Media: January 2010
On Being Late, Or, 2009: The Year In Random
Filed by Don Davis | January 30, 2010 12:00 PM |It's been just about a month since I did any serious writing, and we're now getting back to the grindstone. Before we get into a big batch of "we have to learn about the brain" stories (and in an effort...Read More
Notre Dame Students Protest for Gay Rights (& How You Can Help)
Filed by Waymon Hudson | January 29, 2010 2:00 PM |The unrest and fall-out over the publication of a pro gay-bashing cartoon in the school newspaper continues at Notre Dame. On Wednesday, hundreds of students marched through the campus to deliver a letter to University President Father John Jenkins. The...Read More
Maggie Gallagher: Hate wins
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 29, 2010 1:00 PM |The other day I posted about the terrible witnesses for the defense (homophobes) in the Prop 8 trial. They brought two experts - a professor and a conservative org president - who did not appear to be familiar with the...Read More
iPad, Menses, and Sexism. Oh My!
Filed by Jason Tseng | January 29, 2010 9:30 AM |I'll readily admit that I am an enthusiastic Apple acolyte-- however to be fair, I'm also equally enthusiastic and evangelical about all those nifty Google web applications. So, like the masses of gadget geeks across the nation, I waited with...Read More
Building Blocks
Filed by Antonia D'orsay | January 28, 2010 3:00 PM |A bit over a year ago, I had a phone conversation with Bil Browning. At the time, I was a frequent commenter and there was some stupid thing going on that had us riled up (myself included) and by fortunate...Read More
The queers go to South By South West 2010
Filed by Bil Browning | January 27, 2010 12:00 PM |The annual South By South West conference and festival in Austin, Texas, is one of the most popular festivals in the nation. It combines film, music and the internet into a sort of interactive geek fest, film festival and rock...Read More
What ex 'ex-gay' ministers say about Exodus
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | January 27, 2010 11:30 AM |This video, taped almost 3 years ago, needs to be spread around and around and around some more....Read More
What about the rest of us?
Filed by Sean Kosofsky | January 26, 2010 2:30 PM |This post may make me unpopular, but it needs to be written. Right now our movement is caught up in the daily drama of the very important federal lawsuit to strike down Prop 8 in California. Don't get me wrong,...Read More
How did the "Lady Gaga is a hermaphrodite/has a penis" rumor start?
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 25, 2010 4:30 PM |Bil forwarded me a Gawker post with this message: Feel like taking on Gawker for always saying Lady Gaga has a penis? I've never been sure if all that "Lady Gaga is a hermaphrodite/transgender woman/intersex" is "true" or where it...Read More
Five Things To Think About
Filed by Antonia D'orsay | January 25, 2010 2:30 PM |1. Does President Obama seem to be generally more supportive of Trans folk than he seems to be of GLB folk? 2. If corporations can spend money on elections, then that means that LGBT folks can form corporations (which are...Read More
Have a straight crush? Try slipping him some soy milk
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 25, 2010 12:30 PM |Here's an odd story to start the week. Paul Richards, the CEO of a chain of gyms in New Zealand, wrote an article for the gym's newsletter saying soy milk turns you gay. He's apologized: Richards says he did not...Read More
Oh oh Giorgio
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | January 25, 2010 11:30 AM |Another reason to love Armani.... via Giorgio Armani's new collection on yahoo news...Read More
Jesse's Journal: Gay Pulp Fiction
Filed by Jesse Monteagudo | January 24, 2010 10:00 AM |One of the most important gay books of the 20th century was Richard Amory's Song of the Loon: A Gay Pastoral in Five Books and an Interlude (Greenleaf Classics). While of doubtful literary value, Song of the Loon made gay...Read More
May the best mouse win (Go Mickey)
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | January 23, 2010 12:00 PM |File this under Theater of the Sexually Absurd: the prayerful cranks at Exodus have made up their own version of PFLAG. They're using this alleged "PFOX" group to pull a PR stunt: claiming that Disney's gay-friendly policies discriminate against so-called...Read More
The death of Air America
Filed by Bil Browning | January 22, 2010 1:00 PM |Air America Radio went dark unexpectedly yesterday afternoon. The struggling media enterprise announced it was filing for bankruptcy and letting go their entire workforce. The progressive radio network launched the career of lesbian MSNBC host Rachel Maddow and also featured...Read More
Pat Robertson's Theodicy on Haiti
Filed by Rev Irene Monroe | January 21, 2010 7:30 PM |Religion-based bigotry has been the main-stay of Rev. Pat Robertson's bully pulpit. And he mounts this pulpit as an uber-God, possessed with an inherent omniscience in knowing not only the mundane and wicked thoughts and actions of man but also...Read More
More Queer/Trans Maine Activists Speaking Out Against Equality
Filed by R Conrad | January 21, 2010 3:30 PM |More and more queer and trans activists in Maine are finally speaking out against the parasitic campaign for gay marriage here in the pine tree state. During the last election in November 2009 any dissent around the issue, particularly why...Read More
As Haiti crumbles, the US sends in troops -- get ready for a long occupation!
