Monday, 18 July 2016

Trans Led Comic Book Coming September



September sees the release of a new comic book series set to feature a transgender lead character, one of the first in comic books.

'Alters' is a new series being released by Aftershock Comics and will focus on several characters who are the first in a wave of emerging mutant powered superheroes.  Whilst initially sounding similar to Marvel Comics 'X-Men', which has often been used as an allegory for people in oppressed communities, 'Alters' fully embraces this notion with an incredibly varied and multifaceted cast.

Chalice, the central character of the series, is a transgender woman with the ability to manipulate gravity, which she can even use to fly.  The series writer, Paul Jenkins, has credited fan Liz Luu for the inspiration for the character when she suggested a hero who 'can only be herself when she's not herself'.

This led to the creation of the character of Chalice, a trans woman who is not out to her friends or family, meaning that she has to present as male in her civilian life and can only truly be herself when she's being a superhero.

The series will also feature characters from a variety of backgrounds and with a wide range of issues.  One story will feature a conventionally 'unattractive heroine'.  'The TMZ report would be 'Ugly Chick Saves World'' Jenkins described.

Another story will focus on a superhero shapeshifter who is injured and left as a quadriplegic, who faces the choice of whether to remain that way and live or to go through one final transformation to regain their ability to walk but will lead to their death after a month.

Jenkins also plans to include a homeless woman who has to try to balance keeping her family fed and clothed whilst also saving her community, along with a man with PTSD  yet is still committed to helping others.

The series has been a passion project for Jenkins, who has been working on the concept since 2005.  Jenkins has drawn inspiration from many people he has known in his life, not least his mother, who raised him as an out bisexual single mother.

'If we ever get to the point where issues such as race, sexuality and gender identity are a nonissue, we will have arrived.  That's my mum talking right there.'  He said.  'I just want to share my compassion for people who are struggling in any kind of way.'

'Alters' is set for release early September 2016.


Amy.
xx

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Owen Smith Brands Himself 'Normal' Candidate Against Lesbian Opponent



Labour leadership candidate Owen Smith has described himself as the 'normal' candidate for the role of Labour leader because he had 'a wife and three children', with his main opponent being an openly lesbian woman.

Smith has faced criticism for the statement following the comments during an interview with Sky New.

The comment came as part of a larger answer where he was trying to sell himself as a 'normal' person that people would want to vote for.  When asked if he thinks he's normal he replied; 'I'm glad you think I'm normal.  I am normal.

'I grew up in a normal household.  I've got a wife and three children.  My wife is a primary school teacher.  I've been in Parliament for six years, before that I had two or three other jobs, in business, in politics, in advising the peace process in Northern Ireland.'

The MP for Pontypridd and Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions quickly came under fire when people interpreted the comment to mean that he was saying that having a wife and children made him 'normal' in comparison to Angela Eagle, who is openly lesbian and married.

Whilst some have condemned the comment completely as being homophobic others have pointed out that it was probably unintentional, but still paints him in a poor light.

This comment has also been compared to what was recently said by Andrea Leadsom during the Conservative leadership race, where she said that she would be the better choice for leader as she was a mother and her opponent had no children.


Amy.
xx


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Wednesday, 13 July 2016

Kid Flash Revealed For Flash Season 3


During the final episodes of the second season of The Flash Wally West and Jessie Quick found themselves being bombarded with the same speedforce energies that gives Barry Allen his powers and makes him the Flash.  Despite this, neither one of them showed any signs of exhibiting speedster abilities before the season came to a close.

That seems to have changed going into season three, where Wally West will not only gain his powers, but will don the classic yellow and red costume of Kid Flash.

The CW have released the first images of Keiynan Lonsdale as his new superhero alter-ego as he will appear in the first episode of the new season, entitled 'Flashpoint'.  Following the events of the final episode Barry Allen travelled back in time and prevented the murder of his mother, an event that has massive, universe changing repercussions in the comic book world.

How these changes will play out in the upcoming season are yet to be seen, and there's no news as to if Wally will be Kid Flash all season or simply on a temporary basis due to the events of Flashpoint, either way though I can't wait to see him in action as he looks amazing.






















Amy.
xx



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Pokemon Go Praised For Lack Of Gender Choice



Unless you're living on a cave on Mars it's likely that you will be aware of Pokemon Go, whether you have played the game or not.  The new smartphone game that allows players to go out into the real world and catch their very own Pokemon on their phone has received massive praise, and has increased Nintendo's shares by 53% since its launch.

The game hasn't been out long but it's already a massive success around the world.  Some of the success of the new game seems to come from the fact that it is encouraging healthy activity in those who have been playing it, not just in actually being active and having to travel around, but in encouraging people with depression and social anxiety to leave their homes.

One of the areas that the game is also getting a lot of positive attention for is its choices of what gender to play as, or rather, the lack of gender.

Since introducing the first female playable character in Pokemon Crystal back in Generation 2 the series has embraced the fact that it has a diverse audience and has allowed players to choose whether to have a male or female character.  Each game begins with asking the player to choose if they are a 'girl or a boy' before anything else.

