Another week, and lots of interesting news! Signs of allyship from the UN, updates on GIDS, and hearings for the RHSE review! Lots of things happening that the BBC just doesn’t bother to mention… However, here it all is for you to see. Read more for all the big stories of the week!

Monday Banko Brown: Outrage as Black trans man’s killer escapes charges

Earlier last week, San Francisco police declined to charge a security guard for murdering a Black trans man. According to San Francisco police, the man, Banko Brown was murdered by a security guard after an “argument”, who was stopped “on suspicion of shoplifting”, allegedly because the security guard thought he was in “mortal danger”.

This story is horrific, and I hate that the security guard will not face justice for the murder. And to add to this, we all know that this isn’t the first and won’t be the last.

Tuesday: LGBT rights charities condemn the EHRC in letter to GANHRI

In the largest letter so far, 30 LGBT rights organisations signed a letter to the human rights network GANHRI, essentially saying that the EHRC has not taken in any of the recommendations GANHRI recommended, and that more action would need to be taken by the EHRC.

There were submissions to GANHRI prior to this, but this was the largest so far. The EHRC is a mess. If the EHRC is dis-accredited, we don’t know what will happen next. Something everyone should keep an eye out for.

Wednesday Anti-trans groups to give evidence in review of sex education in UK

On Wednesday, there was a session from the Womens and Equalities Committee discussing what should and shouldn’t be included in RHSE lessons. In the first half of the session it was filled with anti trans groups, and the second half with more pro LGBT organisations.

I had a skim through the transcript. It was an interesting read: it seems that LGBT coverage of the session was quite small, and it was rather predictable that the first half was shit (the bit with the anti trans campaigners), but the second half (pro-trans groups) was a bit more positive, as the people with common sense started talking.

Thursday: UN expert makes statement on UK visit

On Thursday, the UN expert on sexual orientation and gender identity made a hefty 18 page statement saying that he was “deeply concerned,” and proceeded to cover topics ranging from Gender Recognition reform, to the EHRC. You can also read more in our own article!

It was long awaited. It was delayed from last week. And my goodness it was a good read and was definitely validating. It blasted the EHRC for working against equality, it laid the facts out for people to see. However the British press pretended it didn’t exist…

Friday: Tavistock will remain open throughout 2023, in NHS statement updating on status of GIDS

The NHS released a statement saying that Tavistock GIDS will remain open until March 2024, until the regional centres are set up for trans youth.

We knew that these regional centres were being set up, but it appeared there was nothing to cover trans kids in the interim between their opening and the closure of the Tavistock GIDS. At least there will be something, instead of a cutoff of nothing for a period! Still, the NHS treatment remains a mess. Check out Abigail Thorne’s video on it for more info on how much of a mess trans healthcare is in general.

Saturday: Teacher sacked for refusing to use trans pupil’s correct pronouns

On Saturday, a teacher who was sacked for refusing to use a trans child’s pronouns launched legal action against their school for sacking them.

Represented by the Christian Legal Centre. It’s always the same people, every time. Let’s hope justice wins out.

Sunday:Moldova makes big gains on LGBT rights

An article was published this Sunday stated that Moldova has made some improvements to their laws on the protection of LGBT people in the past year making it go up on the ILGA index. This is despite a deeply conservative culture in which it was found that LGBT people are the most marginalised.

Some good news to end off the week.

Conclusion

The UN came along and no one paid attention. News on GIDS came along and no one paid attention. A hearing on the RHSE review came along and no one paid attention! None of these stories have come up on the BBC front page except for Joanna Cherry. There was no mainstream coverage. anywhere. And in a way borders on near total censorship of the situation. As if the mainstream media wanted to hide the government’s failings.

As always, I try to make a prediction for next week. However this conclusion has been written on the Tuesday of that next week, so it feels like cheating.