Charities

What happens when the rights many fought hard to secure are quickly and easily altered by a political majority? Let us explore the tensions that exist today between democracy, parliamentary power, and the protection of fundamental rights, including the fate of vulnerable rights and protections when they rely on ordinary or statutory legislation. We will examine whether direct democratic participation could provide an additional safeguard, making important rights harder to remove while keeping people at the heart of decision-making, and consider what democracy could look like in the future.

For thousands of years, LGBTQIA+ people have bravely served in armies, fought in wars, and sacrificed their lives for the people and countries they called home. Yet throughout history, their ability to openly express who they were or whom they loved has varied widely. Today, LGBTQIA+ people can serve openly in many of the world’s armed forces, but acceptance remains far from universal, and the fight for equality continues. From ancient warriors to modern soldiers, let us explore the often-overlooked history of LGBTQIA+ military service, the struggles of those forced to hide, and the evolving fight for acceptance and inclusion, and ask whether someone willing to fight and die for their country should ever have to hide who they are.

What happens when nature does not neatly fit into one of two boxes? When people talk about sex and gender, it is often presented as though every person can be neatly classified as either male or female. For most people, that seems obvious. But biology has never been quite that simple. There has long been a group of people: those born with natural variations in chromosomes, hormones, gonads, reproductive organs, or genital anatomy, known as intersex. They are not a product of modern politics, nor are they a new phenomenon. They have existed throughout human history. So why are intersex people so often missing from conversations about sex, gender and identity?