Sam Rutherford (he/him)
@echomikeromeo.bsky.social
5.1K followers 990 following 400 posts
Lecturer in LGBTQ+ History/History of Sexuality, University of Glasgow. I wrote this book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/teaching-gender-9780198937494
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echomikeromeo.bsky.social
I wrote something quite personal about what use trans history In These Times:
historyworkshop.org.uk
The summer has seen anti-trans campaigns across the UK and US, alongside a crisis in healthcare. But what use could trans history have in these time, beyond proving 'we have always been here'?

Sam Rutherford @echomikeromeo reflects on Imagining Trans Futures:
www.historyworkshop....
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
hebagowayed.bsky.social
This is the 2nd anniversary of the start of a genocide that made Gaza the most dangerous place on earth for children— that has raised a mirror to the rot at the core of our world.

Never has it been clearer that none of us are free until Palestine is free.

inthesetimes.com/article/gaza...
On Parenthood and Genocide
A new mother and scholar of forced displacement writes about Israel's mass murder of Palestinian children in Gaza.
inthesetimes.com
echomikeromeo.bsky.social
Two years of genocide.
dropsitenews.com
⭕ Two years of genocide:

The Government Media Office says Israel has dropped over 200,000 tons of explosives on Gaza in 730 days — roughly 13 times the force of the Hiroshima bomb...The office released new statistics; here are some of the main points:
echomikeromeo.bsky.social
Yes, though also worth noting that there are a number of trans investigative journalists who have reported on this. It is widely known among experts and in community - not least because of how many of us have experienced it first-hand.
robertmullins.bsky.social
If I were an investigative journalist in the UK (are there any left?), I would be having a good look at the extent to which NHS leadership seems to have allied itself with a fringe medical movement that more or less condones conversion therapy. qnews.com.au/australian-r...
Australian report says UK’s Cass review should not guide transgender healthcare
QNews LGBTIQA+ News
qnews.com.au
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
fishkin.bsky.social
I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.

It's especially for journalists covering this story!

Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.
Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal
A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics
balkin.blogspot.com
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
sfahrenthold.bsky.social
"As anti-Zionist Jews, we experience antisemitism at the hands of Zionists; our members have been called “fake Jews,” “self-hating Jews” and “kapos"...our faith is disregarded and our perspectives are excluded from campus because we affirm Palestinian human rights."

www.dailycal.org/opinion/op-e...
UC Berkeley aligns with fascism, not Jewish safety
To stand against genocide and to stand in solidarity with Palestine is not just a human imperative — it is a core Jewish value. UC Berkeley’s actions are a weak
www.dailycal.org
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
drbenwhitham.bsky.social
Men in balaclavas set fire to a mosque in East Sussex last night. It's only appearing on the BBC's local coverage, rather than its main national headlines, despite coming just a week after the (also under-reported) firebombing of an asylum hotel in London last week
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Peacehaven: Fire at East Sussex mosque probed as 'hate crime'
Video appears to show two people in balaclavas at the mosque before a large blaze spreads.
www.bbc.co.uk
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
alexvont.bsky.social
I’ve just added my voice to this consultation saying I don’t want a situation in which staff and fellow swimmers might scrutinise or judge my body, or anyone else’s, when I use the ponds. The current policy of trans inclusion works perfectly well. You can fill out the consultation linked below.
katbrownwrites.com
Those tedious and mysteriously funded transphobes want to limit access to the Ponds so I’ve had a pleasant 10 mins filling this out on why seeing a variety of women is magic and judging by what people look like or can do is very slippery territory hampstead-heath-bathing-ponds.commonplace.isn
Future access to the Hampstead Heath Bathing Ponds
Inviting feedback from pond users, the local community, and stakeholders on how the Kenwood Ladies’, and Highgate Men’s ponds should operate in the future.
hampstead-heath-bathing-ponds.commonplace.is
echomikeromeo.bsky.social
This from @krheyam.bsky.social is excellent - & useful for those of us who teach Kit’s work!
embodiedwunc.bsky.social
When Kit Heyam was first trying to understand their gender identity as an adolescent, they looked to history. They only found stories that painted a very narrow picture of what it means to be #trans. But years later, when Kit started studying history professionally, a different picture emerged.⁠
Episode artwork for "Embodied" podcast titled "A Mission To Tell Trans History Differently" against a purple and blue gradient background with pink and blue brushstroke elements. Text reads "Trans and genderqueer people have existed for millennia — but modern interpretations of history often fail to capture their stories. Meet the historian determined to document the untold stories of trans history." Features four historical portrait photographs in ornate frames: a person in Victorian-era black dress seated in a chair (gold frame), a person in blue jacket and brown pants (ornate bronze frame), a colorful illustrated portrait of a Black person wearing a decorative headdress and green draped clothing (oval silver frame), and a sepia-toned photograph of a person in dark Victorian clothing (gold frame). "New Episode!" badge appears in top right corner.
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
kristinacooke.bsky.social
I spoke to a Venezuelan woman who was arrested in this raid and later released with her 4yo son. She said agents broke down their door, pointed guns at them and made sexualized remarks about Venezuelan women. When she returned to her apartment it was boarded up and all her possessions were gone.
echomikeromeo.bsky.social
So delighted to be tuning into this this afternoon!
igrct.bsky.social
🏳️‍🌈 EVENT REMINDER 🏳️‍🌈

This Saturday at 4PM!

