Monthly Archives: June 2022

Bryan Cadogan is the Clutha District Mayor.

When we take those precious few seconds during an Anzac parade to thank our lucky stars for the freedoms and privileges our democracy offers all Kiwis and when we watch TV and shake our heads in disbelief at the tyranny, corruption, oppression, and lives so distant from our own, is it not time for us to seriously consider the value of our democracy, and the part that democracy has in preserving our freedom, rights, and privileges?

In New Zealand we have two pillars that symbolise our democracy - central government and local government. Each team has distinct roles and obligations and, unfortunately for the team I play on, there is a huge power imbalance.

Central government determines the laws and local government is tasked with enacting them.

READ MORE:* Council chief recommends staying with LGNZ but two councillors urge colleagues to reject her advice * Timaru remains only council to quit Local Government NZ* Local Government New Zealand calls for halt to ad campaign for water reforms* Councils need more powers to deal with elected members who are failing - LGNZ president* Councils back plan to introduce civics education to secondary schools* Politicians need to regain control of local government

All councillors take a solemn oath to act faithfully and impartially, and according to the best of their skill and judgement, execute and perform, in the best interests of their district.

Despite all the bull and derogatory statements that come our way, I have never seen a first-time councillor who wasnt overwhelmed with the enormity of the commitment.

I know when I first took the oath as mayor it was with tears running unashamedly down my face - which goes to the very heart of the values hopes and dreams that we have for the districts we love, and the burden of responsibility that we must fight for our people.

Until the world created Facebook warriors this notion was rarely questioned.

Governments can come, governments can go this too is a critical part of democracy, along with the tolerance that is needed to endure for three years when your party loses.

For councils, we have an added dimension of responsibility as a public entity, regardless of who is in government or what legislation changes. The power hierarchy has councils able to critique, but always respecting the laws of the land.

Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), the local collective that makes up half the democratic structure that preserves and reflects your freedom and privileges, is consequently a compromised beast, dissimilar to central government where majority rules.

Local government must have an autonomous arrangement. We took an oath that is fundamental to our existence, to act in the best interests of our district - sorry but thats non-negotiable, and we will not cede our autonomy.

If all the North Island councils collectively pushed an idea, they may have the majority and we will consider their stance, but unlike central government we do not collapse to the will of the majority.

This straddles every LGNZ function. They cannot dictate or demand anything of councils - their strength is to facilitate, in effect they are our support network.

We collectively task them with gaining policy insight that we as small councils couldnt individually resource, and they are our primary conduit to MPs.

They have a mandated structure whereby every three years we vote on appointing elected member leadership roles within the LGNZ framework.

LGNZ has credibility, respect, and a proud history of holding councils together. I know there have been many times when something has hit the fan that I pick up the phone, and after talking to some of the mayors I respect, it is LGNZs advice that I seek.

I labour these points because in recent weeks all councils have been bombarded with multiple duplicated requests for our councils to leave LGNZ.

Oh my God. Just at a time when we need all the coordinated strength we can muster, to stand resolute and be determined to play our part in injecting your values, principles and needs into the plethora of reform proposed, there is a call to dismantle one of the cornerstones of our democracy and scatter councils to the four winds with no mandated structure or cohesive voice.

Do you honestly realise what you are proposing?

Kavinda Herath/Stuff

Clutha District Mayor Bryan Cadogan

Thankfully Clutha district councillors are unanimous that we remain in LGNZ.

And like many councils around the country, consider it would be ludicrous to dismantle our strength and structure leaving central government to its own devices.

LGNZ was instrumental in establishing the three working parties to challenge and scrutinise the proposed Three Waters reform legislation.

This week the second of those working groups, the Rural Supplies Technical Working Group that I was proud to chair, released its 30 recommendations. Those 30 recommendations are all examples of where we have taken the opportunity to change the legislation, and accepted the opportunity to refine and insert our communities values and needs.

When you combine it with the Governance Working Groups 44 recommendations, you are now seeing a suite of changes that fundamentally change the original legislation. I am not saying its perfect, but it is a huge improvement.

LGNZ took a fair bit of criticism at the time for the stance of agreeing to establishing these groups, and it has most definitely caused a rift amongst membership.

But to date, the combined recommendations are the only changes that have been made to where it really matters, the legislation.

Those who continue to run away (noisily) from the fight have achieved absolutely nothing other than create division and confuse the public. So in my books that makes the score 74 to 0 - and totally vindicates LGNZS tactic.

I thank them for giving us the chance to do the right thing by the people we serve.

Originally posted here:

Why I truly value LGNZ, compromised beast that it is. - Stuff

Positions on the Ukrainian war and our stand

1) The Russian invasion of Ukraine is an imperialist attack.[2]. Analyses may differ on the source of this imperialism[3], on the extent of its dynamics, on the causes of this particular invasion, and even on its function in the capitalist world arena. But what is fundamental is that it is an unjust war of the strong against the weak.[4] And in particular, it is a national type of oppression - that is a challenge at gunpoint to the right of a population to exist as a political entity and to decide for itself and freely about its own existence.

2) From this point of view it is a matter of principle[5] for the left to take a clear position on the war being waged: It must place itself on the side of the weak, those who are under attack and fighting back i.e. on the side of the Ukrainian people. The right of a people, a population, a nation, to define itself is a fundamental component of an emancipatory programme.

3) This means that in this war the left cannot be indifferent: it is not a war that is simply taking place somewhere out there, without subjects and without responsibilities. It is a military attack and there is contestation and resistance to it. The left must take a stand against the war being waged by Russia, and consequently, in favour of those who oppose it, basically the Ukrainian people but also the Russian left. That means in favour of the war being waged by the Ukrainian people.

4) For the same reason that it cannot be indifferent, the left cannot remain neutral either, supposedly pacifist[6] or against both side.[7] The Russian army is in the wrong and therefore we demand that it should withdraw and, if it does not do so on its own accord, it must be forced to withdraw, that is be defeated.[8] The Ukrainians have a just cause in their struggle for the withdrawal of the Russian army from their territory and, therefore, we must support them politically and materially.[9]

5) Also, the left, by definition, cannot adopt views or attitudes of indifference - theorizing that we dont care what happens elsewhere as we are only concerned with our own struggles or have a policy of no interference. On the contrary, we have acknowledged that capitalism and the various systems of oppression and problems it creates have an international and global dimension.[10] No position of the enemy is within our own country is therefore justified[11] and would be programmatically suicidal. The oppressed of the whole world need us (they need our solidarity and support) and we need them too. There is no reason to abandon this principle now quite the opposite.[12]

6) Our support for the oppressed internationally is not only for reasons of abstractly internationalist principle or because we programmatically recognize the international nature of exploitation and oppression. It also has a much more expedient significance: every victory for the system of the dominately powerful, every defeat of our own camp, strengthens and reinforces our own conditions of subjugation, and vice versa. Imperialism, and every aspect of it, however large or small,[13] (as well as sexism, exploitation, and other forms of domination), must be defeated in order to strengthen the general correlation of powers in favour of the weak throughout the world. Conversely, every victory of the strong over the weak strengthens and unites them.