Whilst this was a good move on the companys part back then social awareness of gender issues and gender diversity has increased, and for what might seem like a simple choice to play as either male or female is, for some, an uneasy moment.  For those transitioning, in the early stages of understanding their gender, for non-binary people and many others, being forced to choose between defining your gender as either male or female can be an uncomfortable moment.

It would appear that Nintendo have addressed this though, by simply asking players of Pokemon Go to 'choose your style'.


This simple change in wording has already been met with massive praise by not just members of the trans and gender non-conforming community, but by those who have an awareness and understanding of gender issues.  For fans of the series this has been a change that has been requested for many years, with multiple petitions to the company to make this change having been launched for many years now.

The choice to do away with arbitrary gender binary makes a great deal of sense for the Pokemon universe where Pokemon themselves can be male, female or genderless, and stereotypically male or female looking Pokemon can be either gender, such as a female Mr Mine.

Hopefully this change has proven popular enough that Nintendo will include such a change of wording for the character selection process in the upcoming new games Pokemon Sun & Pokemon Moon.


Amy.
xx


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Orlando Shooting Protesters Arrested During Peaceful Rally



A group of protesters were arrested on Monday during a peaceful protest to honour the victims of the Orlando Pulse Massacre at the offices of Republican politician Marco Rubio.

The location of the protest was chosen due to lack of action taken to establish gun-safety laws or regulations on assault weapons following the deadly attack that claimed the lives of 49 members of the LGBT+ community, the largest mass killing of LGBT+ people since the events of the Holocaust.

The sit-in protest went on for close to ten hours, with participants handing out leaflets to building staff and visitors, reading the names of those who were killed and singing songs.  They also held a sign that read 'Sit-In For The 49'.

Despite Marco Rubio not being present at the time, currently being present in Washington, the group did meet with the state director, a meeting that lasted less than five minutes, hardly a fitting amount of time to discuss a situation such as this.

At 7pm, when the building tried to close for the day, protesters refused to leave and police officers were called to remove them.  Despite most protesters choosing to leave when asked to move on by police it has been reported that close to a dozen remained and attempted to block the buildings doorway.  Ten individuals were then arrested for refusing to leave private property.

At the time Orlando Police tweeted the following message, 'Orlando Police Department has no issue with peaceful protesters, but building is private property and owners want protesters removed.  We hope all remains peaceful.'

Following the incident a representative of Marco Rubio's office said that Mr Rubio 'respects the views of others on these difficult issues, and welcomes the continued input he is receiving from people across the political spectrum.'


Amy.
xx


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Monday, 11 July 2016

Wikihuffle Guest Episode



Last weekend, despite being full of flu, I managed to make my way to Wikishuffle HQ to record a couple of guest episodes for their amazing podcast.

I've been a fan of Wikishuffle since it began, and even before then when one of the hosts, Phillip Sharman, told me the idea for Wikishuffle long before it even hit the airwaves, and getting the chance to appear on the show was an awesome opportunity and a great day out.

Head on over to Wikishuffle on the link below to listen to the first of my guest episodes!


In my first episode I bring along two articles, the first of which was meant as a little fun at Phil's expense, but ended up backfiring on Jack and Ruth instead, whilst in the second one we take a look at one of the sillier conspiracy theory groups.


Amy.
xx

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Thursday, 7 July 2016

New Pokemon Salandit Revealed



Nintendo have revealed another new Pokemon set to debut in the latest Pokemon games, Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon.

The new creature is a fire/poison Pokemon is described as a Toxic Lizard that comes with the Ability Corrosion, which allows it to poison every Pokemon in existence, regardless of types or immunities.


'Salandit emits toxic gas, together with flames, from the base of its tail.  This poisonous gas has a sweet smell, and anyone who unknowingly breathes it in will become dizzy.  Salandit is not a very powerful Pokemon, but its cunning nature allows it to battle fiercely by throwing its opponents off balance.

'Salandit females not only release toxic gases, they can also emit pheromones that attract males of all species, including Pokemon and humans.  Inhaling these pheromones may cause opponents to be controlled by Salandit's will.'


Amy.
xx

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British PM Hopeful Proudly Defends Homophobic Views



With the resignation of David Cameron the Tory party have been looking for their next leader, someone who will not just become the next Tory leader, but an unelected Prime Minister.  After the final round of voting for candidates by members of the Conservative party today Home Secretary Theresa May stands in the lead, but her closest competitor has some disturbingly right-wing views.

Andrea Leadsom, MP for South Northamptonshire, has managed to defeat Justice Secretary to become May's rival in the leadership contest, after other hopefuls Liam Fox and Stephen Crabb were eliminated in earlier rounds of voting.

Though some may think that having two female candidates for the next leader of our country is a good thing, but it takes very little digging into Leadsom's past to find some incredibly right-wing and homophobic views.

In several Internet posts and comments over the years Leadsom has expressed the views that same-sex couples should be given a lower priority to adopt children to heterosexual families.  In 2009 she complained about a particular incident where two children were denied the option to be adopted by their grandparents after being taken into care, making comments that the worst part was that the people adopting them were gay.

