REVIEW: The Orville 3-5: "A Tale of Two Topas"

SPOILERS FOR EPISODE FIVE 

The Orville: New Horizons continues to deliver relevant surprising and important stories in its revitalised third season. The five episodes released so far have, on the whole, been excellent. After the powerful season opener, “Electric Sheep,” “Shadow Realms” built on the Krill-Union storyline while delivering an effective sci-fi horror story. Episode four, “Gently Falling Rain,” was a thriller with spectacular visuals, strong action and some genuinely touching moments. Further developing the Krill storyline, it commented on political popularism, while briefly taking a swipe at the abortion debate and religious extremism on the whole. Only the third episode, the throwaway “Mortality Paradox,” failed to really make an impact; obvious filler that isn't really about anything.

With episode five, though, the series reaches its zenith with the controversial and beautiful “A tale of Two Topas.” Once again, the series delves into the long-running storyline concerning the Moclans, their contentious culture, and their strained relationship with the rest of the Union. This kicked off right back at the very beginning of the programme, in episode 1.3, “About a Girl,” which introduced the truth of the Moclan civilisation: that although they are seemingly a world entirely of gay men, who can and do reproduce with each other, hatching baby boys, females of their species do exist. When Lt. Cmdr Bortus (Peter Macon) and his civilian husband Klyden (Chad L. Coleman) have a baby girl, the two men fall out over the decision to have her surgically altered into a boy, the standard Moclan practice.

That episode didn't quite come off, in spite of its lofty ambitions, in part because it tried to address too many issues at once. Nonetheless, it was impactful, and the consequences for Moclan culture continued in the later episode, “Sanctuary” (2.12), further exposing the existence of Moclan women. Bortus and Klyden's relationship also suffered, coming to a head in 2.2, “Primal Urges,” while Moclan culture's misogyny was further explored in 2.7, “Deflectors,” where Lt. Keyali entered a forbidden relationship with a Moclan man. These episodes managed better than “About a Girl” by focusing their stories on particular elements of the Moclan debate, hitting home harder as a result.

The Orville has continued to improve as it has developed and moved further from its comedy roots, and “A Tale of Two Topas” is once again an affecting, meaningful sci-fi story told straight. In the few years since “About a Girl,” Topa has grown into an adolescent (alien races always being a handy way to move quickly past the infant stage on TV). Now played by fifteen-year-old Imani Pullum, Topa is old enough to have decided that he wants to join the Union fleet and has begun shadowing Commander Kelly Grayson (Adrienne Palicki) as part of his preparation. The boy remains completely unaware that he was surgically altered as a child, or that he was born physically female, but still feels that there's something wrong with him.

Pullum, a very new actor, is excellent in her scenes as Topa. The young Moclan is very clearly depressed, something that comes through more in his demeanour than his words or actions. There's a visible weight on his shoulders; it's a remarkably strong and subtle performance. Palicki, who doesn't always have a great deal to challenge her on the show, is also very good as Grayson. We see, during Topa's shadowing, how much of her day-to-day work involves trying to keep the crew, made up from multiple different species, rubbing along together. There's a rare outright comedy scene early on where Grayson has to confront an alien crewman who refuses to wear clothes on the first day of the month, according to his religion's dictates. It's silly, but sets the theme of the episode of cultural clashes. Unlike with the naked crewman, who is persuaded to compromise by wearing pants, there is no easy resolution to the Moclan situation. (Although it would have been even simpler to give him the first day of the month off so he could be naked as he liked in his quarters, but I digress.)

Grayson is torn between her moral need to tell Topa the truth and save him misery, and her responsibility as first officer to maintain the peace and honour the decision that was made on Moclus. It's well played by Palicki, who hold her own as one of the focal actors of the episode.

Topa's depression worsens, in spite of Kelly's mentoring, and he begins to ask Isaac – the recently suicidal android – what it's like to be dead. For a horrifying moment I feared that the season opener was going to be followed up by another, irreversible suicide, but that, while sadly all too believable, would have been devastating. With this added pressure, Grayson helps Topa discover the truth, with the help of another, unknown party who provides access to protected files. What follows is the inevitable, but cathartic, confrontation between Topa, and, well, everyone in her life, all of whom kept the truth from her. She is most furious at her fathers, but also feels deeply betrayed by Grayson. Topa declares that she wishes to be female, her true self, and by this time Grayson, and soon others, have begun referring to her with she/her pronouns, the switch happening almost without notice, it seems so natural.

Bortus and Klyden's relationship is brutally wounded by this turn of events. Bortus had long been the one who championed Topa's right to live as she was born, but agreed to abide by the Moclan government's decision. The wedge this drove between the husbands seems to have just about healed by this point, but is reopened violently. Bortus is revealed as the one who supplied Topa with the password needed to access the files, while Klyden is as resolutely anti-female as he ever was. There's an additional level to Klyden's hatred of women, which has been tolerated as a cultural difference for too long: as was revealed back in “About a Girl,” he too was born female, and was altered. Only Klyden now reveals he wishes he had never known about his “defect,” and that he is merely trying to spare Topa the same pain.

