Tom's treasures of fiction, poetry, literature and more...

The end of the month approaches and I am gutted that we are finishing pride month. It seems the month has raced past in a flash. Still, I have read some good stuff this month.

 Hello all. The time has come to talk about a bookshop I have been too. This time I found myself in the Kentish coastal town of Folkestone.

Today I am reviewing Diving into the Wreck  by Adrienne Rich. What a nice collection this was to read.

It is official now... Prime minister Kier Starmer has quiet. I for one am glad. Him and the labour government have turned their backs on so many. The LGBTQIA+ community suffer at the hands of conversion therapy which the Conservatives and current Labour government have failed to ban. It is a disgrace! Then we have his pathetic abandonment of protecting rights for all those who are transgender, non-binary and intersex. I have been appalled by this Labour government. Even a group started entitled "LGB Labour". That tells you all you need to know! It is terrible. But still, Andy Burnham could become prime minister and I do not trust him either. Still, if you asked me for a preference over him or Reform UK's Rob Kenyon in this Makerfield election, then Burnham it is. He is lesser of two evils. Kenyon admitted he was sexist, made vile, misogynistic remarks about women getting abortions and other revolting misogynistic remarks about national treasure Carol Vorderman. Reform UK...

Going to pride events recently has made me realise one thing. Some people are there for the LGBTQIA+ community. There are a lot of celebrities who are allies to the LGBTQIA+ community. Earlier on in the month I visited Canterbury for their pride event because I liked it last year and they normally have some well known singers joining the main stage. Plus it is free! This year I got to witness Atomic Kitten's very own Natasha Hamilton. She was incredible!

Lately I have been seeing a lot regarding pride events getting cancelled or having to charge in some cases because funding is being pulled.

Today's blog post is a poem of mine. As June is pride month, I got thinking about all the love there is and all the hate there is in society. He loves, she loves, they love, ze loves. Going to pride, having a good time, lifting up our spirits when we need it the most. He loves, she loves, they love, ze loves. Going to pride, to protest against the monstrous men who are exceeding rich while being the biggest tax dodgers, hating everyone who goes against what they believe in. He loves, she loves, they love, ze loves. Going to pride, to remind us of how far the LGBTQIA+ community has come, the hate that one group of people has had to endure. But we keep saying no more. Some people love those who are LGBTQIA+, people of colour, people with a disability and Immigrants. Some people do not love the wealth hoarding tax dodgers, trying to cause division, discrimination and destruction as the whole country suffers. That is my poem, Love and hate. Until next time, Thomas (they/them).

Today I am reviewing the three-part series of Tipping the Velvet .

What can I say about Sarah Waters' debut novel? Lust, desire and deceit... These are three words that my mind has conjured up when I think of Tipping the Velvet .

Today's topic of the blog is about pronouns. I get sick of people moaning or complaining about pronouns as if they do not have any. It does make me question if they think about things. We all have pronouns - I, you, me, we, they, he, she, him, them, her, our for example. Personally, if you have a political agenda that stops you accepting what is a simple fact then maybe you want to rethink your political agenda. Let me tell you a story... I was once applying for a job and in the application there was a section on how to respond to a customer complaining. In the given scenario, the person was referred to as "they" and a name was not provided. Further to this, there was no image for anyone to able to define them or stereotype them or gender them. But they were just " a customer" with a "they" pronoun. This did not automatically mean that they were non-binary but that their pronouns were unknown and therefore given a gender-neutral pronoun. This example j...

Hello everyone! As summer is upon we will be getting pride events happening! Tomorrow for example Canterbury pride in Kent's only city is happening with Booty Luv, Atomic Kitten's Natasha Hamilton, drag queen - Drag with No Name who has been doing drag for 25 years and many more. The best part is this is free and you do not need a ticket! Kent has other prides such as Medway (which last year saw some great acts including Sydnie Christmas from Britain's Got Talent), Dover, Deal, Folkestone and Ashford to name a few. This is just one county. There will be pride events around the whole country from the big to the small. The southeast of England does also boast other prides such as London and Trans pride in London. Various towns in Sussex such as Worthing, Crawley, Eastbourne and Hastings will have their own prides. The big one of course is Brighton Pride on Saturday the 1st and Sunday the 2nd of August. This year is the 25th anniversary and boasts the headlines act of Raye and...

June is pride month and that means three things. 1: a celebration of who we are, 2: a reminder of what we have been having to deal with from the past to now, and 3: a fight for a better, more equal future. Lately there has been a rise in discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community, especially trans, non-binary and intersex people. At the end of last month, this horrific bathroom ban was drafted in which is apparently based on common sense as people keep going on about. What is common sense about it? I have seen countless stories where women who are AFAB (assigned female at birth) have been pulled out of women's toilets as they are mistaken for being trans women or men. They are cisgender, meaning they always identified as a girl/woman. This is just one example of how the ridiculous bathroom ban is and how it affect more people. From my own experiences, I have been misgendered and told to use different toilets on more than one occasion. Being honest here, I am non-binary, specific...

It's pride month people! A solid reminder to everyone in the LGBTQIA+ community s here and we are not going anywhere. We have our rights under threat all the time, especially trans and non-binary people. But hey, the fight continues and I hope one day things will improve. For this month I will be continuing the LGBTQIA+ theme alongside a new author for author of the month. For June, the author of the month is going to be Welsh lesbian author Sarah Waters. I shall be looking forwards to reading some of her stuff throughout this month. So as summer arrives and pride month provides a constant reminder to our battles and history, celebrate with a good LGBTQIA+ book. Until next time, Thomas (they/them).