Pippa Sterk

*This article was written in partnership with Just Like Us, the LGBT+ young people's charity.*
I felt like a massive failure. Lots of us can relate to not fitting in with the ‘It girls’ at school but for me, it was another level.
I didn’t know what the problem was, but I knew it was something to do with my inability to fit into femininity: My hair was never perfect enough, I spoke too bluntly, and I was somehow always in everyone’s way – all things that are (sort of) fine when you’re a young ...

Isaac, Billy and Pippa visit schools on behalf of LGBT+ charity Just Like Us, to share their experiences of growing up.
They say avoiding LGBT+ discussions in schools can be dangerous and students should be encouraged to be themselves rather than feeling "filled with shame".
They also educate pupils on how to be an ally to those that are LGBT+ - although not everybody thinks these issues should be talked about in schools.
The ambassadors for the charity speak out as teachers at a Catholic sch...

Opinion
Pippa Sterk, an ambassador for British LGBTQ+ young people’s charity Just Like Us, writes for PinkNews about how lesbians and her own attraction to women taught her to finally love her body.
Anyone who has ever visited the Netherlands (or spotted a Dutch tourist abroad) will tell you that there is a quintessential Dutch ‘look’: tall, slim, confident, straight back, pale-skinned and athletic. A nation of supermodels.
Growing up in this country as a short, brown-skinned, anxious and chu...

The 36th edition of the BFI Flare LGBTQIA+ Film Festival has come to a close and we look back on some of the most beautiful, original and inspiring films screened this year.
Saintmaking (Marco Alessi)
This short documentary chronicles the history of the London chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of gay male activists who donned nun costumes. Framed around celebrating the 30th anniversary of Derek Jarman’s canonisation into sainthood by the Sisters, the nuns look back on th...

As social science researchers, our work often emerges from a societal problem we have identified in the world around us. Although there are, of course, variations in degrees to which work is applicable to everyday life, researchers in the social sciences can’t escape the dreaded ‘now what?’ that comes with a field that is so caught up with the world around us.
We have to be able to explain what societal good our research will do, and ...

From Dogs and Others to Pyrrhus, here are five LGBTQ+ books that deserve to be spotlighted.
I love seeing LGBTQ+ characters and stories flourishing and finally being appreciated in the mainstream. But, I wanted to share a few books beyond the best-sellers – LGBTQ+ stories that are maybe slightly older or less well-known.
1. Dogs and Others (Psi I Ostali/пси и остали) – Biljana Jovanović
I came across this book by complete chance, in an attempt to learn more about Serbia, the country where par...

Amy is an artist whose work is founded upon collaboration with others. They use humour to connect human experiences and socio-political issues.
Last year, Heart Of Glass commissioned Amy to create Queer Treatment, an online workshop to explore queer identity and representation within our media culture. This workshop went on to inspire an animated film of the same name.
Pippa is a writer and researcher who is currently preparing their PhD research on LGBT+ experiences in Higher Education.
Amy ...

Pippa Sterk finds the Chadian drama rich in its exploration of family and body politics
CN: sexual violence, attempted suicide, FGM
“You’re all I have, Mamita.”
Lingui, directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, is a Chadian drama centred around Amina (Achouackh Abakar) and her 15-year-old daughter, Maria (Rihane Khalil Alio), also called by her nickname Mamita.
Amina makes portable stoves from wire, which she cuts out of discarded tyres. In the opening sequence we see her everyday work, trying to sel...

They mostly call us cicadas, because of the noise we make.
Droning, incessant, unending.
But people quickly become acclimated to us, much quicker than they think, at first. As long as we can roam around in peace during the dark, we won’t get too loud, won’t demand too much attention. We’ll stay in the shadows, happy to be the underbelly, as long as we’re left alone.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
They call us cicadas because they had to find a word they already ...