While this paints Klyden in a more sympathetic light, there is never any chance he is going to be portrayed as right here. Bortus is torn up by the situation, breaking down in tears in a truly heartbreaking moment when he opens up to Kelly about it. Macon, who so often has to play the Moclan officer as stoic and resolute, is absolutely incredible in this scene. From here there is some debate among the command crew over what to do with Topa, who wishes to undergo gender reassignment surgery to undo the change that was made to her without ther consent. This only requires the permission of one parent, and Bortus consents, but Captain Mercer (Seth MacFarlane) is worried about the reaction from the Moclans. Predictably, the Union Council refuses to allow the procedure, fearing that the Moclans will pull out of the Union when their help is needed against the twin threats of the Kaylon and the Krill.

The episode could have ended like this, with the decision of those in power overruling that of the person who is suffering, as is so often the case in real life. However, the crew find a loophole that allows the operation to be completed without implicating the Union. Really, though, I doubt the Moclans would have ever gone through with their threat to secede from the Union: like Klyden, while their beliefs are strong, they are full of sound and fury but ultimately weak.

After her operation (far, far simpler and quicker than in reality, but then, isn't that what we hope for such things?), Topa once again has a body that aligns with her identity. Aided by only subtle changes in make-up, Pullum once again impresses by making this version of Topa clearly female where appeared male before. Again, the subtlety of her performance is astounding. While it's a happy ending, there's still a sting, as Klyden, appallingly, disowns his daughter, saying he wishes she'd never been born, abandoning her and Bortus. Again, all too believable.

The genius of the Moclan storyline has always been how closely it reflects debates in real life, but then puts them into sharp focus by inverting them. While on 21^st century Earth, people in same-sex relationships still face discrimination, either illegally or enshrined in their country's law, the Moclans are all homosexual men, save for a few who are treated as pariahs. Topa pleas not just for gender reassignment surgery, but what is really a “de-transitioning.” This could have gone badly wrong had the episode not been written and performed as well as it was, ending up backing the common, but entirely false, claim that many transgender people regret their surgery. Instead, it's presented in the same way as the Moclans' sexuality: how dare you be straight! How dare you be cisgender!

The only element that aligns directly to real life is the Moclans' misogyny, which is all too common, and indeed a fundamental part of some cultures' ruling regimes. In “About a Girl” this veered close to xenophobia and racism, but here it's handled with more care. Still, it's hard not to agree with Mercer when he asks “How long do we put up with this?” Some cultural views are so aborrent to outsiders that it seems there can be no compromise. However, by refusing to engage with each other, there can be no learning. Still, it remains an element with a strong parallel in the 21^st century.

A risky episode then, but one that comes off with great success, thanks to the skilled writing and direction of MacFarlane, and the performances of Palicki, Macon, Coleman and, above all, Pullum.

BRIGHTON FRINGE REVIEWS 2022 - Part the First

 It's that time of year again, when I become so incredibly busy in the evenings and weekends that I don't know whether I'm coming or going and all my money seems to mysteriously disappear. Yes, it's the Brighton Fringe Festival, our annual celebration of creativity, artistry and hilariosity. 

I never manage to see as many shows as I intend, but here's a quick rundown of some of my favourites so far. More to come at the end of the month when we take in the last chorus.

THE BURLESQUE IMPOSTER

Alexandra Shaw is Fanny Dent, and Fanny Dent is the Burlesque Imposter. A brilliant one woman (well, almost) show, The Burlesque Imposter takes burlesque back to its roots as a way to satirise and dissect society's weird little ways. As Fanny tries to make it in the world of burlesque, she confronts the expectations that society has of women, and those she has of herself. 

It's an ingenious show, bringing burlesque back to what it used to be about - making people laugh and think - and away from the modern view of it being purely for titillation. What we get is a show that's sexy and smart, funny and fabulous, with some powerful moments that will make you stop and rethink your attitudes even as you're laughing or straining your neck to try to get a proper look around that tall person in front of you.

Far from being an imposter, Fanny brings us some of the wittiest, most creative dance routines ever seen. If you've seen the show in years past, then go along to see experience a perfected script and a performer at the top of her game. If you've not seen it, treat yourself to one of the funniest, sexiest and cleverest shows on the Fringe.

£8 - £10  Spiegeltent Fri 20th May to Sun 22nd May, 19.45 

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A TRANS FAIRYTALE

Cerys Evans, now with the Clap Back Club, brings back her one-woman show that sold out at the 2019 Fringe (you remember, the one in the before time). In another world, Miss... something-or-other is trying to make a living as a fairy godmother. This isn't like the fairytales you know, and our struggling fairy has to deal with shallow royals, a gobby disembodied narrator and the trials of fitting in in a trans-unfriendly world. 

This revamped, perfected version of A Trans Fairytale has new puppets, up-to-the-minute jokes and plenty of silliness, but it's the emotional heart of the story that will get you, as our heroine searches for her elusive happy ending. In a time when trans people are facing a horrifying upsurge of bigotry, Cerys faces issues head-on with a heartfelt and captivating performance. 

This hilarious, foul-mouthed and powerful play will make you laugh and hit you in the heart. An intensely personal show, Cerys has made this already great play even better for what will likely be it's last ever time on stage. Not to be missed.

