Features & Longread OPINION: ‘Craig’s Thoughts’ by Craig Hanlon-Smith Within almost a month of meeting my then boyfriend, now husband, he became an uncle for the first time. I remember receiving the text from him, which screamed in capital letters; I AM AN UNCLE. My automatic, and I concede extremely unattractive response, was one of searing jealousy. I had, until thi By Craig Hanlon-Smith • 4 min read
In The South OPINION: Grindr diversifies and the gay men are scared! Ms. Sugar Swan tries out the latest update from the (until recently) gay hook up app for men, Grindr. When people ask me, “Do you miss anything from your old life?” the only answer I ever have for them is simply, “Grindr”. Now that may sound odd asking a trans woman if she misses anything that she h By Ms Sugar Swan • 7 min read
In The South OPINION: I am what I am Craig Hanlon-Smith responds to the Facebook rant by Richard Wolstencroft, festival director of the Melbourne underground film festival following the positive vote for gay marriage in Australia. By Craig Hanlon-Smith • 4 min read
In The South OPINION: We Need To Talk About Kevin. But not for long…… As the skeletons of sexual misconduct began to pour out of Harvey Weinstein’s closet and unlock the gates of the palace of Westminster, a quiet yet uncomfortable thought slipped into my thoughts that ‘it won’t be long before one of those skeletons comes along waving a rainbow flag’. By Craig Hanlon-Smith • 3 min read
Community News OPINION: Craig’s Thoughts – Tell Me About It (Stud) or A Problem Halve In the August edition of this magazine, I shared at length an experience, a hate-crime of sorts and the debacle that followed at the hands of the criminal justice system. I have no intention of recounting here, either the incident itself or the ensuing overall affair, it is a chapter I am closing. By Craig Hanlon-Smith • 5 min read
Features & Longread OPINION: Craig’s Thoughts – Be Brave, or I was born to be Queer As a youngster, I assumed the day would come when I would know all there was to know about life, love and happiness. The reflecting, the neglecting, the mistaking, the breaking, the betting, the fretting, the yearning, the learning would all eventually subside, and after the maelstrom of tortured y By Craig Hanlon-Smith • 4 min read
Features & Longread OPINION: Transitioning with Sugar – My Pride experience Last month I wrote about my Pride experiences over the last 20 years and how I never quite felt like I fitted in. I was always troubled with poor trans representation. I surmised by hoping that trans folk, and the less represented minorities of the LGBTQIA+ umbrella, would be better respected and re By Ms Sugar Swan • 8 min read
Features & Longread OPINION: Transitioning with Sugar – my memories of past Prides My first experience of a Pride event was back in 1997, some 20 years ago. A fresh-faced 16-year-old kid, who knew she was trans but only in her wildest dreams did she think she could transition, made her way to Clapham Common for Pride London. I was absolutely terrified as I made my way there with m By Ms Sugar Swan • 4 min read
In The South OPINION: Craig’s Thoughts “Isn’t it great that Pride feels like a national celebration now?”, my husband exclaims as we wander around London for some last minute holiday shopping. And as I look around at every other shop, wall, skyward banner and lamppost, adorned with some manifestation of the rainbow, I cannot help but agr By Craig Hanlon-Smith • 5 min read
Features & Longread OPINION: Transitioning with Sugar – ‘You need to be more ladylike’ Those 6 words. Those 6 words that I have heard over and over again in many different guises since I began transition feed into a cis narrative in which I neither belong, nor wish to. The OED defines ‘lady’ as ‘a polite or formal way of referring to a woman’. Well, I am a woman, so therefore, I am a By Ms Sugar Swan • 4 min read
Features & Longread OPINION: Transitioning with Sugar – Looking Forward by Ms Sugar Swan Today sees me one week post op of my fourth, and hopefully last, hair transplant surgery. Back in late February I headed to Latvia after a long search for a surgeon who would take on my hair restoration case. A tricky one due to the very advanced state of my balding. In April’s Gscene I covered the By Ms Sugar Swan • 4 min read
In The South OPINION: Craig’s Thoughts Social Media is taking a beating. Almost each week there is a television news report suggesting links between an over-reliance on social interactions through the medium of an app, and the failing mental health of our youth. By Craig Hanlon-Smith • 5 min read
