The Dyke Squad

Harper's Announcement

2007-02-12T22:28:00.000-05:00

It has probably become terribly obvious by now that I simply don't have the time to keep this blog going. I'm a pre-med, and my days are filled with physics, orgo, and biology.

I don't regret having started this blog. I'm thankful for what happened here; I loved putting out ideas and opinions and having new thoughts returned to me from others out there in the world wide web.

I'm not going to take Dyke Squad down. Also, I am not speaking for the other contributers - Ion, Cass, and the roommate. They may still post from time to time - it's up to them. And maybe some day I will have time to come back here.

Thank you for reading. I'm thankful for all the readers and those who commented.

Down with the patriarchy!

Return of the gay sheep

2007-01-05T13:42:00.000-05:00

Here's an update (from Crooks and Liars) on that gay sheep thing, if you're interested.

Me? I just like the term "gay sheep." Makes me giggle. I like to giggle - it makes me feel good.

Gay Jews

2006-12-07T22:52:00.000-05:00

The committee on Jewish Law and Standards for the Conservative movement of Judaism, the highest legal body, ruled to allow commitment ceremonies for gays and ordination of gay rabbis. General acceptance/removal all bans is basically still under debate. There was a motion to remove all bans, and it was defeated [for now, I hope]
This is is still good news. Here is my cheap and lacking explanation of Judaism's groups: There are 3 main branches of Judaism, Reform, traditionally the most open, least strict to laws one, Orthodox, the most, and Conservative, in between. If I belong to a branch, I am conservative. So say I want to marry a woman-I can't. But I can get my conservative rabbi to perform a commitment ceremony (of course, individual rabbis can choose not to) and I can after that happens go become a rabbi. The latter part is better than the former, but it is acceptance and a recognition of rights. And the more open gays go become rabbis, the more that will help. So, I see this as good news. Feel free to disagree.

Harmless wreath ... or instrument of SATAN?

2006-11-27T09:31:00.000-05:00

Ow. Reading news sometimes hurts my head.

A homeowners association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti-Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan.

Some residents who have complained have children serving in Iraq, said Bob Kearns, president of the Loma Linda Homeowners Association in Pagosa Springs. He said some residents have also believed it was a symbol of Satan. Three or four residents complained, he said. [source]

Ah, the Christmas season....

Say it proud

2006-11-04T16:27:00.000-05:00

Can I take a moment and say how glad I am that these young and popular stars are coming out? A few weeks ago it was T.R. Knight from Grey's Anatomy, and just yesterday I heard about Doogie freakin' Howser (who has a real name too, I know).

I was very excited when George Takei came out and I applaud his courage. But I'm also very aware he did it years after he stopped being a regular face on TV. And I'm not saying it isn't understandable he decided to wait until after the millenium to come out. (Although it should be noted that those involved in the Trekkie world considered this the world's worst kept secret. But many, many of us not in that world did not know). Given the choice between coming out in the sixties and 2005, I'd choose the latter. At the same time, if no one has the courage to do something while it's difficult, how can the world change?

Yet, I want to make it clear that I still support George Takei and I'm very proud of him. I mean, come on. It's Sulu, people!

But I digress. What I'm trying to say is that while I'm proud of George Takei and glad for him, I can barely express how excited I was when T.R. Knight came out. Grey's Anatomy is an Emmy winning show, and whether you watch it or not, you can't deny that it's enjoying some spectacular popularity right now. And here's a young actor from said show, who is in the prime of his life and enjoying the success of his show, and he also has the courage to come out!

Plus, just look at his press release:

"I guess there have been a few questions about my sexuality, and I'd like to quiet any unnecessary rumors that may be out there. While I prefer to keep my personal life private, I hope the fact that I'm gay isn't the most interesting part of me." [source]

Now that is how one comes out.

And just when I thought it couldn't get any more exciting, Neil Patrick Harris comes out, too. He too did it with pride:

"(I) am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest," Harris tells People magazine's Web site. [source]

In this day when the big coming out stories follow men who are attracted to 16 year olds (Foley) or others who preach hatred while buying meth and maybe/maybe not having sex with gay escorts (Haggard), I think it's more and more necessary for these brave and cool young men and women to come out. No scandal surrounds Knight and Harris - just pride.

(And on the Foly note, this is an excellent article I just read in The Advocate discussing the price of Foley's scandal).

Tax dollars = no more gay sheep

2006-11-03T16:11:00.000-05:00

Sweet monkeys, sometimes those crazy heterosexuals crack me up.

Openly gay tennis icon Martina Navratilova is condemning hormone-altering experiments on “gay sheep” at Oregon State University (OSU) and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) that seek to manipulate sheep’s sexual preferences and make them heterosexual.

OHSU experimenter Charles Roselli is drugging pregnant sheep to prevent the actions of hormones in their fetuses’ brains and cutting open the brains of rams he calls “male-oriented” (homosexual) in an attempt to find the hormonal mechanisms behind homosexual tendencies so that they can subsequently be changed. Roselli’s cohort, Frederick Stormshak of OSU, has surgically installed an estrogen device in rams’ bodies in an effort to alter “gay sheep’s” sexual preferences and make them heterosexual. According to the grant applications, the experimenters plan to extrapolate the test results to humans—with the insidious implication that homosexuality in people can be “cured.” The tests are funded by taxpayers through the year 2008. [source]

Well done, people. Well done.

(Found via PageOneQ).

Gay Bibles

2006-10-16T20:25:00.000-04:00

So Condoleezza Rice recently swore in Mark Dybul as our new global AIDS coordinator, and during the ceremony she refered to Dybul's partner's mother as Dybul's "mother-in-law."

“I am truly honored and delighted to have the opportunity to swear in Mark Dybul as our next Global AIDS Coordinator,” Rice said. “I am pleased to do that in the presence of Mark’s parents, Claire and Richard, his partner, Jason, and his mother-in-law, Marilyn,” she said.

“You have a wonderful family to support you, Mark, and I know that’s always important to us. Welcome,” Rice said. [source]

A few people have mentioned that despite Rice's mistakes (and there are many), this was pretty cool of her. I agree - pretty darn cool.

Okay, so here's the fun part. So AMERICAblog pointed out this article from The American Family Association. It's insulting for, like, fifty-billion reasons (check out the quotes about letting a gay man head an AIDS program is like letting foxes in the henhouse - I'd be more offended if these people didn't make me laugh out loud).

This is my favorite part, though:

Dybul, who was confirmed by the Senate two months ago but was just sworn in due to scheduling conflicts with Secretary Rice and Mrs. Bush, is the nation's third openly homosexual ambassador. The other two no longer hold their positions. According to news reports, in all three cases the men's homosexual partners held the Bible on which the oath of office was sworn.

Oh, yeah, that's right: the AFA went there.

The government has allowed gays to hold Bibles.

Oh noes! THE QUEERS HAVE CONTAMINATED OUR HOLY BOOKS! TO THE HILLS, PEOPLE!

Follow up

2006-10-15T19:43:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, Cass posted about a blogger who wrote about her experience trying (and failing) to find a hospital willing to give her the emergency contraceptive.

Our thoughts are with her. She's pregnant.

Edit: Amanda on Pandagon wrote about this here.

Our Parent?

2006-09-24T10:05:00.000-04:00

So it is Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Therefore yesterday I found myself sitting in services for a while. The person who gave the talk was talking for part of her talk about G-d's role as a parent, and strangely for the liberal place we go to she actually kept using Father. We tend to use the gender-neutral versions of words, and I was definitely raised doing so-I always mentally change it when I see masculine reference. In the context of her talk though, I started wondering about the real meaning of saying Father.
As far as supposed gender differences go I think most are just that, supposed. But yesterday I was realizing that father and mother are two separate ideas. Scientific advancements aside, when we are born, we are born from our biological mother. This gives the mother a very different role in our lives than the father. The father gave, without the father there would be no life, yet it is the mother who carries a baby inside her and goes through the pain of childbirth.
The reason I use a gender neutral is not merely out of some feminist ideal, except in that feminist ideals make me reject "he" as the gender neutral. I believe it is limiting to the idea of something infinite that encompasses all things. But assuming G-d exists, as the Jews believe anyways*, then while being gender
neutral most of the time, the parenting issue is different. The role G-d plays is maybe that of a father, giving life, being crucial for there to be life, but not actually suffering and growing and everything as a mother does. So perhaps sometimes a gender neutral word is inaccurate. I know they often accomplish less than the gendered versions. Or maybe I am full of it, after all I have no children.

*I say Jewish and Judeo Christian because I think the whole story of Jesus with Mary as his mother gives this a very different slant, one I feel unqualified to examine.

Acting gay on planes

2006-09-24T02:19:00.000-04:00

Hello. I'm here to raise your blood pressure and make you feel helpless in the face of an intolerant, stupid world.

AIR KISS, by Lauren Collins.

It's the story of two gay men who were verbally attacked and eventually threatened for being a little too close on a plane.

The purser asked the men to describe what they’d been doing, and she acknowledged that their behavior had not been inappropriate. Tsikhiseli then asked if the stewardess would have made the request if the kissers had been a man and a woman. Suddenly, Leisner said, the purser “became very rigid.” Contradicting what she’d told them before, she stiffly said, “Kissing is inappropriate behavior on an airplane.” She then said that she was busy with the meal service and promised to come back.

and later

Maybe an hour later, the purser approached Tsikhiseli and said that the captain wanted to talk to him. Tsikhiseli went up to the galley and gave the captain his business card. The captain told Tsikhiseli that if they didn’t stop arguing with the crew he would indeed divert the plane. “I want you to go back to your seat and behave the rest of the flight, and we’ll see you in New York,” he said. Tsikhiseli returned to coach.

All this from some simple snuggling.

The article is pretty short. I recommend taking the time to read it.

Getting married in America

2006-09-23T22:55:00.000-04:00

I have a fiancee (just pretend there's an accent mark there). We're knuckling down to getting married in a little over a year, which means we're looking at vendors and having to break, often to complete strangers, that there are two sets of bridal nerves to deal with at any given moment.

Originally, I was going to write a post about how we've been getting a fairly good response to the whole gay thing from photographers, caterers, reception sites, etc. -- largely, the impression seems to be that they're as happy to take our money as they are any straight couple. So it's been largely painless.

But there's another thought that's been lurking around, and I'm not sure whether it's a good idea to mention it or not. It's this: We could sneak into Massachusetts and get ourselves a marriage license. We could go to Vermont and get a civil union. We could even wander into Canada for our honeymoon and get hitched international-style.

We might not do any of those things. Because if we did... we'd be on a list.

A list of confirmed homosexuals. A list that we would have a very difficult, if not impossible, time removing ourselves from if we should find ourselves in a country that takes the issue of homosexuality to a level where it would be actively dangerous to be gay in America.

Maybe a list wouldn't be a bad thing. But we don't really know. How will the country vote next election? How will the new president decide to address gay marriage?

Paranoia isn't very fun, particularly when you've got things like guest lists to consider. And maybe a month from now we'll shake our heads and plan our honeymoon trip to Montreal, complete with jaunt to the court house and a lot of crepes afterwards. But I suppose the point I want to hammer in here is that instead of just stressing out about where in the world to sit Uncle Morris to keep him as far away as possible from Cousin Doreen Who Still Remembers That Time Morris Did That Horrible Thing -- instead of just that, we have to consider this one little extra thing: whether registering our existence will lead to personal, possibly life or way-of-life threatening persecution.

It's frightening. It's maddening. And once you've thought of it, it's very, very difficult to ignore.

ADDENDUM: Paranoia isn't the only thing for breakfast here. My fiancee, Beth, points out that the above makes us sound more than a little alarmist. Are such issues with government a possibility? Sure. But on the other hand, I seem to have implied that the above reasons are the only reasons we have for not registering our marriage with any ruling bodies. They aren't. Beth's biggest concern is that, as of her last checking, LAMBDA didn't seem to have reached a conclusion as to which of the various marriage rosters would be the most advantageous for personal and tax purposes. We don't want to end up being forced into a "divorce" two years from now just so we can qualify for a mortgage in our state of residence.

We're not sure we're settled with our current decision to opt out of the marriage mart. We're not sure that it is right to duck and cover -- even if part of our reasoning is practical. To stand up and be counted, to show that gay marriage matters -- this is something important for the next generation of gay children... even if their parents do have to get "remarried" three times just to pay for the house.

If anyone's got a better reading of the matter, give us a shout out -- we want to be convinced.

It's important to remember

2006-09-22T23:52:00.000-04:00

This isn't what I'd call a news post. But I read this the other day, and it... resonates.

From Torey Hayden's Murphy's Boy, a semi-fictionalized autobiography (as the majority of her books are), written in 1983 -- Torey's coworker was fired for being gay.