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | January 21, 2010 1:30 PM |I'm standing in line at Walgreens and some white guy is yelling at one of the cashiers, a Latina woman, about Haiti, spouting racist corporate media lies about how Haitians are corrupt, they steal from their own people, they can't...Read More
Web ads against prison rape
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 21, 2010 12:30 PM |Just Detention International is a group that works to stop sexual assault in prisons. This problem affects gay and transgender inmates more than straight and cis ones, and results in the spread of HIV and other STD's as most prisons...Read More
Cindy McCain, Wife of Sen. John McCain, Poses for NOH8 Campaign
Filed by Waymon Hudson | January 21, 2010 9:30 AM |Update on John McCain's Reaction, after the jump. Cindy McCain, wife of former GOP Presidential Candidate John McCain, has posed for the NOH8 Campaign, the project from photographer Adam Bouska that was started as a response to California passing Prop...Read More
Streetwise: Keeping Kids Off the Streets
Filed by Guest Blogger | January 19, 2010 3:30 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Justin Early grew up on the streets of Seattle, is the author of "StreetChild: An Unpaved Passage" and was featured in the documentary "STREETWISE", which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1984. He lives in...Read More
The Devil versus the Democrats
Filed by Guest Blogger | January 18, 2010 3:30 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger J. Todd (Tif) Fernandez is a volunteer activist with a Masters of Law in Human Rights from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and a JD and BA from Boston University. With a past career in...Read More
Trans man banned from Facebook is back
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 18, 2010 2:30 PM |The transman who was first kicked off Facebook for uploading a picture of himself without a shirt, and then had his account reinstated but was told not to upload the offending picture again, has been told he can upload the...Read More
Fun with Pat Robertson: Voodoo dolls and press statements
Filed by Bil Browning | January 18, 2010 1:30 PM |After Pat Robertson said that Haiti's earthquake was caused by a deal with the Devil, conservatives and liberals alike condemned the asshat televangelist. Even the Haitian ambassador responded to Robertson's idiocy. Now you can buy a voodoo doll of Robertson...Read More
A Problem and a Proposal
Filed by D Gregory Smith | January 17, 2010 2:30 PM |"Why can't they just let me have this? Why does it have to be such a fight?" These words came from the mouth of one bisexual client, but they have been echoed by almost every bisexual client I've ever had-...Read More
Sunday Funnies: The Daily Show Smacks Down Marriage Equality Opponents
Filed by Waymon Hudson | January 17, 2010 1:00 PM |Jon Stewart and the good folks at the Daily Show have been on a real tear against equality opponents lately. Here are a couple of great clips from this week's shows. Dreaded Bliss Wyatt Cenac talks to a ragtag group...Read More
DC's Murderous Anti-Prostitution Policy
Filed by Terrance Heath | January 17, 2010 11:30 AM |Apparently all you need to do to be arrested for prostitution in D.C. is carry three or more condoms. Sign the petition. Tell D.C., San Francisco and New York: Condoms Aren't a Crime!Seriously. Think you might get lucky tonight? Well,...Read More
Notre Dame Newspaper Issues Weak "Apology" Over Gay Bashing Cartoon
Filed by Waymon Hudson | January 16, 2010 1:00 PM |Update: Apologies from the cartoonist & the University President in the Comment section. Also in the comments: more fallout- Assistant Managing Editor resigns & cartoonists fired. In what has to be one of the most weak, pseudo apologies I've seen...Read More
Facebook will assign you a gender, and you'll like it!