7) Obviously, we are in a world where the ruling classes, both internally and externally (they consider it their right to have external spheres of influence), are allied against us[14] but they are also sometimes in competition with each other.[15] In particular with regard to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is an opportunity for various Western imperialisms to suddenly feign interest in the Ukrainian people: but this, however hypocritical[16] it may be, does not negate the justness of the Ukrainian struggle.[17] We must follow the principles that the socialist movement has always held.

8) Every form of resistance against a national oppression, a specific invasion, must be supported, regardless of who else supports it - and there is usually some well-meaning opponent of the oppressor who will try to benefit. Therefore, we have rightly supported the struggle of the oppressed every time, even if it was supported by rivals or our, imperialisms.[18] The Ukrainian people do not cease to be fighting for a just cause on account of being supposedly supported by members of NATO in the face of the Russian invasion; likewise, the Kurdish cause didnt cease to be a just one because they were armed by NATO against ISIS.

9) The involvement of the rival imperialisms (and their ruling classes) is never for those fighting a struggle, but rather to undermine the power of their opponents, to gain points of influence and to guide the leadership of the movements (through local ruling classes).[19] However, this does not automatically turn them into indirect wars of the powerful (interimperialist); on the contrary, this is what is mainly at stake in war from a social aspect, especially in a national war where the population demands its political entity! The peoples themselves, especially in national issues, are never puppets as the powerful would have it, they are political subjects. So the Ukrainian war is in no way a war by proxy as if the Ukrainian people in particular were pawns and not able to claim and have their own political entity.

10) The same applies to the involvement of our own imperialism and its government, as well as the various international aggregations in which it participates (EU, NATO, international economic leaders, IMF, Worldbank, OMC, etc.). Issues of principle that we have, i.e. dismantling the EU, IMF or NATO, socialism, world peace, etc. do not respond to the question of their involvement as no involvement would be tantamount to letting the Ukrainians die. Therefore, we neither denounce nor deny aid to the Ukrainian people in general. Our response must be more specific regarding the points, the methods, the terms:

For example, we must accept and reinforce the policies of welcoming migrants from Ukraine[20] and in no way denounce Western imperialism for interfering by helping Ukrainians.

- We must think ahead and be ready to prevent their troops from interfering, but also to oppose the militarization of Western societies against the Russian imperialist bogeyman.[21] We want the latter to be defeated but by the people and the mass movement of Ukraine (and Russia), not by guardianship and for this they must be strengthened politically and materially.

Furthermore, we must go beyond what these imperialists want to do and in a more substantial way: for example we must demand the cancellation of Ukraines debts, as the Ukrainian social movements have highlighted, and we know, as in the case of Greece, how popular this is in the capitalist circles!

We must take an equally specific and undogmatic view of their sanctions against Russia as with aid to Ukraine. The fact that we (the left) do not control their range is not a reason for either general denial or general support. We have to formulate specific positions with the help of our Ukrainian and Russian comrades and our appreciation of their reach. Thus, we cannot disagree with sanctions on the Russian oligarchy (economic or political) which to be effective, however, would have to challenge tax havens and therefore the freedom and opacity of the world markets! On the other hand, we must oppose sanctions that are directed primarily against the Russian people (or other peoples).

So whatever the case, we accept the support of the Ukrainian people and their resistance but refuse any aid which has an extortionate character. Because this may be more complicated than it seems, the final say on the need for aid must be held by the Ukrainian militants, their movements and their organisations.

11) Our solidarity and support for a just struggle is always undivided and unconditional[22] for two reasons: first, because programmatically we must treat victims not as mere objects but as real subjects[23] and secondly, so that we have the freedom to have our own opinions - and to speak them - without them being coercive. Thus, we must support the Ukrainians themselves in the war they are waging against the Russian invasion and, above all, we must agree to support them in whatever decisions they themselves make about how to wage it. That is why, in particular, we support their resistance, armed or unarmed - it is not our place to decide what is best for them.[24]

12) A just struggle must be supported regardless not only of the individual perceptions of the people waging it, but also of the nature of their leaderships.[25] A people, a nation struggling against an agressor is still a society permeated by class, patriarchal, etc., relations; it is never homogeneous, even if the particular struggle itself may contain elements of superficial unanimity against the agressor.

13) Despite the diversity of national liberation struggles, their outcome is always judged by the general dynamics of social liberation that they create. Therefore:

a) the support of Ukrainians in the war is not only against their ethnic oppression; it is also for the general emancipation of different social groups including workers, ethnic (Roma), gender, etc.

b) the hegemony of the local bourgeoisie tends to be challenged by the very dynamics of the struggle even when it is merely one of national liberation[26], as, by definition it is carried out to turn the oppressed into political subjects.

c) the final outcome will also depend on the hegemony of the struggle by the socially oppressed strata and their own will at the expense of the programmes of the ruling class (oligarchs, etc.), which is why the social programme of the war and the challenging of bourgeois hegemony in practice are of such great significance.

d) and for this same reason, the strengthening of the groups, parties, trade unions, collectives (large or small) that make up the sections of society struggling and fighting against the aggressor is even more important.

14) In this social war (which is ultimately a national one) of the Ukrainian people against imperialism, the left, and especially the international left, has an enormous responsibility.[27] First of all, for not handing over national liberation to the bourgeoisie by refusing to join the struggle of the Ukrainians . Secondly, because it has to ward off the elements of blackmail that the aid from the rival imperialists entails in order to neutralise the people themselves and satellite their country. Thirdly, since class struggle, the particular struggle of the oppressed is not only not cancelled by war, but constitutes what is mainly at stake, and the left is necessarily involved in the main way to a victorious outcome. It is our duty, the duty of all the left in the world and above all for the working classes, the trade unions, the grass roots movements and all the oppressed to measure up to our brothers and sisters in Ukraine and Russia, who both ask for and need our help. For the defeat of the imperialist invasion, for the victory of social liberation in Ukraine, in Russia and in the rest of the world.