In 2007 she made suggestions that a point-based adoption system should be put in place, with more points being given to straight couples over same-sex couples, citing religious reasons for her opinions on this matter.

In 2013 she abstained from the vote on marriage equality, refusing to take any side in the argument.  Speaking at the time she said that she would have voted yes on the matter to express the views of her constituents, but also wished to vote against the move for equality as she found parts of the law 'unacceptable'.

She once again named her religious views as the reason for wanting to vote against the measure as it 'risks centuries of faith based belief in marriage as between a man and a woman'.

Despite this vote having been made years ago it would appear that Leadsom's views have not changed on the subject, when during an interview with ITV this very morning she once again stated that she does not approve of the same-sex marriage law, claiming that it harms Christians.

'I would have preferred for civil partnerships to be available to heterosexual and gay couples, and for marriage to have remained as a Christian service for men and women who want to commit in the eyes of God.'  She said, speaking on the matter.

'My own view is that marriage is the Biblical sense, from the many Christians who wrote to me, can only be between a man and a woman.

'The issue I have is around the consequences, and very real hurt caused to many Christians who think that marriage in the Church can only be between a man and a woman.  I think we've muddled the terms of marriage, civil partnership, church, registry office...I would have liked that to have been clarified.

'I really didn't like the legislation, that was the problem.'

Possibly most disturbingly of all the revelations around Mrs Leadsom's views towards the LGBT+ community is the fact that she has been linked to a 'gay cure' group in Uganda.

Leadsom has been involved with a Ugandan organisation, Youth With A Mission (YWAM), and have helped to organise exchange programmes for schools over the past decade.

The organisation, who she encourages British youth to interact with and learn from, promotes strong anti-gay messages and has a number of groups that state that they can 'cure' homosexual people of their sexuality.  The 'Kompassion Ministry' in Amsterdam is one of these groups, who 'helps broken people who struggle with their unwanted homosexual orientation'.

Whilst Theresa May has been very rightly criticised for her own anti-LGBT+ views in the past she looks like a positive LGBT+ activist when compared to Leadsom.  Theresa May has changed her views over the years and has begun to support more and more LGBT+ causes, whilst Leadsom still, this very day, speaks out against LGBT+ rights.

If Andrea Leadsom becomes the next Prime Minister it will be a massive blow for the LGBT+ community, it will be damaging to the future of LGBT+ rights and it will be yet another moment of tragic stupidity in British politics that shows just how much hate and ignorance exists within our nation.


Amy.
xx

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Tuesday, 5 July 2016

Ubisoft Survey Excludes You If You're A Woman

 

In what some are calling a moment of incompetence or a simple error, others are labelling as outright sexism as an online survey from video game company Ubisoft begins by asking if you are male or female, then ends if you select female.

Selecting female as the answer to the very first question of the survey leads participants to a screen stating, 'Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey.  Unfortunately, your profile does not suit for this survey.  However, again we would like to thank you for your participation and your time.  Have a good day.'

The company, who are behind such popular series such as Far Cry and Assassins Creed, have faced very hot criticism over the matter, with many female gamers taking to social media to call out the incident as being blatantly sexist.

Ubisoft have responded to say that the incident was caused by a simple computer error, and that they had no intention of excluding women from taking part in the survey.

They have since altered the survey to allow women to continue on after selecting their gender.


Amy.
xx

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A Great Alternative To Suicide Girls That's Trans Inclusive



As I talked about in a previous article, the alternative porn website Suicide Girls has a surprisingly shocking history of excluding transgender women as models if they had not had genital surgery.

As is not surprising there is a great many websites that have a similar frame of mind, that unless trans women have had surgery to alter their penis into a vagina then they cannot be included as 'women', only being able to be marketed as 'trans women' (though most websites use much more insulting language than that to describe trans women).

Thankfully, there are a number of sites that do not feel the need to separate or 'other' trans women, and are perfectly happy to include them as being no different than cisgender women.

One such site that has been brought to my attention is called GodsGirls, and offers very similar content to Suicide Girls, though seems to be a lot more inclusive, and not just of transgender women.  They have flat chested women, overweight women, and they're not afraid to show a woman with a cock.

This might not seem like much, there's no shortage of porn that features trans people on the internet, but when a website doesn't focus on trans people specifically yet includes them with little to no fanfare it makes it a little more special and a lot more important.

It helps towards letting people see that trans women are regular women, that we don't need to be our own category of female and that if you like looking at pictures of naked cis women there's nothing wrong with looking at pictures of naked trans women.

From what I've seen of GodsGirls so far, and granted it's not much yet, they've included the trans porn actress Chelsea Poe in a photo set.  Just like their other sets it begins with Chelsea clothed, and she gradually loses more and more clothing until naked.  Where they could have chosen to take a half hearted approach to including a trans woman and only had her in poses that hid her genitals they instead chose to embrace who she is, and don't shy away from the fact that she's a woman with a penis.

Where Suicide Girls chose to distance itself from the trans community GodsGirls seems willing and ready to embrace it.  And that kind of progression can only be a good thing.


Amy.
xx

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