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Christyn Parkes

@parkesland.bsky.social
2K followers 574 following 3.6K posts

Senior Lecturer in history. Views my own. Historian of US politics and sexuality, especially Sumner Welles. Canadian. Non-binary (she/they) Fabulous.

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Reposted by Christyn Parkes
Tristan Grayford @tristangrayford.scot · 4h
Mary-Ann Stephenson was a long-term anti-trans campaigner, was functionally the Sex Matters selection for Chair of the EHRC, and it was the Labour Party who appointed her to run it - overruling their own Equalities Committee recommendation to refuse her for lack of experience in any other area.
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sasha baker @sasha98.bsky.social · 8h
Passing a motion in support of Palestinian liberation, a one-state solution, de-proscribing Palestine Action and ending prosecutions of pro-Palestine protesters is a great thing. Does it really need to be combined with nebulously defined internal policies almost certain to get the party sued?
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Joseph Finlay @josephfinlay.bsky.social · 8h
There will be many wild statements calling the Green Party antisemitic; these are a predictable consequence of a motion that focused on language and ideology rather than the material practices of occupation and apartheid. A motion committing the Green Party to BDS would have been far better.
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Joseph Finlay @josephfinlay.bsky.social · 11h
Again, I think the ZiR motion is pretty silly, doesn't help Palestinians, and won't amount to much. But this statement from the Movement for Progressive Judaism (I belong to a synagogue affiliated to it) is completely ridiculous progressivejudaism.org.uk/statement-co...
progressivejudaism.org.uk
Statement condemning Green Party 'Zionism is Racism' motion - The Movement for Progressive Judaism
By Rabbi Charley Baginsky and Rabbi Josh Levy Co-Leads, The Movement for Progressive Judaism The Movement for Progressive Judaism condemns the Green Party’s adoption of the motion ‘Zionism is Racism’....
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Carla Denyer @carladenyer.bsky.social · 12h
The ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion has passed at Green Party conference. While there are many parts of the motion I can agree with, there are some that I could not, so I did not vote for it. Here is a joint statement from the Green Party leadership team and all of us Green MPs:
Joint statement: 

As Greens, we will always uphold universal human rights.
We will never tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment.
We will continue to stand in opposition to genocide, ethnic cleansing, apartheid and the illegal occupation.
We will continue to call out the heinous crimes of the Netanyahu government.
And we will continue to work to ensure that the Green Party is an anti-racist party in every way. 
We know there is no conflict between supporting the rights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people.

Zack Polanski
Rachel Milward
Mothin Ali
Siân Berry MP
Ellie Chowns MP
Carla Denyer MP
Adrian Ramsay MP
Hannah Spencer MP
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Andrew Fisher @fisherandrew79.bsky.social · 15h
Having seen lots of commentary on it, I've finally read the 'Zionism is Racism' motion before Green Party conference. Its main flaws: 1) Badly written 2) Conflates zionism with Israeli Government actions (about as logical as conflating socialism with the USSR) 3) Defines a contested term singularly
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Dr Jo Edge 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 @hagenilda.bsky.social · 12h
So if you are in GPEW (and I'm not), I'd say, stay and change direction. Policy is set once a year. Fight back.
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Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 12h
Same. To paraphrase another thread I just posted, to leave GPEW now practices the same untactical performative politics that the ZiR motion embodied.
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Joseph Finlay @josephfinlay.bsky.social · 13h
So it passed. As I said, not a disaster. It’s a piece of untactical performative politics but let’s not make it out to be the new Nuremberg laws. The proposers of the motion were very clear that it couldn’t lead to sanctions against members. No Zionists will be expelled from the party.
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Astrid @astridsramblings.bsky.social · 13h
Whatever party you may support, or none, this is a sad day for progressive politics and the effects of it will be felt across politics and policy as the threat of a left challenger on social justice issues will dissipate due to toxicity
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elizabeth is apparently a witchy vamp? @thatelizabeth.bsky.social · 13h
I can’t put it better myself
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Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
If?
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Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Ditto queer history
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Heather Paterson @heatherpaterson.co.uk · 03/10/2026
EVERY UK MP needs to read this You are all part of a government that is creating a situation so hostile and unsafe that people are leaving the country This is not an isolated case. You have the power to do something about this.
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X626 @x626.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Evergreen
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I’m not much interested in the internal politics of the Greens but I will note here that the key difference between “chauvinistic militants” and “egalitarian liberals” on Palestinians is that the former roar for their eradication while the latter look pained and tell everyone to chill out about it.
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Ryan CrawCour @ryan.crawcour.social · 01/10/2026
BREAKING NEWS: Tensions between Thor and the Care Bears have escalated rapidly overnight.
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Ed Poole @edpoole1975.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I sometimes wonder how much the fact that Health ministers are usually drawn from the demographic that uses the NHS the least (able bodied, white men, young-middle aged) is a factor in it's issues. It probably plays a part in the obsession with apps and convenience over continuity and human contact.
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X626 @x626.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I assure you I have. General purpose AI is shit. AI consciousness is a scam Unless you're researching new potential anti biotics or something, your AI use is bullshit, unethical, actively making you worse at thinking, and burning the entire fucking planet.
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Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The key words here are 'trying' and 'problem'. What trans folx and allies in Labour have tried has been so minimal, so ineffective, and so incommensurate with the scale of damage done *by their own party* that it strains credulity to argue they deserve credit merely for the attempt.
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Nicolete Burbach @nicoleteburbach.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
What really gets me about this is that if you knew nothing about the state of trans rights in the UK you would be forgiven for thinking this is just snark - it seems too hyperbolic to be sincere. But it's a genuinely meaningful claim, and a sign of how bad it's got
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Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
As @labour4transrights.bsky.social are deleting the many unflattering comments and replies to their recent post, I've reproduced mine here. I get they have a thankless (hopeless?) task, but creating a Potemkin village of Labour support for trans rights is exactly how that party got into this mess.
Screenshot of post by @parkesland reading "It's nice to see attendance here surpass the terf events taking place, but this is still deeply pathetic.

