the unexpected and inspiring “No” vote in the […]
Review: Defining Beauty
Colin Wilson reviews Defining Beauty: the Body in Ancient Greek Art, on until 5 July at the British Museum, and questions what beauty is. This review was originally published in the Summer 2015 issue of the rs21 magazine. You want Greeks? The British Museum has Greeks – not Syriza-style Greeks, of course, ancient Greeks. But […]
London Pride 2015: a snapshot of struggles past, present and to come
The Pride march in London was a snapshot of the strides LGBT politics have made over the years, writes Colin Wilson. And despite the huge corporate presence, it showed signs of a growing left. Photographs by Steve Eason. I went on my first Pride march in 1980. A few thousand people took part. I was 19, […]
London Pride: a chance to challenge the neoliberal LGBT agenda
London Pride is taking place this Saturday and in the run up has been hitting the headlines. Colin Wilson argues that the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners’ contingent on this year’s march provides a crucial opportunity for radical voices to be heard. As soon as the Pride Committee published the order in which groups […]
Review: Light Shining in Buckinghamshire
The election debates have been dull, but gripping debates from England’s revolutionary past are on stage at the National Theatre, writes Colin Wilson. It’s sometimes said that revolution isn’t in the nature of British people. Yet from 1642 to 1660, long before revolution in France or Russia, England went through revolutionary turmoil that included the […]
Review: Safe Space
Colin Wilson is full of praise for a recent book on LGBT history, but highlights a broader political problem. Safe Space: Gay Neighbourhood History and the Politics of Violence Christina B. Hanhardt Duke University Press, £17.99 Safe Space charts the history since the 1960s of community organising in three neighbourhoods identified with LGBT people: the […]
Real free speech is subversive, not about defending the status quo
Colin Wilson discusses recent controversies about freedom of speech. The last few months have seen a number of discussions about “free speech”. After the Charlie Hebdo killings, the magazine’s supporters frequently justified its publication of Islamophobic and racist cartoons by reference to free speech. When protesters in January opposed Marine Le Pen speaking at the […]
A reponse to Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neale’s “What gender does”
Colin Wilson responds to Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neal’s discussion of What gender does in ISJ 139. Nancy and Jonathan’s response to Colin will be published tomorrow. The oppression of women has become a central political topic worldwide. Part of what revolutionaries have to say about women’s oppression is straightforward – that we oppose all […]
Poverty in the UK: Joseph Rowntree Foundation report
A new report on poverty contains key information about how society is changing – changes that are likely to influence the shape of struggles to come, writes Colin Wilson. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s recent report shows the government’s claimed “economic recovery” is doing little for large numbers of people – we live in a society […]
Exhibition review: Gothic is very much undead
Gothic is 250 years old – and very much undead, writes Colin Wilson. They have a vampire-killing kit in the British Library. You might think that this was sensible in a building with five levels of basements – who knows what might scuttle out from behind a remote shelf deep underground, late one winter afternoon. […]
America: Two Cheers for Marriage Equality
Colin Wilson is celebrating big gains for same-sex marriage in the US – but increased LGBT equality in the context of neo-liberal America is raising issues around race and class. This week has seen a striking victory for American campaigners for LGBT equality. On Monday the Supreme Court decided not to hear appeals from five states […]
Dear Love of Comrades: The politics of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners
The film Pride tells the story of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners. It’s an extraordinary and inspiring achievement for a mainstream movie. For almost a year in 1984-5, over 100,000 miners were on all-out strike. The strike was the major political issue of the day, and Thatcher’s final defeat of the miners one of […]
Review: ‘Late Turner’ shows an artist ahead of the tide
A new exhibition at the Tate Modern shows a visionary painter who anticipated much modern art, argues Colin Wilson A few years ago, in a particularly sentimental episode of Doctor Who, the doctor met Van Gogh. There is no evidence of Turner encountering a time lord, but that he travelled to the mid-twentieth century and back […]
How the rulers of Rotherham betrayed their children
The report into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham documents appalling abuse. But even more shocking is the failure of councillors, council managers and police to do anything to address a problem they have known about for the last twenty years.