£8 - £10   Latest Music Bar  Thurs 19th May (TONIGHT!) and Fri 20th May,  22.00

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PETE STRONG: GREENFINCH

Bridport Poetry Prize nominee Pete Strong returns for an entirely new performance, combining poetry, comedy and audiovisual experience to powerful effect. An intimate look inside his life, from Ulster boyhood to Brighton adulthood, exploring the experiences that shaped him and learning to move beyond them. It's a profoundly personal show, yet one that speaks to anyone about identity, growth and hurt. 

In spite of how hard this one hits you, it's also wonderfully, weirdly funny, with Pete's unique turn of phrase shifting you through the full spectrum of emotions. This one really got me, just beautiful. 

My favourite poem was the one about the pickles, though.

£8 - £10  Phoenix Art Space  Thurs 19th May (TONIGHT!), Sat 20th and Sun 21st, 20.15

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Superhero Shows Round-Up: Supergirl Season Four

Supergirl Season Four

Supergirl, however, keeps getting better.

The wonderful thing about this series is that it's about diversity and tolerance, and moreover, fighting for tolerance. In today's world, particularly today's America, this is the most important message. This is as broad as it could be, but the core targets for its focus are feminism and immigration, two things bound to make a lot of white guys very angry and send them to the internet spouting rage-fueled bile. The feminist aspect was a given, of course, given that this is a series focusing on a female superhero, but the immigration angle has been as important since the start, with the showrunners remembering that Supergirl and Superman are the story of All-American Heroes who came to the States as refugees.

For a while now, the universe of Supergirl (Earth-38, as it happens) has been a rather more utopian one than our own, where the President is a woman who very clearly beat Trump (or his Elseworlds analogue) and leads an America that welcomes extraterrestrial immigrants. While there have been anti-alien elements throughout, the series has been broadly consistent in portraying a world that accepts aliens. Two things have forced this to change. Firstly, real life politics can't be pushed aside forever; it's impossible to really comment on the state of the US today by going, “Wouldn't it be nice if the world were more like this?” Eventually, Supergirl's America had to begin to reflect the real world equivalent. Secondly, the alien acceptance angle sits awkwardly with the fact that the bulk of the villains on this series are alien criminals or invaders. It's hard to imagine Joe Public squaring this with a view of alien acceptance, so it's something that had to be addressed.

To this end, season four introduced a new character, Ben Lockwood, played with superb conviction and charisma by Sam Witwer. The TV version of Agent Liberty, Lockwood's story is powerful and chilling because it is so plausible. Indeed, it's the sort of thing we see in reality all the time, and his fall from grace is so upsetting because there are points where the viewer comes very close to agreeing with him. Lockwood never had a problem with aliens, but his father was a backwoods, anti-alien kind of guy. Only slowly, after catastrophe after catastrophe, does Lockwood turn from a tolerant, accepting man to a mouthpiece for the Far Right and subsumed by his hatred for alien beings. The major turning points are the Daxamite invasion of Earth and the attempted terraforming by Reign, the cataclysmic events that rounded off the previous two seasons respectively, which lost his his home and then his father.

This would have been convincing enough if that had been all that pushed him over the edge, but it's the little things that make it so much more effective. It's easy to see the parallel between the alien invasion driving people to hate alien civilians, just as Islamist terror attacks have led to a huge increase in hate crimes on ordinary Muslim citizens. It's the smaller things that slowly chip away at Lockwood, though, such as his father's steel business being pushed out by alien alternatives, and alien workers proving better at jobs than humans. It's not subtle, but this sort of thing isn't asking for subtlety. It's all the more effective for an American audience, I'm sure, in a country where “alien” - a terribly dehumanising word – is still the preferred term for a foreign national.

The anti-alien sentiment is given a huge boost when the existing President (Lynda Carter) is revealed as an alien herself, the sort of Republican wet dream that ran through the Obama administration when the opposition were desperately trying to come up with some evidence to support their claims that the POTUS wasn't legally American. It leads to a right-wing populist President, who happily uses Lockwood as his mouthpiece. Given that the core characters work as reporters and magazine editors in their day jobs, the line between the press' commitment to unbiased reporting and the moral commitment to fight for the right cause becomes a major sentiment.

However, there are more aspects to the series and its agenda of outspoken diversity. Most notable are the two new hero characters on the regular cast, Jesse Rath as Brainiac-5 (pushed up to main cast at the end of last season) and Nicole Maines as Nia Nal, aka Dreamer. I don't think there can be any question that Rath is playing Brainy as if he's autistic; although this isn't something that can necessarily be said to apply to the character, being an alien android and all, his delivery of lines, tendency to not focus on the other cast's eyeline and the writing of the character as struggling to navigate emotional relationships and everyday conversation can only be read this way. Is it right to characterise a robot like this? One of the worst things that autistic people hear is that they're perceived as “robotic” because of their way of communicating and expressing themselves. Nonetheless, Rath's performance is beautifully understated, utterly charming and very funny without the humour ever being at his expense, so personally I'm in favour of the approach.