What we need to do:

a) Acknowledge our mistakes and shortcomings so far, especially in our positions up to now.[28].

b) We should not hesitate to confront the majority of the Greek left, which is essentially bankrupt in its task of supporting the Ukrainian struggle. Looking for excuses and theories to justify itself, killing any principle of support for the oppressed and recognition of the necessity of their self-emancipation and, in practice, siding with imperialism (with the sole concern to defeat the Ukrainians).

c) To make direct contact with movements, trade unions, collectives, etc., which constitute the society that is fighting. Clearly, not in order to tell them what to do or impose our own geopolitical or social plans on them, but to listen to them, ask them what they need and organize it, etc. We can also join the networks of support to the Ukrainian people[29] against Russias war.

d) To convey their voice, their views and their struggles both in the resistance and in their political and social reality to Greek society. To try to help them in what they need and not what some omniscient smart aleck from here imagines they need.

e) To stop indiscriminately reproducing Putinist propaganda (i.e. Nazi nation or non-nation) and to seek out the truth even when there are questions, real or imagined, about history, social and political reality, the burden of capitalism (and oligarchs), etc.[30]

Read this article:

Support the Ukrainian people in their resistance against the war! - International Viewpoint

New Delhi:A number of scholars and educationists from Karnataka have protested against the ongoing saffronisation of education in the state, by resigning from state government committees and bodies.

A revision committee headed by Rohith Chakrathirtha, which was constituted in 2020 after the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in Karnataka, to examine social science and language textbooks, recently revised social science textbooks from Classes 6 to 10 and Kannada language textbooks from Classes 1 to 10. Chapters on revolutionary and freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan, Lingayat social reformer Basavanna, Dravidian movement pioneer Periyar and reformer Narayana Guru have allegedly been removed from the syllabus or severely curtailed with. Facts on Kannada poet Kuvempu were also allegedly distorted. Meanwhile, a speech by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar has made its way to the Class 10 revised Kannada textbook.

Writers S.G. Siddaramaiah, who was president of Rashtrakavi Dr. G.S. Shivarudrappa Pratishthana, H.S. Raghavendra Rao, Nataraja Budalu and Chandrashekhar Nangli wrote to chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday, resigning from various posts they held, The Hindu reported.

The recent unconstitutional attack and oppression in education, cultural, and political spheres of the State has left us concerned. The governments silence and lack of action on those who have been openly inciting communal hatred undermining the State and federal structure has left us anxious and scared, their letter said.

Siddaramaiah has also written to minister for primary and secondary education B.C. Nagesh and withdrawn permission for the inclusion of his poem Manegelasada Hudugi in the Class IX Kannada textbook. Earlier, two prominent authors Devanoora Mahadeva and G. Ramakrishna had revoked permission for textbooks to carry their writings.

Hampa Nagarajaiah also resigned as president of Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Pratishthana, saying that the government was taking no action against Chakrathirtha even though he made defamatory statements against Kuvempu and the state anthem. Since the government has not only not taken any action against people who have defamed Kuvempu and the anthem, but since they have been made members of the official committee, it sends a wrong signal to people, Nagarajaiahs letter to Bommai states.

Educationist V.P. Niranjanaradhya declined an honour from the state government for his work on the National Education Policy. The State government has resorted to communalise and saffronise education and in this process, no curriculum framework, constitutional values and education policy have been followed. Since this exercise and the programme to which I am invited both are led by the Education Minister, I stand by the constitutional values and boycott it, he responded to the invite, according to The Hindu.

Several student groups too have been protesting over the changes and have planned further protests.

See the original post:

Karnataka: Scholars, Writers Resign From Govt Bodies to Protest 'Saffronisation' of Textbooks - The Wire

Barbados and Guyana are already making moves to live up to commitments made during the recently concluded Agri-Forum and Investment Expo.

This, as President Dr Irfaan Ali announced that farmlands in Guyana will be allocated to Barbadian youth for food production.

While delivering the keynote address at the Barbados Agro Fest last Friday, he again underscored the importance of agriculture being critical to regional development.

He said:The relationship that we are building between Guyana and Barbados is to bring economic prosperity to both countries. We are not looking at winning in one area or creating a situation where we are carving out an area for you and an area for Guyana. That is not what we want. We want a holistic approach to this relationship so that we create economic prosperity in every sector and in everything that we do together as one country, Guyana and Barbados."

Barbadian farmers are currently participating in a mentorship programme in Guyana. According to President Ali, 50 acres of land have been allocated for young people as part of the Black Belly Sheep Project in Guyana. another 50 acres have been allocated for people with disabilities, single parents and women and 50 acres will be allocated to young people in Barbados for them to advance food production.

He said the plan is for these farms to work together in an integrated way to supply the market in Barbados.

Many Guyanese are now questioning why the President is "giving away land to foreigners" when Guyanese youth could stand to benefit.

They took to social media to express their angst.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Attorney Rickford Burke said:

Guyanese youth cannot get land in their own country because of PPP racism and political oppression. But the same PPP government is willing to give Barbadian young people land in Guyana to create a spectacle. Of course this is only to gain regional and international legitimacy and remain cozy with Barbadian Prime MinisterMia Amor Mottley. This is their part of their inducement so she can keep saying how good they are and they can try to use her image to help them sloganeer against African Guyanese outrage over their racism, apartheid governance and attempt to implement PPP East Indian supremacy.

One man posted: "I have visited Barbados and none of the farms I visited had youths working on them, mostly middle-aged men and women. If youre going to give farmlands to youths, what about the Guyanese youth. What about the youths in Albouystown, Angoys Avenue, West, East, and North Ruimveldt. Or those in Bath, Corentyne and other parts of Guyana. You travelled over 500 miles to award farmlands to youths in another country while youths in yours are unemployed, underemployed, and in need of government assistance."

"Ali is way above his head. Give the Guyanese people the land. Not all will be employed in the oil sector. Give the youths the land and use the oil money to help them with machines, drip irrigation with plastic covering and provide good roads and irrigation. Government should set up chilling facilities to help Guyanese farmers. With more airline flights to America and Canada farmers in Guyana can have a piece of the market that Dominica has. Hot peppers ,Bora, ochre.dasheen, mangoes etc," another said.

One commenter urged the Guyanese government to rethink its stance as it wasn't too long ago that its people were ill-treated by Bajans.

"Guyana govt forgot about the horrible, inhumane treatments Guyanese endured at the hands of Barbadians not too long ago. Suddenly everybody running to Guyana to reap what they didn't sow. And while it is not wrong to help, what happen to Guyanese people? Have the Guyanese youths been provided with farmlands? Or lands to raise chicken and cattle?"

Another posted: "I hope this is lease land and they are paying a monthly rent since it seems like the government believes that the Guyanese people are not worthy to develop our own land and make Guyana the food basket of the Caribbean and South America - This is a blatant slap in the Guyanese people faces - the only way to get this government OUT is to VOTE - use yall God-given rights and VOTE this government out and take BACK yall LAND - simple as that! Unbelievable!!"

"Ain't this beautiful? Let's hear the supporters shout loud and proud now. PPP all de way...Guyana is a special place on earth where everyone other than Guyanese enjoys all things special though its their country..." one woman posted.

Several people defended President Ali's announcement saying that youth in Guyana had little interest in returning to the land.

