I was recently digging through my Instagram to find something from several years ago when the friend I was with stopped me. “There’s no way that’s you,” they protested, pointing to a post of myself in my mid-teens. We all have these pictures lurking in our Throwback Thursdays – the ones where you’re all gangly…
TV, Venue
Queer Representation in Modern TV: Normalised, or Needs More?
LGBTQIA+ representation on TV is growing, but it still has a long way to go. For decades, queer characters have either been completely lacking from our TV screens, adhering to harmful stereotypes, or have only been included to meet the diversity quota without having a character arc of their own. Some shows attempted to put…
Books
“There is nothing”: the need for LGBTQ+ representation in fiction
I chose it, if I’m honest, for its size. Sitting in a quiet coffee shop in Valencia, sheltered from the midday sun, I opened one of the few books written in English that I could find in a nearby bookshop – Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life. Sipping an iced coffee, I began to read. Hours…
Uncategorized
Hungarian Government to Introduce New Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation
The Hungarian government has proposed new constitutional amendments that would further restrict the rights of their LGBTQ+ community. The changes would prevent same-sex couples from adopting children, something only possible currently if only one parent applies for adoption. The amended constitution would require a married man and a woman to apply for child adoption together….
Fashion
The commercialisation of queer identity
Marc Jacobs recently launched the collection “Heaven”, a self-professed “ode to otherness” which is a representation and celebration of polysexuality through fashion. Polysexuality meaning encompassing many different kinds of sexuality. Speaking of the collection in question, Marc Jacobs states: “Heaven draws upon the origins of the Marc Jacobs impulse: subversion, teenage daydreams, alienation nation, queer…
Features
What is UEA doing for LGBTQ+ students? Should they be doing more?
I made a promise to myself prior to starting university that I would push myself to be authentically queer, whatever that meant, and without really knowing what the implications of doing so were. Despite universities having a national reputation for being the hubs of liberal thought, I had naively expected indifference from UEA at best….
Fashion
To date or not to date?
Valentine’s Day: an excited rush to buy a new outfit, the break out of the most special of makeup and accessories, but for most, the worry that you won’t look good enough on a day that society has claimed to be one of the most important day of the year. Valentine’s Day can cause a…
Sex Survey 2019
Cucumbers and condoms
As a queer person, I’ve often wondered how my secondary school experience would have been shaped had I been provided with even a basic level of sex education relevant to my interest in kissing people that weren’t boys. Of course, access to good quality sex education is not limited to classrooms, but for most it…
Sex Survey 2019
Interview: ‘I’ve never experienced sexual attraction. It’s completely alien to me’
Gus Edgar-Chan is amongst the 1.5 percent of respondents to Concrete’s Sex Survey who identify as asexual. While the term accounts for an estimated one percent of the population, and thousands of people in the UK, there is limited research available to those questioning their sexual orientation. A simple Google search will tell you the…
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