Visit to Chesterfield

Chesterfield is a charming market town nestled in the picturesque county of Derbyshire.

Chesterfield’s history stretches back over a thousand years, with its roots firmly planted in the Roman era. The town’s name is derived from the Old English “ceaster” (a Roman fort) and “feld” (pasture), highlighting its significance as a Roman settlement.

One of the most notable landmarks is the Crooked Spire of St Mary and All Saints Church. This architectural marvel, constructed in the 14th century, is famous for its twisted and leaning spire, which has intrigued visitors for centuries. The spire is twisted 45 degrees and leans 9 feet 6 inches (2.90m) from its true centre.

Folklore recounts that a blacksmith mis-shod the Devil, who leapt over the spire in pain, knocking it out of shape. Realistically, the lean has been ascribed to an absence of skilled craftsmen just twelve years after the Black Death, and the use of unseasoned timber used during construction, which warped over time.

The church itself is a stunning example of Gothic architecture, with its intricate stonework and beautiful stained glass windows. Inside, visitors can explore the nave, chancel, and various chapels, each adorned with historical artifacts and memorials.

More photos can be seen here.

Fact Checking Trump’s Address to Congress

On 4 March, President Donald Trump spent a hefty amount of his 99-minute address to Congress to underline his social policies around LGBT+ people.

In his speech, he said transgender children shouldn’t exist – a similar claim that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has made toward gay people, generally – concealed the real impacts of cuts on LGBT+ issues, and repeated misleading claims on transgender athletes while elevating people who work with anti-LGBT+ hate groups. However, he was also fact checked on other issues such as immigration and Social Security and was found to have misled Congress. One fact Trump failed to mention is that he’s working on $5 trillion in tax cuts for the rich. 

STATEMENT: “Just listen to some of the appalling waste we have already identified. … $8 million to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of. $60 million for indigenous peoples and Afro Colombian empowerment in Central America – $60 million. $8 million for making mice transgender. This is real.”

FACT CHECK: Trump’s claim needs much more context. First, both of the $8 million figures are unclear, as many of the savings the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) claims have been debunked because of bloated numbers and a deep misunderstanding of how government contracts work. The only record of money given to focus on administering gender hormones to animals was three grants totalling $447,000 from the National Institutes of Health. Similar claims have been made on pseudo-science and far-right news outlets with claims as high as $10 million being spent on this kind of research. Second, the study “for making mice transgender” was actually for giving feminising hormones to chimps as part of research to understand why trans women, in particular, have higher rates of HIV – up to 50 times – than other populations.

STATEMENT: “A few years ago, January Littlejohn and her husband discovered that their daughter’s school had secretly socially transitioned their 13-year-old little girl. Teachers and administrators conspired to deceive January and her husband, while encouraging her daughter to use a new name and pronouns – they/them pronouns actually – all without telling January, who is here tonight and is now a courageous advocate against this form of child abuse.”

FACT CHECK: This statement is false. Littlejohn became well known in conservative circles because of this claim – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis even repeated the story to justify signing the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. But emails given to CNN (Cable News Network) showed that it was Littlejohn – not teachers or administrators – who asked that the school refer to her child by the name they chose and to use they/them pronouns. Littlejohn lost her case against the school district.

STATEMENT: “Three years ago, Payton McNabb was an all-star high school athlete – one of the best – preparing for a future in college sports. But when her girls’ volleyball match was invaded by a male, he smashed the ball so hard in Payton’s face, causing traumatic brain injury, partially paralyzing her right side and ending her athletic career. It was a shot like she’s never seen before. She’s never seen anything like it.”

FACT CHECK: This statement needs clarity. It is true that Payton McNabb suffered an injury during a volleyball game where the other player was transgender. But it needs to be couched in numbers: How often are volleyball injuries? One study, which looked at the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, showed that more than 340,000 people had volleyball-related sports injuries among youth in the US. McNabb’s head injury is one of the more common sports injuries in volleyball. And, if we’re looking at the number of transgender athletes en masse, the athletic association NCAA has said there are less than 10 athletes out of 500,000 who are openly transgender.

STATEMENT: “And if you really want to see numbers, just take a look at what happened in the women’s boxing, weightlifting, track and field, swimming or cycling, where a male recently finished a long distance race five hours and 14 minutes ahead of a woman for a new record by five hours. Broke the record by five hours. It’s demeaning for women, and it’s very bad for our country. We’re not going to put up with it any longer.”

FACT CHECK: It’s important to note that Trump didn’t actually give any numbers to justify this statement. The “long distance race” statement he made is true – but it was not just for women. The man who won that race wrote an Opinion piece in The Guardian saying Trump is incorrectly using him to degrade transgender athletes, while doing nothing at all to elevate, fund or support women athletes.

There are many similar comments made by Trump that were said in years past to scapegoat our community. I know it feels like the attacks are coming from all sides right now – but let’s be clear, this isn’t new. This is the same playbook, just with fancier tech and way worse vibes.

Scrubbing trans people from online records? Banning research on our community? That’s just the 21st-century remix of Nazis burning books and research from the Institute for Sexual Science in 1933.

Let’s not forget the Lavender Scare of the 1950s, when the US government purged thousands of LGBT+ people from federal jobs, branding them as security risks. Senator Joe McCarthy justified this and said communists were “twisted mentally and physically” because they were homosexuals.

Also, in 1978, Senator John Briggs ran a disinformation campaign trying to convince people that gays and lesbians were a threat to children and shouldn’t be allowed to teach. His ballot measure lost.

And in 1987 Congress banned the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health from funding AIDS research or any education that “promoted homosexuality.”

History tells us that no matter how many times they try to throw us off course, we figure out how to keep moving. The road to justice has never been easy – but we’ve never let that stop us before.

LGBT+ Group Creates Blackpool ‘Rainbow Quarter’

Blackpool Council said the vibrant colours “brightened up the area” and were a show of “solidarity” with LGBT+ people

Rainbows have been appearing on street signs in Blackpool as a community group works with councillors to support LGBT+ people in the resort.

It coincides with Blackpool developing its Be Who You Want To Be area, which aims to boost inclusivity and help regenerate the north of the town.

Zebra crossings and street planters have also been decorated in the many colours of the Progress Pride flag, which is a symbol of the LGBT+ community.

Shaun Pickup, community lead for the Be You In Blackpool group, said: “One of the main ideas is to give the area around Lord Street, Dickson Road and Queen Street an identity to help encourage investment within the area.

Blackpool’s the LGBT+ capital of the country, so we’re now creating the Blackpool rainbow quarter,” he added.

“One of the ideas that was put forward by the community was these new rainbow street signs, replacing street signs that were either missing, or had been vandalised.”

The signs follow two rainbow zebra crossings that were added last year.

Two rainbow zebra crossings appeared in Blackpool last year

Mr Pickup said they decided to concentrate on streets around Lord Street since they were “already quite heavily concentrated with LGBT+ venues and hotel accommodation.

“And it is actually working,” he said. “Because 18 months ago we were down to about four LGBT+ venues and we’re already up to 24 venues, so it’s already showing that people are starting to invest in the area.

A lot of the older generation are feeling safe and coming back out again, so these venues are really important.

Throughout the country LGBT+ venues have been closing, so it’s nice to see Blackpool bucking the trend and I think it’s something Blackpool should be shouting about.”