Nicole Maines, on the other hand, truly breaks ground as the first transgender actor to portray a transgender character in this genre. To the best of my knowledge there has never been a trans superhero onscreen, and it's very rare to see it in comics. Gratifyingly, while her gender identity is very important to Nia and a significant aspect of her character, it's not all there is to her. She gets to be a new hero on the show, the precognitive Dreamer, and is also an alien settler. At first I wondered if this was really necessary, making her trans and an alien, but there's no reason that a character needs one defining characteristic as the “other.” People are complex and varied and can differ from the assumed “normal” in many ways. Maines gives a strong yet vulnerable performance as a character who is still finding her place in life, and she shares amazing chemistry with Rath. Take away the extraterrestrial topcoat, and you've got a story about two immigrants, one trans, one autistic, who slowly learn how to tell each other about their feelings. It's beautiful and it's bloody brilliant that we have genre TV willing to try these things.

Among the sterling work done with the new characters there's almost no room to praise the continued development of the relationships between Kara, Alex, J'onn and even boring old James. Although every relationship gets its moment, the core of Kara's story this year is her complex friendship with Lena Luthor (Kate McGrath). While it really stretches credulity at some points to believe that this genius can't work out that Kara is Supergirl (the phrase “galactically stupid” comes to mind), the edge it lends to their friendship is palpable. Into this the writers drop Lex Luthor, who was bound to show up eventually, but they wisely kept him aside until his presence was required to push things over the edge. While I love the tradition was of recasting actors from various Superman productions in new roles, I was absolutely ready to throw out the idea of Jon Cryer, formerly Lenny Luthor in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, as the new Lex. And I like that film, even if nobody else does! However, Cryer absolutely knocks it out the park, playing Lex with a huge chip on his shoulder and a desperate need for validation that propels his fight for power. It's a dead-on characterisation and his antagonistic relationship with Lena works well.

Of course, there's no point bringing in Lex if you're not going to have him mastermind some ridiculously complicated scheme. Adapting the classic Red Son storyline, albeit liberally, the season see a parallel plot with Kara's clone, the Russian-born Red Daughter, set up as her dark mirror. As well as giving Melissa Benoist the chance to show how flexible she can be in performance, it ties in nicely to the anti-alien storyline, a sentiment that Lex naturally would want to stoke. The season ties together with panache, accepting the odd slow-burner episode that could have been trimmed, and the finale packs a real punch. Plus we get Lex in his green-and-purple battle suit, and they even call the finale “The Quest for Peace.” That takes some guts.

Best episode of the season: “Man of Steel” - Lockwood's story.

Most pointless addition: Otis and Mercy Graves – Luthor's annoying henches.

Best monster moment: Menagerie as a knock-off Venom.

Must-reads: George Godwyn

I don't know George Godwyn. I don't follow him online. However, his post on the trans rights crisis in the US has gone viral, and it sums up my feelings, and my fears, very well.

I'm in the UK, of course, but that doesn't mean that I'm not concerned about what happening in the States, or that I'm not worried about what will follow elsewhere. The UK hangs off the USA's coat tails and the rise in hate politics is spreading everywhere.

Content warning for trans rights and assault.

George Godwyn

October 22 at 1:54 AM

Something happened on Facebook awhile ago that I’ve never written about and only shared with a few people. I kept it to myself, mostly, because I didn’t want to upset the people in question, but I guess it’s time. (And for probably the first time I am going to put a content warning on a post, because this post probably requires one. So, here's a CW for violence against trans people.)

For a long time I wondered about the understanding of gender on the far right, the Trump right. The bathroom controversy, in particular I thought bizarre. I can understand the basic conservatism and fear of new ideas, but the bathroom conflict seemed odd to me. It was extremely important in the minds of Trump supporters, even though it can’t possibly be a common problem in most of the areas these people live. The position on the right seemed precisely the opposite of what it should be. Why do you want someone presenting as a woman in every respect using the damn men’s room, or vice versa? Isn’t that going to be more socially outrageous, in most situations? I didn’t get it. So I decided to ask the Trump supporters.

I posted a picture of Buck Angel, a transgender adult film actor, in a few of large, sometimes huge (nearly half a million), Trump groups. The picture showed a very buff, ripped Mr. Angel from the waist up, shirtless, with a shaved head and sporting a Fu Manchu mustache. He is an extremely masculine looking guy. With the picture I included the question “This person has a vagina. Which bathroom should they use?”

I thought at least some of these people will realize how silly it would be to want this man to use the ladies room. How socially awkward and alarming that would be, in so many situations. Putting aside how dangerous it would be for the man, simply on the basis of the the immediate, practical effect on the other diners in the given Applebee’s or wherever it was happening.

The post got hundreds of comments, finally thousands. Immediately. The Trump supporters had a very clear answer and they were adamant about it. Almost no one answered with “the men’s room”. A few said things like “if they’ve got a vagina, they use a woman’s room, if they have a penis, they use the men’s room.” But the majority of the of the commenters had an answer I hadn’t considered at all. These people had worked out a very simple solution to the problem of transgender people and the norms revolving public restrooms.

They wanted transgender people to die.

They were quite explicit about it, very blunt. “They should die.” That simple. That concise. “They should die.”

Let me be entirely clear about this – they knew what they were saying, they knew exactly what they wanted. They didn't want a trans man in the men's room and they didn't want a trans man in the woman's room. They wanted the trans man to be dead.