I saw Jeff on only one other occasion, and that time was by accident. After work on Friday I stopped into a local watering hole with some friends. It was one of those convivial places peole gather but was not frequented much by my colleagues from the clinic, which was what I wanted. Apparently Jeff had as well, because as I sat there drinking beer and eating peanuts, I saw Jeff across the room. I rose and went over.

He was at a table with other people whom I did not know but, when he saw me, he got up and met me partway across the room. We went up to the bar and he bought me another beer. Together we stood, side by side, and we said nothing.

"You know, it's a funny place, this world," he said at last. "If I were a Nazi, someone would defend my constitutional right to hate Jews. If I were a Klansman, someone would defend my rights to hate blacks. It's a funny place, this world. Hate has rights. Love has none."

And that was it. He left.

EC = Emergency Contraception = Not for you, or you, or you...

2006-09-21T09:38:00.000-04:00

The new mission: I'm going to try and post something new every day. Horribly enough, this showed up on this morning's radar just in time for my resolution to come screaming into effect.

Via rabidfangurl:

BB of Den of the Biting Beaver has several health problems that preclude the use of most contraception -- she relies on condoms. The condom breaks last Friday, and she panics for a moment before remembering about EC, the morning-after pill. So yay, right?

Wrong.

"Well see," he begins, his voice dropping a little, "the problem is that you have to meet the doctor’s criteria before he'll dispense it to you."

"Criteria?" I question.

"Well," the nurse sounds decidedly nervous as though what he really wanted to do was hang up the phone completely, "Yes, his criteria. I mean...ummm...well, are you ok? Is there any, ummm....trauma?" he asks me.

My face changes expression and I hurry to explain, "No, no" I said, "No. I haven't been raped. This was consensual sex."

"Oh..." he trails off.

I wait expectantly.

"Well, ummm....*clears throat*...So you haven't been raped?" he asks again.

"No. I have not been raped. The condom broke". I state, becoming very frustrated at this point and wondering what the hell is going on.

"Ok, well ummm....Are you married?" he mumbles the words so low I can barely hear them.

Suddenly I get this image of the poor nurse standing at the hospital reading from a cue card that was given to him by a doctor.

"No." I state plainly. "I am not married. I've been in a relationship for several years and I have three children, I don't want a fourth." I respond tersely.

"Oh, I see." He says and then he hurries on, "Well, see. *I* understand. I want you to know that I understand what you're saying. But see, the problem is that we have 4 doctors here right now but only one of them ever writes EC prescriptions. But see, the thing is that he'll interview you and see if you meet his criteria. Now, I called the pharmacy but I also talked to him and well....*clears throat*....you can come down and try to get it. You know, if you meet his criteria he'll give you a prescription, I mean, there's really no harm in trying." the nurse trails off, his voice falters as I realize what I'm being told.

As of today, BB still doesn't have EC, and I'm not even sure she can take it at this point.

Additional data point for today's rage: What the hell is this?

I opened the phone book again and called the Urgent Care in my county. Who knows, maybe they'll do it for me. "No," the nurse said, "We don't prescribe the abortion pill here".

"No, wait I'm not asking for the abortion pill. I'm asking for EC!" I say, "It's not the same thing."

"Well, we use the words interchangeably here. Sorry, we don't prescribe it". She all but races to get off the phone with me.

Ah, yes, so very interchangeable. Is this misinformation just the result of poor sexual education? Probably not, no.

What it comes down to is this: your health doesn't matter -- your available resources don't matter -- your choice doesn't matter. Sometimes, other people own you. And in the virgin/whore dichotomy being presented by the medical personnel of BB's Ohio, any one of us is just a step away from whoredom.

EC goes over the counter in Ohio after January 1st. Too late for BB, though. I wonder how many others it will be too late for.

Toxic sex toys

2006-09-10T17:29:00.000-04:00

Heard about this one?

Environmental group Greenpeace called on the
European Union to ban the use of chemical plastic softeners in sex toys because they contained dangerous substances known as phthalates.

"Adult sex toys contain the same toxic substances that the European Union banned from use in children's toys," Greenpeace said in a press release from its international headquarters here. [source]

That's just a little scary. Just a little.

Have you no sense of decency, sir?

2006-09-06T21:59:00.000-04:00

Let's continue to praise Mr. Olbermann.

Watch this, from OneGoodMove.

Keith Olbermann on Rumsfeld

2006-09-01T16:22:00.000-04:00

First, let me say that I like Keith Olbermann. However, I sometimes doubt his method of creating discussion. I'm all for romp and satire and outlandish statements that make people think, but sometimes it's necessary to attack those you disagree with from a higher plain - to take the high road and not sink to their level by calling names. Olbermann will occasionally call names, so as much as I like him, sometimes I question how he argues.

But I'm not doing that right now. From OneGoodMove, here is a clip of Olbermann's reactions to Rumsfeld's recent comparison of those who dissent against the war in Iraq to Nazi sympathizers. This is a beautifully spoken/written commentary. Olbermann is thoughtful, elegant, and right on. Please watch.

Edit: And Olbermann follows up here.

Fun essay time!

2006-08-26T16:50:00.000-04:00

I just read a really great essay by Twisty Faster of "I Blame the Patriarchy" fame.

It's called Sports, Corsetry, and the Empowerful Woman.

She may only earn 3/4 of what a man earns, but she damn well has the empower to look sexy doing it in her cheapcrap push-up bra from Victoria’s Secret. She has the empower to demand pink products from manufacturers. She has the empower to cry out ‘I did it for me!’ when she gets her boob job; maybe she even has the empower to believe it. The empowerful woman is saucy, yet feminine. Clever, yet feminine. In her early thirties, yet feminine. Heterosexual, yet feminine. Stays in shape eating Lean Cuisine and sweating blue Gatorade while kickboxing in slow motion, yet feminine. Yes, the empowerful woman is many things. Too bad powerful isn’t one of them. That’s because feminine is all of them.

I really liked this essay (even if I do, er, think that new Maria Sharapova commercial is cute. Remember: I am a simple person to entertain.) Anyway, go on and read. I didn't know Nike was trying to sell a ’sport corset.’ Sheesh. That is the MOST ridiculous thing I've read all day.

Katherine Harris's reality

2006-08-26T16:24:00.000-04:00

Wow. Well, this one's special.

AMERICAblog linked to this article about Katherine Harris's recent comments. Okay, so I knew she called the separation of Church and State a "fallacy," but I didn't know that she took it a step further:

"If you are not electing Christians, tried and true, under public scrutiny and pressure, if you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin," she told interviewers, citing abortion and gay marriage as two examples of that sin.

"Whenever we legislate sin," she said, "and we say abortion is permissible and we say gay unions are permissible, then average citizens who are not Christians, because they don't know better, we are leading them astray and it's wrong . . ."

Harris also said the separation of church and state is a "lie we have been told" to keep religious people out of politics.

Has this been on the regular cable news much? I'm surprised (or maybe not...) it hasn't been. This sort of behavior is unbelievable.

Todd reinstated

2006-08-26T16:10:00.000-04:00

Well, that was quick.

Patricia Todd was reinstated Saturday as the Democratic Party's nominee for a seat in the Alabama Legislature. The Alabama Democratic Party Executive Committee voted 95-87 to reject the ruling of a subcommittee two days ago that had voted to disqualify Todd.

[source]

I'm happier when my man provides for me. Really!

2006-08-25T17:28:00.000-04:00

By now EVERYONE knows about The Forbes Article, right? I speak of the one that advises men against marrying career women. I read it, it pissed me off, and I went on with my life.

Then I found this baby on Think Progress:

Fox News Host On Sexist Forbes Article: ‘Do You Know Where This Comes From? Women.’. In a classic 'blame the victim' move, this asshole (host Michael Jerrick) says women are the cause of this whole issue.

Here's some of the transcript of the conversation between Jerrick and his co-host, who is female.

JERRICK: But do you know where this comes from? Women. He took it from this study out of this research journal. And do you know what that study said? Women, no matter what they say, deep down inside and how much money they have and how great a job they have, they are happier if the husband is the main bread winner. It starts with women. They’re happier —

HUDDY: Are they going to start blaming us for this?

JERRICK: They’re happier.

HUDDY: That’s ridiculous.

JERRICK: We want to keep you happy.

HUDDY: Well — I don’t know what else to say about that except–

JERRICK: Oh, she’s mad.

My favorite part is at the end where he devalues his co-host's opinions with a silly dismissal: "Oh, she's mad."

With the news as it is these days, it takes a lot to actually raise my blood pressure and piss me off. This did it. Even though I see it constantly, it still blows my mind to witness such blatant sexism (or homophobia, or racism, or etc) presented to the public without the batting of an eye.

Sidarth and Todd

2006-08-25T17:04:00.000-04:00

AMERICAblog linked to this great article about the young man who was insulted by Sen. George Allen. It's a good read.

Fairfax Native Says Allen's Words Stung:

S.R. Sidarth had built an impressive record of achievements for such a young man: straight-A student at one of Fairfax County's finest high schools, a tournament chess player, a quiz team captain, a sportswriter at his college newspaper, a Capitol Hill intern and an active member of the Hindu temple his parents helped establish in Maryland.

But for all his achievements, the moment that thrust him into the national spotlight this month came when Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) called him "macaca."

I was interested in this article because there's been a lot in the news about this incident, but I hadn't heard much about the young man who was called the name. He seems like a pretty neat, intelligent, and humble guy.

Side note: Bush is raising money for Allen. Apparently, there are no consequences for actions in the Republican party.

"Senator Allen apologized," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. "And I think it's in everyone's best interest, in this day and age of politics when everyone is trying to improve the tone and discourse, to accept apologies when they're offered."

What a load of bs.

I also feel like I have to mention this. Remember the woman who was going to be the first openly gay person to sit in the Alabama legislature? Well, she AND her opponent were just disqualified on a technicality. (This stinks to high-heaven). You can read the whole story by following the link. It's a weird one.

Some dogs moo

2006-08-13T10:29:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to post about this for two weeks now, but I kept forgetting. You know how sometimes anti-gay people say cruel things and it makes you sad? Isn't it AWESOME when they say silly thinks and you laugh hysterically for a good five minutes?

Well, here's the latest in silly, silly news.

Huffington Post reported:

James Dobson's Colorado Springs-based ministry stands firmly against same-sex marriage, gay rights initiatives and, now, mooing puppies.

On Tuesday, Focus unveiled its new "straight" puppy Web site, www.no-moo-lies.com, featuring a basset hound named Sherman, who barks as biology intended. During a news conference, a Focus employee dressed in a dog suit, who serves as a mascot at the group's visitors center, made a brief appearance.

"Dogs aren't born mooing, and people aren't born gay," a Focus news release stated. [note: that's the entire post]

Think Progress has a little more up here.

And now my favorite part: the actual site.

Honestly, I thought this was a joke at first.

Escalation of anti-gay violence in Iraq

2006-08-10T16:50:00.000-04:00

...and following on the heels of the last post.

There is growing evidence that Shia militias have been killing men suspected of being gay and children who have been sold to criminal gangs to be sexually abused. The threat has led to a rapid increase in the numbers of Iraqi homosexuals now seeking asylum in the UK because it has become impossible for them to live safely in their own country. [source]

This has been found through Pam's House Blend, one of my favorite blogs.

Why aren't our news channels reporting this? Bush makes his flippant remarks, and stuff like this goes all but unreported. The actual events are terrifying - of course they are! But the invisibility of the issue freaks me out almost as much.

Civil war, shmivil war

2006-08-10T16:42:00.000-04:00

I found this sucker on Think Progress.

At a recent press conference, the President said:

“You know, I hear people say, Well, civil war this, civil war that. The Iraqi people decided against civil war when they went to the ballot box.”

Both the level of trivialization and the outright refusal to consider the big picture just, well, it scares me, to be frank. How can you be President and say things like this?

A thousand boy-band jokes cry out in vengeance...

2006-07-26T11:19:00.000-04:00

I was going to post today about the amazingness of hearing radio announcers casually talking about George Michael and his "marriage" to his "fiance" and gossiping about it going down the tubes like any other celebrity relationship -- but that's all for a different post, because now we have the news that:

Lance Bass is gay.

Is it wrong that I'm sitting here, doing a little jig? 'N Sync, heartthrob central for legions of 'tweens, teens, and Real People Slashers, had a member who is gay. Gay gay gay gay gay.

"I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys' careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said (that I was gay), it would overpower everything," says Bass, referring to bandmates Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez and Justin Timberlake.

"I didn’t know: Could that be the end of ’N Sync? So I had that weight on me of like, ‘Wow, if I ever let anyone know, it's bad.' So I just never did," he says speaking about his sexual orientation for the first time with PEOPLE.

