This was a personal reflection on gender fluidity growing up in the “sexual revolution” in the Left during the 1980s and 1990s and how the “tolerance” once experienced in the “alternative lifestyle” community has been replaced with intolerance to outsiders and accusations of “hate speech”.

Names and details have been changed here to protect people’s identities.

Originally written for a student publication.

Trigger warning: you might find parts of this story shocking, emotionally traumatic, deeply offensive, the language sexist/homophobic/transphobic and a challenge to your most deeply held and cherished beliefs. The views expressed are purely those of the author and no endorsement by any third party is implied or to be assumed. Some content here is written from a Brtish perspective and may read more offensively to people in other parts of the world.

Glossary for the Non-British
LEA = Local Education Authority — county level governmental organisation in the UK that manages administration for university loans/grants

NHS=National Health Service — British federal health care system (Universal Medicare on steroids)

Halls = official university (often on-campus) accomodation

Jesus Army= bit like a British version of the Jesus People USA, recently closed down because of abuse claims.

“Wor Nessie” = Scots dialect for the Loch Ness Monster, a mythical monster that is supposed to live in Loch Ness, Scotland. The person who took the famous “photogaphs” admitted they were fakes before he died but the legend lives on…

BBC = British Broadcasting Corporation, British State broadcaster funded directly by a tax payable by all citizens, sometimes referred to as Bastards Broadcasting Communism by conservatives.

SU = Students’ Union — like a Labour Union but run by students.

The article can be found in this PDF here.