The Movement: December 2009
Top 10 LGBT Stories of 2009
Filed by Bil Browning | December 30, 2009 7:00 PM |2009 was a year of momentum for the LGBT community. For the first time, federal legislation was passed that included sexual orientation and gender identity, over 250,000+ LGBT people and allies marched on Washington for civil rights, same-sex marriage was...Read More
Gay professor killed, murderer claims he was sexually assaulted
Filed by Alex Blaze | December 30, 2009 5:30 PM |An Indiana University English professor was found stabbed to death in his home. The professor was African American and gay, wrote for The Advocate and Newsweek, wrote a novel, and edited an anthology of essays on black masculinity. A suspect...Read More
The forest and the trees of the trans community
Filed by Austen Crowder | December 29, 2009 2:30 PM |The LGBTQ community is riddled with emotional wounds and animus. Our identity and validity is under constant attack, both by political enemies and personal relationships. Our family ties are often strained with the pain of living an open, honest life,...Read More
Non-conformity and Bias
Filed by Guest Blogger | December 28, 2009 2:00 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Rachel Dunn is an out and proud trans-lesbian filmmaker living in Los Angeles. Although very supportive of community events, her primary activism comes in the form of fostering and contributing to queer and minority film projects...Read More
Goodbye 2009, Bring on 2010
Filed by Cathy Renna | December 27, 2009 10:00 AM |First apologies for not showing my face here for a while. Let's say the year is ending with a rollercoaster ride and a bit of a bang, both personally and professionally. Since many of you know me I will not...Read More
Timetables: Trains, Gender, Empathy
Filed by Paige Schilt | December 23, 2009 4:30 PM |Last Christmas, we decided to splurge and spend a few nights at a fancy beach resort. From the moment the clerk ushered us into the "VIP check-in room," I knew we were in for an adventure. Our five-year-old, Waylon, plunged...Read More
Solidarity: "Transmisogyny" & "Faggots"
Filed by Guest Blogger | December 21, 2009 7:00 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Rachel Dunn is an out and proud trans-lesbian filmmaker living in Los Angeles. Although very supportive of community events, her primary activism comes in the form of fostering and contributing to queer and minority film projects...Read More
Goodbye to Oughts That
Filed by Kate Clinton | December 20, 2009 4:00 PM |The beginning years of this decade were like being in an eight-year abusive relationship. George Bush was on crack. It was Iraq. He and his thug pals terrorized the neighborhood, especially the gay kids. He ran up the credit card...Read More
Situational Membership and Stigma
Filed by Antonia D'orsay | December 20, 2009 1:00 PM |This is a continuation of the following pieces: What is Trans* What is Sex Expression, Role, and Identity: Gender I took a break to give everyone time to digest those pieces and to be ready for the ones coming up....Read More
Situational Membership and Stigma
Filed by Antonia D'orsay | December 20, 2009 1:00 PM |This is a continuation of the following pieces: What is Trans* What is Sex Expression, Role, and Identity: Gender I took a break to give everyone time to digest those pieces and to be ready for the ones coming up....Read More
Situational Membership and Stigma
Filed by Antonia D'orsay | December 20, 2009 1:00 PM |This is a continuation of the following pieces: What is Trans* What is Sex Expression, Role, and Identity: Gender I took a break to give everyone time to digest those pieces and to be ready for the ones coming up....Read More
Feeling burned by the Democratic party? Do something.