A lousy thought to have about one's own sexuality, but at the same time, it's only been a couple of years since the last 'N Sync album, and here he is, out and about. There are older generations of gay men who never came out, who are still not out (*cough Richard Simmons cough*), and then there's Lance. Representin'.

Downside? (Well, besides the fact that he was pushed to coming out due to gay rumors, a subject for a different post)--

He is in a "very stable" relationship with model-actor-Amazing Race winner Reichen Lehmkuhl, 32, and is developing an Odd Couple-inspired sitcom pilot with Fatone in which his character will be gay.

Shucks. And I thought the two lovebirds on Amazing Race were too adorable for words. Damn your star power, Lance.

That's it! The GAYS did it!

2006-07-20T18:10:00.000-04:00

Pam Spaulding found this one:

"Why does this war break out this week, all of sudden with little warning? Because this is the exact week the Jewish people are trying to decide whether the gay pride parade should take place in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv," Pinchas Winston, a noted author, rabbi and lecturer based in Jerusalem told WND.

..."This [parade] is an attack against God himself," Winston said. "God has told the Jewish people, 'If you are not going to fight for my honor, you will be forced to fight for your own honor.'" [source]

You know, we queers are a powerful bunch, huh? Soon we'll be causing the downfall of the human race.

People sure can be nuts, huh?

Hayes and Missouri

2006-07-19T23:22:00.000-04:00

I feel bad being so trivial after the seriousness of the last post, but can I take a moment and say, "HA! I so totally KNEW it!"

I am referring to, of course, Darren Hayes's civil partnership ceremony with his boyfriend of two years.

Hayes said he feels lucky to live in an era that recognizes gay marriage. "I'm proud of who I am, and after what felt like an eternity, I'm finally in a place where my heart is secure and content. And I can finally make sense of all of the searching."

He told fans not to expect updates because he still believes "that families and relationships are not commodities to be sold off for public consumption." [source]

Hayes is, of course, one half of that dynamic duo Savage Garden.

I may have been in middle school when these guys were big (oh, dear, I just gave away my age!), but my gaydar was working just fine, thank you very much.

Of course, I should also say that I applaud his decision to announce this, and I'm very glad he and his husband are happy. I guess their marriage isn't just about me, huh?

And for a more serious update: well done, Missouri!

Missouri lifts restrictions on gay foster parents.

Details

2006-07-17T23:52:00.000-04:00

So some scary stuff is happening in the world lately, huh?

Give me a moment to digress, however - if you're reading this site regularly (I think we have a few regular readers, mostly from my personal journal or the personal journals of the other contributors), you've probably noticed the posts have been a more sporadic lately. I'll be honest with you - I'm in some pretty heavy pre-medical work right now, and so I have to use my time wisely. Education comes first, time to relax comes next, and then online fun happens. I think blogging is fun, but I don't always have time. So I will continue to update as much as I can, but my dedication simply cannot be what it was last year when I was working a nine to five job in a library. Allow me to conclude with an apology.

All right, enough administrative details. Back to the scary world. I'm having trouble reading the news lately. Ion also admitted this to me yesterday. It's scary to open a webpage or look at the TV because of what's happening in the Middle East.

It's also confusing because - and I'll admit this readily - I have very little understanding of all that's happening. I understand the basics: the State of Israel was formed shortly after WWII. This was the traditional Jewish homeland, but there was an exile. Since then, other people have come to live there. And now these two people both claim the land and there’s a lot of tension … to say the least.

And that's about where my knowledge stops. It's a little ... is scary the right word? I think it is: it’s scary to discover that I know so little about a topic, especially one that is so important to our contemporary understanding of a global community. But I spent so much time in school reading literature, reading about the witch hunts of Europe and early America, reading about queer history or queer theory, etc, etc, I somehow managed to miss something that's pretty damn important.

And so now I find myself staring at the news, feeling immensely saddened by all the destruction and death, but having very little actual understanding of the situation. Obviously, this is something I need to remedy as soon as possible. But there’s chemistry reading to do, and work to get done … and is that the saddest part of all? That I don’t think I have the time right now? Sheesh, man. Sheesh.

Gay parenting

2006-07-06T18:29:00.000-04:00

National Pediatricians Group: Children Of Same-Sex Parents Harmed By Gay Marriage Bans:

The nation's largest pediatricians group said Wednesday that children would benefit from the legalization of same-sex marriage.

In a 16-page report the American Academy of Pediatrics found that children of same-sex parents do better in areas of the country which recognize their parents' relationships.

"Children of same-gender parents often experience economic, legal, and familial insecurity as a result of the absence of legal recognition of their bonds to nonbiological parents" and that "legal recognition of a [same-gender] spouse can increase the ability of adult couples to provide and care for one another and fosters a nurturing and secure environment for their children," the report said.

Ha! I think this kinda goes without saying, but still it's nice to see it in print. Nothing bothers me more than that stupid "but it hurts the chiiiildren" argument.

In the most recent issue of The Advocate (July 18th), there's the story of two women who fought Oklahoma's refusual to recognize adoptions by gays and lesbians. The women won, which is a wonderful event, but the part of the story that stayed with me is the following quotation:

Margot [one of the two women]: We decided to talk to the kids about what was going on. They were just five at the time, but they understood it was a challenge to their right to have Heather as a parent. We were in the car listening to the 2004 Republican National Convention on NPR when Bush was talking about protecting tradional families. Our daughter Katie started bawling - really sobbing - for a good 20-30 minutes. When I finally got her to calm down, she said, "If he wins, are they gonna take Mommy way from us?"

I read this on the plane and asked Ion, "So who's the real threat here? These two parents, who clearly love their little girls very much, or some bigot who says things without thought - without even thinking about the effect they might have on others listening in, including a little girl who doesn't want to lose on of her moms?" It just made me so mad.

On a completely shallow note, however, I want to point out that these two lesbians have their little girls listen to NPR in the car rather than some pop music station. Am I allowed to make an outrageous generalization at this moment and claim that gay moms are smarter? Yeeeah, I think I'll do that.

...I jest. Mostly.

"Go hunt them down and do America a favor..."

2006-07-04T23:58:00.000-04:00

This is unbelievable.

Well, this explains a lot!

2006-06-19T23:03:00.000-04:00

Pentagon Lists Homosexuality As Disorder:

A Pentagon document classifies homosexuality as a mental disorder, decades after mental health experts abandoned that position.

The document, called a Defense Department Instruction, was condemned by medical professionals, members of Congress and other experts, including the American Psychiatric Association.

Well, thank goodness for that, at least.

Still, I think this is a Freudian slip, in a way. Someone's letting his/her true feelings show!

P.S

There were 726 military members discharged under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy during the budget year that ended last Sept. 30. That marked the first year since 2001 that the total had increased. The number of discharges had declined each year since it peaked at 1,227 in 2001, and had fallen to 653 in 2004.

Ah-yup.

Aaaand AMERICAblog has an image of the document.

Gay Animal Update

2006-06-14T10:33:00.000-04:00

Perhaps you remember my post with the Gay Animal Link. I kinda left it as it was and didn't comment on it aside from the fact that it was an interview with someone with an alternative viewpoint of queerness and evolution. Some of what she says has merit and some of it doesn't but, well I'm not an evolutionary biologist. But PZ Myers of Pharyngula is. While I do think that he's a pompous (he gets attack-y with people who don't share his viewpoint, though I guess that's the scientist in him popping out --- we like to be right. Shut up.) ass of a white man (science is owned by the patriarchy --- check out the web pages of any competitive science department and you'll definately see mostly old white guys.) he takes this interview apart pretty well and I agree with him almost 100%. He is, however, a liberal and is queer friendly, which is nice. And he's a rational human being, which is also nice.

At any rate, now that I'm done rambling, here's a link to the post he made about the Gay Animals. I wanted to make highlights for all of you lazies, but I like the whole thing. So at least go and scan it.

Seed Magazine Rocks

2006-06-12T11:14:00.000-04:00

I love Seed Magazine. They're a fairly new showing to the Science News crowd with a lot of good ideas. For one, they're made science a lot more accessible to you non-science types. It's not like reading, say Scientific American, which is also a fairly informal publication but significantly heavier. The downside to Seed is that it can seem a little trashy sometimes --- not as trashy as Discover can be (not to insult any of you who like Discover, I liked it fine until I wanted to read some heavier stuff.). The difference is, Seed isn't trying to be as serious as Discover is, so it has more of a lighthearted, fun, gossip rag kind of trashiness. It's really more focussed on science culture than science itself, though there are some excellent actual science articles in each issue too. Also, its physically larger (each page is bigger than 8.5 x 11) so bigger pretty pictures!

Aaaaaaand --- because everyone loves the gay penguins --- here is a Seed article about gay animals! (I have yet to poke around enough to find out how far into the archives is free for online access, but so far it's all been free for me. This is something they do significantly better than Sciam, but I have Sciam Digital so I don't care. Mmmm coffee ramblings)

The Gay Animal Kingdom

Articles like these are why Seed is great. It's a theory way off the beaten track, but that's how science progresses. You give the seeming crackpots a voice and sometimes great things happen. But not if they're just wrong. Then those people (anti-global warming, Intelligent Design) are just wrong. I'm not squelching debate here either. When a theory has no evidence to support it beyond denial or flaws in another theory, it's not a theory. This gay animal thing is based on actual observation, so don't go flying down my throat.

Listen to the muzak and fight global warming!

2006-06-12T10:06:00.000-04:00

For all of you Weather Channel-tapers and eco-conscious human beings out there, there's some excellent news:

The Weather Channel has joined the Virtual March against global warming. According to Huffington Post's Laurie David

The Weather Channel is the first cable television network to take a formal position on global warming -- to say not only that it's real, but also that it's a result of human activities. Its important decision to join the mainstream scientific community in acknowledging the threat from global warming should serve as a wake-up call to those meteorologists who have yet to connect the dots between increasing episodes of extreme weather and global warming. (Link)

You best believe it. They even have a full time expert, a Dr. Heidi Cullen. Maybe this is the beginning of the end to the pseudo-intellectual hackery that devotes itself to going "lalalalalalaIcan'thearyou" whenever anyone mentions global warming. Also, perhaps a clue that, hmmm, science is a little important?

Fighting on the internet

2006-06-10T12:17:00.000-04:00

This post is now about what I was going to use as a subject line for a post about something else. I was fighting with people on Live Journal, and thought I remembered a sort of saying about fighting on the internet, but I couldn't remember what it was. So I googled it, and discovered many variations on saying that fighting on the internet is like competing in the special olympics-even if you win you're still retarded. What bothers me even more than this saying is the knowledge that at some point I thought it was fine. Now I have noticed friends, family, and teachers supporting disability rights and explaining things to me repeatedly and basically...Yeah. It's not funny. It's awful.

A friend and co-worker says "that's gay" to mean that something is bad. For the first year I worked with her, I didn't really say anything about it. One time early on I made a joke-she had said that her friends were all being gay, and I said that, no, my friends are gay. Because at that point everyone I hung out with was. I was trying to make a subtle point to her. It didn't really work. Lately I've gotten on her case about it. She explains it's just her word for stupid, and I know she is not someone who hates gay people. It's just this is the way people around her talked etc. So now she is, at least, starting to not do it around me. She is trying to not do it in front of me at all. I explained that I used to say things were retarded, and that being around people with siblings with disabilities etc I learned to not say that. I kind of hope that by having to think about what it means, and by not saying it around me, she will stop saying it. But really I don't know what to do. How did I go from someone who said retarded to mean stupid to someone who finds it offensive? I think it was partially our old writing teacher throwing so much disabilities rights stuff at us, but I know that at the time I found it annoying, and that was coming from a teacher. From a peer I honestly would have ignored most of it.

My general theory of teaching my beliefs is sort of derived from St. Francis saying to teach the gospel at all times, and if necessary to use words. I live my life in the way that my beliefs decree, and I hope that people will be influenced by that. Nothing deafens someone like shouting. The vegetarians and vegans I know who yell or chastise just make people hate vegetarians and vegans. The vegan I knew who never said anything about it had me almost convinced to be a vegan-she just ate lovely looking meals every day, and made it seem do-able and more right than not doing it. Then there was cheesecake in the world, and I failed. But still, the point is, I believe that the best convincing is not done by shoving something at someone. However, nobody is going to change if I sit by and do nothing....
So. Advice?
And I guess my original post topic will happen later.

Jon Stewart and The Gay

2006-06-08T13:29:00.000-04:00

Via BoingBoing: The Daily Show's Jon Stewart lays it out for Bill Bennet.

Bennett: Well I think if gay... gay people are already members of families...