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Get to know the - Loop News Caribbean

It actually wasnt hyperbole when John Draper, the director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline/988 expansion initiative, said that America is on the precipice of launching the largest mental health and suicide prevention service in this nations history.

However, much else that got said at last weeks Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Forum on Geolocation for 988 was hyperbolic. Government and mental health professionals seemed to be doing a hard-sell to promote public acceptance that anyone calling, texting, or chatting through the new 988 crisis hotline number should be grateful to have their exact geolocation automatically exposed to within three meters. This, in turn, left many questions about governments commitment to taking seriously the mounting public concerns about crisis lines that do covert call tracing and forced interventionseven as those concerns did finally emerge in several impassioned speeches that shook the direction of the forum.

Over the past two years, Mad in America has reported on a groundswell of voices arguing that call centers in the self-described anonymous and confidential National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL) covertly and unnecessarily trace far too many calls, resulting in unwanted police encounters and traumatizing detentions and forced treatment in psychiatric hospitals. These protests have included the NSPLs own Lived Experience Committee. Nevertheless, the nonprofit Vibrant Emotional Health, in charge of the NSPL and the roll-out of 988, has been lobbying government for direct control over cutting-edge call-tracing and geolocation-tracking powersthough NSPL centers already simply have to call 911 to get such call tracing done.

The issue has so far gone largely unreported in major news media, though Slate recently covered the controversy, while a New York Times story on 988 never mentioned it. Yet it has wide national relevance: The NSPL had 3.6 million contacts in 2021, and that number is expected to increase dramatically with 988 implementationand with it, the numbers of people whose calls will be traced. Federal funding for the NSPL has leapt tenfold, turning a single crisis line into a billion-dollar industry, and the grand vision of proponents is that 988 will become a first-line access point for all mental health services around the country.

So the call-tracing and forced interventions issue needs more public debate. Yet, through much of the carefully curated FCC forum it was difficult to discern that there was anything at all controversial under discussion.

The forum began with a four-hour parade of high-ranking officials, including FCC commissioners, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) leaders, and representatives of crisis call centers and mental health organizations that work closely with the NSPL. They unanimously extolled the need to be able to instantly and precisely geolocate anyone contacting 988, because seconds count when working to save lives of people who are in the act of killing themselves.

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks described vulnerable people with low income, unstable housing, and mental health challenges who might feel suicidal, and said, lack of geolocation poses a grave threat for them.

NSPL/988 director Draper similarly stated that call-tracing and precise geolocation were needed for life-saving purposes such as helping people who are losing consciousness, and theyre going to die.

Meanwhile, Draper and others repeatedly downplayed the NSPLs current rate of tracing calls2 percentas rare, a small percentage, very rare, etc. But is 2 percent of callers actually rare? And Drapers own data actually implied a still higher rate for thosewith suicidal feelings. Only 23 percent of callers to the NSPL express such thoughtstherefore, those unwanted interventions are apparently being implemented on 8 percent of the callers who express suicidal worries.

Either way, nearly every day hundreds of Americans who contact the NSPL are getting unwanted visits from police or other mobile intervention teamsabout 60,000 people in 2021.

Draper briefly described the risk assessments that lead to these forcible interventions. However, he didnt mention well-documented, extremely high error ratessince few people call the NSPL during the act of killing themselves, it becomes anyones guess if, or when, someone who has called simply to talk about suicidal feelings might or might not actually kill themselves.

And Sandri Kramer from Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services in California, which runs one of the nations busiest centers by call volume, provided insights into who these people are: Over half of their centers contacts are people under the age of 25 including many children, over half are people of color, and about 2/3 are women. Basically, these are people who are likely to already be experiencing oppression and vulnerability in other aspects of their lives and communities. Nevertheless, hours of the FCC forum went by without discussion of any possible problems with subjecting these people against their will to police visits and forced psychiatric interventions.

Then, finally, came the panel about 988 Consumer Considerations With Geolocationlike an eruption.

Keris Jn Myrick, co-director of the Mental Health Strategic Impact Initiative, said that she was struck by how leaders of the 988 initiative were making the a priori assumption that geolocation tracking is a good thing. Myrick said the issues are complex. Many timesI have had this happen in my own lifewere calling for help, and it ends up in harm, it ends up in handcuffs. And, for worse, for many people, it also ends up in death; not at their own hands, but at the hands of the response team.

When people call crisis lines, Myrick added, racism and other institutional and systemic inequities mean that not everybody gets the same response. Myrick described one county in California near her home where there were five deaths because of a mental health emergency response and four of those five deaths were Black folks. And [Black people] make up in that particular locality less than 5 percent of the population.

Shelby Rowe, director of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, pointed out that 988 is not being implemented in a political vacuum. Therefore, the lack of confidentiality could well have different hazardous consequences in states with different laws and prevailing prejudices. If you are a trans girl of color in certain states Will that geolocation data be used to turn your parents into child protective services?

Similarly, Madhuri Jha of the Kennedy-Satcher Center for Mental Health Equity described the risks to undocumented immigrantswithout sanctuary clinics, by tracing their calls we likely consign them to indefinite detention in an immigration prison.

Psychologist David Jobes of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention said that many people with suicidal feelings dont need psychiatric hospitalization in the first place, so if were going to forcibly intervene then we need to create alternative places for those people besides hospitals. Too often crisis line staff and clinicians are erring on the side of caution in hospitalizing people, said Jobes, leading to nightmare stories of people being boarded overnight, sometimes for days, even weeks in the emergency department. That is not therapeutic.

In line with others, Hannah Wesolowski from the National Alliance on Mental Illness said, NAMI strongly recommends that the FCC proceed with a recommendation in your 2021 Report to Congress to establish a multi-stakeholder advisory committee, with us experts tasked with developing detailed recommendations [on 988 geolocation].

The FCC facilitator then pushed the forum on through its scheduled programming: The final two hours were intended to be spent ironing out technical solutions to implement geolocation tracking.

But something different happened.

Senior representatives from AT&T, Verizon, Intrado, and T-Mobile reported that the technical hurdles to implementing 988 geolocation tracking were manageable. However, as their prepared speeches yielded to discussion, it became clear that theyd all been moved by what theyd heard from the Consumer Considerations panel. They no longer felt that acting quickly was wise.

This was given especially strong voice by Rosemary Leist, a policy and government affairs manager from T-Mobile. After listening to everybody on the forum today, said Leist, she now believed a phased and multi-faceted development approach for 988, over the course of years, made more sense. She said industry needed more time to develop appropriate policies and technical standards, call centers would need to adapt to rising call volumes, and communities should be building sufficient and appropriate support services for callers in distress. Installing mass-scale geolocation tracking immediately could prove counterproductive. [S]omething this big and draconian, in my opinion, should be meticulously organized and planned for, Leist saidthen also expressed support for a multi-stakeholder working group.