Of course some of them were more loquacious than that. They had reasons they should die, preferred methods, they expressed their feelings about the fantasized the deaths, but death or something similar was the most common answer. "Stop being", essentially. A lot of other people answered “they should stay home”, maintaining the status quo without having to deal with the problem while still allowing transgender people to, you know, live, but mostly death or some sort of violence was the preferred option. Comment after comment, they should die, fuck them, stay-at-home, don’t use the bathroom, I’ll kill them if I catch them in the bathroom with my daughter, they should die, they should die, they should die.

Oh, and in case That's not plain enough, it wasn’t just death they were threatening. They were threatening anything they could think of. Torture, castration, humiliation, at adults and children alike. Any brutal, vicious insult or threat imaginable. I’ve watched these groups for years, dozens of them. Anyone who watches the news, who’s seen our president make a speech, knows how mean, how grotesque, how petty and ugly these people can be. The things they say about Mexicans, Muslims, about women, gay people, immigrant children. Even if you haven’t been in one of these groups, it’s not hard to imagine. Jesus, our president publicly mocked a disabled man. But I still wasn’t prepared for the comments in this thread. Just sheer, stark, gut level hatred, unencumbered by the slightest empathy. Loathing. Disgust. Raw hate.

As much time as I’ve spent in these groups, examining these people, I didn’t think anything could shock me. I was wrong. Maybe it shouldn’t have, but it did.

There is not one single issue that brings the evil out in Trump supporters the way trans-people do, there is no class of people more loathed. More than anything else, gender self-determination symbolizes precisely the social progress that animates the Trump right. They despise it and the people who embody it. Understand this. This issue is central to these people on the right, there is nothing they feel more deeply about. The Trump right does not want a solution to the social problem of trans people and restroom use. They simply do not want trans people to exist. That is what they want. What they demand. Nonexistence.

Today the New York Times reported that the Trump administration is now in the process of redefining the administrative understanding of gender as simply a matter of biology and nothing more. Gender would be determined solely and entirely by birth assignment – as male or female, immutable and unchangeable, a fact. They are already rolling back numerous civil rights guarantees instantiated in the Obama years, policies that allowed a significant portion of our nation to live their lives with some basic dignity and safety. Essentially the Department of Health and Human Services intends to define transgender people out of existence.

This is happening now. Right now.

Like I said at the beginning, I never really talked about that little test I did in the Trump groups with Buck Angel’s picture much before this. I know so many trans people and I know how difficult it can be for them, sometimes, just to live their lives, what a scary place the world can be. I felt like it was all too awful, I didn’t want to scare people even more. I guess it probably wouldn’t come as a shock to most of my trans friends, it’s a reality they live every day, but I just didn’t want to pile on. But it's too late for all that now.

I haven’t heard people talking about the Health and Human Services attack on trans rights all that much, so far, and I’m a little surprised, because we should all be clear about something. The changes they are making don’t mean a little inconvenience for a few trans people.

They mean death. It’s that simple. It’s going to mean withdrawal, seclusion, humiliation, violence and death.

Think about the Trump supporters I described, think about the thousands of comments I just told you about. Now think about the reinforcement this sort of decision makes for their worst instincts, think about a trans man, presenting as a man, being forced to use the ladies room in some Podunk, red state, Trump voting shithole.

Now how do you suppose that goes down with the rest of the folks in the having dinner? And how do you suppose the teenage trans boy using the ladies room goes down with the parents of the teenage girls at the high school? And how does that make the teenage trans boy feel? Or the teenage trans girl having to share a bathroom with the testosterone jacked 17-year-old jocks at the high school? And what do you suppose happens to the trans girl forced to onto a man’s prison block?

Humiliation, violence, rape, suicide, and murder. Death. Trans rights are a matter of life and death, in a very real, very palpable way. The definitions change, and people die. The rules change, and people die. The laws change, and people die. Immediately.

This is happening because the people in the White House get it. They know their base, and they know exactly what their base wants. They got it 100% right this time. They are defining transgender people out of existence because they know their base wants transgender people to be gone. Disappeared. Non-existent.

Trans rights, opposition to gender self-determination, hatred for trans people, as I’ve already described, are at the heart of the Trump phenomena. There is nothing that evokes the hatred and fear and violence on the right the way the simple existence of trans people does. It is stomach turning to see, horrible in its blind ferocity, and I don’t know how the fuck my trans friends have the strength and poise to live every day in the face of that horror, that hatred, but they do. I suppose they have to, and that’s where the fight is now.

I don’t care who you are, I don’t care where you are in the political spectrum, I don’t care how fucking liberal or leftist you are, I don’t care how feminist you are, if you don’t support trans-rights, you are not on my fucking side. I don’t give a fuck about your bio–essentialist arguments, I don’t give a fuck about your history with men, I don't care about your pissing eight year old or your bigot grandmother. Frankly, I don’t give a fuck about your traumatic sexual assault if it means you’re going to take it out on some fucking teenage girl who doesn’t want to have to use a bathroom with a bunch of frat boys and have the same fucking thing happen to her. Fuck you.

If you want to know where the battle lines are drawn most clearly and unmistakably, between decency and the dark, right now, in the United States, in 2018, it’s here. Trans rights are the battlefield and trans people, like it or not, are in the vanguard of that battle. They are the front-line in a fight they never asked for, every fucking day, every hour, every time they leave the fucking house.