Stewart: What?

Bennett: They're sons and they're daughters...

Stewart: So that's where the buck stops, that's the gay ceiling.

Bennett: Look, it's a debate about whether you think marriage is between a man and a woman.

Stewart: I disagree, I think it's a debate about whether you think gay people are part of the human condition or just a random fetish.

Crooks and Liars is currently out of commission, so I instead present you with the YouTube link.

Marriage amendment fails. Miserably. Everyone laughs.

2006-06-08T01:17:00.000-04:00

The Senate rejected a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage Wednesday, delivering a stinging defeat to President Bush and other Republicans who hope the issue will rally GOP voters for the November elections.

Ha! Yeah, nice try there, suckers.

"Republican Right Wing 2006 Electoral Strategy Amendment"

2006-06-06T15:08:00.000-04:00

That's what Fox News quotes Ted Kennedy calling the proposed Marriage Protection Amendment. As Harper points out in her earlier post, yesterday the President gave a huge anti-same-sex-marriage speech, and while certainly the most publicized, it was by no means the only discussion going on in DC.

CSPAN Radio (accessible by people in the DC metro area and by those who have satellite radio) was just chock-a-block full of the gay yesterday, largely because the proposed amendment is coming up for a Senate vote on Wednesday (or today -- sources vary), and everyone wants to get their two cents in. Why the furor? Well, it's rather astonishing that the amendment's being brought up right now, since apparently no one's really expecting enough votes to get the amendment passed. And the White House itself is divided on the subject (rare, these days), with Cheney's (2004) point of view being that "People ought to be free to choose any arrangement they want. Traditionally that's been an issue for the states. . . . That would be my preference," and Laura Bush quoted as saying that "I don't think it should be used as a campaign tool, obviously."

Except, well... frankly, everyone's looking at the timing of this Gay Extravanganza and wondering how much this sudden outburst of "traditional values" has to do with the midterm elections and the GOP's floundering approval ratings. Even conservative groups like The American Family Association of Michigan are coming out and saying, "Increasingly, social conservatives expect real action, not just politically timed attempts to motivate and organize the base." Add that in with the other amendment being voted on this week ("Anti-flag-burning! You miserable old bitch, how you been since we saw you last? Still stepping out with the Pledge of Allegiance's 'Under God'?"), and it just seems like so much political pandering.

So the amendment probably won't pass, which is all well and good, and if the President isn't pandering and he truly thinks this is a massively important issue then he chose a really bad time to make mention of it -- but what does this actually mean to us poor queers stuck watching this stuff from the outside?

Frankly, I'll stick with what I've always said: You can take away my civil rights, but you can't take away marriage. If we're talking historical institutions, technically (if I wished to appropriate other people's cultures willy-nilly) I could jump over a broom with my fiancee and lo! we'd be married! Taking away my ability to legally visit her in the hospital won't stop us from being married -- no one can stop that but ourselves.

Listening to CSPAN radio led me to this rather fabulous article by Dale Carpenter, associate professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School. In it he gives a point by point explanation of why introducing a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage is a Bad Idea -- and to his credit, he doesn't harp on the issue of bigotry and discrimination, which would (with many folks) instantly color his argument with big ol' rainbow stripes. But the argument he's presenting -- that this amendment would be anti-democratic, anti-federalist, and that "A person who opposes same-sex marriage on policy grounds can and should also oppose a constitutional amendment foreclosing it, on grounds of federalism, confidence that opponents will prevail without an amendment, or a belief that public policy issues should only rarely be determined at the constitutional level" -- is one that's good enough to convince even staunch anti-gay-marriage proponents who nonetheless still wish to uphold the values of our political system.

There are four main arguments against the FMA [Federal Marriage Amendment]. First, a constitutional amendment is unnecessary because federal and state laws, combined with the present state of the relevant constitutional doctrines, already make court-ordered nation-wide same-sex marriage unlikely for the foreseeable future. [...]

Second, a constitutional amendment defining marriage would be a radical intrusion on the nation's founding commitment to federalism in an area traditionally reserved for state regulation, family law. [...]

Third, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage would be an unprecedented form of amendment, cutting short on ongoing national debate over what privileges and benefits, if any, ought to be conferred on same-sex couples and preventing democratic processes from recognizing more individual rights.

Fourth, the amendment as proposed is constitutional overkill that reaches well beyond the stated concerns of its proponents, foreclosing not just courts but also state legislatures from recognizing same-sex marriages and perhaps other forms of legal support for same-sex relationships. Whatever one thinks of same-sex marriage as a matter of policy, no person who cares about our Constitution and public policy should support this unnecessary, radical, unprecedented, and overly broad departure from the nation's traditions and history.

Bush pretends to love tolerance and respect

2006-06-05T19:09:00.000-04:00

So unless you've been living under a rock, you must know that the President's beginning his attack against gay marriage again.

I found a decent video of his television press conference on PageOneQ, which can be found here.

Some quotations from the speech:

The union of a man and woman in marriage is the most enduring and important human institution. For ages, in every culture, human beings have understood that marriage is critical to the well-being of families. And because families pass along values and shape character, marriage is also critical to the health of society. Our policies should aim to strengthen families, not undermine them. And changing the definition of marriage would undermine the family structure.

As this debate goes forward, every American deserves to be treated with tolerance and respect and dignity. On an issue of this great significance, opinions are strong and emotions run deep. And all of us have a duty to conduct this discussion with civility and decency toward one another. All people deserve to have their voices heard and a constitutional amendment will ensure that they are heard.

...the logic does not run deep in this one.

The blogs are all a-chatter with this, so I'm not going to bother to post links. Check out any big name blog, and they have post about this, almost for sure.

In good news, however, Dean's trying to repair the DNC's relationship with gay folks:

"I want to start today by thanking you for standing with me ... as we have fought side by side for equal rights under the law for all Americans. That fight continues, and the Democrat Party is standing with you by leading the fight against discrimination, and by helping you meet your electoral objectives this fall....

I am proud to lead a Party that has led the fight for hate crimes legislation, and fought for laws banning any discrimination based on race, ethnicity, and on sexual orientation... And I am proud to lead a party that understands that using marriage as a wedge issue and scapegoating groups of Americans to win elections is morally wrong."

I hope he means this. I really do like the guy. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how a representative of the people should be talking. A real leader wouldn't be speaking about "tolerance and respect and dignity," while pushing an anti-gay and hateful rhetoric of gay bashing and intolerance.

Rick says, "Treat people poorly! It's the American way!"

2006-06-02T15:40:00.000-04:00

Santorum's dragging in the senate race, so what does he do?

Go out and blast gays, of course. (Duh, people. Get with the picture here!)

And it's [Federal Marriage Amendment] an opportunity for us to get beyond, you know, 'We should treat everybody nicely.' I'm for treating everybody nicely, but that doesn't mean that we need to change the law to recognize a form of marriage that is harmful to our country.

Uh huuuuh.

I think it's time to give up, Rickie. It appears that your campaign is going down in flames and no amount of anti-gay rhetoric is going to save you.

(Source: The wonderful Raw Story.)

Holy lipstick lesbians, Batwoman!

2006-05-31T16:02:00.000-04:00

Oh, come on. I'm a comic book geek. OF COURSE I had to post about this baby.

Batwoman has returned and she's one with the gay. (Every news story I've read about this has been careful to state that she's a "lipstick lesbian." Can we talk about how much this amuses me? She's not a dyke! Keep that in mind. NOT A DYKE!)

Now, Batwoman is not to be confused with Batgirl, although if you ask me Cassandra/Cassie Cain (the last Batgirl) was damn gay, too. Hello, her and Spoiler anyone? But that might be my own biases showing.

Anyway, there are some interesting discussions going on in some comic book blogs.

Daniel, here, says:

Hey, Didio [DC Executive Editor Dan Didio ]? You want to impress me with how courageous your storytellers are? Make "Kate" Kane straight and have Bruce Wayne come out of the closet. That might explain once and for all why Dick Grayson and Koriand'r couldn't make it work. There's an idea: A "new" character revelation that actually answers as many questions as it creates.

Good point, man.

Here's another post about how Batwoman was originally introduced to squash rumors that Batman was gay. Ha. That so didn't work. (Speaking of the gay in comics, this post mentions the Hulking/Wiccan relationship in Marvel's Young Avengers. Now, if you want beautifully done gay characters, go there. I haven't read a lot of this title, but what I have read impressed me.

However, if you're still curious about Batwoman, I've heard that you shouldn't venture into the DC boards at this point, though. A lot of young men frequent those boards, and (from what I've heard), it's been a little ... less than tactful over there.

Anyway, since I should cite my sources, I'd like to mention where I find these comic book blogs. I use the wonderful, wonderful site When Fangirls Attack. This blog links to posts about women in comics. These posts are often feminist, often gay friendly, and when I found When Fangirls Attack, I thought I died and went to heaven. I've been meaning to link to it for a while now, so here we go.

"They want to cure us. I say we are the cure!"

2006-05-24T23:39:00.000-04:00

I'm not so much for original thought this evening. I'll stick to interesting links ... and subject lines with X-Men 3 references.

Anyway, AMERICAblog has a post up about CNN's recent report on an ex-gay therapist.

Gay cleansing

2006-05-24T23:32:00.000-04:00

And while I'm reading Pam's House Blend...

I posted a while back about the gay cleansing that's going on in some of the Middle East. Pam has a little more about it here.

Link to Pam's House Blend

2006-05-24T23:29:00.000-04:00

Someone asked me the other day if I planned to move back to Ohio after finishing my education. I had to suppress a cringe and answer, quite simply, "No."

Fight! Fight! Fight!

2006-05-22T23:55:00.000-04:00

Ha! I don't know if any of you have been following the recent explosion on AMERICAblog (John Aravosis called Pat Robert a "big girl" and this caused a frenzy of feminist/gender politics fury).

I read AMERICAblog pretty regularly, and I like the news links I get there. (However, I'll admit that I think it was a silly thing to say and it caused a really overblown fight that could have been avoided with a simple, "My bad!") But, I digress.

jedmunds from Pandagon has responded. And I am amused.

Dyke Squad is a little, little blog, and we all know it. Does it make me a bad person that watching the big blogs slug it out amuses me?

Mary Cheney babble

2006-05-22T23:42:00.000-04:00

My mom called me a few nights ago to tell me Mary Cheney was on Letterman. I was asleep at the time, so I didn't get to watch, but that's why Crooks and Liars exists.

The next day, Mom told me why she had called. I proceeded to grunt angrily for several moments. Mary Cheney really infuriates me.

This has been posted about on countless blogs (many of which I've missed now that I'm busy with summer classes). AmericaBlog mentions that specific incident here, and if you "control find" the name "Mary Cheney" in Pam's House Blend for the month of May, you get several results).

My favorite quote can be found right on Crooks and Liar's main post:

David: Most Americans are engaged and are trying to get the attention of the administration who can actually do something about it. Who seemingly perhaps are not engaged. Is that a fair assessment or am I being nuts here?

Mary: I think you might be being nuts...

What world is she living in?

Pet Evacuation

2006-05-22T23:38:00.000-04:00

Perhaps a little off topic, but still a neat story...

House Passes Pet Evacuation Bill:

The bill, which passed 349-24, requires that state and local preparedness offices take into account pet owners, household pets and service animals when drawing up evacuation plans. Offices that fail to do so would not qualify for grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Ha! Excellent. I saw some of the photos of what happened to animals after Katrina, so this makes me really happy.

It's a jolly holiday for responsible journalism

2006-05-19T19:57:00.000-04:00

So for the time being, I'm taking down the previous entry concerning the Washington Post article about pre-pregnancy. Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons. Firstly, I am not so far out of college that I should forget my scholarly roots -- it's shoddy academic work to put out information without checking primary sources, and that's exactly what I did. I never did read the CDC report -- I just read everyone's commentary about it. That ain't kosher, and I should've realized that before I put up my screed.

Which brings me to my second reason: Being the sweet and innocent child that I am, I forget that I'm not just writing for myself and a couple of feminist friends when I rant up here. I am, for better or for worse, a contributing member of the blogosphere -- and that means that I'm a member of the new journalism media in this country. I'm certainly not an Important member of it (I'll leave that to the people who, uh, know stuff), but all there needs to be is one person who reads what I write, listens to what I say, and believes what I lay before them to make this not just a place where I can post my opinions, but a legitimate editorial source in a nation that is rapidly losing its faith in the established media venues. That's dangerous, and it's not to be taken lightly. If I don't do my job when I post something here -- check all the sides, read my sources, not take anything for granted -- then I'm no better than an old news hack churning out retyped press releases and being the butt of Stephen Colbert's jokes.

