In July 2021, US Paralympic swimmer Becca Meyers pulled out of competing, after her mother and Personal Care Assistant (PCA) was denied access due to Covid regulations. The Olympic Committee is standing firm in their decision, and the ableism - as surprising as it was coming from the Paralympics officials - felt all too familiar.

Author: Dayna Latham

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I’m sitting in the living room of my friend’s house, where she lives with her boyfriend. It’s just me and two couples, including my brother and his girlfriend; we’ve ordered noodles and sushi, and we’re watching the second season of Too Hot To Handle. The conversation has moved to the topic of coming out, of the idea of people presenting as ‘visibly queer’.

Author: Sam Moore

Category: SELF

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Every single day, around 2.5 million tampons, 1.4 million pads, and 700,000 panty liners are flushed down a toilet in the UK - with 200,000 tonnes of menstrual waste landfilled each year in the country (Source: City to Sea). I’ve never been a fan of single-use menstrual products anyways. I don’t feel comfortable wearing tampons. This is just my experience, and I know others may have different feelings about them (especially harmless plastic-free tampons).

Author: Amira Arasteh

Category: ENVIRONMENT

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This year, I decided to watch Love Island for the first time. Being both bisexual and slightly tomboyish, the show represents a slight enigma: I’ve never quite understood the motivations of the demographic it represents, which, let’s be honest, is straight, slim, and largely white. I’ve never wanted a guy who “goes gym”, and I’ve never been bothered about fake tanning.

Author: Eleanor Noyce

Category: CULTURE

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Designing for people living with disabilities is a necessity, not a trend, as the adaptive clothing market is forecast to be worth nearly £280bn by 2026 (Coherent Market Insights).

We talked about all things adaptive clothing with Funmi Lawal, the founder of Clip-Knix, the premier retailer of clip-on underwear in the UK, as well as her personal journey finding adaptive undergarments when her own mobility was reduced. Funmi Lawal, a British mother-of-two, of Nigerian Heritage, had a stroke soon after childbirth at the age of 35 and saw her life change. Unable to dress like she used to, she thought of a solution for herself and others who experienced the same. This is what she had to say about the fashion industry, and how Clip-Knix was born.

This article is sponsored by Clip-Knix, the premier retailer of clip-on underwear in the UK.

Author: The Spill

Category: CULTURE

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From today, all covid restrictions are being pulled back in England. People are no longer required to social distance, nor do they have to wear a mask indoors or on public transport. There are no more limitations to how many people you can meet indoors and outdoors. The day is being touted as "freedom day", but for those of us with disabilities and chronic illnesses, it's anything but.

Author: Rachel Charlton-Dailey

Category: LIFE

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(Trigger Warning: Mentions of violence, deaths, explicit language) On the first sunny day of 2021 in London, Victoria Park is alive and packed. Large families stroll with frolicking dogs. A group of friends huddles over cigarettes by the canal. Cyclists brush past people’s shoulders. No one wears a mask. An air of anticipation. The pandemic, now in its second year, has an end in sight. When all this is over, they seem to think. When all this is over, there will be no more lockdowns. When all this is over, things will be good again. When all this is over, we will be free.

Author: Michelle Fan

Category: SELF

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(Trigger Warning: References of violence, sexual assault, and rape) In December 2020, fashion designer Alexander Wang faced multiple accusations of sexual assault. It began when male model Owen Mooney shared a series of TikTok videos detailing a 2017 incident where Wang allegedly groped him in a New York nightclub. The story went viral after being shared on Instagram by Shit Model Management and fashion watchdog, Diet Prada, prompting others with stories about the designer to come forward. Such stories ranged from having their genitals exposed to being slipped MDMA without their knowledge, and rape.

Author: Bec Oakes

Category: CULTURE

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The past year has been the era of online interactions. Perhaps like many, I have found a community on Twitter to fill the void of what I wasn’t receiving in real life. And over time, people who were initially strangers have become my friends. Friends I may have never met in real life, but whom I have formed a genuine bond with nonetheless, rooted in our mutual understanding of various topics from photography to films - and niche memes. 

Author: Sabrina Fearon Melville

Category: LIFE

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Welcome to the new instalment of My Coming Out, a monthly interview series sharing the unique stories of people all over the world, who came out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, or questioning. This month we chat with Eleanor Noyce (she/her), a 23 year-old freelance journalist, who identifies as bisexual. Eleanor’s work can be found on Metro, Refinery 29, Diva, and The Spill.

Author: The Spill

Category: SELF

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