Oxford's biggest student newspaper, produced by and for members of the University of Oxford, since 1991.
Image Description: Removal of a statue of the Shah in Tehran University during the revolution in 1978 Recent successes for the #RhodesMustFall movement has left many Oxford students with a sense of frustration. Of course, it’s good to see progress finally being made on this issue. What’s disappointing is the length of time it’s taken […]
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CW: Transphobia, TERFs Let’s be clear from the start. J. K. Rowling is transphobic. We can see this in the opinions that she has shared and in those she has publicly endorsed. But like so many TERFs, her transphobia often manifests in a form more insidious than blatant. I’d go as far as to say […]
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Like many, I find it easy to promote the existence of spaces exclusively for the LGBTQ+ community, but difficult to imagine the practice. We are a community in advocacy of inclusivity; harbouring those who face rejection for who they are and providing the familial support that so many need. How can this possibly be married […]
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The drag queen Trixie Mattel, otherwise known as Brian Firkus, is the winner of Drag Race All Stars Season 3, but also a confessed, obsessive Barbie doll collector. Firkus’s love for Barbie started when he was young. As a gay boy from Milwaulkee, he wasn’t allowed “girl toys,” but was fascinated by the tanned, blonde, […]
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After months of sashays, shantays and Snatch Game, this tumultuous season of Drag Race is finally over. Without a doubt, this has been the most controversial season of the show to date (yes, even considering that mini-challenge in season six). For me though, one word sums up this instalment of the drag-based reality series: uncomfortable. […]
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Image description: rainbow flags flying on a street in London When the organisers of Pride in London announced that 2020’s festivities will be postponed due to Coronavirus, many within the LGBT+ community will have been saddened by the loss of the biggest queer event of the year. Not me. While I won’t deny that thousands […]
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Photo description: an AIDS awareness mural by Keith Haring in Barcelona The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a proliferation of medical trials seeking to treat and eventually cure the virus, one of which is the convalescent plasma trial. Scientists hope that, by recruiting volunteers who have had coronavirus, they will be able to develop a […]
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Image description: A Punch and Judy puppet show Vada’d any bona eeks recently? No? Surely you’ve at least zhoozed your riah? Blimey, you’ve really let yourself go. Contrary to popular belief regarding the quality of my writing, I have not, in fact, smashed my keyboard and sent it off with a smile and a wave. […]
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Image description: Joe Exotic crouching next to a tiger Netflix’s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness has taken the world by storm. A missing husband, a sex cult, a murder attempt and hundreds of captive jungle cats have made for incredible, if completely bizarre, entertainment under lockdown. The ‘Tiger King’ himself, Joseph Maldonado-Passage – more […]
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I want to start by acknowledging how lucky I am. Many of my fellow LGBTQ+ people at Oxford will have been forced to lockdown without their significant other. Some are even shut away in hostile family environments, or trapped in the closet with no clear reprieve. I know how fortunate I am that that is […]
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Image description: a person at the window of dark room “I’m going to make sure that your wedding is nearby so I can visit you lots.” The acrid taste of my dinner after my mother said these words was not due to the food going off in those few moments. When saying this, I imagine […]
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Image description: a rainbow flag with the slogan ‘Queer & Proud’ The Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT), the charity for homeless young LGBTQ+ people, recently advised that young people considering coming out to their families should pause their plans as the restrictions in place to combat coronavirus could make a bad coming out experience a whole […]
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Image description: an activist holding an LGBT rights placard at a rally in the US In February, Pete Buttigieg became the first openly gay man to win a delegate at a US presidential caucus, with the former mayor for South Bend, Indiana polling ahead of Senator Bernie Sanders by two percent. It seems a simple […]
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Image description: A pride flag flies above Balliol College. Image credit: Balliol College Facebook page For the first time, Balliol College is flying a pride flag for LGBT History Month in its entirety. This has followed something of a prolonged battle between past student representatives and the college’s powers-that-be. To many students within and without […]
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Image description: Player characters from The Adventure Zone: Balance. Image credit: “The Adventure Zone” by Nicholas Kole is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Like many of my peers, I’m hungry for queer stories that aren’t exclusively about being queer. Coming-of-age and romance stories, while great on their own terms, are not my favourite genres, and I have little hope […]
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Image: Hijras in Laxman Jhula. Image credit: “Hijras in Laxman Jhula” by Quixosis is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 India has a complex relationship with the trans community. Historically, trans people have occupied a unique space in rituals; yet they still fight for basic human rights today. Many people in the West are not aware of India’s intersex and […]
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When I was twelve, I started at my relatively small secondary school, after moving with my family down to Newcastle. Anyone who’s been the ‘new kid’ knows that in the package of the experience is an obsession over the things we think make us weird. I was considerably overweight until I reached my late teens, […]
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Last Thursday, I attended a philosophy reading group which aimed to unpack the term ‘queer theory’ and the implications of such a term. In summary, queer theory explores how LGBTQ+ narratives are created and perceived in the culture of heteronormativity. Stephen Turton, an English DPhil student, led the discussion by dissecting Michael Warner’s 1991 article, […]
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Images: Publicity graphics posted by @interunilgbt on Instagram. Image credit: Charmaine Kok I’ve always resented the feeling that my existence is a political act. Coming out is a white-hot kind of dangerous in an environment where allegiances can be very efficiently defined by terms like ‘pro-gay’, ‘ex-gay’ or (heaven forbid) ‘a practising gay’. When your […]
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