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 15, 2010 3:00 PM |A Canadian trans man found in December that his Facebook account had been disabled because the admin found that he uploaded a photo of himself shirtless. He said he put it up because he was "proud of my new chest,...Read More
Wow. Apparently Gay Bashing is Funny at Notre Dame
Filed by Waymon Hudson | January 15, 2010 1:30 PM |What a load of anti-LGBT crap. This gem of a comic strip got the full print treatment in the Notre Dame Student Paper, The Observer: Character 1: "What's the easiest way to turn a fruit into a vegetable?" Character 2:...Read More
Transphobia In Mainstream Media: Are The Right-Wingers The Real Problem?
Filed by Rebecca Juro | January 14, 2010 6:30 PM |It seems like all too often when you tune your radio or television to mainstream news and talk shows these days, there's good reason to be at minimum pretty annoyed, and sometimes even genuinely pissed off and angry if you're...Read More
Stay closeted to win Idol for yourself, lose equality for all
Filed by Phil Reese | January 14, 2010 3:30 PM |Former American Idol contestant Kat McPhee thinks gays and lesbians on Idol should stay in the closet so they can get farther on the show--and she's right. Gays and lesbians aren't likely to go as far as someone who looks...Read More
GLAAD Announces Nominees, Special Honorees for 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards
Filed by Father Tony | January 14, 2010 2:30 PM |The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has announced its latest batch of English language and Spanish language award nominees. Yesterday, GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios called me to make his regularly scheduled confession. When it became obvious that he had...Read More
Erasing Marriage
Filed by Antonia D'orsay | January 14, 2010 1:30 PM |I'm in the process of writing the last of my articles in my series on foundational stuff, but I'm not quite finished. In the interim, I'm going to talk about other stuff. In this case, the trial regarding marriage equality...Read More
Sarah Palin's debut on FOX News
Filed by Bil Browning | January 13, 2010 4:30 PM |Presented without commentary (because I'm sure y'all will have plenty to say about this...): Sarah Palin's debut on FOX News....Read More
Olson and Boies Talk Prop 8 on Maddow
Filed by Waymon Hudson | January 13, 2010 3:30 PM |Last night on the Rachel Maddow Show, Ted Olson and David Boies came on to talk about the Prop 8 trial. This is just the latest stop in what has been a full-on media blitz from the pro-equality side. It's...Read More
Oprah's website names gay men one of the top self-esteem boosters for women
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 13, 2010 2:30 PM |There's an article up over on Oprah's website: 11 Ways to Feel Beautiful. In between a few fairly obvious suggestions - like "Don't base your body image off fashion mags!" and "Wear clothes that are appropriate for your size!" -...Read More
I know you're looking for more critiques of gay marriage...