Feasible ideas for safeguards got raised at the forum, including less precise geolocating, transparent disclosure of call-tracing practices in all 988 marketing materials and directly to callers, fines or removal from the 988 network for improper storage or use of peoples personal data, and formal reviews of call-tracing practices with accountability mechanisms.

However, none of those possible compromises were raised by anyone other than the people on the consumer panel. And the forum organizers had noticeably not brought in any group with expertise on privacy issues. This, combined with the fact that the organizers corralled the critical voices into one panel instead of allowing such voices to participate throughout the day, inevitably raised questions of bias. This bias seems to reflect the we know whats best for you attitude that permeates most of our mental health service systems. So, will the FCC even follow their own previous recommendation of establishing a multi-stakeholder committee to examine geolocation tracking concerns, or is the FCC already collaborating too closely with SAMHSA and Vibrant Emotional Health?

Meanwhile, how dangerous could automatic geolocating turn out to be? No one mentioned one of the most at-risk groups: Pregnant women. Already, many states have criminalized substance use during pregnancy, and more have, or are on the verge of, criminalizing abortion. In effect, then, if a pregnant woman who is using a substance or considering abortion calls 988, it would be the same as a caller seriously saying they were literally in the act of killing themselves or were about to kill someone else. If the call-center had already geolocated the woman to a state where substance use or abortion is criminalized, theyd have a legal duty to report and to send police to arrest the woman. Is that what leaders of the 988 initiative call help?

***

Editors Note: MindFreedom is hosting a discussion on this topic on Wednesday, June 1, at 6 p.m. eastern time. Rob Wipond, Keris Myrick, Karin Jervert, and Robert Whitaker will be the panelists for the discussion, which will be moderated by Ron Bassman.

Read more here:

Government Forum Reveals 988 Call Tracing Remains a Threat - Mad In America - Mad in America

Hyderabad: After years of struggle, Telangana was bifurcated from Andhra Pradesh and finally came into existence as a new state of the Indian union on June 2, 2014. Though we remember the 2009 protests, led by chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) and Prof. Kodandaram, and the year-long 1969 statehood movement.

However, Telangana was originally meant to be an independent state, and decades of struggle could have been perhaps avoided had the then Indian government had some foresight.

The States Reorganisation Commission, formed by the Indian government headed by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1955 also recommended against the merger of the Telangana and Andhra regions as a unified Telugu state based on linguistic commonality. But the merger still happened and became a reality on November 1, 1956.

A historical glance of Telanganas socio-economic background will provide for a better understanding.

All of the Telugu speaking regions of Telangana, coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema were all under the Nizams (or Asaf Jahi), who came into power in 1724. However, only Telangana after the second monarch, Nizam Ali Khan (1762-1803) signed the Treaty of Subsidiary Alliance with the British in 1798, the rulers were soon under financial duress as the state had to pay the British East India Company lakhs of rupees a year to maintain the foreign troops.

The Nizams government kept borrowing money from a bank (Palmer and Co) in the first half of the 19th century, which it could not pay back. Instead, the EIC paid-off the bank, and in return took away the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions away from the Nizams.

This was what led to Telangana and Andhra diverging in terms of culture and language, as the formers Telugu was influenced due to its close proximity to Hyderabad and Urdu language (45.4% speakers in Twin Cities of Hyderabad and Secunder, as per the States Reorganisation Commission report, 1955).

The Andhra areas were merged with the British-administered Madras Presidency, with Chennai (then Madras) as its capital. Telangana, with its state-appointed landlords or Jagirdars under the Nizams, concentrated its wealth and capital in Hyderabad city, while the districts were fairly disadvantaged, even in the 20th century under the last Nizam Osman Ali Khan (1911-48).

However it may be noted that under Khan, Hyderabad witnessed acceleration in development in the nearly four decades he was the ruler. Fast forward to 1947. When the British formally left India, it however gave princely states and their monarchs the option to join India or Pakistan, or to stay independent.

Osman Ali Khan was one of the handful of kings, like Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, who wanted to stay independent. After all, he was a king of the largest princely state, Hyderabad, which comprised 16 districts in 1948, of which 8 were in Telangana, 5 in Maharashtra and 3 in Karnataka.

A year before 1947, extreme feudal oppression also led to the Telangana Armed Struggle (1946-51). Vetti Chakiri (bonded labour) was also commonplace in rural Telangana, wherein lower-caste folks were forced to service the higher castes and the landowning class.

Bonded labour and forced collections are believed to be the main reasons behind the uprising, which began in 1946, and officially ended in 1951, till the communists decided to contest elections. Some of the tallest CPI leaders from Telangana then were Makhdoom Mohiuddin, Ravi Narayan Reddy, Arutla Kamala Devi, Ch. Rajeshwar Rao, etc.

While that was going on, negotiations between the Nizam and the Indian government continued for a year. However, the government finally sent the Indian army to annex the Hyderabad state, which took place on September 17, 1948, in a military offensive called Operation Polo. For 18 months after that, the state had a military governor, after which it went to polls.

In the 1951-52 (first) general elections, the Congress comfortably managed to win in the Hyderabad state (which had 175 seats), while the CPI, riding on its popularity from the Telangana Armed Struggle (which was called off on October 21, 1951). Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was the states first (and last) chief minister.

The government even back then continued to implement the Mulki Rule, which essentially made a provision for locals to have access to jobs first.

The Mulki Rule was first promulgated (based on job guarantee demands by native residents of Hyderabad) in 1919 by Osman Ali Khan as Nizam, which stipulated that a person has to be a Mulki (different criteria to be met, especially for non-Hyderabadis) to be considered for any government service.

This was applicable to Telangana, and parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka that were under the Hyderabad state. The states medium of instruction was initially Persian and later Urdu (during the time of Mulki rule). In the British administered presidencies, it was English. Post annexation of Hyderabad to India in 1948, these Mulki rules continued to exist even after the military governorship of Lt. Gen. JN Chaudhuri, who lead Operation Polo.

According to many old timers, especially those from the CPI who were part of the Telangana Armed Struggle, the Telugu speaking region was backward due to feudal oppression, and exploitation. Second, lack of (or much lower) education in English in the Hyderabad state meant that the government of India had to bring in officers from outside, especially from the Andhra region to work in the administration.

Locals from Hyderabad and Telangana felt outraged that jobs meant for them, under the Mulki rules, were given to non-state residents. This eventually led to the 1952 Mulki Rule agitation, wherein angry students even protested and reportedly damaged the official convoy of Burgula Ramakrishna Rao. In fact, his nephew and pro-Telangana votary from the CPI, B. Narsing Rao (passed away in January 2021), was one of the young leaders who participated in that movement.