There is no fight more important as this, now, today. There are no people so vulnerable, so marginalized and there should be no fucking doubt among anyone on the left, any liberal, any libertarian, about this.

The fight is here now, it’s happening. An entire marginalized community, federally defined out of existence and set up to be victimized by a segment of the population too fucking backwards and just plain, willfully dumb to bother to try and understand what the hell is going on in the world, or empathize with another fucking human being.

If we don’t stop this, people are going to die, killed for something they can’t change, for who they are in the deepest part of themselves. Not somewhere down the road, not in five years, but now. They’re going to start dying now.

We can’t let that happen. Those of us who still live in the modern world still own this culture and we need to do what we can to make sure it doesn't. We cannot go back to the 1950s, we cannot watch more people die for their gender. We cannot let that happen. We can't lose this battle.

This isn't temporary, this isn't going to go away tomorrow, the last two years is only the beginning. Gender self-determination will be the civil rights battle of the 21st century. If we have to fight this for the rest of our lives, we cannot allow these fuckers, this raw hate, to win.

So be shocked for a second, cry about it for a minute, and while you're at it, maybe today is a good day to hug your trans friends, tell them you got their back. Because we do, a lot of us. America isn’t just Trump supporters. Remember that. For what it’s worth, some of us got your back.

Then get over it and get ready, because this is a fight and you're in it. We all are, all of us, left, liberal, libertarian, right, if you're a decent human being and you care about basic human rights, you're in it up to your ass and the water is rising fast.

Hatred is a powerful emotion and it is temporarily ascendant, but hate can't beat the future, and that future is an America, a world, where every single trans person lives their life safely and with the same dignity any other human being enjoys, because ultimately, as badly as they want to, they just can't turn back the clock. Not when so many of us stand in their way, not with so many lives on the line. They just can't.

And that really is immutable, unchangeable. That really is a fact.

Brighton Pride 2018

This post is in response to an article available here, about the corporatisation and homophobic commodification of Pride. It was published last year and its author, Hannah Cowen, makes some excellent points about issues that have only become worse this year.

I agree with a lot of what she says, although not all of it. There's a common saying this time of year: "Pride is a protest, not a party." I've heard this a few times over the last couple of weeks as things have geared up. I don't quite agree. Pride is a protest and a party. We're celebrating ourselves, and how far we've come, as well as protesting how far we have left to go.

I had a wonderful Pride this year, but it's increasingly becoming in spite of the official organisation rather than because of it. The main Pride event in Preston Park has now become completely apoliticised. This year it turned the corner and became simply the Britney concert. I had no particular interest in going, although at one point it looked like I might have been able to get a free ticket off someone, and I would have happily taken it, if only to carry on partying with my friends when they went off to see the performance. Even last year, when I attended following the parade (not that even marching guarantees entrance anymore) I was disappointed to see how the poetry, performance and protest tents had been relegated to the sidelines. More disappointing is the cost of attending the street party in St. James's Street, which once was a wonderful celebration of community. I have no problem with there being a small charge to enter - it keeps out troublemakers and helps pay for the clean up - but it is becoming increasingly costly, so much so that even people who live in the street don't attend. They, of course, can enter for free, but none of their friends or family can. Now the whole of Kemp Town is completely fenced off for the duration.

I was really pleased to see some actual protest groups in the parade. The protest against BA's complicity in deportation was powerful, and they went on to take over the BA-sponsored i360, (a tall piece of tat that has been planted in the Brighton shoreline). There were several anti-TERF groups, an LGBT Muslim group with anti-Islamist placards, and much more. There were also plenty of purely celebratory groups. Yes, there are a lot of corporate floats and marches. Some of the corporations are very pro-LGBT inclusion. American Express are mentioned in the article, but they're consistently in the top two UK employers on the Stonewall Index (the other being Lloyds Banking Group, whose Rainbow network is based in Brighton and marches every year).

On the other hand, there were floats for things like Nestle, and Pride was sponsored by BooHoo - neither one anti-LGBT as far as I know, but both linked with appalling human rights abuses. I can't speak for things like Tesco or BT, really, but there doesn't seem to be any discrimination against who or what can join the parade. If they can pay, they're in, whether their actions and ethos are compatible or not.

It's deeply disheartening to read of Ms. Cowen's homophobic experiences at Pride. Straight people should be completely welcome at Pride - they may be there as allies, either in general or to support family or friends, or they might just be there for the party, which is fine too. As long as they are respectful and not homophobic, which you'd think would go without saying. It's not as though (as she also makes clear in the article) gay people are always respectful either. Last year I marched with my girlfriend, and got some filthy looks from some people. It presumably never occurred to them that we're both bi. I'm not the only one who spoke of biphobic abuse at the event.

Still, there are always going to be arseholes at any event, because frankly, most people are arseholes and once something's public you're never going to keep them all out. However, it's deeply depressing that the core parts of the Pride celebration are catering more to anyone with enough money- individual or corporate -  than those who have a real personal or political reason to be involved. But that's our culture all over. Everything is commodified. Pride is only going to become more about money as it goes on, and less about what it should be about: the community, the protest, the real celebration. Still, at least there are plenty of independent, free things to do on Pride weekend, and they're getting more and more focus from the community as the official event sells itself out.

