Gary Needham

Post on /r/transgenderUK entitled “Reddit now censors LGBTQ+ content under OFCOM’s new ‘Online Safety Act’”

post text: “I honestly can't even think of words to describe how vile this is. Here's a screenshot of what I now see when I search "lgbt" with my VPN switched off. Occasionally a banner appears at the top of the screen saying something about needing to verify ID to access "mature content" but the button doesn't even work. The fact that we're now considered "mature content" makes me feel sick.”

The screenshot referenced in the previous image, showing the results of a search on Reddit for the term LGBT. No results from LGBT-specific subreddits appear; instead, posts from /r/Conservative, /r/Islam, /r/JustUnsubbed, etc are highlighted.

the UK’s Internet age verification law has led to the effective censorship of all LGBT content on Reddit

what a shocking and unexpected turn of events!

strange it just appeared on my timeline too!

How did I miss this. Thought it was a recent post but it is from May 😖 hope it went well

an advert for the TCM network showing an image of Sandra Bernhard in the film Without You I'm Nothing

I screen shot from a queer film festival showing Vito Russo's Parting Glances series on films from the eighties

New Queer Cinema apparently includes "Milk" and "Fox." I will hopefully be setting the record straight on the fiction of New Queer Cinema as "an irresponsible canon" (the chapter title) when the book on AIDS and independent cinema is actually finished. PS 'Without you I'm Nothing" is actually great!

Perhaps a good time to re up the New Fascism Syllabus, an online repository of resources on neofascism, populism, and authoritarianism, including a research repository and relevant secondary literature.

newfascismsyllabus.com

related - I always remember Sarah Shulman's calling it the "New York Crimes" for its handling of the AIDS crisis

Deaf rappers who lay down rhymes in sign languages are changing what it means for music to be heard Dip hop artists move across the stage, hands flying through the air, as audiences pulse to the rhythm of a blasting bass beat.

"the designation “dip hop”... signals an independent style grounded in both hip-hop and Deaf culture. Like bounce, trap and drill, the label “dip hop” makes a greater distinction from being a variation of rap to a style that is heavily situated within Deaf culture and determined by Deaf aesthetics."

sensational

👇excited to now be able to share my partner @jacobengelberg.bsky.social forthcoming book (January 2026) with @dukepress.bsky.social A much needed intervention that really does change how we think, theorise, and conceptualise cinema and bisexuality!

How to Win a Fight These days it feels like the next fight is always just around the corner. What matters is picking your battles—and knowing how to win.

For months, @wired.com has been working on something about this moment's big fights: pushback against immigration raids, Tesla Takedown, LGBTQ+ rights. When we started, we didn't expect to publish following some of the biggest protests of Trump’s second term.

www.wired.com/how-to-win-a...

I loved the original version but this Nitzer Ebb version and their additional remixes was elevated. The remixes on the Mute 12" are stunning. An indictment to streaming services as these gems haven't been heard since 1989.

shout out to this one too @horrornonna.com which was a formative moment www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVy...

Against Technofeudal Education Pillars For Protecting Our "Core Infrastructure" From OpenAI

Great recs from @mattseybold.bsky.social on resisting technofeudal education: prioritize print, practice ungrading, "Luddify" the classroom; de-mobilize computer infrastructure (root technology in social place!); faculty governance over SaaS subscriptions; instructor choice re: ed-tech

Cosmic-ish abstract image of rays or wool or something haloing a central hole or space, with the word catflap written in hot pink across the middle.

Getting writing, queer dears: I want ur essays & poems in my eyes for catflap #5, Outburst Arts' awesome magazine.

Deadline: 30 June for finished poems & essays / 10 June for essay pitches, pls read FAQ carefully! Paid.

Pls share! Pls submit! No genAI! No str8s!

outburstarts.com/events-proje...

The new 4K restoration of Mike Thomas’s groundbreaking gay sexploitation film THE MEAT/RACK premieres at Frameline on June 26th and is now available for festival bookings.

www.frameline.org/films/framel...