That was in a way the first ever statehood movement, and it was over jobs. Aside from that, there were also feelings of being culturally othered among Urdu speaking people (especially Muslims) Hyderabad. For the people of Telangana, they complained that their Andhra counterparts looked down and lampooned their Telugu dialect.

On Urdu and fear of its marginalisation

This would also reflect in the States Reorganisation Commission report from 1955. This is what it said on Urdu: Three is one point which will have to be considered in consequence of a change in the present character of the State, namely, the position of the Urdu speaking people of the twin citys of Hyderabad and Secunderabad to constitute 45.4% of the population. They seem to entertain the fear that if Hyderabad became the capital of either Telangana or Visalandhra, they would stand to suffer culturally and economically. There is some justification for this fear.

It suggested measures that need to be adopted to give adequate protection to the linguistic ,cultural and other interests of the large Urdu speaking people in the twin cities.

By 1953, the Telugu speaking population from the Madras Presidency began demanding it own statehood, and on November 1, 1953, the Andhra state came into existence. However it had no built capital. Being part of the presidency, naturally its leaders wanted to share Madras with the Tamil speaking regions, but that demand was rejected.

Eventually, the idea of merging the Telugu speaking regions of Telangana and Andhra state was brought about. This was of course not going to go down well in Hyderabad, where there was already resentment against people of Andhra for taking up government jobs. In fact, what the States Reorganisation Commission said on this matter is very important to understand the imbalances that eventually came about after both the Telugu states were merged to create Andhra Pradesh on November 1, 1956.

While the Marathwada or Marathi and Kannada speaking (except Bidar) areas were to be merged with Maharashtra and Karnataka, the States Reorganisation Commission observations on Telangana are quite telling and interesting of how common languages does not work when there is socio-economic inequality.

After going through the merits and demerits of merging Andhra and Telangana, and stating that the case for Vishalandhra thus rests on arguments which are impressive, the report also noted: The considerations which have been urged in favour of a separate Telangana State, however, not such as may be lightly brushed aside.

It took of the fact that some leaders from Telangana seem to fear that the result of unification will be to exchange some settled sources of revenue, out of which development scheme may be financed, for financial uncertainty similar to that with which Andhra is now faced. Before the merger, and after 1953, Andhra, without a capital, had a lower per capita income than Telangana, which from an administrative point claimed to be progressive.

The Commission, while stating that there are benefits of bringing Telangana and Andhra regions for sharing the Krishna (over which both states are today vying for a higher share) and Godavari river basins, and suitability of Hyderabad as capital, was still not convinced about the merger. It also noted that Andhra leaders were also ready to provide adequate safeguards, like a pact for local job quotas, if both states merged.

The recommendation was against the merger and creation of AP

However, the States Reorganisation Commission noted that all the promises and pacts will however not prove workable or meet the requirements of Telangana during the period of transition. In its final conclusion, it said:

After taking all these factors into consideration, we have come to the conclusion that it will be in the interests of Andhra as well as Telangana, if for the present, the Telangana area is constituted into a separate state, which may be known as the Hyderabad state, with provision for unification with Andhra after the general elections likely to be held in or about 1961, if by a two-thirds majority the legislature of the residuary Hyderabad State expresses itself in favour of such unification.

It added that Telangana if public sentiment in Telangana crystallises against the unification, it will have to continue as a separate unit. So what does this mean? Perhaps Andhra would have built itself a new capital, and Telangana in turn would have functioned as it was with Hyderabad as its capital.

However, against this, the Indian government decided to go ahead with the merger in 1956 (many say due to political compulsions and compunctions), and the issues with regard to jobs and cultural oppression in Telangana continued, leading to the 1969 statehood movement first. Led by Marri Chenna Reddy, it would be compromised as he joined the Congress eventually.

However, it was revived once again by incumbent chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao in 2009, a after former CM of the joint Andhra Pradesh state YS Rajasekhara Reddy died in a helicopter crash the same year

Read more:

Why Telangana and Andhra were never meant to be merged in 1956 - The Siasat Daily

I am writing this in COVID exile in Jaffa, Israel, on the edge of Tel Aviv, while waiting for a negative test in order to be allowed to fly back to the U.S. I am sure that below the surface of the everyday life I see here, the Israelis are dominating and discriminating against the Israeli Palestinian population here. But on a moment-to-moment basis, this wonderfully multicultural city is among the most inviting and enjoyable Ive ever spent any time in. It is filled with art galleries, museums, ethnic restaurants, funky flea and food markets, antique shops, furniture stores (vintage and designer), gelato on every block, and even a world-famous experimental theater; all of it ensconced inside a city bounded by a beautiful beachfront on the warm Mediterranean, and boasting centuries of history as a key trading port for many countries and civilizations. As with Tel Aviv, ultrareligious Jews who seek to shut down secular life in Jerusalem and elsewhere in the country are here, somewhere, but almost invisible.

There are only two downsides I can discern as a visitor; the first is the price of real estate. As with Tel Aviv, Jaffa is at least as expensive as Manhattan and worse than hipster Brooklyn. The second is the invisible one: There is a brutal, dehumanizing occupation going on not far from here, being carried out by a country thatfor the most parteither pretends not to notice, or believes it is literally its God-given right to carry out.

Every day, the news from that occupationas well as of the treatment of the more than 20 percent of Israelis who are not Jews (and are often ignored in the American discourse)seems, somehow, to get worse. Just in the past few days, Ive come across stories describing:

While in Tel Aviv, I met with members of the American embassy and consular staffs (at their invitation), as well as many people from the Israeli peace movement. And while my admiration for the courage and tenacity of the latter group is boundless, I didnt hear anything while I was here that would lead me to question my overall pessimism that this situation can only get worse. Israels tenuously balanced government has less than no interest in any sort of concessions that could lead to serious peace negotiations, and the hard-line Islamicist Hamas is growing more and more popular among Palestinians, especially its young future leaders. Joe Biden is not about to invest any political capital in forcing Israel to change its ways, and its far from clear to me that it would help even if he did. The Israelis have always been able to outlast the Americans whenever a president has disapproved of anything their government has done.

The BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement, which dominates discussion on the American left on this topic, only makes matters worse. It is complete failure in every respect save for its (entirely) rhetorical victories. Yes, it helps perhaps in making the Palestinians feel they have not been entirely forgotten by the rest of the world, but beyond that, it amounts to little more than virtue signaling. As I keep saying, in the 18 years of its campaign, no major labor union, no government body, no major global corporation, not even any significant local government has endorsed BDS. Using a boycott against Jews was always a stupid idea, given the association that so many have of the tactic when it was used by the Nazis.