Filed by Joe Mirabella | December 18, 2009 12:00 PM |Fellow contributor Adam Bink wrote on Open Left about the following Newsweek prediction for 2010: Patience became the 2009 mantra of the gay rights movement, which generally supports Democrats. Many activists believe that in his heart Obama supports their flagship...Read More
DC mayor to sign marriage bill tomorrow morning
Filed by Michael Crawford | December 17, 2009 7:32 PM |Mayor Adrian Fenty has announced he will sign the DC marriage bill on Friday morning. Details are below. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 17, 2009 Fenty to Sign Same Sex Marriage Legislation WHAT: Mayor Adrian M. Fenty to take historic step...Read More
LGBTQ progress since 2000
Filed by Alex Blaze | December 17, 2009 6:00 PM |Matt Foreman, who works for the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr., Fund now, sent us this summary of the work that has been done in the past decade to advance that LGBTQ agenda. Looking at the diverse contacts at the...Read More
HRC's 2009 Board Memo on LGBT Progress
Filed by Bil Browning | December 17, 2009 5:00 PM |HRC released Joe Solmonese's memo to board members about the progress of LGBT rights in 2009 [pdf]. It's a thorough listing, but I can't help but think that the first thing that stood out to me was, well, nothing. It's...Read More
Delightfully topical vintage French postcard
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | December 16, 2009 5:00 PM |Titled "woman of the future," early 1900s French anti-suffrage propaganda. From a series of "humor" cards, intended to demonstrate how ridiculous women would look in positions of authority. This one mocks the idea of a woman mayor. I think she...Read More
Expression, Role, and Identity: Gender
Filed by Antonia D'orsay | December 16, 2009 11:00 AM |As promised, I will now tackle the concept of gender. Previously, I talked about What is Trans. Then I talked about What is Sex - between the legs it was, and now we come to the between the ears part....Read More
Expression, Role, and Identity: Gender
Filed by Antonia D'orsay | December 16, 2009 11:00 AM |As promised, I will now tackle the concept of gender. Previously, I talked about What is Trans. Then I talked about What is Sex - between the legs it was, and now we come to the between the ears part....Read More
Building The LGBT Alliance: Transphobia in the LGBT Community Part III
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | December 15, 2009 7:00 PM |There is transphobia in the gay community in the US, and it threatens our political solidarity for the accomplishment of our political objectives, such as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and marriage equality. Time spent fighting among ourselves represents time wasted...Read More
Don't Avoid The Anger
Filed by Antonia D'orsay | December 14, 2009 11:00 AM |What some people might not know, since TBP has grown over the last while, and always has not merely new readers, but people who have never considered this before, and people who are newly out every day, trying to find...Read More
Transphobia in the Gay Community, Part II
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | December 13, 2009 11:30 AM |When Christine Jorgensen made headlines in 1951, she was viewed as a homosexual by all, including her doctors. She understood her identity very differently. Today, in our LGBT world, the difference may seem abstract, particularly to younger people born in...Read More
My last post at Bilerico?
Filed by Brynn Craffey | December 12, 2009 12:30 PM |I had intended to begin, "This will be my last post at Bilerico," for I had intended to resign. But a person I respect deeply here at Bilerico has urged me to reconsider. More on the final straw pushing me...Read More
Transphobia In the Gay Community
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | December 11, 2009 4:00 PM |This is Part I of a two-part series Recently, an icon of gay activist history, Ronald Gold, posted a transphobic diatribe on The Bilerico Project. I had looked forward to learning something from Mr. Gold about our history, and...Read More
What Is Trans*?
Filed by Antonia D'orsay | December 11, 2009 3:00 PM |The title here is chosen for a reason. It is not "What is Transgender?". It is not "what is Transsexual". It is not "who is Trans?", although that will be talked about. What is Trans*? The first thing I am...Read More
No To The Notion Of Irresponsibility. Yes To Embracing Our Past And Our Future.
Filed by David Badash | December 11, 2009 11:00 AM |Part One: No To The Notion Of Irresponsibility. As a contributing writer to The Bilerico Project, I denounce the piece that ran on Thursday, Ronald Gold's "'No' to the notion of transgender" and its publishing. The piece was offensive, insensitive,...Read More
"No" to the notion of transgender
Filed by Ronald Gold | December 10, 2009 4:00 PM |This post has been removed. See: Upon further reflection and deliberation, if you want to know more....Read More
Exclusive Interview: Rep Jared Polis about LGBT legislation
Filed by Bil Browning | December 10, 2009 9:30 AM |While I was in San Francisco for the Victory Fund's Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference, I had a chance to speak with Representative Jared Polis after his plenary panel discussion. We talked about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and other...Read More
Stilettos, Sissy Boys, and the Limits of "Gender-Neutral" Parenting Advice
Filed by Paige Schilt | December 09, 2009 2:30 PM |Last week, PBS Parents featured a blog titled "Gender Appropriate Toys." It begins promisingly enough with a critique of parents who enforce binary gender norms in their children's toys and activities. The author (Kristen of Supersisters) suggests that boys should...Read More
Where to find a same-sex couple
Filed by Alex Blaze | December 08, 2009 4:30 PM |This map is not a map of where gay people live. Rather, it's a map of where same-sex couples are, specifically same-sex couples who identified themselves to the Census Bureau. Since the average is 4.7 same-sex couples per 1000 couples,...Read More
Senator Ed Murray's road map towards full equality
Filed by Joe Mirabella | December 08, 2009 9:30 AM |State Senator Ed Murray led the charge in Washington for the last three years that eventually resulted in our "everything but marriage" victory last November. Senator Murray was initially criticized for his incremental approach by some in the community. I...Read More
Case study
Filed by Alex Blaze | December 07, 2009 1:30 PM |I got an email from a PR firm promoting this blog post at the Huffington Post. Here's a paragraph: All of the proposals being circulated in Congress to address the issue, have titles that assert they provide estate tax "relief."...Read More
The Recession and LGBT Communities
Filed by Michelle Marzullo | December 05, 2009 5:00 PM |The global economic recession has been rolling over the world full force for over a year now. We have seen the markets flowing in red, homeowners being turned out at a rate not seen since the great depression, and the...Read More
