Senthorun S. Raj

Urgent call to protect civilians and respect international law as Middle East conflict intensifies As regional conflict intensifies after US and Israeli strikes on Iran, Amnesty International calls for civilian protection and full compliance with international law.

Wars have rules for a reason.

Civilians should never pay the price of any conflict.

1/4🧵

Israel is bombarding, literally bombarding, two Middle East capitals, Beirut and Tehran, killing 100s of civilians, and yet the US and UK media continue to portray Iran as the threat to the region.

Israel has nukes, but Iran is the nuclear threat.

We live in Orwellian times.

Author wearing a rainbow dyed t-shirt takes a photo of them showing off their book, The Emotions of LGBT Rights and Reforms: Repairing Law.

My book is published! It’s a critical take on how emotions shape conflicts about LGBT rights and repair in equality law, gender recognition, bans on conversion practices, and sex education in schools. You can download it free via @edinburghup.bsky.social: edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-emo...

Congratulations, Mark! You’ll be fab. 🌈

Man in an open batik shirt stands in front of a mural of George Michael as an angel riding a unicorn and shooting out rainbows from his hands.

Made a pilgrimage to bask in the iconic mural of George Michael in Sydney.

😘🌈

Sen Raj presenting his new book

Sen Raj and me at dinner

Michael Stambolis presenting his book

Us all at dinner, with Hugo Bouvard

A highlight of being at Oxford is inviting smart friends to present their new books, then taking them to dinner to celebrate!

(I also get dinner, so win-win scenario) @senthorun.bsky.social @mstambolis.bsky.social

Over two decades ago, the European Court of Human Rights held that trans people should not be forcibly “othered” as a third gender. Recent decisions in the UK have obscured this, which is why we should push back on the idea that affirming trans folk in their gender is a “radical” move. It’s basic. 🏳️‍⚧️

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Screenshot of review: This generative and confronting collection invites us to re-think, re-position, and re-imagine the imbrication of queerness and Scottishness, alongside other social differences. Taylor has curated an impressive array of creatives, scholars, and activists who explore the tensions, possibilities, pleasures, risks, and glitches that emerge for queer and trans people navigating their senses of belonging to the 'wee nation' of Scotland. Senthorun Raj, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK

It’s an honour to be asked to review fab manuscripts about queer things ahead of their publication. One of the books I’ve had the pleasure of endorsing is Yvette Taylor’s edited collection, “Queer in a Wee Place: Small Nations, Sexuality and Scotland.”

Pre-order: www.bloomsbury.com/au/queer-in-...

Just throwing it out there: telling people that they have legitimate grievances about immigration will never reduce the sense of grievance. This isn't how anything works and a government that paid even the merest attention to social science research would know their approach helps the far-right.

She is!

Refugee status to be temporary as Shabana Mahmood rips up rules on UK asylum Home secretary announces 30-month protection limit, with refugees required to leave if their home countries are later judged safe

“Shabana Mahmood has ripped up the government’s asylum rules so that from Monday every refugee will be told that their status is temporary and will last just 30 months.”

The UK Home Office already takes several months to process an initial refugee claim. Status review after 30 months is bad policy.

UN experts urge UK to ensure equal protection for all women and girls and all transgender people GENEVA – The United Kingdom must ensure its ongoing review of statutory guidance under the Equality Act remains compatible with international human rights law and upholds equal protections for all tra...

“Frameworks permitting routine exclusion or discretionary verification of sex based on appearance or stereotypes would raise serious concerns under international human rights law…”

UN experts remind the UK that it must avoid gender policing and ensure trans folk can live with safety and dignity.

🏳️‍⚧️

Supporting ‘illegal aggression’ against Iran ‘the worst thing’ Australia could do, international law experts say Ben Saul says ‘rolling over’ after Israel and US attack is counterproductive for middle powers because it undermines rules-based order

“When countries like Australia roll over and support this kind of illegal aggression, that’s the worst thing, in terms of contributing to the erosion of international law.”