Read more Altercation

But there are costs as well. BDS has provided a ready-made excuse for the many conservative pro-Israel politicians and organizations who would like to shut down free speech about Israel to pass laws that do so. It has also made it even more difficult to discuss the issue on college campuses (to say nothing of social media). This is, of course, in addition to the problems it raises for those of us who believe in the importance of the free exchange of ideas, regardless of their origin. Yes, Ive said all that before, but this week, an important piece of new evidence arose: a brand-new Pew Research study that finds 5 percent of Americans say they support the BDS movement against Israel, and just 2 percent say they support it strongly, while 84 percent have no opinion or have never heard of it. The support figure is actually kind of high compared to its support in Congress by the way, where, according to my count, it has three supporters among 535 senators and representatives. People who support the right of Palestinians to live in peace and dignity, with the same rights as you or me (or Israeli Jews), need to face up to the undeniable failure of this strategy and think anew. The support of The Harvard Crimson, the Middle East Studies Association, and this or that student government does not a successful movement make.

One of the great strengths of the Zionist movement of the 1940s that led to the creation of the state of Israel was its ability to withstandeven encourageintense internal debate. There are good reasons why Palestinians feel they do not have this luxury. But notwithstanding those reasons, when Palestinians and their supporters demand fealty to a failed strategy, it does nothing for the people living under oppression.

One can sympathize with the fact that for the past hundred years, the Palestinians have only been offered unfair deals and asked to help solve a problemthat of approximately 250,000 Jewish refugees of Hitlers Holocaustthat they did nothing to cause. The 1947 U.N. Partition Plan that the Zionists (reluctantly) accepted, and the Palestinians refused even to discuss, choosing war instead, was markedly unfair to them, as has every offer been since that one. (The earlier ones were not so hot, either.) In 1947, the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine calculated its Jewish population to be 608,000, or slightly less than a third of its population. Under the U.N.s plan, however, the Jews were to be accorded 55 percent of the land, including the crucial seaport of Jaffa (where your loyal correspondent is writing this), with its Arab population of 70,000 as against just 10,000 Jews. Forty percent of Palestine was given to its Arabs, with the remaining 5 percent, which included Jerusalem and parts of the Negev desert, to remain under U.N. sovereignty until such time as everyone could agree on how it might be divided. (All this remained academic, however, once Israel declared itself a state on May 14, 1948, and five Arab armies immediately invaded.) Things have only gotten worse for the Palestinians over time, both in terms of the lives theyve been forced to live and the offers theyve received, leading up to the ridiculous Jared Kushner peace plan, which no one took seriously even as a propaganda exercise. In classic Trumpian style, the entire thrust of Kushners Middle East policy appears to have been to further line his own pockets with corrupt deals with his Saudi and Israeli co-conspirators.

To the question of What is to be done? I have no answer save a rethinking of the problem from the bottom up. My good optimistic friend Jill Jacobs, who heads up my favorite organization, Truah, thinks that the two-state solution lives on because the only problem is politics. Another optimistic friend, the scholar/activist Hillel Schenker, co-editor of the excellent Palestine-Israel Journal, reminds me of how close Israeli and Palestinian negotiators got to outlining a final peace agreement under the prime ministership of Ehud Olmert in 2008, before Olmert decided he preferred to go to war in Lebanon. (Olmert later ended up in jail, convicted for corruption.) But political problems are real problems and can be more difficult to solve than scientific or even existential ones. And with great regret to the people who consistently put themselves on the line trying to do so, as the liberal realist I have no idea how to solve this one. That said, I found this JPost editorial full of good sense and maybe even (the slightest) cause for optimism.

Sorry, both for this pessimistic report and for the lack of music this week. You can, if youve not had enough, however, listen to my Tel Aviv University talk, with comments from the estimable scholar and activist Yael Sternhell. It can be found here. (We begin at 6:30.) And the (really long) book that I am basing all of this on may be pre-ordered from Amazon here and lots of places, here.

Originally posted here:

Altercation: Israel and Palestine and the Absence of a Solution - The American Prospect

Oxford's LGBTQ+ changemakers are leading the way for the community. L-R Debbie Brixey, Hannah Massie, Chrissie Chevasutt and Alana Stewart. Picture: Ed Nix

AsPride Month is well underway, the Oxford Mail is showcasing the LGBTQ+ people leading the way in Oxford.

Pride Month is an annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as an opportunity to raise awareness of the issues the community faces and tackle prejudice.

June marks Pride Month due to the fact the Stonewall Riots, a turning point in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality, occurred at the end of June in 1969.

READ MORE:The inside of Oxfords newest nightclub has been revealed

In Oxford, several people are working tirelessly to fight for LGBTQ+ rights, make the city a safer and a more inclusive place.

Oxford Mail: Chrissie Chevasutt. Picture: Ed Nix

Chrissie Chevasutt. Picture: Ed Nix

Chrissie, 63, is writer, advocate and outreach worker at St Columbas United Reformed Church on Alfred Street. She works with the transgender, intersex and non-binary communities in Oxford. It is believed this church is the first in the UK to appoint such a role.

What Pride Month means to Chrissie

Until LGBTQIA+ people enjoy equal rights throughout society with straight cis-gender folks then we need Pride Month as a reminder to society that inequality and oppression of LGBTQIA+ people is still a daily part of our all lives in the UK.

Not least, in the church which claims to represent Gods love but a large part of which still heaps shame, judgement and exclusion upon LGBTQIA+ people.

As a trans person, having watched the attempts of a small minority to cut us out of Pride and the LGBTQIA+ community, I love Pride because it demonstrates that we as trans are an integral part of the LGBTQIA+ community. That our gay, bi and lesbian friends stand shoulder to shoulder with us.

The trans community especially has been under a lot of hate and oppression, not least from this Tory government, so for me Pride is a chance to party and celebrate in the face of all this discrimination.

But, I would rather Pride threatened the patriarchy like the civil rights movement did, maybe we are not marching enough?

Story continues

Who are Chrissies heroes and heroines?

I have to put pioneers like April Ashley and Jan Morris at the top of my list, but my all-time heroine is Kristen Beck, former US Navy Seal who served in Afghanistan with distinction and is an incredible advocate for the trans community.

Oxford Mail:

How is Chrissie involved in the community in Oxford?

My main involvement in the LGBTQIA+ community is through my role as outreach and development worker with transgender, intersex and non-binary people for St Columbas URC. I work pastorally within the trans community, but also work in advocacy on a local and national level.

One of my roles is to represent the community within the church and speak in churches to raise awareness, educate and help transform some of the deep prejudices that exist in so many churches.

Chrissies proudest achievement since working with the community in Oxford

Im proud be a very small part of the process which enabled Oxford County Council to become a trans affirming and friendly council, helping to make the city and county a safer space for trans people, and we have just launched a National Transgender, Intersex and non-binary Theology Conference to be hosted in Oxford in September.

For me healthy theology is vital to the flourishing of the LGBTQIA+ community, so the conference is a major milestone for us.