All that being said: I'm gonna go read that report. And maybe I'll repost what I wrote previously, or maybe I'll come up with something completely different -- or maybe I won't say a thing, because there's enough hot air in the world that another balloon-full of it won't make it any better.

But I'm going to remember this. And call this the start of an era for me: I'm taking this goddamn gig seriously.

Right-o, then

2006-05-18T23:18:00.000-04:00

As is probably clear, Dyke Squad went on an (unplanned) temporary hiatus. Personal life got in the way. So to start us off again, enjoy some fighting in the Senate. I know I enjoy it: tastes like chocolate.

Wendy's stands for tolerance and cheesy meat pies

2006-05-04T19:04:00.000-04:00

I knew I craved those fries for a reason...

Wendy's Adds Gays, Transgenders To Employment Policy:

Fast food chain Wendy's International has agreed to amend its employment nondiscrimination policy by adding new written protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity for all employees.

The change came after lobbying by the LGBT civil rights group Equality Project and one of the company's biggest shareholders.

The New York City Employees Retirement Fund filed a shareholders resolution with the Securities and Exchange Commission calling for the policy change. After the company agreed to the changes the resolution was withdrawn without needing to go to stock holders at the next Annual Meeting.

“The good news from Wendy’s proves once again that building coalitions around the Equality Principles is a strategy that works for shareholders and policy advocates alike, and deserves support by more institutions,” said Grant Lukenbill, managing director of the Equality Project.

Well done, Wendy's! For this, I will continue to eat your cholesterol-filled heart-destroying foods (not because these foods taste good as they destroy my insides). I'm supporting those who support tolerance! Yes, that's right. Uh huh.

Mundane stress

2006-05-03T23:42:00.000-04:00

While doing my daily blog catch-up at work (being able to read while working - one of the many reasons I love my job), I came across this really cool post on Feministe. The poster, Piny, talks about the phrase "mundane stress," something I've actually never heard of.

Mundane stress was a term coined to describe the effect of the thousand thousand ways in which people of color are told that they are worth less. It seeks to create a concept of racism and its attendant trauma more sophisiticated than your average Law and Order episode. The theory behind it has since been expanded to cover marginalization of other groups.

Later, Piny goes on:

What does happen all the time [to those with gendervariance]? Well, our families disown us, or make us ashamed of who we are–abuse and estrangement are much more common than involuntary committment. We are harassed verbally and physically at school, at work, and on the street. We get beaten up. We get raped. We get ignored. We lose custody of our children. We worry about whether or not we will be able to have children. We fear for our lives and safety. We are denied treatment by doctors, therapists, insurance providers, and the prison system. We are punished for developing the only coping strategies available to us. Bureaucracies of all stripes divert us into the wrong place at the wrong time. We have to lie to our doctors in order to receive responsible care, or go without care altogether. We get fired and denied employment. We face housing discrimination. We cannot use shelters or treatment programs. We cannot use public bathrooms. We cannot obtain accurate identification. We hear joke after joke after joke after joke. We exist on teevee only to murder or get murdered. We kill ourselves. We get killed. Our parents blame themselves for us.

Some of these threats are obviously deadly. Some of them are “little things.” Most of them are mundane. Most of them are not necessarily hateful, but the result of a simple lack of understanding on the part of the straight world: a failure to think. They occur in situations that might otherwise feel comfortable and harmless, in places as supposedly safe as home or as boring as the DMV. Fighting discrimination, more often than not, isn’t about confronting our archetype of monstrous evil. It doesn’t take an army of doctors wielding syringes and straitjackets to kill someone who’s already vulnerable–let alone make them miserable. [link]

I thought this was a pretty neat post and worth reading.

Woman = long hair

2006-05-02T01:35:00.000-04:00

Anyone heard about this? In joining 'The View,' part of Rosie O'Donnell's contract states that she can't cut her hair.

What is it with people and hair, especially lesbians' hair? People hate to see a woman cut her hair, huh?

Holy gay super heroes, Batman!

2006-05-01T21:44:00.000-04:00

And just when I thought I couldn't like George Clooney any more than I already did.

Gotham City superhero, Batman, is gay, according to Hollywood superstar George Clooney.

The actor who was being interviewed on an American Oscar show, replied to host Barbara Walters’ who asked if he would ever play a gay cowboy. Mr Clooney said he believed he had already played a gay character, "I was in a rubber suit and I had rubber nipples. I could have played Batman straight, but I made him gay." [link]

Well done, George. Well done.

(Note: this link is a little old).

Why can't more politicians be like this?

2006-04-29T20:21:00.000-04:00

I don't think I could love this guy anymore.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Hoping to head off a messy fight for the Democratic Party endorsement in the governor's race, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom on Friday asked candidates to avoid attacking each other.
ADVERTISEMENT

In the opening speech at the state party's weekend convention, Newsom said, "Let's not make this convention a circular firing squad against one another.

"The worst thing we can do is limp out of this convention," Newsom said. "We will be doing the bidding of the Republican party." [link]

Limbaugh <3 the American way and drugs

2006-04-28T20:39:00.000-04:00

Ah, Rush Limbaugh. He loves his American values, right?

LIMBAUGH: They're -- they're busy. They're busy. The Reverend Jackson is in New Orleans. He's leading a big march there tomorrow. The march is -- what is it called? The -- the march for the right to return a protected vote and reconstruction. He's trying to -- they got problems down in New Orleans. They don't have voter base, and Sharpton's working on a New Orleans deal, too. He's trying to figure out how he can get involved in the deal down there at Duke where the lacrosse team --

CALLER 1: Yeah.

LIMBAUGH: -- uh, supposedly, you know, raped, some, uh, hos. [link]

"Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society." [link]

I think some of the militants in the gay community are actually asking for this fight, because ...they want to be confrontational. [link]

Well, he also loves the drugs (which we all knew, but still). This is new.

After his arrest on Friday, Rush Limbaugh has entered into a settlement agreement with the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office to end their probe of allegations that the conservative talk show host went "doctor shopping" to obtain prescription pain-killing medicine, RAW STORY has found. [link]

Mmm ... taste those American values.

Head? Meet desk.

2006-04-27T22:40:00.000-04:00

I've been reading Pam's House Blend a lot lately (and you should, too), and look what she posted:

"Here's the unmentionable secret: Racism isn't that big a deal any more. No sensible person supports it. Nobody of importance preaches it. It's rapidly becoming an ugly memory."
-Tony Snow, Oct 2003 (Bush's new press secretary)

I don't really know much about the guy, so I'm not going to pass judgment on his record in general, but, wow, that was a dumb thing to say. Does he really believe that? Does he still believe that? I hope not.

Pam follows this quote with a whole list of recent racist events.

Sheesh.

(Here are some different quotes from Snow, too).

Letter to Leno

2006-04-27T13:07:00.000-04:00

I found this through AMERICAblog, but it's been all over. (Seriously. Like, CNN-all over).

Anyway, one of the writers behind Avenue Q wrote a letter to Jay Leno in response to Leno's love for a good, ol' gay joke.

Check it out.

I like this because we know how to reply to gay bashing, or intolerance, or etc. But what about those gay jokes that you know on some level are really upsetting, but can't quite articulate? These are the jokes that fill prime time TV. After all, you don't want to be accused of not having a sense of humor.

Jeff Whitty articulates his problem with these jokes beautifully.

Aw, shut up

2006-04-24T01:40:00.000-04:00

While looking for information for a paper, I ran across some "good" Bill O'Rielly quotes:

"That's my advice to all homosexuals, whether they're in the Boy Scouts, or in the Army or in high school: Shut up, don't tell anybody what you do, your life will be a lot easier." (7 July 2000)

"You want to have two guys making out in front of your 4-year-old? It's OK with them. A guy smoking a joint, blowing the smoke into your little kid's face? OK with them. And I'm not exaggerating here. This is exactly what the secular movement stands for." (12 September 2003)

Fun, huh?

Blog Against Heteronormativity Day

2006-04-22T01:41:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow, well, now today (speaking of which, I should get to bed soon...) is Blog Against Heteronormativity Day. Yay for blac(k)ademic's wonderful idea!

You should probably stop reading here and check out her post. It's great.

So, anyway, at the risk of sounding too airy about this subject, I'm going to suggest that you look at the Wikipedia article if you want a definition for heteronormativity. I could stumble over my words all night, but even if Wikipedia has its flaws, it's good for some things and it covers the definition well. Heteronormativity describes the institutions, the beliefs, the policies, the ideologies, the etc that insist humans keep to the strict, binary system: male and female. We live in a heteronormative society. We assume it's "normal" to fall into one of two genders, and through that, it's "normal" to be heterosexual. There's no room for variation from this.

In fact, I think I just learned something from that article. Does anyone know if it's true that Michael Warner coined the term? If so, that'd be awesome. Warner's a great theorist. I only had to open one paper that I wrote for Sex and Gender, and I found a Warner quote:

What immortality was to the Greeks, what virtu was to Machiavelli's prince, what faith was to the martyrs, what honor was to the slave owners, what glamour is to the drag queens, normalcy is to the contemporary American.
-Michael Warner, Warner, Michael. The Trouble with Normal. New York: The Free Press, 1999: 53.

American's want to be normal. Geez, just turn on any TV. Once you open your eyes to the idea of heteronormativity, it's hard to open a magazine or watch a television show without twitching a little, even if the twitch is just in your mind. For example, I was watching some 'Friends' episodes, and they literally hurt at times. "Women don't do this, men don't do this, a women in a relationship with a man doesn't play this role, etc." Why are people so scared of variation?

Anyway, it's getting late, so I'll leave you with another quote:

To represent sexuality as discrete, repeatable sex acts that can implicitly be referred to a sexuality identity, in other words, is to represent sex – or certain sex – as amendable to administration, in that it – or they – can be vilified if they do not conform to what the majority represents as “normal” whether or not this constitutes the statistical norm. Representing sex as discrete acts makes it easy to imagine policing certain acts while tolerating sex in general: by the same token, referring sex acts to a sexual identity makes it easy to imagine policing certain individuals, because they practice these sex acts, even in a society supposedly made up of a 'we' that encompasses 'all Americans'
-Poovey, Mary. “~~Sex~~ in America.” Critical Inquiry. 24.2 (1998): 388.

If you want to learn more about these sorts of ideas, I'll recommend a few books I know. Sorry I can't list more! Let's see ... definitely read Warner. I really like that Poovey article. Gayle Rubin's essay, "Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality" is awesome. Oh, and read everything Adrienne Rich wrote during the '70s. And then read everything she ever wrote. Because she's wonderful. But that might be my bias talking.

Cheney snoozes

2006-04-22T01:29:00.000-04:00

You guys hear about Cheney falling asleep during the Chinese president's speech? I mean, the guy is old and has a lot of health problems and he's recently gone through all the emotional trauma encompassed in shooting a friend ... so in short, I feel kind of bad for him.

On the other hand?

This is damn funny.

AMERICAblog has the picture up.

Spain is awesome

2006-04-22T01:27:00.000-04:00

Spain Supports Gay Marriage 2-to-1:

Support for same-sex marriage continues strong in Spain with almost two out of every three voters saying they approve of the government's decision allowing gay and lesbians couples to wed.

The latest poll, taken on march 30 by Instituto Opina, found 61 per cent of respondents agree with marriage equality. Only 32 percent said that they disapproved of the gay marriage law.

Spain in 2005 became the third country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.

Can you imagine that? And this is a country where the Catholic Church has a strong, strong hold.

Go Spain!

Cyndi Lauper defends feminism

2006-04-17T23:11:00.000-04:00

This is pretty cool. I found it on Feministe, although it's been other places as well:

NY Times: I think of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” as the first feminist-backlash song. It came out in the 80’s and goes against the preachy and high-minded tone of 70’s feminism.

Cyndi: That’s not true! It’s totally feminist. It’s a song about entitlement. Why can’t women have fun? [link]

Easter time

2006-04-14T21:37:00.000-04:00

Ah, nothing like the spring celebration of the messiah's resurrection to fire up the Pope's ol'heart.

In marking the Stations of the Cross during Good Friday observances in Rome Pope Benedict XVI called for the "filth" the surrounds society to be cleansed and said the world is in the grip of "a diabolical pride aimed at eliminating the family".

"Lord, we have lost our sense of sin," he said. "Today a slick campaign of propaganda is spreading an inane apologia of evil, a senseless cult of Satan, a mindless desire for transgression, a dishonest and frivolous freedom, exalting impulsiveness, immorality and selfishness as if they were new heights of sophistication.”

Although the Pontiff did not specifically name same-sex relationships the message was clear, less than a week after Italian voters elected a leftist government committed to recognizing gay and lesbian couples. [link]

It warms the cockles of the heart, huh?

