Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender

Yeah! Bejata is back!

I first wrote about Bejata back in 2006 but Bernard is back from a blog hiatus, so it's time for an update.

Bernard has one of the most corageous, provocative yet heart-warming series written on any blog, Black Gay Men at Midlife.

If it is not easy being a gay black man in America, it can be twice as hard for those reaching middle age. Bernie with this series seeks to expose those stories but what he also does is to expose the misconceptions, hypocrisies and ageism that exist within the black gay community and use that opportunity to start a dialogue about "what's next".

Check out the whole series. Another favorite? His sports archives. You're going to have a hell of a blog ride.

Stonewall Democrats, along with an amazing coalition of gay advocacy organizations and bloggers, are asking people like you and me to support their petition. Their goal was to gather through their No Substitute site 3,000 signatures; and take them to Congress to show the support for an all inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Well .... they're up to 5100+ signatures.

Oh hell yeah.

SPONSORED POST

Discrimination isn't sweet. Congress has the chance to pass HR 2015, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would protect Americans from workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Now a substitute bill has been introduced as HR 3685, which would not stop discrimination based on gender identity. Removing gender identity from ENDA would leave an artificial aftertaste. Not only would the substitute bill leave some working Americans behind, it would also create divisions among Democrats and fair-minded advocates.

Please go to their website and sign the petition. They have about a week to go before delivering the signatures to Congres. Take a moment and email this post to your friends and ask them to do the same. I'd love to see that number go from 5 to 10k.

In West Virginia thre is a cohabitation law, which makes it a misdemeanor for unmarried people to "lewdly and lasciviously associate" and live together. This law is being challenged by a lawsuit, filed by the ACLU on behalf of an inmate whose parole was delayed because of his plan to cohabit with his fiance.

Well, I have lewdly and lasciviously associated and lived together with women before I was married. And enjoyed it very much, thank you. And I considered it none of the government's business that I did so. However, I always had the option of marrying who ever I wanted to lewdly and lasciviously associate with.

Since gays are not allowed the same right to marry eachother that I have, this cohabitation law seems to clearly discriminate against gays, preventing them from lewdly and lasciviously associating with eachother legally.

But really, the fundamental question here is what business is it of the government to care who lewdly and lasciviously associates with who? When will we get the governmemt out of our bedrooms? Oh, yeah. When we get rid of Republican control over our government.

An Open Letter to Dan Savage:

Dear Dan,

I have read "Savage Love" in the Village Voice for years, have also read the Seattle alternative weekly that you edit, The Stranger for a long time. I know you are an openly gay man, in a long-term relationship with Terry, and that the two of you are raising a child together.

You sex advice column has made me laugh, made me think, pissed me off (especially when you start going on about how you think cunnilingus is icky), but, in general, we've been on the same page about sex, reproductive rights, freedom for gays and lesbians to marry, and the whole "right to privacy" omnibus issue that is of utmost importance to me.

Which is why your column this week has left me flabbergasted.

You and your readers have contributed the term "santorum" to our lexicon, and I can no longer think about the senator who lives just to the south of my state as anything but the frothy mixture of fecal matter and lube that is sometimes the product of anal sex. Serves him right for being such a despicable human being. The Senate cannot get rid of Rick Santorum fast enough.

And now for some personal stuff. I've been lucky enough to be in love for five years, as improbable as that seems. And today, we're celebrating my better half's fiftieth. By custom, we also celebrate the anniversary of our meeting that same day, so it's a big deal in our little world.

Happy Birthday, honey. I love you.

Studies into the "causes of homosexuality" are extremely controversial. They should not be controversial because people don't like what they imply. Rejecting science because you don't like what it tells you is similar to believing in creationism. But, scientific studies of the sort that show a "cause" of a complex behavior are always suspect. Many have later been discredited or found to be flawed. But, as a scientist I do find it surprising how complex behavior DOES seem to be linked to physical aspects of our selves, including to brain structure and genetics.

Some studies claim that homosexual men have a tiny part of their brain that looks more like the equivalent brain region in women than the male version. This work was done quite some time ago and I know that back then people considered it suggestive but flawed.

More recently, studies have linked homosexuality to having older male siblings. On the one hand such studies are very hard to do well and should always be considered with skepticism. On the other hand, a more recent study not only confirms that correlation, but also suggests that the mechainism for it is in mom.

From BBC News:

I have never cared for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). On a superficial level, I really dislike their equal sign logo (modified above for me by Art Fag City) which is designed to be as un-gay as possible. I remember a queer American friend, who lives in Europe, visiting around the time of the NYC GOP convention in 2004. He had no idea what the little blue = stickers were that some protesters where wearing.

Allegedly a gay rights lobbying organization, it has become so entrenched in the DC lobbying mindset that it is not merely ineffectual, it is actually harmful to gay rights in America. I am no fan of Charles Schumer, given his vote for the Defense of Marriage Act. A Jewish New Yorker representing Park Slope making an anti-gay vote? Yeah, that'll get you the Christian Right vote. However, when the HRC endorsed Al D'Amato over Schumer in 1998, I was shocked.