The type-set pages are in now for 'Screening Adult Cinema' edited by @ffreibert.bsky.social Peter Alilunas, and Des Embree. My own 'Boys in the Sand' (1971) is one of the 39 chapters in the book. More on the forthcoming book and chapters can be found here: www.routledge.com/Screening-Ad...

Here's a long thread on an issue dear to my heart. This Tuesday evening I’m doing an Intellectual Publics with Macarena Gomez-Barris on publishing. Like last year’s conversation with Denise Cruz, or the prior year’s with Racquel Gates, we will talk about how to find a publisher, turn a thesis... 1/

Parting Glances (1986)
Anhell69 (2022)
120 BPM (2017)
Killing of Sister George (1968)

TSQ Transgender Studies Quarterly Volume 12, Number 2, May 2025 Toward a Trans[]Crip Theory Special Issue. Editors J. Logan Smilges and Slava Greenberg Image of dancing people in wheelchairs by Micah Bazant

Each of the articles in this special issue theorizes the [] between trans and crip in distinct yet interconnected ways, expanding on the dynamic tension between difference and alignment.

I’ll be introducing them throughout June.

@dukepress.bsky.social

A black and white image split into two photographs. The left panel is Dario Argento and the right panel is a hand holding a pair of gloves. #DarioArgento #Giallo

Another sign I need to write about Dario Argento's relationship to Italian fashion at some point. A nod to the history of the giallo, Argento, and Italian style, Bottega Veneta's “Craft is our Language” celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Intrecciato leather weave with these guanti dell'assassino

Lecturer in Media and Politics - Grade 7 at University of Liverpool Apply for the Lecturer in Media and Politics - Grade 7 role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.

**Academic position klaxon**

My department (who are awesome, btw) are hiring for my replacement for a year while I am away on fellowship.

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNI734/l...

Donate to Protect Scouse Dolls: Fundraiser for Local Trans Youth!, organized by Lou Frances We're raising funds for local charity GYRO/TAY at Young Persons Ad… Lou Frances needs your support for Protect Scouse Dolls: Fundraiser for Local Trans Youth!

Protect Scouse Dolls - there’s a rally to support our trans siblings this weekend in Liverpool. This fundraiser is to support charities looking after trans youth

gofund.me/121b64e6

TOMORROW - LIVERPOOL - 12PM @ ST GEORGES HALL 🏳️‍⚧️

watched something I hadn't seen since - Ninja III: The Domination (1984) - aerobics + Flashdance + Exorcist + Poltergeist + 80s ninja craze + synths. Had a look at the original Canon pre-prod sexy ninja pitch and the post-prod ad with "the most fearsome ninja ever known" + fearsome blow-dry volume

Exhibition of A Thousand Small Stories

Photo by Eileen Perrier

Exhibition of a thousand small stories

A sneak preview of Eileen Perrier's show A Thousand Small Stories at
Autograph, London. We're very lucky to have got Eileen for an online talk this Wednesday 28th May at 3pm BST- it’s free, book here - www.ticketsource.co.uk/school-of-th...

Liverpool Arab Arts Festival 11-20 July

The wonderful Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (which I worked on for many happy years) is back in July. Book your tickets for some of the best Arab music, theatre, performance, conversation and more www.arabartsfestival.com

I’m re-sharing the QTC starter pack in hopes of finding our new secretary.

Are you out there?

@scmsqtc.bsky.social
@scmstudies.bsky.social

go.bsky.app/G4eA51z

🙏

A text that reads "darling, so this info dump on the internet, not on me" #autistic #autism #neurodivergent

The most loving partner who understands me and knows when to tell me to stop 😜 You know your autism is adored when your info dumping gets called out!

Move poster for the film Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers in which a sex worker in her underwear is holding a chainsaw.

Video box art for the film Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers in which a sex worker in her underwear is holding a chainsaw. The word chainsaw has been replaced by a picture of a chainsaw.

the title credit the cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The background is blue and the text is orange and green.

the UK title credit for the cartoon Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles which is normally called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

In the 1980s, the BBFC was so OTT censorious even words like "Chainsaw" and "Ninja" were banned that VHS artwork and beloved cartoons credits had to be changed/edited.

Here's two examples of fortress UK. Spot the difference