A trans theater company is staging a production of one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies this summer in London, and the play will receive an introduction from none other than Sir Ian McKellen.
Trans What You Will, which is dedicated to staging Shakespeare plays with trans and nonbinary performers, will produce a staged reading of Twelfth Night at The Space in London on July 25. In a post to Instagram, the theater company wrote that the “inherent queerness” of the play is “glaringly apparent to so many.” Like many of the Bard’s plays, Twelfth Night absolutely smacks of gender.
As Trans What You Will describes it, “you’ve got a lady disguised as a man, seducing another lady on behalf of a lord, but nothing goes to plan when the lady falls for the disguised lady, and the disguised lady falls for the lord!” More specifically, the play follows two twins, Viola and Sebastian, who are separated from each other in a shipwreck. Viola disguises herself as a man, Cesario, and enters into the service of Duke Orsino, who rules over the area. As Cesario, she also serves as wingman to Orsino, who’s in love with the Countess Olivia. But Olivia falls in love with “Cesario,” Viola falls in love with Orsino, and chaos ensues. (I mean, sounds like your average T4T friend group if you ask us.)
The theater company also announced McKellen as the production’s “special guest” on Wednesday. In a statement posted to Trans What You Will’s Instagram, McKellen called Twelfth Night “perhaps the funniest and most moving of Shakespeare’s plays.”
“This is achieved through the complexity of gender and sexuality from first to last,” he said, adding that he’s “really looking forward to the impact of this latest version of the play at The Space.” (snip-MORE)
Fraser Horn is dropping Harry Potter tours from his roster (Dan Chiu-Lezeau)
The decision to drop Harry Potter tours in Edinburgh was not an easy one to make, but was necessary, says guide and Edinburgh Street Historians founder Fraser Horn, writing exclusively for PinkNews.
I was about 11 when I first got into Harry Potter, the kid looked a lot like me at the time.
My mum gave me a copy [of one of the books] and, like so many others, I felt the series captured the mood at the time: a sense of peril, mixed with optimism that the world could turn out OK if people stood up for what was right against what was wrong.
It was an instant classic of a kids book and that’s probably why so many millennials still hold such affection [for it] to this day. But we all grew after the series finished, some of us into decent people and others into cartoon villainy.
This is why today I’m announcing that following the success of the LGBTQ+ tour replacing Harry Potter, come July, the Harry Potter tour will not be coming back.
Fraser Horn. (Dan Chiu-Lezeau)
This decision was not made lightly. Although I wanted out of Potter ever since JK Rowling’s essay in 2020, the simple fact of the matter is that the story is so deeply ingrained in the Edinburgh tourism industry that it feels almost impossible to dislodge.
The connections between Edinburgh and Harry Potter very clearly involve Rowling, since it was [here] that the series was written. The films make demand stronger, bringing in a new audience, and repeat showings keep young people interested. With the new TV show, I expect Potter tourism to increase [here] and across the UK.
If any of those tourists are queer and want a tour that’s more important, they can book the LGBTQ+ one here.
I have been a guide since 2019 but went independent in February. Street Historians was a name that came from the idea that we would be like street magicians, but of history rather than magic. We’re fun, different and the best way to see Edinburgh, in my view.
The initial plan was to do a couple of tours – Edinburgh’s Old Town and Harry Potter – on a free/pay-what-you-want basis. I planned on doing this because I knew it worked. It was around March that I got in touch with LGBT Health and Wellbeing, a Scottish charity which focuses on supporting the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ adults. I wanted to discuss donating money from my Harry Potter profits to them but I also [said] I had offered an LGBTQ+ tour privately in the past.
They were particularly interested in the LGBTQ+ tour so I decided to run that every Friday at 6pm. It involves medical innovators, spies and [the] Aids [crisis], as well as how activists helped reshape society for the LGBTQ+ community. It is essential stuff.
I was motivated to drop Potter for Pride month because of the recent Supreme Court decision which will make our trans siblings unsafe. Rowling has confirmed she donated money to the organisation that advocated for the court decision and celebrated with a cigar picture on a boat, which made me want to drop Potter even more.
The Harry Potter tour will be replaced with a queer-related one. (Dan Chiu-Lezeau)
The response – both to the original LGBTQ tour and to replacing Potter with it – has been overwhelming.
People who have come on the LGBTQ+ tour love having an event which is a bit different from the standard fare, both in terms of walking tours and queer events. Guests have been making friends and these are the kind of life-long connections from which community is made. The decision to drop Potter for LGBTQ+ history has been a success and most have been positive about it.