Their newest outrage? They have endorsed Joseph Lieberman for the Senate, even before the primary. Thanks to his snuggling up to the GOP and Bush on matters ranging from the Iraq War to the PATRIOT Act, he actually stands a chance of losing the primary to Ned Lamont. Guess which of the two is more pro-gay? Lamont. Of course, the HRC always argues this about realpolitik, or about preserving access, but ultimately they are working against the interests of the people they supposedly represent.

A Tisket, A Tasket

A Condom or A Casket

This all came back to me last night, while watching the second part of the PBS Frontline special, "The Age of AIDS."

Shame kills. And watching the four hours of excellent television, I was reminded of that fact over and over again. If only someone in the Bush administration was willing to learn that lesson.
As part of the series, Frontline interviewed Noerine Kaleeba, whose husband, a Ugandan, died of AIDS. Mobilized by his death, and by the disaster that AIDS was creating in Uganda, Kaleeba founded TASO, an organization that seeks to educate and bring hope to those afflicted.

Uganda created an "ABC" program: Abstain, Be faithful, or Wear a Condom. As Kaleeba explains:

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is an orthodox (modern) Rabbi who has a new show on The Learning Channel called “Shalom in the Home”. It is a cute show where, inspired by his own childhood loneliness due to his parents’ divorce, he travels around the country trying to help families find “Shalom” (peace).

My wife and I have watched a few shows and find it endearing and a cut above the average voyeur show. Reb Boteach is compassionate and insightful and is able to cut through bullshit without angering the people he is counseling.

Last night’s show the Rabbi dove wholeheartedly and intentionally into controversy raising the quality of his show from “cute and endearing” to pretty damned cool.

What we had was an orthodox Rabbi counseling a lesbian couple on how to raise their two daughters in what looked like Park Slope Brooklyn. Rabbi Boteach used this as an opportunity to COMPLETELY demolish the morality of religious attacks on homosexuality.

He came right out and said that they knew this show would be controversial and that was one reason why they wanted to show it. They even had an unusual segment where the crew and the lesbian couple discussed whether the show should even air of if it might be misinterpreted as criticism of the ability of a lesbian couple to raise children. Again, the Rabbi made the point that the message is the exact opposite—that he is helping one of the most compassionate, deep and caring families he has known.

Published by Kortney Ryan Ziegler, M.A. : My reasons for blogging are many, but most important, I blog to improve my writing, to connect with other bloggers of color, and to provide a space where my research has an audience outside of academia.

Black. Gay. Father. Vegetarian. Buddhist. Liberal.

J.A.S. Collin de Plancy. Dictionnaire Infernal. Paris : E. Plon, 1863. Page 71.

Potential new freedoms often first become visible in practices within the ruling group itself. Since existing prohibitions are imposed by this group, its members are the first to violate those prohibitions when it suits them. That is one of the few freedoms reserved to a group whose relationship to other people is inherently perverse; it is marked by dominance just as are gender relations within the ruling group itself. Any freedoms appropriated by the ruling group must necessarily become perverse—to that extent, at least, its members remain human.

(Theweleit, op cit)

I know I'm supposed to be happy that the New York Times finally noticed that the Republicrats are not just against abortion, they actually hate sex, but the happiness is bittersweet. I feel like the crackpot who's been marching around the public square with the big sign that says, "The End is Near." And now, the fucking world is caving in and I'm proven right.

Or maybe I'm just taking myself way too damn seriously.

The Concerned Women for America blog continues with its hate-filled agenda, and has chosen a school district near you for its latest campaign of compassionate extermination.

The CWFA is distributing, through its web site, a “Risk Audit Plan,

Associated Press

NEW YORK - Girl power on Broadway.

A musical version of "Legally Blonde," based on the hit movie starring Reese Witherspoon and the novel by Amanda Brown, will open on Broadway in April 2007.
. . . the show will mark the Broadway directorial debut of Jerry Mitchell, who won a 2005 Tony Award for his choreography for the revival of "La Cage aux Folles."

"I love the story," Mitchell said Tuesday of his new project. "It's so positive, especially for young girls to believe in themselves. And it's fun to root for a leading character you care about."

Mitchell, who also created the dances for "Hairspray" and "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," also will do the choreography for "Legally Blonde."

The show will open April 26, 2007, at a Broadway theater to be announced. Preview performances begin March 30. San Francisco will see the musical first, with a five-week engagement at the Orpheum Theatre beginning in late January.

The new Carnival of the Feminists is up at I See Invisible People. Go stroll the Midway, ride the roller coaster, eat some cotton candy. You'll feel smarter by the time you're done, I swear.

If you have not heard about it yet, YearlyKos is the first convention being put together by people from within the DailyKosphere. As I have come in and I out of that megablog for years now, I decided to put my part. I donated tech advice as well as the original design (it has changed since then) to the site developed by my partner in tech, Lynn Siprelle.