Im proud to represent St Columbas URC as a fully affirming and inclusive church.

Oxford Mail: Debbie Brixey. Picture: Ed Nix

Debbie Brixey. Picture: Ed Nix

57-year old Debbie is specialist IT Trainer working with people with disabilities with a charity background including fundraising and social media. She is the chair of Oxford Pride and works with Pride groups across Oxfordshire to help put on events.

What Pride Month means to Debbie

Personally I feel that we should celebrate Pride all year around, not as events but in the things that we do and work together to be more inclusive and celebrate the diversity of people.

I do have to say that I love to see Pride on the streets and to see people getting together.

For me the driving factor in Pride is that there is always someone for whom it is their first Pride (and that can be any age!). It is really important people know that they are not alone and that there are people like them in all walks of life.

Who are Debbies heroes and heroines?

I would say Sue Sanders for her work with Schools Out, Marsha Levine for her work setting up InterPride, Lady Phyll for setting up UK Black Pride, Lisa Power for Stonewall.

There's a theme here I think ... women within the LGBT+ community who have got their voices heard - oh and I am lucky enough to know them all.

Oxford Mail:

How is Debbie involved in the community in Oxford?

I am the chair of Oxford Pride. I was chair in 2019 when the last in-person Pride was held before the pandemic.

I sat on the committee before that but first came to Oxford Pride in 2014 which is where I met my wife, also a former chair of Oxford Pride.

Debbies proudest achievement since working with the community in Oxford

I think watching the Pride Parade/March coming through Oxford and seeing everyone together and so many people all in one place.

I love the fact that we can use this visibility to illustrate that there are still many inequalities in this country and the World but also to celebrate what has been achieved so far.Standing together as a community is one of the most important things and I am proud of being even a tiny part of that.

Oxford Mail: Alana Stewart. Picture: Ed Nix

Alana Stewart. Picture: Ed Nix

Alana is a 22-year graduate student at Oxford University. They joined Oxford Pride in September 2021 as the communications officer and also co-founded Oxford Against Conversion Therapy. Alongside studying for a masters degree in Gender, Sexuality, and Culture they also work at the Jolly Farmers.

What Pride Month means to Alana

Pride has its roots in something deeply political. Pride Month is in June because it marks the anniversary of the Stonewall riots where queer activists fought back against the police.

Pride is still, or should still be, a protest against systems that oppress us. Sometimes Pride Month feels quite removed from that because it feels like an excuse for corporations to stick a rainbow up and take money from queer people. But, we unequivocally still need pride - and we will need it until there is liberation for all queers.

Homophobic hate crimes are on the rise in the UK, our Government is deeply transphobic and refuses to protect trans people against conversion therapies that are killing them, and recently the Home Office admitted that their abhorrent plan to send refugees to Rwanda will lead LGBTQ+ refugees to persecution.

So, pride month to me is about an ongoing fight.

Who are Alanas heroes and heroines?

I dont know about heroes, but theres a lot of queer people who have been incredibly influential to my life and my politics: Eileen Myles whos a poet, feminist, and non-binary lesbian; Jose Esteban Munoz who wrote an incredible book full of so much hope called Cruising Utopia; the absolute legend and musical pioneer who was SOPHIE, and, obviously, Tracy Chapman for writing Fast Car.

Oxford Mail:

How is Alana involved in the community in Oxford?

I studied at the University of Oxford and graduated in 2021. When I was doing my undergraduate degree prior to the pandemic I wasnt really involved in LGBT student groups. I co-founded Oxford Feminist Society and we were really big supporters of the protestsagainst Womens Place UK (amid allegations of transphobia which have previously been denied).Other than that, I didnt even really have the confidence to go to LGBT student drinks, and I never went to Pride.

Now Im actually on the pride committee as their communications officer, I work in the gay pub, and Im doing my MA in queer studies and gender studies.

I started working at the Jolly Farmers last spring and I met so many new people and I absolutely love it there. Its so good to feel part of a community and to feel accepted. Recently, I co-founded Oxford Against Conversion Therapy to address the governments lack of a full conversion therapy ban.

I wouldve been shocked if you told me that three years ago!

Alanas proudest achievement since working with the community in Oxford

Im proud of the work I did in setting up the protest and co-founding OxACT. Though, I cant really claim it as my work because I had an amazing team behind me who pulled so many strings to make it happen in the space of about ten days.

We had around 300 people turn up to Bonn Square, and we had so much incredible feedback from people who were taken aback to see Oxford unite for trans rights like that.

Oxford Mail: Hannah Massie. Picture: Ed Nix

Hannah Massie. Picture: Ed Nix

62-year old Hannah helps run TransOxford, a leading independent dedicated support group for transgender and gender non-conforming people in Oxfordshire.

What Pride Month means to Hannah

Diversity is the engine of evolution and without diversity we wouldnt exist. Every single one of us is unique, our own living example of diversity. Pride month is when we recognise and celebrate diversity in all its wonderful forms.

Although it has its roots in the LGBT+ communities Pride Month is for all. For me personally it is an opportunity reflect on how nature made me and the huge challenges that arose from this and to celebrate all I have achieved in dealing with this.

Who are Hannahs heroes and heroines?

Im not sure I have specific heroes as so many have gone before me who have stood up for who they were and played their part in the fight for understanding and acceptance.

However if I was to single anyone out it would probably be Julia Grant, who was the subject of the BBC documentary A Change of Sex broadcast in 1979.

I was 19 at the time and I was captivated. But I was also truly horrified at the appalling way she was treated. She had extraordinary courage and strength.

Oxford Mail:

How is Hannah involved in the community in Oxford?

I help run TransOxford, the Oxfordshire transgender support group. We provide advice and support to those who are transgender, especially those going through their journey of discovery, acceptance and dealing with it.

We support folks across the whole gender spectrum, with all degrees of dysphoria and the many different ways they deal with this. Everyone and their path is unique.

The group also forms a focus for the local trans community to connect and interact with other organisations and much of its work is involved in educating, working with and supporting other local groups and organisations.

Hannahs proudest achievement since working with the community in Oxford

Im not sure I have a proudest achievement. It was great to see four local Oxfordshire councils passing trans inclusion motions recently and to be able to support those involved in these.

I was proud to see our local politicians stand up to the sustained anti-trans hate campaign being orchestrated in this country by a small group of folks with extreme ideologies.

But what makes me happiest is to see those that come to us at the start of their journeys struggling both emotionally and in their lives and to see them gradually find and become true to themselves, as nature made them, and to move to being at peace within themselves and living, as my brother put it, as the person you were always supposed to be.

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This story was written by Sophie Perry. She joined the team in 2021 as a digital reporter.

You can get in touch with her by emailing: sophie.perry@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @itssophieperry

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More here:

The LGBTQ+ changemakers leading the way in Oxford - Yahoo News UK