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The anti-asylum proposals being set out by the Home Secretary reinforce the dehumanisation of individuals coming to the UK to seek safety and set the UK on a course for even more inhumanity. We know from the existing 20-year-route how it put people's lives on hold and prevents them from settling. It leaves people in precarious positions and at more risk of exploitation. It denies them the ability to be able to rebuild their lives after suffering unimaginable horrors, as well as leaving them in fear that at any moment they may be ripped away from their family and friends once again. We need an asylum system which treats those coming for safety with dignity and respect. A system which processes their applications faster and more effectively. A system which allows them the right to work so that they can integrate and support themselves. What the Home Secretary proposes is one which treats them with contempt and hostility.

We must stop the hostility towards, and demonisation of, people just trying to seek safety. Our statement on just some of the Home Secretary's proposed changes to the asylum system

Our horror at the genocide in Gaza, at the mass murder of civilians on Oct 7 2023, and at today's atrocity in Manchester, comes in each case from the same, inherent part of our shared humanity. We need to assert that shared humanity as loudly as possible, and in as many practical ways as we can.

The UK must immediately recognise Palestinian statehood.

There can be no two state solution if there is no viable state left to call Palestine.

No amount of political pressure or culture-washing can ever hide Israel starving Palestinians in Gaza, nor that these war crimes span 77 years.

Since the Nakba, Palestinians have faced displacement, home demolitions, dehumanisation, torture, and state-sanctioned murder.

‘Rights can be knocked out in a second’: older trans women shocked by supreme court ruling Women who transitioned decades ago feel their safety and security has suddenly been removed

‘Rights can be knocked out in a second’: older trans women shocked by supreme court ruling

Right now in the UK being an ally or comrade to trans people will mean being willing to challenge and upset various people in your workplace, your sports club, the various institutions you are part of. Despairing or posting solidarity on social media won't help without also doing the hard stuff.

when the law says you cannot exist, the truest and best weapon at your disposal is to defy it and survive regardless. In the face of meaningless cruelty, defiance is all there is, really. For as long as it takes.

Judith Butler · This Is Wrong: Executive Order 14168 When diversity, equity and inclusion become ‘threats’ to the order of society, progressive politics in general is...

“Any effective response to the anti-gender movement will entail a critique of the new forms of authoritarianism and the passions they exploit.”

Judith Butler shows us how anti-gender rhetoric fuels current authoritarianism by producing social fears/anxieties. We must disrupt the emotional politics.

Photo of Audre Lorde with superimposed text on her face briefly describing her contributions to activism.

Today is International Women’s Day. Like every day, it is a reminder of the power of feminist organising and women’s ongoing struggle for freedom, safety, and community.

In the words of Audre Lorde, “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”

Trump is unleashing sadism upon the world. But we cannot get overwhelmed | Judith Butler Those who celebrate his defiance and sadism are as claimed by his logic as those who are paralyzed with outrage

“While there is every reason to be outraged, we cannot let that outrage flood us and stop our minds. For this is a moment to grasp the fascist passions that fuel this shameless grab for authoritarian powers.”

Timely words by Judith Butler on how we can confront fascism now with care and solidarity.

Poster: text is red font, overlayed on black and white drawing of a smiling Anne Frank and Hind Rajab, with the dates of their birth and death. “Never again means never again for anyone”, with the word “anyone” underlined for emphasis. Social media accounts of creators also listed @tinil.valeur @flyers-for-falastin

Never again. That has to mean something more than a slogan used to feel good about condemning a distant genocide it costs nothing to condemn.

Screen shot of a statement by the Palestinian youth movement on ig: The loss our people have experienced is without measure and beyond all language. Our martyrs are the crowns above our heads, and we will honor each and every one of them and their sacrifice through everything we do in the months and years ahead. We will never forgive or forget. Palestine has awoken the world to the necessity of long-term struggle to build a future free of colonization and oppression. Zionism and imperialism will fall because ideologies predicated on genocide, displacement, and domination are incompatible with the forward march of humanity and will always be met with resistance. That is why we say that liberation is not only possible, it is inevitable. Ceasefire today, liberation tomorrow.

From a statement by the Palestinian Youth Movement on ig @palestinianyouthmovement

Lime green plastic garden furniture blown over during Storm Darragh

brat winter

Fight AIDS ACT UP sign designed by Keith Haring. Image of yellow figures, one each with their hands over their eyes, ears, and mouth respectively. Sign reads “ignorance = fear” and “silence = death.”

Today is World AIDS Day. As we mourn the HIV positive people who have died, we also celebrate the lives of HIV positive people who unapologetically challenge stigma, build communities, and fight for better healthcare. Their tenacity and joyousness brings us closer to a world where everyone thrives.

Cartoon poster of Marsha P. Johnson with rainbow text which reads “No Pride for some of us, without liberation for all of us!”

We mourn, love, and fight together. 🕯️🏳️‍⚧️

UN Special Committee finds Israel's warfare methods in Gaza consistent with genocide, including use of starvation as weapon of war

Do everything you can to speak out against genocide because your silence will not protect you in the long term.

Ominous rumbling of thunder intensifies