The World Can Wait

Last night saw the release of The World Can Wait, exclusively by Diva magazine. The World Can Wait was written, produced and directed by Deborah Espect (creator of the award-winning web series As We Are, which you can watch on her site along with her short film Dog Day featuring the late, great Bella Emberg).

The World Can Wait is a comedic short starring Veronica Jean Trickett (As We Are, Hard Tide, 8ish, Jedi's Code) as Vic, a lesbian superhero who finds her greatest foe in the TV execs who can't stand to see a happy lesbian couple on their show. A protest against the common trope in TV and film of killing off LGTB+ characters, particularly lesbians, it's also a funny take on genre films.

You can watch the film here or via the Diva link above. It also features Charlotte East, comedian Sarah Charsley, and my own lady Suzanne Mead.

Polari Brighton

The Polari Literary Salon is an LGBTQ literary performance workshop that is generally London-based but makes outings to other parts of the UK. The Arts Council England has presented the organisers with a grant to fund a nationwide tour to mark their tenth anniversary, and so last night Polari came to Brighton.

I didn't know anything about Polari until my partner Suz and I met the wonderful Cerys Evans at a very Brightonian barbecue in the summer (lots of vegan sausages on offer). Cerys is a writer and performer (and has just started her own website), and is instantly a hit with everyone she meets. We made sure we were free to come see her perform at the Marlborough Pub and Theatre, a cosy little venue on the edge of Kemptown. It turned out Suz's friend John McCullough, a talented poet, was also performing that night. So naturally we absolutely had to make this.

We still managed to be late, and missed Cerys's first poem, which is frankly unforgiveable, but she still wowed us with some amazing readings of her own, very personal, very moving work. John was up during the second half reading from his latest book, Spacecraft, and giving us a sneak peak of his work in progress. John's poetry can be moving, powerful, funny - the gamut. And he likes to sneak in Doctor Who references.

It wasn't all local peeps, though. V. G. Lee, five time novelist and short story writer, read one of her stories from her collection As You Step Outside, and I loved it so much I went and bought the book straight away. Playwright Alexis Gregory performed part of his upcoming work which deals with pivotal moments and periods in the gay community throughout the twentieth century. He gave us the opening piece, a performance of a memoir from a man who was present at the Stonewall Uprising in 1969. It was an astonishingly powerful and moving piece, bringing to life an event that was long enough ago to feel historical, even mythic, to us now.

Each step of the tour includes a writing workshop, and one person is chosen from each to perform their piece at the event. A new writer read her poem #MeToo, a powerful hit of painful experience. The event finished with Sylvia Brownrigg reading from her new novel Pages for Her, which was beautiful, although I feel I ought to read the previous Pages for You from 2002 first. The evening was hosted by top-hatted raconteur Paul Burston and sign-interpreted by Natalie MacGarvie. It was a wonderful experience, and I'm glad that I'm learning to appreciate poetry at last - something I never really "got" until lately, and a lot of that is down to Suz.

We stayed out chatting with talented people and making new friends. Just a wonderful night. There's still time to see Polari on tour in London and Newcastle, and beyond.

Two short films

Two short animations that have been gaining attention and are worth sharing far and wide. The first only went up two days ago, and celebrates love and diversity. Too cute for words.


"In a Heartbeat" is by Beth David and Esteban Bravo.

The second film has been around since February but somehow I've only just stumbled upon it. It's an excellent sf short and cooperation vs. greed.

"Wire Cutters" was made by Jack Anderson and is hosted by omeleto.com. 

REVIEW: As We Are

As We Are is a new online TV series, exploring life for young LGBT people in Brighton and Hove. The first series was released towards the end of last year, in short, easy to enjoy episodes. As We Are was created by Deborah Espect, an award-winning writer who also acts as director and producer on the series. Espect first decided to write the series after watching lesbian characters in TV series continually being killed off. This led to the creation of a series where the main characters happen to be gay women and aren't punished for it by the narrative.

As We Are features a number of prominent LGBT writers, performers and activists both on screen and behind the scenes. It tells the story of Chloe, a young woman who agrees to flatsit for her dreadful ex-girlfriend because someone will need to look after the cat. The cat's much nicer than her ex, so it's fair enough. There she strikes up a friendship with Blake, the gent living in the flat above, who just happens to be transgender. Their friendship leads to Chloe facing her preconceptions, especially as she becomes more attracted to Blake.

If this all sounds like it could be extremely preachy and hard-going, rest assured it's not. We follow Chloe and Blake through drinks, dates and cat hunts, and the series' philosophy is kept very conversational. Actress and comedian Jenny Harrold plays Chloe, opposite artist, film-maker and trans activist Fox Fisher as Blake, both of whom give strong, realistic and likeable performances. There's a wealth of talent on screen, with award-winning performers appearing even in very brief roles.

As We Are has serious things to say but doesn't take itself too seriously, and finds plenty of opportunity to poke fun at how painfully Brightonian it is. (Trina, played by Sarah Charsley, is probably the most Brightonian person ever committed to film.) It's good fun for those of us in the area to see some well-known haunts on the screen, as well as well-known types of people, and anyone who's been involved in the Pride and LGBT scene, or the Brighton Fringe, will likely recognise a few faces. If you  have an interest in LGBT life, or just enjoy a light-hearted drama, it's definitely worth your time.

