Little Wisdoms

SYLVIA RIVERA’S JUNE 2001 TALK AT THE LESBIAN AND GAY COMMUNITY SERVICES CENTRE, NEW YORK CITY

“But until my community is allowed the respect to march in the front, I will go march with my community because that’s where I’m needed and that’s where I belong. And yes, I’ll wear my big sash that says “Stonewall. ” And people are gonna ask. And I’m gonna tell why; because this is where the Heritage of Pride [the group that organises the march] wants to keep us. You see, I don’t pull no punches, I’m not afraid to call out no names. You screw with the transgender community and the organisation StreetTransgender Action Revolutionaries[STAR] will be on your doorstep. Just like we trashed the HRC [Human Rights Campaign] for not endorsing the Amanda Milan actions, and then when they threw us a piece of trash, we refused to accept it. How dare you question the validity of a transgender group asking for your support, when this transgender woman was murdered? No. The trans community has allowed, we have allowed the gay and lesbian community to speak for us. Times are changing. Our armies are rising and we are getting stronger. And when we come a knocking (that includes from here to Albany to Washington) they’re going to know that you don’t f— with the transgender community.

Mainstreaming, normality, being normal. I understand how much everybody likes to fit into that mainstream gay and lesbian community. You know, it used to be a wonderful thing to be avant-garde, to be different from the world. I see us reverting into a so-called liberated closet because we, not we, yous of this mainstream community, wish to be married, wish for this status. That’s all fine. But you are forgetting your grassroots, you are forgetting your own individual identity. I mean, you can never be like them. Yes we can adopt children, all well and good, that’s fine. I would love to have children. I would love to marry my lover over there [Julia Murray], but for political reasons, I will not do it becauseI don’t feel that I have to fit in that closet of normal, straight society which the gay mainstream is going towards.”

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Charity of the Week

CHILDREN WITH CANCER UK

This Child Cancer Awareness month, People Who Do Things is raising money for Children with Cancer UK. Read Max’s story to find out why.

We are aiming to raise £7,000 for this wonderful cause which receives no government funding. Anything you can contribute would go a little step further towards keeping children children, safe from sickness.

HERE is our Just Giving campaign

At Children with Cancer UK we actively raise and invest money for vital specialist research to save the lives of every child with cancer and keep their family together.Our vision is a world where every child diagnosed with cancer gets to ring their end of cancer treatment bell.

There's a book for that!

Stories for Boys Who Dare to be Different

True Tales of Amazing Boys who Changed the World without Killing Dragons

BEN BROOKS

This is the highly anticipated version of Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls. 100 stories have made the long list – about 100 amazing people who have made our world a better place, “through compassion, generosity and self-belief”. Amongst those featured are:

ACHMAT HASSIEM – who saved his brother from a shark attack by diverting the shark towards him. He lost his leg. After overcoming depression, he went on to swim for South Africa, winning bronze at the 2012 Paralympics.

ALAN L. HART – one of the first ever transgender people to have gender reassignment surgery. He studied medicine and became a bestselling author.

BALDWIN IV – who at the age of thirteen, in 1161, was crowned King of Jerusalem. King Baldwin had leprosy, but that didn’t stop him from riding out with his army and fighting alongside his men. He and only 500 men defeated an invading army of 26,000.

CHARLES FOURIER – the (18th philosopher who believed in equality and who invented the word feminism.

FREDERICK DOUGLASS – born into slavery in C19th. He eventually escaped and dedicated his life to fighting to end slavery, for women’s rights and Irish independence.

It’s a wonderful collection, for boys, girls, kids, grown-ups…EVERYONE!

VISIT OUR BOOKSHELF HERE

Stats

CANCER IN CHILDREN

Childhood cancer is rare – around 1,600 new cases are diagnosed every year in the UK (in children aged 0-14 years)
This means that around one child in 500 will develop some form of cancer by the age of 14 years
Childhood cancers account for 0.5% of all cancers in the UK
Cancer occurs more commonly in boys than girls, by a ratio of around 6:5. This varies by tumour type; the most striking excess is in lymphomas, which boys are more than twice as likely to develop
In Britain, childhood cancer incidence rates increased by 38% between 1966-2000. Some of this increase is thought to be due to improvements in diagnosis and registration
The childhood cancer rate in the UK is the lowest in Europe, and one of the lowest of all Western industrialised countries. Australia and the US have some of the highest rates. The reasons for this variation are not clear.

Facts and figures from Children With Cancer UK

Tag «Cancer»

Shifting the Goalposts