American Values Alliance | Practical voice for progressive valuesAmerican Values Alliance | Practical voice for progressive valuesInspired by Bil's recent post, Michael Moore's movie Sicko, and the fact that tomorrow is Independence Day, I thought I'd say a few words about the state of our 231-year-old democracy.
Continue reading "On our 231st birthday"...
Boston Legal is one of the best shows on television. Last year they had an episode featuring ex-gays that made Alan Shore climb up on his soapbox.
As I was writing this column, Cindy Sheehan quit the peace movement. Sheehan said she'd realized that her son "died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives." Her bitter words echo other voices coming from Puerto Rico, where another war has been raging for over ten years - that of needy PWA's fighting bureaucratic ineptitude and corruption. Yet the mainland pays little attention - despite efforts at publicizing the war by veteran activists Jose Colon and Anselmo Fonseca.
In a recent IM interview with me, Colon said, "The situation regarding HIV/AIDS in PR is in a deep crisis, both in Title I and II. I feel like we are expensive for the government, and as such, disposable... I have found that neither the Health Department of Puerto Rico, nor the Health Department of the San Juan EMA, nor HRSA care for PLWHIV/AIDS at all. It just comes down to money and dirty politics." Recently Colon made the dramatic announcement that he was stopping his own HIV treatment as a protest and to show solidarity with Puerto Rican PWAs who are being denied treatment.
Continue reading "Puerto Rican AIDS Crisis"...
Today, the Indianapolis Star writes about Jeanne Atkins, devout Catholic, cheesecake producer, and mother of gay stroke victim Patrick Atkins. Except that the Star left out that last bit. The entire article is about a (blessedly, optional) prayer group she's instituted at her factory. (Note to the Star: This is newsworthy?)
Yes, the same woman who told her son's partner that she'd rather see her son die than return to him tells the Star that "Prayer is my strength." And the comments are letting her off scott free. Just sayin'.
Thanks to Resisting Inertia for the tip.
Ellen posted yesterday about that guy suing the state bar association and individual justices on the Massachusetts Supreme Court for having to acknowledge that same-sex marriage is part of Massachusetts law. Well, someone on the internet thinks they know the question. I have nothing reputable to back this up, but I thought I'd pass it along (h/t Jeremy):
Mary and Jane, both attorneys, were married two years ago in Massachusetts. The day before their marriage, Mary and Jane each fully disclosed their assets to the other and signed an antenuptial agreement (the "Agreement") in which each of them agreed that if they were ever divorced (i) they would divide any joint marital property evenly, (ii) they would not seek or accept any property that the other brought into the marriage, and (iii) they would not seek or accept child support or alimony from the other. The Agreement was drafted and reviewed by an attorney representing Jane. Mary did not hire an attorney to review the Agreement as she "trusted Jane."
Continue reading "That Mass. bar exam question"...
What's with editors of queer magazines nowadays?
Just after we found out that Venus magazine editor-in-chief Charlene Cothran ex-gayed herself (not resulting in attraction to men, mind you, but a self-described celibacy), WorldNetDaily says it has the inside scoop on former GYA and XY editor Michael Glatze turning his back on what he describes the "easy" gay life and turning towards the "normal", "natural", and "non-lustful" heterosexual lifestyle.
All I can promise you is that yours truly isn't entertaining any thoughts of following in their footsteps. Well, except when I realize how much money they make on books, speaking engagements, and CD's. Let's face it, this "living honestly" thing doesn't pay in cash.
Continue reading "Michael Glatze, ex-gay"...
I realize that posts from me on LGBTQ topics have gone south for the past few days - and it'll probably be that way for most of this week. But with entries from Alex, Mattilda, Jessica Hoffmann, Marti Abernathey, and Mike Rogers yesterday, who needed me?! Plus, today we already have a new Ask Michele column, another installment of What The Buck?!, today's Homotextual and a new Town Called Dobson strip. (It's kind of humorous... Now that we've moved the regular features out of the blog column, suddenly I can't count on those to fill up some space!)
So what can you look forward to the rest of this week? All kinds of cool stuff! First off, we'll be running a contest on Thursday for an autographed Margaret Cho poster and a free t-shirt from our advertiser SLINC. Be sure to visit their store and click around to see which one you'll pick if you win! (Or buy if you don't! *grins*) The poster was donated for our re-launch by here! networks TV. They've also donated some larger prizes for next week's official grand opening.
Continue reading "Looking forward"...
Happy 3rd of July, Bilerico friends! This episode has a lot of dirt on some of my favorites! You can see my other shows on The Bilerico Project here. Love, Buck
Continue reading "Happy 40th Birthday Lindsay Lohan!"...
How do you know when enough is enough? I'm in love with a man who honestly disappoints me consistently with his lack of follow through and honesty. When reciprocity is gone, is there any real hope?
-- loving and losing
Continue reading "Loving and Losing"...
"'Ugly' is irrelevant. It is an immeasurable insult to a woman, and then supposedly the worst crime you can commit as a woman. But ugly, as beautiful, is an illusion."
-- Comedian Margaret Cho
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When a friend of mine mentioned that Medea Benjamin, cofounder of Global Exchange and CODEPINK: Women for Peace (or Global Trade-Off and Code Pinkerton, as someone posts on San Diego IndyMedia), got a pie smashed in her face at the US Social Forum in Atlanta on Saturday, my first thought was: what a brilliant target! When I read the statement of Bakers Without Borders and Co-Optation Watch, the group(s) responsible for the action, I got even more excited.