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | January 12, 2010 1:30 PM |And yes, there's a brilliant one-hour radio program over at Women's Magazine on KPFA-Pacifica. Listen and learn... And wait -- I'm a bit late linking to "Queer Kids of Queer Parents Against Gay Marriage," another smart critique... " Enjoy!...Read More
It's not the hypocrisy, it's the ubiquity: Iris Robinson and Scott Brown's straight moral sex lives
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 11, 2010 7:00 PM |I don't care much at all about who or what people want to do in their private lives, but sometimes it becomes apparent that certain public figures' private affairs are affecting their public views and actions that it makes you...Read More
AFA Self Mutilates over Amanda Simpson
Filed by Keri Renault | January 11, 2010 5:00 PM |The social-cultural divide in America has widened considerably since conservatives were voted from power after the 2008 election. Nowhere is this emotionally charged environment more evident than when an LGBT American makes national news. Take the Obama administration's appointment of...Read More
FCC receives 5000 Adam Lambert complaints
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 08, 2010 12:30 PM |The FCC received over 5000 complaints over Adam Lambert's American Music Awards performance. Not really too many considering the millions who tuned in, and it's fewer since not all of them are actually complaints. The Smoking Gun put a few...Read More
Belinda Carlisle: Portrait of a Modern Mother
Filed by Bil Browning | January 07, 2010 2:00 PM |Ed Kennedy smelled something fishy when he saw StarPulse.com's post, "Belinda Carlisle Shocked By Her Son's 'Coming Out'." The site's post is based on a interview with Carlisle and her out gay son, James Duke, from the UK's Attitude magazine...Read More
Scott Lively doesn't want you to think he hates you
Filed by Phil Reese | January 06, 2010 5:00 PM |UPDATE: Reader Brad alerted us to this from Scott Lively: http://www.defendthefamily.com/pfrc/newsarchives.php?id=4480922 As the Ugandan "Kill the gays" bill travels toward passage there, all stops are being pulled out to try to end its path toward becoming a law. Rachel Maddow--who...Read More
5 stars for HRC's iPhone App
Filed by Joe Mirabella | January 06, 2010 3:30 PM |The Human Rights Campaign launched a new free iPhone App with their 2010 Buying for Equality Guide. Packed with detailed information from the Corporate Equality Index, savvy shoppers now have mobile information when they want to purchase a product they...Read More
Westboro parodies Lady Gaga again
Filed by Bil Browning | January 06, 2010 2:30 PM |This is what happens when you feed the fundies... After rave reviews for her ridiculous parody of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance, Megan Phelps has released her sophomore effort and like all second attempts to re-capture magic, she's failed miserably. Our...Read More
Description, Affinity, Politics, and Identity
Filed by Antonia D'orsay | January 06, 2010 12:30 PM |This is a continuation of previous columns: What Is Trans, What Is Sex, What Is Gender, and Situational Membership. For the next couple columns, I will examine aspects of group dynamics within the LGBT milieu that are affected by the...Read More
People Who Matter -- An Open Letter to Newsweek
Filed by Terrance Heath | January 06, 2010 11:30 AM |Note: This is a somewhat extended version of a “Letter to the Editor” I emailed to Newsweek upon seeing their December 19th issue. To the Editor: I know what was meant by it, but I couldn’t help rolling my eyes...Read More
Ex-gay mom steals daughter and goes on the lam
Filed by Bil Browning | January 04, 2010 1:30 PM |Ex-gay mom Lisa Miller has stolen her daughter, Isabella, in a desperate attempt to prevent her former partner, Janet Jenkins, from getting custody. The two women have been fighting over custody arrangements for months as two states decided who had...Read More
The Difference Between Conformity and Change
Filed by Patricia Nell Warren | January 03, 2010 10:00 AM |The other day I ran across a commentary that I put out to my newslist in 1999. Re-reading it reminded me that the ex-gay issue hasn't changed in 10 years -- just some of the talking heads that are arguing...Read More
God hates Lady Gaga (but gays still love her)
Filed by Bil Browning | January 02, 2010 12:00 PM |This is too funny not to post. Westboro Baptist Church's Megan Phelps has gone to war with Lady Gaga. Megan is noted wingnut Shirley Phelps' daughter and she's just as fundie batshit crazy as her mother. Like Shirley, she doesn't...Read More
Eyes - A Poem For The New Year
Filed by D Gregory Smith | January 01, 2010 9:30 AM |Not rotted or frozen, but alive, sleepily living despite the layer of snow. Something there, green, hidden, and eyes are blind to it- deny it even, and live the desperation, hating that there is no green, refusing to look at...Read More
