Dr Florence H R Scott

Dr Florence H R Scott

@florencehrscott.bsky.social

Historian of queenship in early medieval England. Based in York UK. Antiracist. Disabled. Non-binary. Marxist. Free Palestine 🇵🇸 Author of Ælfgif-who?, biographies of medieval women: florencehrs.substack.com Agent: @tomkillingbeck.bsky.social

15.9K followers1K following3.5K posts

Dr Florence H R Scott reposted

Leicester Gazette
@leicestergazette.leicester.news

Two University of Leicester students speak out over ‘absurd’ and ‘Orwellian’ decision by the BBC and ITV Studios to edit out pride pins worn on University Challenge

leicester.newsBBC edits out pride pins on University Challenge in ‘Orwellian’ move* * * This story was published by **The Leicester Gazette** : a local, independent newspaper about Leicestershire. 1,000 people have already joined our community. Just use those buttons below to download our app and **sign up for free**. * * * Astrophysics student Samuel Carlier and History student Emmeline Hague-Wright were shocked to find that their LGBTQ+ pride pins had been edited out of their University Challenge appearance earlier this year. The episode, initially scheduled for BBC Two on 24 August, was delayed twice before airing on 7 September 2026. The pins showed the progressive LGBTQ+ pride flag, the bisexual pride flag and a rainbow feather. Speaking to the Leicester Gazette, Sam said: “Living in a liberal democracy and having the state broadcaster tell you ‘we’re editing how you look’, seems very Orwellian.” Sam described the choice to remove the pins before broadcast as “weird” and “absurd”. He said: “[Censoring] that seemed weird. If I had worn a rainbow shirt, would they have censored that? If the idea is to keep things impartial, where is that line in the sand?” A side by-side image of Sam wearing the pin and with it having been digitally removed. Photograph: supplied Sam contacted the BBC to try to understand why his pins had been edited out. He told the Gazette: “The BBC people said they’d ring me, and I chased them, they just said go to the complaints website and file a complaint there, that’s what I did.” Since then, Sam hasn’t had a response from the BBC as to why his pins were removed. After the episode had aired, Sam noted that his shirt ‘melted’ into itself occasionally, as a result of the editing. Photograph: supplied ## Students believe the decision was made following online transphobia Emmeline was also shocked when she found out that the feather pin she wore was due to be removed from the episode she was in. It was understood by Emmeline that there was online transphobia in response to previous episode of University Challenge, and she had been contacted by the BBC, anticipating support from the broadcaster. When the BBC contacted her, instead of an offer of support, she was told her pin was going to be removed. “At first it was mostly confusion,” she said. “I heard that they had received a lot of nastiness online from people and I thought they were going to call me to say ‘we have support services if needed,’ and that wasn't what I got at all.” Instead, Emmeline was notified that the episodes were going to be delayed. “It was out of left field, I was confused for a while,” she said. “This entire delay has been because of a feather and two badges on a teammate that were basically impossible [for viewers] to see.” Emmeline had expressed her frustrations with the repeated delays from the BBC, spanning from mid-July to early-September. She said: “We were announced on the website and then delayed again, and then announced on the website a second time, and delayed even further. Speaking about the removal, she said: “It takes a lot of time” she said. “Making it [the edit] look good would be even more expensive and time-consuming. It seems like drastically a lot of effort.” ## Join the conversation Our app is more than just a way to keep up – it's a gateway to award-winning journalism and the local community. __Want to support our work?__ Click here for membership__.__ ## Wider criticism on LGBTQ+ support The pins Sam wore during the episode. Photograph: supplied According to leading LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall UK, two in five LGBTQ+ students will hide their identities at university for fear of discrimination. Stonewall has reported that more than 36 per cent of trans students have received hostile conduct from university staff due to their gender identity. Reflecting on the digital removal of the pins, Sam spoke about how disheartening the choice was. He said: “There was maybe like a span of eight years where someone could be uncontroversially out in the open queer – now that’s gone again.” he said. The BBC has also been widely criticised for ‘an attack on the LGBTQ+ community’ by pulling its involvement with the popular show, RuPaul's Drag Race. The broadcaster pulled its involvement in September following “significant financial pressures” as the reason for axing their involvement. The criticism follows another recent controversial edit by the BBC. On its hit show, Strictly Come Dancing, a decision was made to edit out ‘Protect the Dolls’ from contestant Bethany Antonia’s T-shirt. It’s a slogan which has become widely used to support the rights of trans women. The BBC defended their decision, saying the changes were made to meet editorial guidelines. It comes as the LGBTQ+ community has faced challenges amid an increasingly less tolerant political climate. ## What the BBC had to say When we asked them about editing out the pins worn by Leicester’s University Challenge team, a BBC spokesperson said: “In line with our editorial guidelines, we advise that no badges, flags, and emblems or symbols are worn or visible during filming, along with clothing with obvious branding or slogans. If such items are not removed for any reason then a decision is made between the programme makers and the BBC regarding any edits to the programme.” The BBC said the delays to the episode were unrelated to the decision to edit out the pins. A spokesperson for ITV Studios said: “University Challenge is an entertainment quiz show and is made in accordance with the BBC Editorial Guidelines requirements for impartiality.” The University of Leicester refused to comment on the matter. * * * **Before you go…** We’ve recently surpassed 1,000 subscribers, which is amazing considering we’re a small team on a shoestring budget. Now, we’re ready for the next stage of the Leicester Gazette. **Download our new app and get all of our journalism anytime, anywhere.** The app connects with **Bluesky** , **Mastodon** and **Threads** , giving you access to a network of around 60 million people. It’s a safer, more meaningful alternative to mainstream social media – owned by the community. * * *