However, some thought I was doing it for the wrong reason: rainbow capitalism, or purely to make money for Pride, before switching back to the Potter tours. It’s fair that the community might expect this sort of thing because as we’ve seen, companies change very quickly. A great example of this would be Barclays Bank, which has a very proud LGBTQ+ section. Then I read how they are banning trans people from using the toilets of their gender, based on the court ruling.
To reassure people, Potter will not be coming back to the Street Historians roster. We have been looking for more interesting stories to tell, for example on forgotten women.
Even with significant economic considerations, it seems necessary for me to drop Potter. The series may be a draw for other people but it is proving harder as time goes by to conjure up enthusiasm. Some may be upset, but I guess that’s the lesson I took from the sort of books I read growing up. We have to take a stand eventually or nothing will ever change.
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful. (snip)
Snippet: In the book The Great Open Dance: A Progressive Christian Theology, theologian Jon Paul Sydnor argues that even the apostle Paul calls for an allegorical reading of Genesis by citing his letter to the church in Galatia. In Galatians 4:21-31, Paul explains the significance of Sarah and Hagar. In verse 24, he tells his audience, “These things are being taken figuratively: the women represent two covenants.” If Paul didn’t read Genesis literally, then I think that permits Christians to interpret Genesis from a more open perspective when it comes to gender and sexuality.
I hold out hope that the Bible can be interpreted in such a way as to make room for me and other trans people. I grasp on to the idea that there is a Christianity out there that is safe and committed to fighting anti-trans legislation. Perhaps to my own harm, I even sometimes find myself hoping that fundamentalists and the Far Right can be persuaded. Persuaded to care, persuaded to see the shared humanity between themselves and transgender people, persuaded by their own good book to protect my community and change their ways. Though I know this is unlikely, I continue to cling to hope. As I am literally fed and cared for by a Christian community, I gain a better understanding of what faith looks like. Today, I am choosing to have faith in my identity as something beautiful and chosen, and good.
In Transgender, Intersex, and Biblical Interpretation, theologians Terese J. Hornsby and Deryn Guest write, “The trans body is not a minority exception to a two-gendered system; it is not an anomaly or a body that exists in the margins. The reality is that there are no margins.” This limitlessness, this abundance, is not only good theology, it is safety, it is belonging.
May 27, 1940 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled a sit-down strike was not a violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act even if it interfered with interstate commerce. The company had sued for treble damages (triple their financial loss) under the Act. The Court said that if the strike were found to be a restraint of trade, then “practically every strike in modern industry would be brought within the jurisdiction of the federal courts under the Sherman Act.” The American Federation of Full Fashioned Hosiery Workers under its president, William Leader, had declared a strike at Apex Hosiery Co. in Philadelphia, and had organized support among other workers in the city. When Apex refused to recognize the union, he declared a sit-down strike and led an occupation of the factory which lasted for seven weeks. Unlike the UAW sit-down at the GM plant in Flint, however, violence was committed against the management personnel and significant damage was done to manufacturing equipment. Summary and full text of the Supreme Court decision
May 27, 1963 The record album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, which featured the song “Blowin’ in the Wind,” was released. The song warns of the perils of nuclear war.“ …how many times must the cannon balls fly Before they’re forever banned?” The song and the lyrics
I think others here read on GoComics, so likely are aware that they did some work on their site. I’m an almost-daily reader there, but I have no account; I just go there and read the ones I want to read.
One of those is “Fur Babies.” Nancy Beiman has not only created a genius little toon about a girl and pets, she’s also mentioned other ‘toonists and their work, and I read those now, most of the time, as well.
Since I don’t have an account, I’m not aware of the issues Ms. Beiman mentions here in her substack. I do see, in comments when I bother reading those, that people have trouble getting in, getting around, and seeing what they go to GoComics to see. So, all of that is the background for this, from Nancy Beiman. Maybe none of you read her comic, and don’t mind what she or any other artist does. But, maybe some of you do, so please read this and give her your thoughts, all right? You’ll need to click through to Substack to do so. And thanks!
FurBabies will have its second GoComics publication anniversary on June 5, 2025.
I was told that I should allow two years for the strip to get off the runway. The time is nearly up, it’s still on the runway, and I need to know if the flight should be cancelled.
Drawing a daily strip is a lot of work for very little reward, and I’m not talking about money. I got rewarded well at first. A core group of readers posted daily on the GoComics page. They enjoyed the strip, there were very few trolls, and the number of followers was going steadily up. Then they changed the site and everything changed for FurBabies.
