It’s been a tough year for many of us but for the trans community 2025 marked a new low with the Supreme Court’s retrograde ruling on biological sex and gender identity, sending shock waves around the world.
As a country we in the UK had been making progress (albeit slow) on gender equality, but the judge’s ruling which defined “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 as biological sex only, significantly rolls back trans rights by limiting the legal recognition of Gender Recognition Certificates meaning trans women aren’t legally women for EA purposes, potentially restricting their access to single-sex spaces (like refuges, changing rooms, hospital wards) and weakening equal pay claims. It doesn’t matter that the ruling affirmed that trans people still have discrimination protections under the gender reassignment characteristic. The damage is done, leading to an increase in transphobia and creating legal confusion and inconsistency. Luckily the Good Law Project is challenging the interim guidance issued by the EHRC. Meanwhile, it falls to civil society to rally round and support the trans community during this difficult period. In that respect we can thank our cultural sector for taking a lead on pushing back against the ruling, led by organisations such as Bristol’s Watershed Arts Centre who gathered more than 1600 signatures for an open letter refusing to comply with the divisive ruling, and Leicester University’s Research Centre for Museums and Galleries which shared best-practice trans-inclusive guidance.
A Queermas Carol
In the North East we are lucky to have a large number of enlightened cultural leaders and trans-inclusive venues as well as Curious Arts, a development agency dedicated to championing LGBTQIA+ artists. The award-winning Alphabetti Theatre is one of our foremost inclusive and welcoming spaces, regularly programming queer content. This year’s seasonal offering from the Alphabetti team, ‘A Queermas Carol’, created in collaboration with the duo Mack and Rhi, makes no apology for tackling current challenges. Loosely based on Dickens’ classic Victorian novella, this version proudly purports to be ‘The Gayest Ghost Story Ever Told’. It is a timely reminder that we need to liberate ourselves from the societal chains of binary gender identity and celebrate queerness in all its diverse manifestations.
When Charles Dickens wrote ‘A Christmas Carol’ in the 1840s he was attempting to modernise ideas about Christmas traditions, focusing on the transformation of the curmudgeonly Scrooge into a kindly philanthropic employer. Fast forward to 2025 where Mack and Rhi, in the guise of Marley’s ghosts and with the help of Alphabetti’s resident director Ed Cole, push the boat out further, challenging our inner Scrooge and inviting us to rediscover our festive joy despite the troubling world we live in.
In order to do that we, the audience, need to undertake a ‘Five Stave’ chain-shrinking programme. (Dickens’ scholars will understand the musical reference linking the notion of chapters to verses of a carol – who ever said that panto was for plebs!) In the process Mack and Rhi conjure up a smorgasbord of popular culture from disco-dancing to Tamagotchis and Furbies, leading us to consider the past, present and future. From a queer perspective the past is inherently lonely whilst the present is a veritable sh*t-show. Therefore, we must invest in a hopeful future despite the challenges. On the opening night the audience was fully onboard, willing to confess their mean tricks at the outset, such as pinching sweets from children and putting a jumper on a dog!
But it wasn’t all sparkly razzamatazz, cheeky innuendo, and belly laughs. The ghost of Christmas present took us on a journey to a nondescript North East town where we met Tiny Tim and his hot dad – DILF to those in the know. This was the tiniest of Tiny Tims, represented by a little marionette puppet operated by Rhi, much beloved by his single parent despite the confusion that so many children and young people experience regarding their identity. The tenderness of this scene was extraordinary for a self-styled panto with Mack under-playing the dad beautifully, zero artifice on display. As it became obvious that Tiny Tim was a trans kid the atmosphere in the auditorium changed and many audience members could be seen to shed a tear or two as stories of bullying, belittling and exclusion were recounted.
Like all good pantos there was however a joyous ending featuring a guest appearance from cabaret singing star Carmen Silk who helped to drag us into a brighter future where its more than ok to be who you are. Other guests taking on the role of ‘Christmas Yet To Come’ include Gloria Love, Amy Langdown, Lizzie Lovejoy and Little Pickle. With such a glittering array of the region’s queer icons what’s not to like?
‘A Queermas Carol’ only plays to this Saturday 20 December so book your tickets NOW.
