Losing Sara
In the Times’ “Booming” series, a famous concert pianist writes about her transition – being forced to fly to Thailand for the surgery she needed (and having that surgery botched), seeing her career opportunities dry up, facing legal housing discrimination. A move to Canada opens up more opportunities, but her home country — the United States — rejects her, then shifts a bit, but still doesn’t open its arms. And she’s “lucky” — she’s educated and talented and class-privileged. Her life isn’t tragic; she’s fine, and talented, and married to the woman she loves. But because her existence troubles some people, she can’t get gigs, can’t get an apartment, can’t get a job. So we lose her to other places that are more open. We lose trans women and men in worse ways — to violence, to hiding, to death. And for what, exactly?
...read moreThe purpose of marriage is to create unplanned and unintended offspring
That is actually an argument being made by anti-same-sex-marriage litigators. To the Supreme Court of the United States. This is not a joke. Someone give this guy a raise, because this is creative:
...read moreGeneration Fight / Identity Fight
I’m glad to see queer youth getting some love / representation in this New York Times article. But like so many pieces on youth social justice movements, the article positions young LGBTQIA folks as “post-gay” and somehow at odds with older generations, which doesn’t actually seem to be true in the real world.
I’m glad to see that a diversity of sexual identities are being recognized. But I also worry about the intense focus on identity, and what that means for social justice movements.
...read moreThe Pope and Killing Gay People
The Pope met with one of the leaders of the “Kill the Gays” bill in Uganda, and reportedly gave her a blessing. I write about it in the Guardian, and discuss how the Catholic church uses sexuality to control its followers when it feels its power is threatened:
...read moreComparing homosexuality to murder is not necessary but is effective, says Scalia.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia explained to a crowd at Princeton University that drawing parallels between consensual sex and murdering a person or sexually assaulting an animal is “effective” as a rhetorical device, because they’re all just questions of morality.
...read moreHomophobia is bad, says the AP. (Don’t get excited — it’s not what you think.)
The newest edition of the Associated Press Stylebook, a widely used reference for journalists, online now and due to hit the shelves next year, will specifically exclude words including “homophobia” and all other “-phobia” constructions. The online Stylebook defines the suffix “-phobia” as “an irrational, uncontrollable fear, often a form of mental illness” that should not be used “in political or social contexts.” Says AP Deputy Standards Editor Dave Minthorn, homophobia is “just off the mark. It’s ascribing a mental disability to someone, and suggests a knowledge that we don’t have. It seems inaccurate. … We want to be precise and accurate and neutral in our phrasing.”
...read moreTransgender Day of Remembrance
Yesterday* was Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to remember and memorialize those who have been killed because of transphobia, and to bring attention to the damage transphobia does to trans and gender-nonconforming people. You can find events and information here.
Transphobia kills. Here are just some of the people who we’re memorializing this year.
...read morePrudie takes on gender transition
And it’s… not great but also not the worst worst? Definitely not GOOD, but also understandable. Unless I am way off base. Am I way off base?
...read moreDOMA ruled unconstitutional by the 2nd Circuit
Big news: The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional. You can download the opinion at Above the Law. A few notable things: First, the opinion is written by Jacobs, a very conservative justice. Second, the court evaluates DOMA using intermediate scrutiny, which is really important. Explainer below, for the non-lawyers (or non-legal-nerds) in the audience. From the opinion:
...read moreSame-Sex Marriage Support Up Among Basically Everyone
Republicans have been trying to use same-sex marriage as a wedge issue to secure more votes from Latino Americans — a group that the GOP has actively marginalized because of the GOP’s general racism and anti-immigrant policies — assuming that Latinos tend to be more religious and socially conservative than many other voting blocs. Well, whoops: It turns out that more than half of Latino voters support marriage equality. Sorry Republicans, but you’re on the losing end of the electorate (and history) on this one.
...read moreWhy Breastfeeding Is A Feminist Issue
What’s going so wrong with the breastfeeding and formula-feeding conversation? Start with the rampant individualism. Conversations about how you feed your baby tend to be preoccupied with women’s choices and decisions.. and then, blame. You know the conversation has little feminist value when you end up at a point where some poor, exhausted woman is [...]
...read moreThis is Wrong. Breastfeeding Support Groups Should Not Exclude Transgendered Breastfeeding Dads
As someone who has pretty much worked in bureaucracies her whole career I’m fairly patient with protocols and administrative processes, but every now and then I see people stumbling around in ‘red tape’ that has ceased to fulfill a purpose and which is now actively working against the original ideas behind the system, and it [...]
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