Bigotry means never having to say you're sorry

2006-04-10T13:27:00.000-04:00

Christians Sue for Right Not to Tolerate Policies

ATLANTA — Ruth Malhotra went to court last month for the right to be intolerant.

Malhotra says her Christian faith compels her to speak out against homosexuality. But the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she's a senior, bans speech that puts down others because of their sexual orientation.

Malhotra sees that as an unacceptable infringement on her right to religious expression. So she's demanding that Georgia Tech revoke its tolerance policy.

With her lawsuit, the 22-year-old student joins a growing campaign to force public schools, state colleges and private workplaces to eliminate policies protecting gays and lesbians from harassment. The religious right aims to overturn a broad range of common tolerance programs: diversity training that promotes acceptance of gays and lesbians, speech codes that ban harsh words against homosexuality, anti-discrimination policies that require college clubs to open their membership to all.

Man oh man, I'm glad these people are testing the system, but wow do they come off looking like moronic hate-mongers. Why not in for a penny, in for a pound?

(Link)

Book review post review <-- got that?

2006-04-10T01:13:00.000-04:00

For the past few months, whenever I enter a book store and wander around the political section, I end up sneaking looks at this book, Women Who Make the World Worse: and How Their Radical Feminist Assault Is Ruining Our Schools, Families, Military, and Sports. It's really upsetting - for obvious reasons - and I always have to put it down before my blood pressure gets too high.

Tonight, I was looking through blogs, and I found this wonderful book review on Crushed by Inertia.

The post is called Dirty Hippies and Ugly Feminist Dykes, and I really recommend reading that. Okay, it's not a New York Book Review, but it's so damn funny.

For example:

And, people, that's just what's odd and offensive about the cover. Check out some of these excerpts, compliments of Daily Kos:

I have long thought that if high-school boys had invited homely girls to the prom we might have been spared the feminist movement. We live with the destructive feminist agenda because the fathers or husbands of so many of them, including Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Germaine Greer, and Jane Fonda, never failed to fail them. The views of these angry, abandoned women inform the modern women's movement.

I don't know...It's not really fair to use someone's personal, family background against them in an argument in this way. Like, "you're only saying that because your daddy ran out on your family. If you had a nicer dad, you wouldn't care about equal treatment."

I mean, Kate O'Beirne only wrote this book because she's a fucking moron who has no idea what she's talking about, but I try not to use that against her.

And? By the end of the post, there's a Monty Python and Jessica Alba reference.

So go read!

This makes me feckin sick.

2006-04-08T22:45:00.000-04:00

I guess it doesn't matter who you are. If you're gay, no one gives a flying purple monkey turd about you or your head trauma.

via AMERICABlog

[which for those of you who don't care that I'm a busy student and insist upon me linking not only to the post but the original source which the post I'm linking to links to found on TheDailyHerald.Com, specifically here.]

Apparrently Richard Jefferson, the senior producer of the NBC Nightly News, was beaten with a wrench.

Senior NBC Nightly News producer Richard Jefferson, who was vacationing in St. Maarten, was one of two men rushed to St. Maarten Medical Center around 3:30am Thursday after they suffered a severe beating by a group of men who the victims say were “gay bashers.”

While Jefferson was able to walk, he sustained severe cuts on the back of his head and his lower back.

The second victim Ryan Smith had a fractured skull and has been unable to speak properly since the incident.

The men, who were reportedly beaten with a wheel wrench, expressed concern that the police here did not seem to be too concerned about crimes of this nature. They said the police’s failure to even contact them following the attack made it seem as though they sanctioned the “brutal beating.” (emphasis John's) ....

Jefferson said he had learnt that many people, including management at Sunset Beach Bar, Maho St. Maarten, a nearby casino and Bamboo Bernie’s, had called the St. Maarten Police, but no one showed up. He said he had called the police station on Thursday around 1:00pm and had spoken to a detective, but no one showed up at the hospital or called.

John (the AMERICABlog guy) had this to say:

I know Dick Jefferson. I'd met him several times at journalist conferences. From what I recall, he's not just a senior producer, he's THE senior producer of NBC Nightly News. This is really horrendous. More.

His street cred is good enough for me.

So Ryan Smith is having trouble talking (read: brain damage) and the police are a non entity? I bet if one of the strippers at Duke would have defended herself with a pipe wrench and one of those frat boy losers was having more trouble than usual talking the police would have showed up guns blazing.

Easter Egg Roll open to gays

2006-04-06T21:10:00.000-04:00

Well, I'll be darned.

Laura Bush has said that she thinks all - and she means all - families should be welcome to the annual White House Easter egg roll.

If she absolutely had to pick her very favorite part of her new Easter outfit, Ella Surkis Gillespie would point to the purple ribbons on her yellow dress.

For the 3-year-old, Easter can't come fast enough. She is hoping to be among the lucky youngsters in the annual White House Easter egg roll.

And, thanks to some pretty impressive advance planning by her two mommies, Colleen Gillespie and Alisa Surkis of Brooklyn, N.Y., Ella won't be the only child with gay parents who'll be scooting a colorful egg with a spoon on the White House lawn.

"As a parent, you want everything for your child," says Colleen Gillespie. "We want this event to tell our daughter that she is as welcome on the White House lawn as any other kid in the world."

It turns out, First Lady Laura Bush agrees.

"Mrs. Bush is the overseer of the event, and all families are welcome to attend," her spokesman Peter Watkins told me when asked about the hundreds of gay families who hope to roll eggs April 17.

I've had disagreements about this before, but I'm still really glad that gay families who have pushed for this, even if it does politicize an event that's family/children oriented. I guess I really believe that things around us - things we say and do - are more political than we can even imagine. So I can reconcile the politicized and not politicized aspects of this. ...if that makes sense.

UCC's new ad

2006-04-06T21:01:00.000-04:00

Stations are refusing to air the new United Church of Christ ad (which can be seen here). Once again, we learn that tolerance is just to darn controversial.

The commercial has already been rejected by CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox and WB. Now cable networks, mainly owned or associated with NBC and CBS are turning down the spot.

NBC-owned networks, USA and Telemundo, called the commercial "too controversial."

Have I mentioned lately how much I love the United Church of Christ?

History repeats

2006-04-02T04:34:00.000-04:00

Here we go again.

GOP Readies New Bid To Pass Anti-Gay Amendment

It must be an election year - Republicans in Congress are preparing for a new attempt to pass a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has scheduled debate on the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment for the week of June 5.

This week the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee released a 16-page policy document outlining the GOP arguments for the amendment.

"The time has come to allow the democratic process to work by sending a constitutional amendment to the states," it says.

Oh, yay. How much fun! < / sarcasm >

YAAAAH! Heternormativity $ux0rz!http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

2006-04-01T01:17:00.000-05:00

Ahh, Cass. Remember when you and Harper brought the word "heteronormative" to the dinner-time discussion?

Apparrently it doesn't just bother us. It bothers lots of really cool people. Like Twisty Faster. (Who reminds me of real life Cass in writing to a really really freaky degree.)

April 22 is blog against Heteronormativity Day!

Now I am totally against heteronormativity. It is a tool of the patriarchy!

I mean.

I guess I am a it hypocritical over it since I am still weighing the possibility of transitioning (Androgyny is so unsatisfying!) which would mean that I'm buying into the heteronormative ideal...

But then I guess surgically obtaining a Tool of the Patriarchy even though my chromosomes are like "what? no! you don't get those bits!" is kinda like sticking it to the man. Only with, you know, the damage to my internal organs from the hormone therapy.

But I digress. Go visit Twisty!

Oh, Scalia

2006-03-30T01:12:00.000-05:00

Antonin Scalia is a bad, bad man.

A tape of a speech given earlier this month by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has drawn the ire of LGBT civil rights activists who worry the landmark high court ruling on sodomy could be revisited.

Scalia rarely speaks to the media and seldom allows the press into speeches he gives but a recording of a March 8 address at the University of Freiberg in Switzerland was obtained by CNN.

In one portion of the speech to law students at the university Scalia brings up the issue of homosexuality.

"Question comes up: is there a constitutional right to homosexual conduct? Not a hard question for me. It's absolutely clear that nobody ever thought when the Bill of Rights was adopted that it gave a right to homosexual conduct. Homosexual conduct was criminal for 200 years in every state. Easy question."

He also told the students that foreigners waging war against the United States have no rights under the Constitution. [link]

Isn't it scary that this man is on the highest court in the nation?

Ouch.

Some coverage at last

2006-03-26T17:27:00.000-05:00

Follow up on this post ...

The Toronto Star has reported that "Murder and abuse of gays is becoming endemic."

Good for them.

Domestic Violence in Ohio

2006-03-26T17:24:00.000-05:00

Man, stuff like this makes me sick. Ohio's hatred for gays has become so intense it's made them blind to justice.

In case that has been closely watched by lawyers across the country an Ohio appeals court has ruled that domestic violence charges cannot be laid in cases where the couple is unmarried because of the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

Opponents of the ban, passed in 2004, warned that it was so poorly worded it could be used to deny rights to unmarried opposite sex couples.

Since then prosecutors in several Ohio counties have refused to lay charges in cases of domestic violence involving non married opposite-sex couples.

An appeals court on Friday reaffirmed that, ruling that the state's Ohio's 25-year-old domestic violence law is in conflict with the marriage amendment.

The amendment states that Ohio cannot "create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals."

In a case involving a woman charged with domestic violence against her boyfriend the 2nd District Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's dismissal of the charge based on the amendment. [link]

Santorum goes fizzle

2006-03-25T01:03:00.000-05:00

You know, I just realized I don't even post about Rick "Man on Dog" Santorum anymore, even though he's still my local asshat Senator. That's probably because that man is self-destructing faster than a ... thing that ... self ... destructs.

Yeeees.

Bush doesn't have to inform Congress about ... anything

2006-03-25T00:57:00.000-05:00

I just found this one out from AmericaBlog:

You've gotta be kidding me.

Bush added an addendum (which he legally can't do) when signing the Patriot Act this time around, saying that he doesn't have to obey its language requiring him to keep Congress informed.

That is illegal. It's unconstitutional. You can't do that. A president can't just say he's going to ignore the law. [link]

Well, that makes me feel good.

Oh, boy.

Take that White-Man-America

2006-03-23T19:43:00.000-05:00

"When Governor Mike Rounds signed HB 1215 into law it effectively banned all abortions in the state with the exception that it did allow saving the mother’s life. There were, however, no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. His actions, and the comments of State Senators like Bill Napoli of Rapid City, SD, set of a maelstrom of protests within the state.

Napoli suggested that if it was a case of “simple rape,” there should be no thoughts of ending a pregnancy. Letters by the hundreds appeared in local newspapers, mostly written by women, challenging Napoli’s description of rape as “simple.” He has yet to explain satisfactorily what he meant by “simple rape.”

The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women.

“To me, it is now a question of sovereignty,” she said to me last week. “I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction.”

Strong words from a very strong lady. I hope Ms. Fire Thunder challenges Gov. Rounds and the state legislators on this law that is an affront to all independent women."

Yoinked from : Indianz.com

Oglala Souix kick ass.

Choosing silence

2006-03-22T18:01:00.000-05:00

For the past few months, we've heard that Iran and Iraq may or may not be killing gays. This all started when we heard that two young men had been hung in Iran. Now, the problem was that two different reports surfaced: one said the young men were hung for raping a young boy, but the other said they were killed for being gay. For this reason, I've held off posting about this: I wanted to know more about the story.

There have been several reports now, though, and so I think we can all agree that something is going on, even if we can't know the full story. After all, as the link I just posted states:

Consensual gay sex in any form is punishable by death in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

And now look at this recent report from Page One Q:

Religious death squads are killing gays in Iraq, Doug Ireland will report in tomorrow's weekly edition of New York's Gay City News, PageOneQ has learned.

"The Badr Corps is committed to the 'sexual cleansing' of Iraq," a 33 year old gay Iraqi exile in London told Ireland. Since the SCIRI's spiritual leader, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistni -- the highest Shia religious authority -- issued a fatwa ordering gays assassinated in "the worst, most severe way of killing," the Badr Corps in Iraq has begun to use the Internet to hunt down and kill Iraqi gays. [link]

This sounds very reliable. Just look here:

Ireland's interviews include one with Tahseen, an underground activist in Baghdad, who is hiding 5 gays in his home and reports on the disappearance and killings of a number of gay men.

Now, have you heard about any of this in the local news? Have any politicians addressed it? I don't know about you, but I learned about all this through blogs.

Earlier today, I saw a report on CNN.com. This report said that a man in Afghanistan who converted to Christianity is facing execution.