The strip now gets 50% of the likes and comments that it formerly received. I have no way of seeing if the followers are increasing or decreasing. Some commenters have disappeared (most were able to return, although not without difficulty) No one can see the number of followers change any more. The system now only changes when 100 people add or leave the page. This is of little consequence to strips with thousands of followers, but it is devastating to ones with fewer than two thousand (I am not the only one in this predicament). If the smaller strips aren’t publicized, they never will become better known. I’ve done everything I could to get the word out, but am completely discouraged by the recent developments.
I’m running a poll here and on Instagram: Should I keep drawing the FurBabies?
They were intended to bring a little fun and innocent humor into the comics. The zeitgeist tends toward ‘dark’, snarky, or autobiographical strips lacking in humor. I’m out of touch and I know it. Frankly I don’t want to be ‘in touch’ with these times.
If I do continue FurBabies, I will most likely go to alternate days and drop daily updates.
Thank you for reading this and I look forward to hearing from you.
Nancy
(snip-go answer the poll-it’s a simple couple of clicks. I don’t mind how you vote, but she’d appreciate the information.)
May 25, 1774 A group of African slaves in Massachusetts Bay colony petitioned the British royal governor for freedom as their natural right: “. . . we have in common with all other men a natural right to our freedoms without Being depriv’d of them by our fellow men as we are a freeborn Pepel [people] and have never forfeited this Blessing by aney compact or agreement whatever.”
May 25, 1925 John T. Scopes was indicted for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. Scopes, a football coach and substitute high school biology teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, agreed to be arrested and put on trial for teaching evolution. He was challenging the legitimacy of a four-day-old state law barring Darwin’s theory from the public school curriculum. The Scopes “Monkey Trial” ACLU
May 25, 1948 Garry Davis, formerly a member of the U.S. military, renounced his American citizenship to become a Citizen of the World. Davis continued to promote “world citizenship” for over 50 years; 400,000 have, at one time or another, joined the movement. watch trailer “THE WORLD IS MY COUNTRY” Read more about Garry Davis NY Times
May 25, 1963 Leaders of 32 African nations met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to set up the Organization of African Unity (OAU), giving them a united voice for the first time in the continent’s history. The primary aim of the OAU was to end European colonial control in the countries where it still existed at the time: Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), South Africa, Mozambique and Angola. OAU flag Read more
May 25, 1986 An estimated 7 million Americans participated in Hands Across America, forming a line across the country from Los Angeles to New York to raise public awareness of the issues of hunger and homelessness in the U.S. Participants paid ten dollars [almost $20 in 2009] to reserve their place in line; the proceeds were donated to local charities to feed the hungry and help the homeless.
May 25, 2003 Four activists, members of the Catholic Worker movement and known as “Riverside Ploughshares,” were arrested for pouring blood and hammering on the USS Philippine Sea’s Tomahawk cruise missile hatches. The ship was visiting New York City for the annual “Fleet Week.” “With hammers we have initiated the process of disarming this battle ship, of transforming this carrier of mass destruction into a vessel for peace…” pouring blood and hammering.. Details of the Riverside Ploughshares action
I keep meaning to get them posted, then I don’t get it done. Here they are; readers can pick and choose, or read each one in your own time. Enjoy!
This one has 2: 120, and 120a! -A
Queer History 120: Sappho by Wendy🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🌈
How a woman from ancient Lesbos changed literature and sexuality forever Read on Substack
Queer History 119: Dr Alan Hart, Trans Guy Super Power by Wendy🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🌈
“What does it feel like to save countless lives while being forced to hide who you really are? To revolutionize medicine while living in constant fear of being “discovered”? To fight a deadly disease that ravaged millions while battling a society that treated your very existence as a fucking scandal?” Read on Substack
Queer History 118: The Tragedy of Carmen Carrasco (1932) by Wendy🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🌈
“In a Spain teetering between progress and persecution, one woman’s death exposed the brutal reality faced by those who dared to love differently.
The day they found Carmen Carrasco’s body, Madrid whispered.” Read on Substack
Queer History 117: The Boys of Boise Scandal by Wendy🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🌈
“In 1955, the sleepy city of Boise, Idaho became ground zero for one of the most fucked-up anti-gay witch hunts in American history. What began as arrests of three men exploded into a moral panic that would rip families apart like wet paper, crush reputations under its boot, and drive some to blow their brains out—all under the bullshit guise of ‘protecting the children.'” Read on Substack
Queer History 116: Natalie Clifford Barney by Wendy🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🌈
How an American heiress built a lesbian literary empire in the heart of French culture while telling society to go fuck itself Read on Substack
Queer History 115: The Radical Queer Brotherhood in Walt Whitman’s Revolutionary Circle by Wendy🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🌈
How America’s “Good Gray Poet” built a secret society of gay intellectuals that changed literature forever Read on Substack
Scottie's Playtime 