the5lacker.bsky.social

the5lacker.bsky.social

@the5lacker.bsky.social

172 followers99 following1.1K posts

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

Samantha Brennan@samanthabrennan.bsky.social

A new survey of 1,000 American adults found that the strongest supporters of transgender sports bans are not the people who admire women most: they are the people who hold the most hostile views about women. www.helenwebberley.com/news/transge...

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

It's really important to pay attention to the fact that Lula beat the fascist candidate not by compromising and trying to meet fascist voters in the middle, but by sticking to his guns, promising prosecutions for election interference, and mobilising his own voters to turn out in greater numbers.

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

Again, it’s important to understand that the transgender terror did not arise organically from the public. It was imposed from above, by the world’s most hateful and poisonous media class.

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. * * *

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

In November, Dems will likely win big. Liberals will feel relieved. In 2028, a milquetoast corporate Democrat will win the presidency, spend 4 years maintaining what Trump did as liberals go back to brunch. Then, in 2032, as life keeps getting worse, we’ll get something like President T Carlson.

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

There are so, so many verified diaries of white Union soldiers at the beginning of the war saying "I don't know about this, I condemn the deplorable violence" and then they get down there and see slavery with their own eyes and immediately go "John Brown was right we gotta kill these motherfuckers"

Erik Loomis@erikloomis.bsky.social

And we can certainly condemn his violence. But let’s step back and remember just how horrible slavery was. On December 20, 1858, Brown, who had briefly returned to Kansas, led a party into Missouri to free slaves.

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

Replying to @innuendostudios.bsky.social

that is accepting democracy has been long dead, and being really, like REALLY blasé about it

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

this is a 10/10 character sheet holy shit

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

I like seeing the dev of the SNES core on the Pocket actually telling one of these dudes off. Holy shit.

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

This is a pro candy corn account If you are against candy corn, send it to me and I'll make sure you never have to worry about it again

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

Hagai Palevsky (he/him)@dialhforhagai.bsky.social

Wile E. Coyote, despaired, takes a bucket of paint and a brush and paints a beautiful two-bedroom house on a mountainside. He paints a beautiful coyote wife in the window, and two adorable coyote kids running around in the yard. He tries to enter this new coyote life, but it is inaccessible to him

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

we have control mechanisms for this. it's called The Law. these guys should be held personally liable for these harms. the suicides, the thefts, the intrusions into computer systems. they should be sued and prosecuted as appropriate. problem immediately solved

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

This was Biden's ultimate failure. The inability to see that people weren't voting for Biden because they especially liked Biden. It was because they hated Trump. Now, Democrats are about to make the same mistake again. They think votes for them validate their inaction and their corporatism.

Oliver Willis@owillis.bsky.social

Democrats are well positioned to inherit power thanks to disgust with Trump, but ultimately none of this is about what Dems did in response to Trump. They mostly capitulated and are benefiting from being the other party in a two party system, I don’t have any positive expectations for them.

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

GroverWhiteHaus

Carl Quintanilla@carlquintanilla.bsky.social

WAPO: The architect quit “after warning repeatedly that Trump was insisting on a preliminary design that did not provide adequate emergency exit routes or fire-containment measures .. .. ‘I am the code,” Trump said.” @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

When you see a lot of content creators start talking about it seriously and make 10 outrage culture war videos, everyone needs to reply with “for an upper pre-school audience”.

Breaking: A new #Sonic animated series for "an upper pre-school audience" is in development for Netflix, the streamer jointly announced with SEGA today. #SonicNews

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

Alchemy was a bad idea implemented poorly and the best time to get rid of it was before it ever existed and the next best time is now.

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the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

We used to call hypothetical thinking machines AI, but then conmen started calling the plagiarism machines AI so the hypothetical thinking machines had to be called AGI, now the conmen are calling the plagiarism machines AGI. I am starting to think the conmen may not be being entirely honest.

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

"I'll give you three guesses" is scarcity mindset, under socialism we'd get four, more if needed, of you had the faintest idea how many guesses Elon gets

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

As the Kirkiversary approaches, I think the saddest thing about it is that Ryuho Okawa died first, thus denying us a truly hilarious seance video

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

It’s ironic, because if people paid actual attention, they would learn they are most likely to be a victim of their own families or communities, not strangers. They would also know cops are already inept and don’t deserve more power.

Felipe De La Hoz@felipedlh.bsky.social

True crime has really just broken people’s brains. Millions of people perpetually worried that they’re at acute risk of vanishingly rare crimes, convinced we should curtail civil liberties as a result. A generation who thinks of accusing strangers of heinous crimes as simple entertainment

the5lacker.bsky.social reposted

Replying to @ellaguro.bsky.social

there was no authentic "core" to gamergate that got twisted into right wing politics. it was a right wing, reactionary movement from the very start and it built upon the longstanding reactionary elements of gamer culture that still are very much present to this day.