Within hours, a new story was up: President Bush had heard about this man, and he was troubled:

"I'm troubled when I hear -- deeply troubled -- when I hear the fact that a person who has converted away from Islam may be held to account," he said.

"I look forward to working with the government of that country to make sure that people are protected in their capacity to worship."

and

He added, "It is deeply troubling that a country we helped liberate would hold a person to account because he chose a different religion over another."

Now, I feel concern for this man as well. It's appalling when a country restricts the freedom of its citizens.

At the same time, I'm deeply, deeply saddened by when the President chose to voice his concern. Did he speak up when gay men or women were being killed? No. He waited until his religion was threatened.

The thing that bothers me the most is the political-ness of this all. (Yes, I am making up a new word ... shush). I can't help but wonder: if the President had spoken up earlier, some conservative, Christian GOP leaders might have protested. After all, this country does not like gays. If he had spoken up, he might have implied that gay people deserve more rights, like, say, marriage or, I don't know, life. So in order to make sure that he didn't imply such a thing, the President didn't speak up.

The President is a self-proclaimed compassionate Christian. Where's the Christianity in refusing to protect those who need help? Where's the Christianity in this blatant disregard of life? Allegedly this President is a champion of life, but let me see some real evidence: speak up, Mr. President. Defend the lives of those who are killed for who they love.

Silence is a powerful, powerful statement. We cannot ignore when the President chose silence and when he chose words.

I, for one, am disgusted by this whole thing.

Gays love the bird flu

2006-03-22T01:04:00.000-05:00

Usually it's the fundamentalist Christians saying the wacky things. (Re: Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, etc.)

Look at this, though!

A prominent Kabbalah leader says that gays have brought a plague of bird flu on Israel. [link]

Well. How unique!

Ohio strikes again

2006-03-22T01:02:00.000-05:00

We all know that I like to post news from my home state.

Well, look what some in Ohio are trying to do now.

A public library is no place for gay newspapers a member of the Upper Arlington library board says. Board member Bryce Kurfees wants Outlook Weekly, an Ohio LGBT paper removed.

The paper, and a second LGBT publication - Gay People's Chronicle - were the subject of a similar dispute last summer.

Both papers had been available, along with other newspapers, in the entranceway of the library. After a noisy protest by a conservative community group the gay papers were moved to a tall bookcase near the front desk in a compromise effort aimed at keeping them in the library but out of the hands of children.

Now Kurfees wants Outlook out altogether.

"You’ve got these erotic, pornographic articles and you’ve got an elementary school 100 yards away. It’s not a good combination," Kurfees told the Columbus Dispatch. [link]

What do they hope to accomplish? By hiding the gay news, they're not going to get rid of us. What a ridiculous plan.

Coulter, classy as ever

2006-03-19T18:43:00.000-05:00

I return! Due to some compications, Spring Break was a little longer than we thought it would be. Nevertheless, that's over and on with the news!

Here's a good one.

According to Ann "AHHHHH!!!!!" Coulter, the coverage of the arrest of Claude A. Allen (Bush's former domestic policy adviser) was "revenge of the queers."

Oh, yes. Oh, yes, she went there.

This week at the New York Times, it was revenge of the queers. I'm sorry it took a tough period in Allen's life for the New York Times to feature him under a banner headline on its front page, but all in all, I'm glad to finally know about Claude Allen. I'm proud to have this great fellow sinner in our party.

Read up, my beauties. That woman has lost it.

Ohio man running for senate on "kill gays" platform

2006-03-10T15:25:00.000-05:00

I'm coming off hiatus briefly for some good ol' fashion Ohio news.

Merrill Keiser, Jr., is a trucker by trade, and he's hoping his next journey takes him all the way to Washington. His goal is a seat in the US Senate, but first he has to make it through the primary that will determine which Ohio Democrat will be the November ballot.

The Fremont man is causing some controversy with one of his beliefs. He tells News 11 homosexuality should be a felony, punishable by death. "Just like we have laws against murder, we have laws against stealing, we have laws against taking drugs -- we should have laws against immoral conduct," Keiser says. [link]

Of course, this man doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning, but it's still interesting to see this sort of platform. I use the word "interesting," of course, to mean "brain-numbing, hurt-your-brain stupid."

Anti-abortion law passes, and apparently "We're ordering lobster and having a party."

2006-03-09T12:49:00.000-05:00

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action. --George Washington

South Dakota: home of Mount Rushmore and, now, an anti-abortion bill. Let's put a check next to South Dakota on my Big List of 'Not If They Paid Me to Move There' States.

The anti-abortion bill (House Bill 1215) is, as a statement by Governor Rounds states, "An Act to establish certain legislative findings, to reinstate the prohibition against certain acts causing the termination of an unborn human life, to prescribe a penalty therefore, and to provide for the implementation of such provisions under certain circumstances." He goes on to say that while he expects legal snafus to come and obstruct the start-up of this law in July, he believes that "HB 1215 will give the United States Supreme Court [an] opportunity to reconsider an earlier opinion."

Good thing we have that liberal court with a woman on i-- Oh. Wait.

Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions . . . too plainly prove a deliberate, systematical plan of reducing us to slavery. --Thomas Jefferson

Currently in the bill abortions can be performed if the mother will die (though in that case, the doctor is to attempt to save both lives if possible). A mother's declining health is not sufficient reason, mind you. And also at this time there is no provision for the victims of rape or incest. In fact, State Senator Bill Napoli said last Friday what he considers a 'good enough' rape to allow for an abortion:

A real-life description to me would be a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged. The girl was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married. She was brutalized and raped, sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it, and is impregnated. I mean, that girl could be so messed up, physically and psychologically, that carrying that child could very well threaten her life.

Mmmhmm. So all those nonreligious thirteen-year-old (aha, statuatory rape!) girls who were sexually molested (but, sadly, not up the ass) by adult friends, family, or internet strangers and became pregnant are just shit out of luck. Also, clearly, they will have no mental issues whatsoever. Nicely done, Mr. Napoli.

Then again, it's not as if South Dakota has been a bastion of abortion previously. According to NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, "South Dakota is perhaps the most difficult place in the country to get an abortion. There's a 24-hour waiting period and mandatory counseling to discourage the procedure. The law requires parental notification in cases where the patient is a minor. Only one clinic, Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls, offers the procedure." On top of that, no local doctor practices there -- a physician from Minnesota is flown in weekly (amid, from what I can tell, rampant protesting).

The plea of good intentions is not one that can be allowed to have much weight in passing historical judgment upon a man whose wrong-headedness and distorted way of looking at things produced, or helped to produce, such incalculable evil; there is a wide political applicability in the remark attributed to a famous Texan, to the effect that he might, in the end, pardon a man who shot him on purpose, but that he would surely never forgive one who did so accidentally.--Theodore Roosevelt

But what can South Dakota be honestly expecting out of this? Will abortions miraculously Not Happen anymore? Well, legally that could happen if the Supreme Court does reverse Roe v. Wade. But what's legality got to do with it? What we'll return to is what we had before: doctors (and "doctors") performing illegal operations, at-home operations, and travel to places that do allow abortion.

I'm pro-Choice, but that doesn't mean I'm pro-abortion. I wish women weren't having as many abortions as they are. But having a law doesn't stop an action -- addressing why that action occurs will. Why do women have abortions? So that they will not give birth. So figure out why (or how) women are becoming pregnant when they don't want to be, and do something about that.

*cough Not much you can do about some things, frankly, but having access to sex education and prophylactics sure would help cough*

The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one. We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men’s labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatable things, called by the same name--liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatable names—liberty and tyranny. --Abraham Lincoln

Meanwhile, the rest of the world thinks we're rather bonkers, with France taking note that the law was signed off "just two days before the celebration of International Women's Day," and Britain quoting a supporter of the bill saying, "We're ordering lobster and having a party. We are thrilled." Google News is also a hotbed of fascinating reactions to the law, including New York's Editor & Publisher writing that South Dakota's Top Paper Refuses To Editorialize On Abortion Ban, and Seattle's Post-Intelligencer reporting that [Gloria] Steinman blasts South Dakota abortion law.

Finally, since I've tapped out the presidents on Mt. Rushmore for quotes, let me sign off with this one by Sharon Presley and Robert Cooke, authors of The Right to Abortion: A Libertarian Defense. Consider it, consider your life, consider the life of your daughters, sisters, and mothers, and then -- do something about this.

In the case of an unwanted pregnancy, the existential choice for a woman is not abortion vs. no abortion, but, as [Garrett Hardin] has pointed out, abortion vs. compulsory childbearing. If others can force her to be a mother... then she is coerced into putting her body at the disposal of the fetus as if she were an unclaimed natural resource or a chattel slave.... Thus, the woman's most fundamental right of choice, the right to control her own body and happiness, is being abrogated.

Announcement

2006-03-04T02:14:00.000-05:00

I'm taking Ion home for a spring break, so there (probably) won't be any posts from us for the next seven days or so.

Man denied medical attention because he was gay

2006-03-03T01:05:00.000-05:00

This like this are just hard to read.

Suit Alleges Man Died After Medical Attention Denied Because He Was Gay

A federal discrimination lawsuit was filed Thursday by the surviving family members of a man who died of a heart attack after the police chief allegedly prevented his friend from performing CPR.

The suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the family, says that Welch, W.Va. Chief of Police Robert K. Bowman physically blocked Billy Snead from performing CPR on Claude Green, Jr. after Green suffered a heart attack while driving with Snead last summer in their hometown of Welch.

According papers filed in court Thursday Snead had begun performing CPR by the side of the road when Bowman arrived and told Snead to stop because Green was HIV positive.

When Snead didn't stop the CPR, Bowman grabbed Snead by the shoulders and physically barred Snead from continuing CPR at a critical point in Green's resuscitation. Snead, who had not realized at first that Bowman was a police officer, obeyed his commands.

While Green fought to stay alive, Bowman prevented anyone else from aiding Green until EMS workers arrived approximately 10 minutes later.

While they were putting Green in the ambulance, Bowman informed EMS workers that Green was HIV positive.

Although the EMS workers ignored Bowman's warnings and performed CPR on Green, he passed away shortly after arriving at the hospital. He did not have HIV. The court papers said that Bowman based his assumption that Green was HIV+ because he knew Green was gay.

This is why having a homophobic president and goverment is so terrifying. Because they feed the fear that leads to actions like this.

Wow. God's will, huh?

2006-03-03T01:00:00.000-05:00

Need another reason not to eat at Dominoes (besides that greasy, cholesterol-filled pizza)?

I think I got one.

If Domino's Pizza founder Thomas S. Monaghan has his way, a new town being built in Florida will be governed according to strict Roman Catholic principles, with no place to get an abortion, pornography or birth control.

The pizza magnate is bankrolling the project with at least $250 million and calls it "God's will."

Am I the only one reminded of "Utopian" societies like those in The Giver or "The Matrix"? Just curious.

Heck of a Job, Brownie

2006-03-02T16:34:00.000-05:00

George W. Bush is a murderer.

Here's this nice video obtained by AP.

I cannot even begin to express how bad I feel about the shitstorm that came down on Michael "Pony Boy" Brown. I feel bad about joining in. Fooled by Rove again. Dammit.

But now, George Bush is a murderer. For sure. Officially. According to AP. A murderer.

Damn him.

Well. All right, Ohio!

2006-02-25T02:52:00.000-05:00

Ah, my homestate.

Bill Would Block Republicans From Adopting Children:

An Ohio Democrat is proposing legislation that would prevent Republicans from adopting children, a move aimed at embarrassing the GOP over moves to block gay adoptions.

State Sen. Robert Hagan (D-Youngstown) admits his bill is purely "tongue-in-cheek" but says that the message is anything but a joke.

In an email sent to fellow legislators, and obtained by Knight Ridder Newspapers, Hagan says he's looking for co-sponsors to "introduce legislation in the near future that would ban households with one or more Republican voters from adopting children or acting as foster parents."

Sometimes I DON'T hate my homestate!

Marriage is...

2006-02-21T11:50:00.000-05:00

So today I was checking LiveJournal. Like I do. And someone had posted to an icon community I watch for the show "One Tree Hill" with an icon that was pure text, defining, dictionary style, marriage as being between a man and a woman.

I was...kind of confused at first. One Tree Hill is, at least in my opinion, very queer friendly. More importantly, the icon had nothing to do wih the show. I just didn't want it on my friends page.

If the post were about the icon, or were in some kind of discussion community, or was from someone I knew I would reply with how much it bothered me. But this doesn't seem the context for that.

The thing is, I can't figure out if what the person did was wrong. I know it upset me, but it wasn't like the icon said that god hates fags. I feel like it was inappropriate to use that icon, but if it were an icon about how marriage is for everyone I know I wouldn't have reacted the same way. Both would hurt and offend people, both are irrelevant to the show, but one I agree with and one I find offensive, ignorant, and ugly in sentiment. I believe in freedom of expression, but well-

I just don't want that hate on my friends page. I don't know the correct course of acton here.

