LGBT+ – Page 2 of 2 – The Orbital

Is It Time To Wave Good-Bi To Stereotypes?

15Mar

By Rachel HainsNo Comments

Opinion

Is It Time To Wave Good-Bi To Stereotypes?

Bisexual. It is a word like any other. However, it is astounding that such a simple word can still inspire such curiosity, misconceptions, and disapproval from both heterosexual, and homosexual people alike. Why should Bisexuality be treated differently to any other orientation? If people wish for acceptance, should they not offer the same in return? In the year 2019 - or twenty Bi-teen according to the internet - you would think outdated discriminatory ideas would be a thing of the past. Nevertheless, despite the current visibility and acknowledgment being afforded to the LGBTQ+ community, it is odd that only the beginning of the acronym is often acknowledged. No wonder many of us Bisexuals consider ourselves invisible mythical creatures that do not exist and feel the need to have to j...

21Feb

By Amal AbdiNo Comments

Features

Trans-exclusionary Laws

On October 21 The New York Times reported that the Trump administration had drawn up a policy paper to define gender as strictly male or female. The administration further instructed the Department of Health and Human Services to consider ‘sex’ as an unchangeable condition that is determined by a person’s genitals at birth, despite the American Medical Association ruling last year that gender and sexual identities are not always binary. The proposed reforms have apparently been influenced by recent meetings of the UN’s Third Committee concerned with social, humanitarian and cultural rights, in which US officials have pushed for general assembly policy statements to remove what the administration sees as vague and politically correct language — an ‘ideology’ of treating gender as an indivi...

RuPaul, transphobia, and remembering your Herstory

26Oct

By Becca BashfordNo Comments

Opinion

RuPaul, transphobia, and remembering your Herstory

“If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else?”, “We’re all born naked and the rest is drag” … we’re all familiar with RuPaul’s famous one-liners, which are often expressions of self-love; defending our right to be authentically and unapologetically ourselves. RuPaul’s status within the LGBTQ+ community cannot be understated. Bringing drag into mainstream culture is no small feat, but being the most famous drag queen in the world also comes at a price. So when RuPaul recently sparked a debate about who can or can’t be a drag queen, it made me wonder how valuable RuPaul’s opinions still are when he’s clearly forgotten his Herstory. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Ru shocked us all when he said he wouldn’t accept a transgender contestant on his...

2Mar

By Abbie CheesemanNo Comments

News

A Queer State of Affairs

Royal Holloway Chaplaincy are hoping they are near the end of their four-year fight to be allowed to conduct same-sex weddings. The process, which the chaplaincy are hoping will have reached a positive end by February 20, has hit complications because of its designation as a university chapel. The Registrar General regard university chapels as ‘shared churches’ because they are used by more than one denomination. Therefore, in order to be granted ‘consent to use’ for same-sex marriage, permission is needed from the Catholic Bishop, the Anglican Synod and then from a denomination that was prepared to conduct same-sex weddings. Father John Dickson, the Roman Catholic Chaplain at Royal Holloway commented: “Given the fact, that neither the Catholics nor Anglicans are permitted to cond...

Gender Neutral Toilets to be Trialled on Campus

16Mar

By No Comments

News

Gender Neutral Toilets to be Trialled on Campus

Following their hugely successful LGBT+ history month in February, Royal Holloway’s LGBT+ Society have achieved another impressive goal in securing a pilot with the College which will see the creation of gender neutral toilets on campus. The College agreed last week to trial two sets of single stall toilets on campus to gender neutral toilets, these can be found on the fourth level of the Bourne Building and the ground floor of the International Building. The changes will then be reviewed in July, and providing there are no issues, all single stall toilets will then be changed to gender neutral toilets. The University has also agreed to discuss the creation of gender neutral toilets in the plans for the new library, and the new gym may also feature gender neutral changing cubicles an...

28Jan

By No Comments

Opinion

It’s Time to Consent

Watching Frozen for the millionth time, I’m still surprised that Kristoff asks Anna whether he may kiss her. Expecting the hero to seize a victory smooch, I realised we’ve long forgone consent because we’re not used to seeing or asking for it. Here was a Disney film portraying consent for a kiss, when 55 years ago the kiss in Sleeping Beauty was metaphor to obscure the character’s rape. Our popular culture, which so heavily socialises us, has brushed over the need for consent. We’re all given Sex Ed. at primary school, and talking about sex becomes as ordinary as a DFS sofa sale. So it’s disappointing that university students find drunken hook-ups less awkward than talking about consent. It’s defined as “agreeing by choice and having the freedom and capacity to make that choice.” ...