We need more countries (like Australia) to oppose illegal foreign wars. And solidarity with Iranians fighting for their lives.

Man in white shirt holds up pink frosted cake with his hands which have pink nail polish on them.

My mother made me a deliciously pink buttercream cake for my post-Mardi Gras recovery. This is what gay allyship looks like.

🍰💖

Man in rainbow shorts and black shirt crouches on a path painted in the Pride Progress Flag colours.

Always follow the rainbow path. 👣🌈

Unbearable. Sending love and solidarity from afar. ✊🏾❤️

“Fascism, it’s always about using nationalism, and the nation, as a bludgeon to generate support for death policies, on behalf of death governments. For violence and repression and exploitation, internationalism is the antidote, always.” —Robin D. G. Kelley

The strikes on Iran by two colonial entities means we're going to enmeshed in yet another awful period of death.

A reminder that you also don't have defend the Iranian regime to be anti-war.

The US and Israel are bombing Iran. Anyone reporting it as “preventive” is engaging in propaganda, by definition. There is no interpretation of what’s happening as anything else than a crime.

You don’t have to like the Iranian regime to understand why this is bad.

Tonight, a group of men in a car driving by yelled “fucking f**got” at me as I walked home after the Mardi Gras Parade in Sydney. Oh, and in case you were wondering, I don’t stay silent in the face of bigotry. So, I yelled back, “Of course I am. And I love it.”

Never be cowered by bigots. Stay gay.

Man in glitter wearing a rainbow Amnesty International t-shirt holds up a sign that says, “Protect Trans Kids. Provide Gender Affirming Care.”

I’m marching at the Sydney Mardi Gras tonight. As always, I’m here in unapologetic solidarity with trans folks who are enduring systematic political and social attacks on their existence.

We will keep marching for a world where we everyone can flourish with freedom, justice, and community.

✊🏾🏳️‍⚧️

Man wearing a face of glitter rainbow makeup and pearl necklace holds up peach lipstick.

This is your periodic reminder to be unapologetically gay.

✨

Man with a face of glitter and rainbow makeup holds up lipstick for selfie.

Sparkled for Sydney Mardi Gras.

💄✨🌈

Sydney Mardi Gras Parade route added to the National Heritage List QNews LGBTIQA+ News

“I’d like the parade route to be remembered as a time when our community came together to have fun, but then responded to police oppression and fought back, and ended up changing the laws, and the culture in Australia…”

Pride is a protest and party. We keep dancing and marching for our lives.

🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

In the Aftermath of Empire In the Aftermath of Empire - Coloniality, Gender, and Sexuality; In the Aftermath of Empire explores the impact of colonial law on gendered subjects in Ireland, India, and Pakistan, focusing on queer ...

Coming in November from @brisunipress.bsky.social, In the Aftermath of Empire explores the impact of British imperialism on gender and sexuality law in four jurisdictions.

Please tell your libraries to pre-order!

bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/in-the-after...

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We are also thrilled to announce the other winner of the Feminist Legal Studies Editors' Prize 2025 is Agnieszka Doll for her article, ‘Fieldwork, Ethics, and the Importance of “Wide Reflexivity”: Feminist Socio-legal Research in Difficult Sites.’

Read it here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

LGBTQIA+ teens bashed and filmed in IS-inspired Sydney attacks An ABC investigation has obtained distressing videos and victims' accounts of IS sympathisers hunting and bashing gay and bisexual boys on camera in Sydney.

“The bashings were among scores of attacks since 2023 on LGBTQIA+ people across Australia, who were lured on dating apps & bashed on camera by young people…”

This is chilling. But such abuse is systemic. Homo/transphobic violence is escalating globally through anti-LGBT politics & disinformation.

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We are very pleased to announce one of the winners of the Feminist Legal Studies Editors' Prize 2025 is Ariël Decoster for her article, 'Men in/and Law: Developing "Critical Legal Studies of Men and Masculinities."'

You can read the article online for free here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...