Labour *caused* the problems these speakers are inveighing against. They have a massive majority they could fix them with, but they won't.

Labour can't restore the trans rights they destroyed."@labour4transrights post reading:

"Fantastic to see so many people in attendance at our annual rally, packing out one of the largest rooms in the whole Labour Conference fringe!"
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Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
It's nice to see attendance here surpass the terf events taking place, but this is still deeply pathetic. Labour *caused* the problems these speakers are inveighing against. They have a massive majority they could fix them with, but they won't. Labour can't restore the trans rights they destroyed.
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Jess O'Thomson @jessothomson.co.uk · 29/09/2026
🚨 We need to hear from YOU Have you had a problem accessing gendered services since April last year, outside of school and the workplace? Are you a service provider worried about remaining inclusive? PLEASE let us know through this form - and share widely goodlaw.social/mzb3
goodlaw.social
My branded typeform
Turn data collection into an experience with Typeform. Create beautiful online forms, surveys, quizzes, and so much more. Try it for FREE.
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Natacha @natacha.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I’m so fed up with reminding everyone that trans people were warning this would happen 15 years ago and you didn’t listen…
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Talia "ATTACK DOGS is out now!" Bhatt ⚢ @taliabhatt.itch.io · 29/09/2026
The UK right's current political project is to co-opt the language of antidiscrimination to make bigotry legally unimpeachable.
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Ruth Pearce @notrightruth.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I am glad though to see so many cis women stand by their trans sisters. Solidarity and collaboration is the pathway to women's liberation.
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Ruth Pearce @notrightruth.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Attacking trans women = attacking political organising for all women.
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Heather Paterson @heatherpaterson.co.uk · 27/09/2026
How the anti-gender movement spread across Europe The Hate Review reveals how the anti-gender movement has taken root and evolved in Europe over the last 25 years, it traces how far the anti-gender movement has spread through society and how deeply it has reached into laws and institutions.
forbidden-colours.com
The Hate Review
How the anti-gender movement spread across Europe
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Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
A disappointing but *very* instructive follow up: The Ohio Democratic Party quashed the LGBT group's denunciation of Kaptur's transphobia. Trans-supportive dissent stifled while transphobes protected by the top brass. This is exactly what happened in UK Labour c. 2022-4. bsky.app/profile/erin...
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Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Huge congrats to trans folk/allies in the Democratic Party for standing firm and telling moderates to shove it. If every trans 'ally' in Labour had been this brave 5 years ago ... 🙃
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Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I have nothing but contempt for people who try to tell me I can't use nouns as verbs. I can sentence any way I want!
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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
saw this on Instagram and it so perfectly encapsulated my rage
seravph
being so fr when I say that transmisogyny has put feminism back like 50 years

