Luke Massey

Freelance journalist; Press Officer & Campaigner; Features Editor of Brixton Blog.

As a former Conservative minister warns of the 'aggressive homosexual community', a savage beating of a gay couple in a South London park shows us just how much further we need to go in creating an equal and tolerant society.

Francis FitzGibbon

QC at Doughty Street Chambers in London. He practises criminal law and sits part-time as an immigration judge.

You have been mistakenly identified from CCTV footage; a student has falsely accused you of molesting her; you have been charged with assault while defending yourself from a drunk; you need a lawyer to advise you, but can't afford one.

Maria Miller

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Minister for Women and Equalities

There is no doubt about the fundamental value that we place upon marriage and its role at the heart of our society. Marriage embodies the principles of love, loyalty and commitment - all vital components of a strong society. And it is those principles that we are championing through the Equal Marriage Bill which continues its journey through Parliament tonight.

Simon Woolley

Founder and Director of Operation Black Vote

The Jamaican Mary Seacole became an heroine when she travelled over 4,000 miles to nurse and attend sick British soldiers in the Crimea during the Crimean War. During her life her exploits were revered, by royalty, the military elite and thousands of ordinary citizens. More than 100 years later, tens of thousands of school children view Seacole as a wonderful role model.

Liam McLaughlin

Writer, blogger, reader

Today the issue of economic justice is among the most polarizing and provocative we have. Watching the arguments for and against is often like bloodsport. Is the level of inequality an accurate measure of a country's success? Are bankers or socialists the enemy?

Oana Romocea

Communications Specialist and Researcher in Migration and Media Studies

It is baffling how immigration has changed the game in British politics these days. There are more fundamentally important issues facing British society, most notably a stalled economy that has the country on the edge of a triple-dip recession. Yet, the immigration threat, and the supposed ills it has unleashed on Britain, has gripped the public imagination.

Chibo Onyeji

Chair of the European Network Against Racism (ENAR)

Public and political discourses all too often spread negative perceptions about ethnic minorities and migrants and portray them as a 'burden' to European welfare systems and a constraint on economic growth in the EU. It's now time to put the facts right.

Aisling Gallagher

Student at Queen's University Belfast and the current NUS-USI Women's Officer

Throughout the UK, our students' unions democratic structures are being attacked, more often by their university rather than their elected student officers. It's time to tell QUBSU that they can't simply ignore the rules.

Elizabeth Turner

Conservation Biology and Ecology Student at University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus

The feeling that I can't shake is that she has been alienated by feminism and the stigma that surrounds it. I am happy to admit to being a feminist, because I have my own personal interpretation of its meaning. Obviously feminism stands for the freedom to choose, and choosing to be one should be included in that.

Katherine Baldwin

Independent journalist, writer, blogger

I've called myself many things in public - a binge eater, an addict, a perfectionist, a workaholic, to name but a few - but I've never called myself a feminist. It's only now that I'm starting to wonder why.

Amel Guettatfi

Journalist currently pursuing a degree in Journalism and Media at Coventry University

While a large proportion of women in Islam-dominated regions of the world are indeed restricted and even oppressed, their issues are indicative of a larger cultural paradigm that is masked under the veil of Islam. They are not caused by the religion itself, rather by biased patriarchal interpretations.

Christina Sweeney-Baird

Cambridge Law student, Women's Officer of the Cambridge Union Society, former News Editor of The Cambridge Tab and Vice-President of the Cambridge University Law Society

The fact is that there is a dearth of women, at all levels of society, willing to go ahead and define themselves as feminists. Why is feminism seen by many as, at best, unnecessary, and at worst, terrifying? At its core feminism is simply the belief that all women should be treated equally. No controversy there for a rational human being. So where is the problem?

Karen Ruimy

Singer, author and co-founder of the global gender equality foundation, the GREAT Initiative

I moved into the banking industry as soon as I graduated - it seemed the obvious thing to do when you are good with figures and have a head for business. But then I decided to give it all up on the search for something else, something bigger. I needed to answer all those questions that had been making their presence felt in my life and in my head for some time.

Claudia White

New College of the Humanities student and founder of the LGBT rights in education organization, GRIN Campaign

I am deeply disturbed by the volume of misogynistic vitriol being spouted by certain members of the British public in the wake of Margaret Thatcher's death. What disturbs me the most is not that people are aggressively disagreeing with her politics, but that people are genuinely rejoicing at the death of another person - a mother and a grandmother.

Shaughan Dolan

Constituency Organiser and Campaigns Manager for West Berkshire Liberal Democrats

I am the first person to stand up and bang the drum for Newbury - we're a great market town with a great sense of community. We're above average in almost every respect - most notably in employment and affluence, yet still we seem to be letting our young people down by failing to provide them with the education they so badly deserve.

Neela Bettridge

Board advisor, coach and mentor

In a world where volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity are now the norm, are women missing a trick? Instead of playing catch-up in existing corporate structures, why not create newer, more sustainable ones?