Let’s not mistake gay, says Laurie Penny – which is what the Conservative party has always secretly been – for queer, which it never will be.

Women’s rights have always ranked low on the political agenda, and students’ attitudes show things haven’t changed.

In the vast majority of cases, says Laurie Penny, women don’t become sex workers for the kicks: they do it for the money. They do it because there is simply no other way to earn that scale of living wage as a woman under 30 in the current UK job-market.

Laurie Penny on male genital mutilation – and why those pesky penis enlargement emails are a political issue

Nicola Cutcher argues the case for communities being able to decide whether or not lapdancing clubs should be established in their midst.

Fathers have their place, says Laurie Penny, but that place is no longer at the head of the table.

The mayor’s record on gay issues is not as good as he claims, says Peter Tatchell. His rivals also need to set out where they stand.

The British government admits that Iran executes gays and lesbians, but will not admit that there is systematic repression of homosexuals. Global pressure has forced them to back down, for the time being, on plans to return a 19-year-old asylum seeker to probable execution.

The Respect MP has turned on supporters of gay rights in Iran and falsely accused us of warmongering, says Peter Tatchell

We need to get ready for a big battle over abortion rights, argues Judith Orr, and the deluge of moral outrage about women’s lives that will accompany it.

In the first part of a new series Judith Orr looks at the rise in the struggle for women’s liberation

These days everybody wants to save Asian women. But very little of the hot air is backed up by action, or funding, says Sunny Hundal

Ian Sinclair interviews Liz Kelly about the relation between lap dancing and gender relations.

Ian Sinclair offers a sympathetic but critical review of Sinners/Scroungers/Saints – an exhibition on lone motherhood currently showing at the Women’s Library in London.

Doug Ireland salutes Peter Tatchell, gay rights and human rights activist.

‘As a recovering alcoholic, I know how our society’s constant assault on female self-esteem is creating unprecedented misery’. Tanya Gold reports.

If a woman’s sexuality is still defined by the male experience, asks Zoe Margolis, how can this be deemed sexually liberating or empowering?

The west should stop using the liberalisation of Muslim women to justify its strategy of dominance, writes Soumaya Ghannoushi.

Pre-teens are increasingly being deluged with the message that an alluring appearance ought to be their ultimate goal, writes Libby Brooks.

Laurie Penny explains what it means to have hopes dashed twice, first by the Spice Girls and second by Blair’s Babes.