On Pride, and on Anger

It’s June, which means it’s time once again for us to remind the world that (a) queer people exist and (b) many of us at RR&D are them. Last year we wrote a piece about it: about Pride, and pride, and the complexity of being proud as a Brand and as individuals and all that jazz.

Our words from last year still stand. We said:

We are grappling, this month, with how to say what we want to say about being queer: we want, as individuals, to celebrate Pride in a way that is authentic and that doesn’t corporately wash away its radical nature – the radical nature both of Pride as a movement, and of being who we are, out loud. We are lucky enough to live in places where most of us have hard-won rights to live our lives in freedom, and unlucky enough that many of us now see those rights under attack.

In the last twelve months, those attacks on our rights have escalated, at least in the English-speaking world. We have seen a government elected in the USA that is actively engaged in rolling back rights for trans people, including some of our team. As we write this, the courts have ruled that some of the most egregious changes are unlawful, but today’s Supreme Court ruling has stripped treatment options and rights away from trans teenagers in Tennessee, setting a deeply concerning precedent. The US administration is gearing up to come after the broader queer community, stripping funding for services, research and support for LGBTQI+ people, along with other marginalised and disadvantaged people. Migrants and refugees are at the forefront of the violence it is inflicting. Along with all those deprived of their freedom by the US administration, we hope for Andry Romero’s safe return, we hope for justice for all of those affected by the US administration’s anti-migrant and anti-LGBTQI+ actions, and we hope, rather than believe, that things will get better before they get worse.

In the UK, where most of us are based, the rights of trans and intersex people are also under attack; in real terms, they’re being rolled back by decades. Rulings and guidance from the EHRC are taking away our ability to live as ourselves, stripping away our privacy and our ability to use bathrooms in peace, in the name of “safety” for cis women (as though trans people are a class undeserving of safety). Trans and intersex people are not inherently dangerous, and to suggest so is straightforwardly discriminatory. Intersex people are erased completely from the EHRC’s guidance, which relies on “sex at birth” as though that is always an uncomplicated, uncontested thing; this change alone eliminates crucial rights and protections for more than one million people in the UK.

Meanwhile, NHS waiting times for trans people are now close to a decade even for the first appointment; GPs are routinely refusing to treat the medical needs of trans people who are living in our acquired gender and have been for years. Folks who need gender affirming care are being told on one hand that they must have been living in their acquired gender for years before they can get a gender recognition certificate, and on the other hand that they must have a gender recognition certificate in order to live in their acquired gender. It is a catch-22 designed to drive us out of public life. Earlier this month, one of the UK’s commissioners at the Equality and Human Rights Commission said that we should accept reduced rights because we were mistaken about ever having had those rights in the first place. 

Meanwhile, in the games business: we attended UKGE a couple of weeks ago; it was a successful convention for us, and on the whole we had a good time. But: its venue, the NEC, failed to respond to multiple requests for clarity for our staff on which bathrooms we should use while working at the con. In the end, and for the first time, we were collectively witness to at least three transphobic incidents – things that would likely never have happened if it weren’t for the emboldening of bigots, and the lack of action by the venue and the event to make clear that such bigotry would not be tolerated. We now have a con bathroom policy: if you don’t feel safe going by yourself, come to our stall, and one of us will come with you.

We are queer and we are allies here, and we are really quite fed up of all this. Yes, we are proud; we are still proud; we will never not be. We are proud, and we are angry. The first Pride was a protest; turns out, the next one might be too. If you can take action, take it. If you can’t, support those who can.

What you can do today, if you want to take action:

• If you’re in the UK or the US, write your elected representative about the issues that affect our community. At the national level, in both countries, our rights are under attack and our representatives need to hear that this issue matters. At the local level, councils and states are deciding how these changes are actually implemented on the ground; our local governments need to hear how and why their constituents are impacted.
• In the UK, the EHRC’s interim guidance is open for consultation until June 30th; it’s not an easy read or a simple one to offer comments on, but if you have the capacity, the knowledge and the desire, it’s worth a try.
• If you’re attending a convention or an event, ask them about their bathroom policies, and ask them to make them public. It’s not just about trans and intersex people being able to piss in peace; it’s about everyone being safe from unjustified harassment.
• Support trans, intersex and marginalised creators.
• Be vocal about your allyship, whatever that looks like to you.
• If you’d like to declare your intentions regarding bathrooms, you can pick up this handy T-shirt (in standard fit or recycled cotton); for a limited time, at least £1 from every shirt sold will go towards supporting trans rights charities focussed on challenging illegal discrimination and infringement on our rights in the UK and the USA: the Good Law Project in the UK, and the Transgender Law Center in the USA. 
• Donate directly to your local LGBTQI+ rights charity of choice.
• Call your friends. Spend time with the people you love. Live, and live well. Be who you are. That’s enough.