YearlyKos got off to a bumpy start way before I was asked by some friends in the tech community to help develop this site. It seems though their not paving but bumping the way to Vegas not by the choices of panels or people but their omissions.

I am confused because the Advisory Board is not a shabby bunch at all. My blogsister, Maryscott O'Connor is there along with my favorite blogup performer, Bill in Portland; my partner in linguistic lust Jeffrey Feldman; my honorary 'rican but very Cuban Armando; and an amazing list of notables.

Am I missing something? Have the site not been updated with the latest developments? Because the line-up of panels would not indicate these are the people behind building the agenda at all. Take a look [via YearlyKos Convention News & Details | yearly kos]:

Photo credit: MARIOS PAPADAKIS / AP

Certain Christian groups love to argue that there's been a war declared against them. As soon as they start whining, people trip over themselves to declare that no, there's no war on Christians. We're a religiously tolerant people.

But, I want to go on record saying that I have declared war on fuckwads such as Vision America. Toleration only goes so far. But when you start hurting my friends--gays, lesbians, straight women, children, immigrants, the poor, essentially anyone who doesn't cleave to your narrow-minded, bigoted vision of what life is supposed to be--you can go to fucking hell. So bring it on, brotherfuckers.

My beef is with fundamentalists of all stripes. I don't care if you're Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, or Martian, if one of the central tenets of your religion is that you're right and everyone else is wrong, and therefore your enemy, well, I am not willing to engage in anything approaching respectful dialogue with you. Believe me, I've tried, and it's like trying to teach a pig to sing. And we all know what the end result of that is.

I'm operating on an understanding of fundamentalism that is drawn from my experiences as an historian, a journalist, and as a citizen of the world. For manageable purposes, I'm providing a definition of religious fundamentalism that looks something like this:

A Fundamental Definition of Fundamentalism:

When I read on AmericaBlog that there's a new controversy surrounding the right-wing hate group Exodus International, my initial response was simply "You repressed, self-hating queens should really just go out and finally get laid". I think that's a normal reaction to the activities of an "ex-gay" group. Their basic premise is that if you love Jesus more than you love Brad Pitt, you can indeed turn hetero; this despite a centuries-long experiment to the contrary known colloquially as 'the catholic clergy'.

Well, Exodus is now renting billboards to spread their message.

Hilariously, this billboard was parodied by a blogger. Whereupon Exodus, I shit you not, sent the guy a cease and desist. Here's the parody billboard:

It's one thing to be, privately, a self-loathing and unhappy human being. It's another to invite others into the miseries inherent in your debased and sick 'lifestyle'. I think this calls for an intervention; we must talk to the folks at Exodus and get them to repent. Here's my idea for a billboard:

All over the country, people are trapped in a perverted way of life that leads to sexual abuse of children, filth flowing from our televisions into our homes, polygamy, the traumatizing of the young with torture scenes, anti-semitism, and many other evils besides. Is it not time to step up to the plate, root out this perversion, and help groups that seek to rescue people from such lifestyle choices?

Mushrooms grow in bullshit. Patriarchy grows in bad analysis posing as scholarly analysis in Foreign Policy. Really. Who writes this stuff?

In The Geopolitics of Sexual Frustration, Martin Walker offers information about the imbalances between male and female birthrates in Asian countries.

Mother Nature’s usual preference for about 105 males to 100 females has grown to around 120 male births for every 100 female births in China. The imbalance is even higher in some locales—136 males to 100 females on the island of Hainan, an increasingly prosperous tourist resort, and 135 males to 100 females in central China’s Hubei Province. Similar patterns can be found in Taiwan, with 119 boys to 100 girls; Singapore, 118 boys to 100 girls; South Korea, 112 boys to 100 girls; and parts of India, 120 boys to 100 girls.

(This is the kind of information, by the way, that puts the whole notion that women are equal on a par with the report of WMD in Iraq. We're so equal that prospective parents abort us at higher numbers because they don't want to bring up girls. Feel equal yet? )

Most of the women I know are full of rage at this moment. We fucking screamed that if he got re-elected, women were going to pay for that election with their bodies. We yelled at our fellow leftists that the right to privacy was important enough to go to the mat for, but we were told to shut our fucking pie-holes because there were more important issues to get worked up about. And now, well, now we have two more anti-choice asswipes on SCOTUS, and states are lining up to gang-rape Roe v Wade. South Dakota got its dick out first, but apparently, other states like Tennessee and Missouri don’t mind sloppy seconds.
As an expression of that rage and disbelief, it’s been floated that it's time for the Lysistrata option. That is, since women cannot be trusted to make a choice, our choice should be:

This is not going to make me popular among anybody in the transgender community but, if it weren't for the fact that Lilly is ... well ... ahem ... fuggly, I honestly think she would not be looked as a threat by the wigged out parents.

I mean it, seriously. Would the parents be complaining if the teacher looked like any of the transgendered girls of the Korean pop band Lady?