seravph
what i thought we had distanced ourselves from was the reduction of women to vaginas and wombs and the ability to bear children. i thought we had progressed past 'dresses are for women and pants are for men. i thought we progressed past the idea that someone is less of a woman if she does not adhere strictly to beauty standards. i thought we progressed past the idea that naturally being comfortable adhering to highly feminine standards is vulgar. but i (sarcastically) guess no one could have predicted that trans-exclusive feminism would be the downfall of all the progress we've made
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Samantha Asumadu @samanthaasumadu.substack.com · 22/09/2026
'New analysis on UK media: British media is not delivering the news to its readers. They are delivering an agenda. The seven days after Channel 4 filmed James Orr are a damning indictment of the British press. Orr is a Cambridge associate professor.' via @newscord.org
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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Did Substack post yesterday including plaque from downtown Montgomery AL recognizing civil rights newspaper The Southern Courier. Where I worked for a while. fallows.substack.com/p/running-as... For space reasons had pic only of front side of plaque in original post. That's shown here. (cont..)
Historical plaque honoring The Southern Courier, in Alabama, which operated 1965-1968.
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Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
One cheer for the Lib Dems. They rejected transphobia. That said, this motion stops noticeably short of true restoration of trans rights. That will come only when the FWS ruling is rejected and repudiated outright, as the Greens will adopt soon. Still, good news.
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Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
A very astute activist friend of mine recently observed that trans people aren't rebuilding rights from the 2010s, we're rebuilding them from the 1980s.
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Rob Mullins @robertmullins.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
A brief thread on the definition of 'sex' in UK law before 2004 for those interested/to help me think it through. bsky.app/profile/robe...
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Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
There's more trans people in Scotland than in Scottish Labour. Guess which group will still be around in 10 years 😘
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LiLBazula 👻 🎃 @lilbazza.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Dan's bang on, here. I've seen almost no international criticism, outcry or expressions of solidarity over Erdoğan's latest brutal crackdown on Turkey's LGBTQ community
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Not In Our Name (NION) Women @nionwomen.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Thank you to all the women and allies who are still signing our letter, sharing our articles, commenting on our posts or donating to our campaign. This is a groundswell of love for the trans+ community and a way to unite women around the real issues that harm us 🙏 www.gofundme.com/f/notinourna...
Proud
NION
Woman
notinourname.org.uk
#ISignedTheNIONLetter
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mattie lubchansky @mattielubchansky.com · 14/05/2026
saw this on an ACT UP poster from 1988 at the Poster House museum today. the more things change :)
THE REPUBLICANS WANT IS DEAD
THE DEMOCRATS DONT CARE
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Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Willy Wonka's lawyer says trans rights! ✊🏳️‍⚧️✊
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Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The Ultimate Man is a cottage core enby transbian.
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Good Law Project @goodlawproject.org · 18/09/2026
Billionaires like JK Rowling have funded a blizzard of legal attacks on the trans community - and her allies in the rightwing and far-right press have pursued a campaign of trans hate bit.ly/4y7ISwi
bit.ly
How the Supreme Court tipped Anna over the edge | Good Law Project
Billionaires like JK Rowling have funded a blizzard of legal attacks on the trans community – and her allies in the rightwing and far-right press have pursued a campaign of trans hate, says Jo Maugham
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Christyn Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
*stares in what's left of trans rights*😒
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Maria W. Norris @mariawnorris.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Lookie here, the UK legal definition of terrorism! I'd say this falls under 1b, 1c, 2c, 2d. Again, this is the same definition used to proscribe Palestine Action.
Terrorism: interpretation.
(1)In this Act “terrorism” means the use or threat of action where—

(a)the action falls within subsection (2),

(b)the use or threat is designed to influence the government [F1or an international governmental organisation] or to intimidate the public or a section of the public, and

(c)the use or threat is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious [F2, racial] or ideological cause.

(2)Action falls within this subsection if it—

(a)involves serious violence against a person,

(b)involves serious damage to property,

(c)endangers a person’s life, other than that of the person committing the action,

(d)creates a serious risk to the health or safety of the public or a section of the public, or

(e)is designed seriously to interfere with or seriously to disrupt an electronic system.

(3)The use or threat of action falling within subsection (2) which involves the use of firearms or explosives is terrorism whether or not subsection (1)(b) is satisfied.

(4)In this section—

(a)“action” includes action outside the United Kingdom,

(b)a reference to any person or to property is a reference to any person, or to property, wherever situated,

(c)a reference to the public includes a reference to the public of a country other than the United Kingdom, and

(d)“the government” means the government of the United Kingdom, of a Part of the United Kingdom or of a country other than the United Kingdom.

(5)In this Act a reference to action taken for the purposes of terrorism includes a reference to action taken for the benefit of a proscribed organisation
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Ethel Weapon @lousadzak.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Sorry, everyone involved with this is compromised as hell and culpable of gross misconduct. They’re carving out three months just to review the individual patients that they’ve arbitrarily pulled healthcare from. What a fucking disgrace.
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Ethel Weapon @lousadzak.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
WGS are gearing up to do the same by appointing folks of their choosing to run an “independent” review - the approach used to launch the Cass and the Sullivan reviews. Without involvement and oversight from trans-led patient advocate bodies, not a single aspect of this process can be trusted.
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Ethel Weapon @lousadzak.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
As I (see pinned post) and many others have pointed out, the quality of the work they are doing in these reviews is best described as “disingenuous pseudoscientific claptrap”
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