Continue reading "Thoughts on the pieing of Medea Benjamin"...
First off... Congrats to the Bilerico family. The new site is already generating buzz and I'm honored you've asked me to be a part of it.
And here's some interesting news...
Remember Robert Traynham?
Two years ago this month I reported on his being a closeted gay man working for Rick Santorum. The Philadelphia Inquirer picked up my story and ran it on Page 2. Of course, I awarded Traynham a BlogActive Roy Cohn Award. After all, he worked for a guy who claimed gays and lesbians making love was akin to a man having sex with a dog.
Continue reading "Happy Anniversary...He's baaaaaaaack!"...
I can see the light streaming in through the edges of my eye mask it's some impossible time in the morning I'm trying every trick I know to get back into that dark softness -- humming on exhale to enlarge my breathing, poking the tips of my fingers to relax my brain, anal sphincter exercises because sometimes that brings enough of a calming rush to my head, turning on my side to hug the body pillow. But then I'm wired, the worst kind of wired where my brain won't stop I'm planning out three essays at once -- one on censorship and self-censorship, one on contested boundaries in queer and trans subcultures, one on why my brain won't stop I have to get my brain to stop there's nothing helpful about planning essays out in bed when I really need to be sleeping. Maybe if I could make a carbon copy of my brain and look at it in the morning, otherwise everything gets stored differently and by the time I actually have time to write my brain no longer works.
This is the danger zone, where I might not fall back asleep and if I don't fall back asleep then I can't function at all, my body dried out my mind torn up my digestion destroyed it's like the difference between falling and collapse: I can still do something when I'm falling, choreograph and cushion the end results. But if I don't fall back asleep then it's over, now what's happening is that I almost get there I'm kind of dreaming but then I get too hot so I have to turn to the other side and then I'm awake again.
"How does heteropatriarchy keep white supremacy and colonialism in place? How does the heterosexual family serve as the building block of empire?"
That's how INCITE!'s Andrea Smith opened Saturday night's plenary on "Liberating Gender and Sexuality" at the US Social Forum. From there, she raced through an argument linking U.S. colonizers' implementation of patriarchy in indigenous communities as "the first task" of the Native American genocide, the tendency of mainstream organizers against violence against women to turn women over from the patriarchal family to the patriarchal state, and much more (as the sign-language interpreters moved with wild-fast grace to keep up with her).
The panel was fiercely critical and visionary all the way through, as Mia Mingus incisively linked struggles for queer liberation with struggles against ableism (ableism set the stage for communities of color to be deemed enslavable, for queer desires to be pathologized); Loretta Ross insisted that "everyone who's having sex needs to be a feminist"; and Imani Henry railed against the incarceration of the Jersey 4 -- a group of black lesbians currently in jail for the "hate crime" of defending themselves against a sexist and homophobic assault by a white man.
Keep an eye on media.ussf2007.org for audio or video footage of the whole thing.
In my search for the latest in transgender news, sometimes I come across an unexpected gem. Yesterday I came across this post entitled "We Must Reclaim American Values!" In the post was a photograph of a young man with a gay pride flag around his shoulders and the words "Captain Gay" scrawled on his chest. From the post:
"I must tell you, I wouldn't be responsible for my actions if I were to witness this crap first hand. Frankly, I would probably be thrown in jail. People do not have the right to offend me to this degree, and I don't give a tinker's damn whether or not they think they do because of their so-called freedom of speech! You wave a sign like that in front of my face and by all that's holy, you will get what you ask for! Your normally mild-mannered Dragon Lady is pissed, dear readers!"Continue reading "Shirtless Jesus Superhero!"...
From CNN:
President Bush has commuted the prison term of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, facing 30 months in prison after a federal court convicted him of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators.
Earlier Monday, a federal appeals court unanimously ruled that Libby could not delay his sentence.
The charges relate to the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.
Bush released a statement that said that the sentence handed down on Libby of two and a half years was excessive. This is coming from the man known for frying as many people as he could when he was governor of Texas. But never underestimate the ability for all "values" and "tough on crime" and "national security" rhetoric to fly out the window if it hits too close to someone in power.
Continue reading "There is no justice in this world"...
It looks like the roast beefs have their own version of Fred Phelps:
The floods that have devastated swathes of the country are God's judgment on the immorality and greed of modern society, according to senior Church of England bishops.
The Bishop said pro-gay laws were to blame for the floods
One diocesan bishop has even claimed that laws that have undermined marriage, including the introduction of pro-gay legislation, have provoked God to act by sending the storms that have left thousands of people homeless.[...]
The Rt Rev Graham Dow, Bishop of Carlisle, argued that the floods are not just a result of a lack of respect for the planet, but also a judgment on society's moral decadence.
Continue reading "Bishop says gays cause flooding"...
The Pew Research Center has come out with a new study on what Americans think is important to a "successful" marriage. The number one and two items, fidelity and a good sexual relationship respectively, haven't changed much since 1990. The two biggest movers in this survey, though, give us something to think about when we wonder what exactly do Americans think make a good marriage.
There was a 15% increase in the number of Americans saying that sharing household chores was key and a 22% decrease in number saying that children were very important to a successful marriage, making it drop to less than half the population. Indeed, with the more modestly rising "Good housing" and "Adequate income", with nine and seven percent increases respectively, it's beginning to seem like Americans are looking at marriage differently.
Continue reading "What makes a good marriage?"...
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