Fearing the mambo ... the horizontal mambo!

2006-02-21T02:36:00.000-05:00

Ion often reads Huffington Post, and she pointed this article out to me.

'Brokeback' & Abu Ghraib: What's our Problem with Gays?:

That day after I studied the Abu Ghraib images, I stumbled over gay sex again. This time, it was in a conversation with a Media Guru about the upcoming Academy Awards. He saw a ratings disaster. "After Jon Stewart's opening segment," he said, "everyone will change the channel."

"What makes you think so?"

"This country isn't going to show up to watch 'Brokeback Mountain' win a bunch of awards."

He's probably right. It doesn't matter that "Brokeback" has out-earned all of the Best Picture nominees. Or that Bill O'Reilly's prophesy --- "This movie does not do big box office outside the big cities. It won't. They're not going to go see the gay cowboys in Montana" --- has been proven wrong, not just in "liberal" Missoula and Helena but in hard-core Billings and other "Red" strongholds as well.

So here's my question: Why are so many Americans --- most of them living where there's no uncloseted homosexual for miles --- so full of fear and hate for gay men? (Gay women are another story; just ask any horny guy.) Why is gay sex unacceptable within our borders, but ideal to export to foreign torture chambers? Why, of all our urgent issues, is homosexuality right up there at the top?

I propose that many of our issues with gay men relates to our issues with sex. Period. But, anyway, this is a good article and I recommend it!

Now, seriously, go look at the history of sex. Start with Gayle Rubin's "Thinking Sex." People have some major problems with the horizontal mambo.

Great ruling, asses

2006-02-18T03:38:00.000-05:00

Say what?!

The court ruled in favor of a man in his forties, identified only as Marco T., who forced his 14-year old stepdaughter to have oral sex with him after she refused intercourse.

The man, who has been sentenced to three years and four months in jail, lodged an appeal arguing that the fact that his stepdaughter had had sex with men before should have been taken into consideration during his trial as a mitigating factor.

The supreme court agreed, saying that because of her previous sexual experiences, the victim's "personality, from a sexual point of view, is much more developed than what would be normally expected of a girl of her age".

"It is therefore fair to argue that (the damage for the victim) would be lower" if the abused girl was not a virgin, Italian news agencies quoted the court as saying.

This means the man could now be handed a lighter sentence.

On what insane planet does this make sense?!

Dems being anti-gay?

2006-02-16T20:48:00.000-05:00

Pam's House Blend is a really great blog I read. There's a great post up there now about the Democratic Party's recent not-so-positive approach to queers.

As she says,

Folks, we're seeing the official recloseting of the Democrats in terms of gay visibility and outreach. If you had any illusions that the 2006 iteration of the Democratic party isn't ready to throw gays under the bus (but take homo cash), here's convincing evidence to chew on.

It's a great post. Go read!

Blizzard apologizes

2006-02-16T20:44:00.000-05:00

Ha! Will you look at this?

A gay-rights uproar in the popular "World of Warcraft" online game has spurred the game's maker to review its treatment of gay players.

The game, which draws more than five million players worldwide, was hit by controversy last month after a player was threatened with expulsion from the virtual Warcraft world when she sought to recruit others into her gay-friendly team.

Blizzard Entertainment, the game's maker, apologized last week to the player, Sara Andrews of Nashville, Tenn. [link]

Well done, Blizzard!

FYI -
You wanna have some fun and study gender and queer theory in popular culture? Play some Battlenet. Those little boys can be naaasty!

Robinson seeking treatment

2006-02-15T00:13:00.000-05:00

The Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, has started treatment for alcoholism.

"I am writing to you from an alcohol treatment center where on February 1, with the encouragement and support of my partner, daughters and colleagues, I checked myself in to deal with my increasing dependence on alcohol," Robinson wrote in an e-mail to clergy Monday that was released Tuesday by the Diocese of New Hampshire.

Robinson's assistant, the Rev. Tim Rich, said Tuesday there was no crisis that led to Robinson's decision to seek treatment but rather a growing awareness of his problem.

In his letter, Robinson said he had been dealing with alcoholism for years and had considered it "as a failure of will or discipline on my part, rather than a disease over which my particular body simply has no control, except to stop drinking altogether." [link]

It takes a lot of courage for the man to do this, so I wish him the greatest of luck.

This is going to be spun like hell, huh?

Well, I'm glad Robinson's facing these issues. And I hope things work out well for him.

Willie Nelson loves gay cowboys

2006-02-14T21:59:00.000-05:00

Willie Nelson is apparently gay friendly!

Willie Nelson chose
Valentine's Day to release the gay-themed song "Cowboys Are Secretly, Frequently (Fond of Each Other)." The country music icon premiered the track Tuesday morning (February 14) on Howard Stern's Sirius Satellite Radio show as it was being made exclusively available via Apple's iTunes music store.

Nelson recorded the song, written in 1981 by songwriter Ned Sublette, last year at his home studio in Perdernales, Texas, around the time he first mentioned it during an appearance on Stern's former terrestrial radio show. The timing of the song's release coincides with a time when the idea of gay cowboys is being discussed throughout the media in response to the success of the Academy Award-nominated film "Brokeback Mountain."

Coincidentally, Nelson contributed the track "He Was a Friend of Mine" to the movie's Verve soundtrack, which peaked at No. 54 on the Billboard 200.

"The song's been in the closet for 20 years," Nelson said in a statement released to the Dallas Morning News. "The timing's right for it to come out. I'm just opening the door."

Adding to the track's poignancy is the fact that David Anderson, Nelson's longtime tour manager, revealed his homosexuality to Nelson two years ago.

"This song obviously has special meaning to me in more ways than one," Anderson told the Dallas Morning News. "I want people to know more than anything -- gay, straight, whatever -- just how cool Willie is and ... his way of thinking, his tolerance, everything about him." [link]

Ha ha! Excellent!

Huh. Howard Stern said something ... neat?

2006-02-12T03:55:00.000-05:00

Hell froze over.

Howard Stern, misogynistic creep that he is, liked 'Brokeback Mountain' and made a pretty neat comment about the movie:

One of the best films I ever saw. It's an incredibly moving movie. I wish that they would take this movie and force these assholes from the religious right, these perverts, these Taliban mother-f-ers, who want to sit there, and tell gay people they can't get married...It shows you how, when gays have to be closeted, how they ruin the lives of women, and families. Everyone goes through hell. I wish they'd force these religious right assholes who are so sanctimonious because they aren't gay. It is just outrageous. Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, they were both terrific in it. [link]

Still don't like the guy one bit, but the quote remain interesting.

Laura v Hillary

2006-02-11T20:33:00.000-05:00

Well, I think it's becoming pretty clear how they're going to approach Hillary's election journey in the next few years.

Clinton, the New York senator and a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, has called the Bush administration "one of the worst" in history. In the interview with ABC News, Mrs. Bush was asked if Clinton's comments were "just politics, fair game or out of bounds."

"Of course I think it's out of bounds," the first lady said. "But I think it's politics, it's certainly politics."

Bush pointed out that former Presidents Bush and Clinton and her husband are part of a unique club that also includes the wives.

"We know what it's like to live in that house. We certainly know what it's like to have your husband criticized," she said. "So I think there's a certain empathy that we might have for each other that we wouldn't have maybe for somebody else who said something like that."

This is going to become a really interesting study in gender. How much do you want to bet that? It's going to be really disgusting, and really interesting.

Sen. Clinton says Republicans use fear ... and the Pope is Catholic

2006-02-08T18:00:00.000-05:00

Paging Sen. Obvious ....

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday accused Republicans of "playing the fear card" of terrorism to win elections and said Democrats cannot keep quiet if they want to win in November. [link]

Ah, but I jest. I'm glad she's saying it; when that woman says something, people listen.

I often feel like I missed the boat on the Hillary Rodham Clinton Love Fest. Many young democrats adore her, but I was too young to appreciate her when she was the First Lady. (Am I showing my age, I ask with a coy smile). Also, my feelings for her were highly influenced by my parents back then, and lemme tell ya: Republicans do not like the woman. But this means I never got to form my own opinions about her, and of course it's not too late, but while I've reconciled myself with democrats like, say, Al Franken and Bill Clinton, I just never got around to Hillary for some reason.

I think I should fix that at some point, preferably before the 2008 election.

2006-02-08T02:35:00.000-05:00

I have a theory. I could wander around the internet trying to find evidence that backs me up, but there's a lot of porn in the way [side note for later discussion-how disturbing is it that if you enter the words teen and lesbian you get almost nothing but porn? How bad is that for questioning youth?] but right, this is clearly just an opinion.

Teen magazines are often scolded for encouraging young females to degrade themselves to men. However, this may have been true in the past, and in some articles, but it seems the majority of the contents of teen magazines are the opposite. For starters, there's the pictures. While often cited for damaging girls body images with unrealistic airbrushed girls who are almost all white and such, a valid point, there is something people miss. When I was 19 I got free subscriptions to two magazines-Stuff and YM. Proportionately speaking, I noticed YM had way more pictures of attractive girls, often in revealing clothing. While this clearly has negative effects on young girls ideas of themselves it's also doing something else. There will be one or two shots of cute boys, or boys in pictures with girls where the girl is usually the focus. Page after page off attractive females are being offered up. Any girl even a little attracted to girls is bound to notice one she likes. Plus, you know, if your pervy, go buy YM, and if you want humor go by Stuff.

Then there's the content. For every article on "Does he like me?" It seems there are several on why you need to stick by your [female] friends over a guy, implications you can be closer to girls than guys, and horror stories of boys pressuring girls into sex, raping girls, convincing them to try drugs etc. I'm not saying this an unrealistic representation of reality. As for the fashion content, that teaches girls to notice other girls physically more. It isn't really about attracting guys, because the average straight male does not care how "in" a girl's clothing is as long as she looks good in it.
It seems pretty clear magazines are turning young girls into lesbians!
Okay, no. Nothing "turns" someone gay. But I honestly do believe that these magazines are encouraging, probably totally unintentionally, a questioning, a background idea that girls are more attractive and better to be close to than guys. I'm not saying there are girls who would be straight if they hadn't poured over seventeen when they were young. But perhaps part of the seeming upswing in teen bisexuals stems from the fact that girls are coming in touch with attraction to girls through these magazines. Also, lesbians are hawt.

Tucker's thoughtful insights

2006-02-07T01:11:00.000-05:00

Found this one through a friend, again.

Gay-friendly posters put up in California school

The new sign teachers at a California high school are being forced to post in their classrooms a sign that says, “This is a safe place to be who you are. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,” whether they agree with that sign or not.

You know, I try to be patient with people. I really do. And I try to understand where they are coming from. And I understand that lots of people in the world have problems with homosexuality.

But it pisses me off that Carlson is attacking this school's attempt to give all students a place free of discrimination. His argument is:

Is that right? It‘s not a safe place for students whose belief systems specify that homosexuality is wrong. If I‘m an observant Muslim or a Mormon or an evangelical Christian and I think homosexuality is a sin, your classrooms aren‘t a safe place for me to express my beliefs, are they?

And I understand what he is saying, but it's incomprehensible to me that some student's opinions about homosexuality should be more important than the gay kid who wants to come to school and not be beat up or emotionally abused.

It's just mind-blowing to me.

CARLSON: OK. You‘ve said if I‘m a student who believes that homosexuality is wrong, and a lot of people believe do believe that. I‘m not anti-gay myself. A lot of people believe it‘s a sin. Are they allowed to say that in class or are they going to get slapped down for harassment? Can a student get up and say, “You know what? I think homosexuality is a sin. God frowns upon it. And I think it‘s totally wrong and ought to be banned in this country?” What‘s going to happen to that student? Is the classroom safe for him?

Why doesn't the man just say what he means? He means, "Fuck you, Queer!"

Although the superintendent of the San Leandro Unified School District, Christine Lim, did handle herself beautifully, so we can take thanks in that.

CARLSON: OK. But why wait now? I mean, if your point is that all students are protected, then why limit it to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender? I mean, you‘re putting the signs up because you‘ve received pressure from a political interest group, the gay and lesbian, transgender and bisexual lobby. I mean, why not take those words out and say anybody is free to express him or herself?

LIM: We have. We have posters that say that there‘s no harassment in our schools. However, we do have a sexual minority that is not allowed to express their opinions. We know that the teenage suicide is the highest among gay and lesbian students, and so we, under AB 537, including sexual orientation and gender equity in our fight for antidiscrimination.

Well done, lady.