Dr Florence H R Scott reposted

Roger McCarthy
@rogermccarthy.bsky.social

Replying to @alexvont.bsky.social

Just a couple of years worth of poor estranged one-legged Dad Thomas Markle headlines from the Daily Mail:

Dr Florence H R Scott reposted

Alison
@alisondennison.bsky.social

It must be galling to people working in sweets development that the pioneers of chocolate bars basically got it bang on with their first gos.

Old UK Print Ads@oldukprintads.bsky.social

Oct 1925: Milk Chocolate ad from Toblerone (+with Almonds and Honey) «Where TOBLERONE is bliss, 'Tis folly to buy otherwise-»

Dr Florence H R Scott reposted

adrian
@crawf34.bsky.social
NBC News@nbcnews.com

A Florida man was found dead in his home during a welfare check in July 2022. Weeks later, one of the officers who discovered his body moved into the home and spent years impersonating him, according to investigators.

nbcnews.toOfficer who found man dead in Florida home allegedly moved in, renovated and assumed his identity for yearsBrian Louis Sguros, 35, had responded to the Lauderhill home in July 2022 for a welfare check.

Dr Florence H R Scott reposted

Angela Barnes
@angelabarnes.bsky.social

I love Radio 4 Extra and it gave me some of my favourite jobs including Newsjack. I am gutted to hear this news, not least because it is my almost constant companion in my car. I want to be able to stumble across programmes that I might not have chosen to listen to - please sign the petition

Athena Kugblenu@athenakugblenu.bsky.social

Keep pushing this guys. The people who love this station the most probably aren't chronically online like we are so we need to spread this about a bit you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...

you.38degrees.org.ukSave Radio 4 ExtraRadio 4 Extra is a fabulous showcase of the BBC's phenomenal archive of radio comedy and drama, fields in which the Corporation is an undoubted pioneer, with a reputation for quality rivals woud envy ...

Dr Florence H R Scott reposted

Garlik of York
@garlik-of-york.bsky.social

Replying to @florencehrscott.bsky.social

Yup. Every example cited only counts as "bloodless" if you treat the oppressed population's blood as not counting.

Dr Florence H R Scott
@florencehrscott.bsky.social

Using Martin Luther King jr, who was famously assassinated, as an example of the triumph of non-violence

Sandy Hendry@sandyhendry.bsky.social

Martin Luther King was much more successful than Malcolm X for example. Before that, there was no need for a bloody civil war in most countries that abolished slavery. Just votes. Independence can also be bloodless. Gandhi in India, Walesa in Poland, Mandela in South Africa. The list is long.

Dr Florence H R Scott reposted

Dr Florence H R Scott
@florencehrscott.bsky.social

Replying to @florencehrscott.bsky.social

Characterising Malcom X/black nationalism as 'pro-violence' is missing the point that, as James Baldwin so aptly verbalised, self-determination and fighting for one's rights is labelled as heroism until it comes to black people, then it's violence. Semantics matter, here.

Dr Florence H R Scott
@florencehrscott.bsky.social

everyone's always all vinegar tom this and vinegar tom that, but I think we need to be focusing on newes

Jesse Locker@jessemlocker.bsky.social

Frontispiece of notorious witch-hunter Matthew Hopkins’s "Discovery of Witches" (1645), showing witches with their adorable familiars: Holt, Jarmara, Vinegar Tom, Sacke and Sugar, Newes, Pyewackett, Newes, Ilemauzer, Pecke in the Crowne, and Griezzel Greedigutt (a name "no mortall could invent”) 🎃 🧹

Dr Florence H R Scott
@florencehrscott.bsky.social

“As a youth, Fish shipped to the Pacific on a whaler, becoming its captain at the age of 21. He soon realized that fortune lay in selling whale oil, not in harvesting it.” Preserved fish the whale oil merchant

MꙬse Allain@mooseallain.bsky.social

My son very kindly sent me a link to the Wikipedia page for this gentleman, Preserved Fish. “There were at least ten other Fish family members with the Quaker given name Preserved, whose lineages are often confused.” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preserv...

Dr Florence H R Scott reposted

History Today
@historytoday.com

Founded in Oakland, California more than half a century ago, the revolutionary image and legacy of the Black Panthers remain as politically and racially divisive as ever. ⌛️ Last chance to read this article for free buff.ly/I2DQkXm

buff.lyThe Rise and Fall of the Black Panther PartyFounded in Oakland, California more than half a century ago, the revolutionary image and legacy of the Black Panthers remain as politically and racially divisive as ever.
Dr Florence H R Scott
@florencehrscott.bsky.social

I’ve really noticed this change of attitude on the street lately - one of the many weird things about being housebound for a few years is emerging into a different society. I guess a lot of people experienced that to some degree with Covid, but between 2019 and 2026 it feels STARK

Hugo Gordon@hugogordon.bsky.social

This is fucked. Really bleak how entrenched this is becoming.