Get your tickets here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/talk-on-th...

Or register for the webinar: bristol-ac-uk.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

#lgbthistory #queerhistory
igrct.bsky.social
🏳️‍🌈 EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT 🏳️‍🌈

For this year's Symonds lecture, Nicky Taylor and Alexander Sugar present “No man can see himself as others see"
Bringing the personal papers of John Addington Symonds to new audiences. #queerhistory

🎟️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/talk-on-th...
⏰4PM, 4/10
📍Peel Lecture Theatre
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
tacc.org.uk
A new FOI release shows how the DHSC gave anti-trans lobby groups like Sex Matters & LGB Alliance direct access to shape policy on trans healthcare. These groups push for restrictions that leave trans people waiting, suffering & at risk of suicide.

tacc.org.uk/2025/10/03/i...
Inside the DHSC’s secret courtship of anti-trans lobby groups - tacc.org.uk
An FOI (FOI-1632059) disclosure has laid bare how the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has been quietly opening its doors to anti-rights groups, giving them access, influence, and legitimac...
tacc.org.uk
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
alisonphipps.bsky.social
Stopping the Flotilla, for now, does not stop the work of peace, the struggle for justice, the humanitarian surge which is coming from the people of the world. It does not stop the hope or the love for the life of the Palestinian People that can overcome the worst of human crimes. It does not stop.
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
sasha98.bsky.social
A crackdown will not keep us safe. Rhetoric from the government about the importance of keeping Jews safe when no such consideration is given to other communities turns us into scapegoats and fuels conspiracy theories.
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
lrb.co.uk
‘Democratically elected governments are enabling a genocide by supplying weapons to the perpetrators. This could stop tomorrow. More and more people globally are recognising that, and doing something about it.’

@selmadabbagh.bsky.social on the Global Sumud flotilla: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/oc...
Selma Dabbagh | On the Flotilla
In 2010, I worked as a lawyer for the British passengers on a flotilla trying to carry humanitarian aid to Gaza through...
www.lrb.co.uk
echomikeromeo.bsky.social
We're starting a new 'ArtsLab' (research network) in trans studies at Glasgow! It's very exciting and I hope that in time we can become a real centre for research in this field. Find out more - including details of our upcoming launch event - on our website: www.gla.ac.uk/colleges/art...
Logo with the words 'GLINTS: Glasgow Lab for Intersex, Non-binary and Trans Studies' in coral text on a purple background.
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
harveyhumphrey.bsky.social
If you are a @uofglasgow.bsky.social staff or student interested in intersex, non-binary and trans studies join us for our GLINTS launch event later this month on October 21st: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/glints-lau... also enjoy this image of some our publications (books and zines!) from our stall.
A stall featuring books and zines written by co-directors and members of GLINTS. Also features our own zine beautifully crafted by Kirstie Ken. The table also has a trans flag on.
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
harveyhumphrey.bsky.social
Yesterday I had a fab time meeting folk from @uofglasgow.bsky.social ArtsLabs & talking about our new Glasgow Lab for Intersex Non-binary & Trans Studies co-organised with colleagues inc @uofgsociology.bsky.social. Thanks to @echomikeromeo.bsky.social @kenglish.bsky.social @notrightruth.bsky.social
6 staff and students all working across intersex, non-binary & trans studies hang out behind a stall of our publications with a trans flag. We smile and look vaguely professional. A poster board with our excellent GLINTS logo to promote the Glasgow Lab for Intersex Non-binary and Trans Studies (GLINTS)
echomikeromeo.bsky.social
Omg!
rebeccajanemorgan.bsky.social
My next book Deviants and Trailblazers: A History of Trans Activism in Britain is in the @plutopress.bsky.social Spring/Summer 2026 catalogue (for a May '26 release)!

This book is the first joined-up history of trans activism in the UK all the ways from the 40s to the present.
echomikeromeo.bsky.social
Oh congratulations, this is so exciting! Can’t wait!
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
cathamclarke.bsky.social
I'm hugely honoured and very excited to be giving this year's Historical Research #Lecture at @ihr.bsky.social, on 'Can popular #history be radical? Historical research and writing for the #public'. Tuesday 4 November, all welcome. More info in AltText. Book here: www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
In this lecture, Catherine Clarke will re-visit the question of what makes history radical, asking what kind of radical history we need in our public life and contemporary context today. In particular, she’ll explore ways in which popular history – trade publishing for a wide public audience – has the capacity to be radical, drawing on experiences and examples from her own new book A History of England in 25 Poems (Penguin Allen Lane, September 2025). Catherine’s lecture will move towards a manifesto for how research-led, scholarship-driven popular history can and does make necessary, vital public interventions – from opening inclusive conversations and confronting the rise of AI, to modelling radical empathy and imagination.
Reposted by Sam Rutherford (he/him)
cont-brit-hist.bsky.social
Here's the full seminar programme for autumn 2025. Seminars are either hybrid or online only so plenty of opportunities for those not local to London to join us.

Please sign up using the links for any papers you'd like to come to.

www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
Contemporary British History
The Contemporary British History seminar seeks to explore all aspects the recent past of the British Isles from a historical point of view.
www.history.ac.uk