You can watch As We Are and read about its cast and creators here. If you enjoy it and want to help it continue, crowdfunding for series two will begin soon.

Wonderful. This woman is a born storyteller. Also, gay stuff.

http://www.avclub.com/article/scarlet-lesbian-218382

The weekend was a drag

This was initially going to be quite a pleasant, easy weekend, but has turned into one spent almost entirely at work due to half the people in the district being on holiday and the other half being ill with the local plague. I didn't get to watch Doctor Who until gone midnight last night/this morning, so the review for that will wait a short time, because I need to watch it again and will shortly have to get a rail replacement bus back to the bloody shop again.

At least the powers that be managed to find cover for me on Friday night, when I wasn't supposed to be working at all and needed rather urgently to get down to Brighton to meet my lovely friends Rosalie and Joanne for our little night out. We went to see drag sensation Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 at the Powder Room, at Club Revenge. I'll be honest, I'm well out of the loop with all this stuff, I've barely seen any local drag shows in recent years and only watched bits and pieces of Ru Paul's Drag Race since the first series, but we went to see Sharron Needles a few months ago and she was fabulous so I was looking forward to this. Got to squeeze right at the front due to some well worked-out queuing. Alaska was pretty spectacular, kind of amateurish but she puts on a hell of a show. She did a pretty unique version of Wrecking Ball (I still prefer Weird Al's version). On the whole, I think Sharron was better, but it was a great night, with some excellent supporting acts. You haven't really experienced anti-Iraq War satire until you've seen it performed by a gothic drag act.

However, my favourite performer at the Powder Room has been Lili La Scala, who compered on Friday. Classy, beautiful and with an astounding voice. I'll definitely be looking out for her again.

Rosie got to meet Alaska but I had to shoot off. Apparently she smells of sick. Also, her claws are terrifying. I was really concerned I might lose an eye.

Back to work, hopefully to a quiet one so I can catch up with some reading and get slightly back on track with the many, many things I need to write up.

Stephen Fry: Out There

The ubiquitous Stephen Fry has travelled throughout the world to film this new two-part programme, exploring the realities of modern gay life. I would consider this absolutely critical viewing for everyone, gay or straight, homo-inclusive or homophobic. I doubt that many people who are staunchly against homosexuality will have their views changed by the programme, but it might just stop a few of them and make them think about what they believe, and that's a start. It is not easy viewing, but it is essential.

Life in the UK has become vastly improved for LGBT people over the last forty years, but there are still challenges to face. There are eighty countries and territories in the world that criminalise homosexuality and related behaviour, from Iran, which has the death penalty for homosexuality, to Russia, which has now enacted a law against so-called 'gay propaganda.' In many more countries, such as Iraq, homosexuality is not illegal, but homophobic violence and local religious action against gays is allowed to occur freely.

While in most western countries, life is better than it has ever been for gay people, we must not forget how difficult and dangerous life is for others around the world, and we must continue to fight, protest and have pride, for rights can be taken away as easily as they can be granted.

Watch the first installment, in which Fry visits Uganda and the United States, on iPlayer. The second episode, with visits to Russia and Brazil, will be available from tomorrow. The programme's website can be visited here.

Radio Review: Imaginary Boys by Paul Magrs

Paul Magrs is one of those authors whose work is often misunderstood. He has no fear of silliness or camp, and so his work is all too often disregarded, by those many critics who see silliness as the same as disposable, or irrelevant. To view such material is to do it an injustice. Paul's work is often very silly, frequently camp, fantastic and impossible to categorise, but just because something is silly, doesn't mean it isn't also serious.

Paul writes with passion and honesty, and nowhere is this more evident than in his new radio play, Imaginary Boys, broadcast as Radio 4's Afternoon Drama on the 3rd of October. It's a strange, funny, wonderful piece, quietly subversive yet beautiful in its telling of the love between two young men. For a gay listener, it will of course have some extra poignancy, but anyone who was once young and has fallen, unexpectedly, in love - which is to say, everyone - will find something to recognise here.

James Baxter gives a strong, truthful performance as seventeen-year-old David, struggling with how his community perceives his developing sexuality. There is, from what I know of Paul's life, more than a little of the autobiographical in David's story, which makes it all the more affecting. All of the tiny cast are excellent, but it is Geoffrey Breton, as the painfully literal, inhumanly literate Lawrence who steals it. Lawrence is a Noveliser from Verbatim 6, a small planet about three hundred light years from Earth. Paul introduced the Novelisers in his Doctor Who plays Find and Replace and Ringpullworld, both part of the Companion Chronicles series, so there's a little bit of extra fun for Whoheads, knowing that this must take place in the universe of Iris Wildthyme and the Doctor.

But that's not important. It's not about science fiction, or magic realism, or any genre trappings. It's about love. About falling in love with someone you feel you shouldn't, but can't help loving. About falling in love with someone through their writing. About growing up and learning about love. It's really quite wonderful.

Imaginary Boys is still available to listen to for the next few days on BBC Radio 4.