Tag Archives: GLBTA

More Than Men

The More than Men Project is an effort initiated by the Women Thinking Free Foundation to develop a space where men, often white and/or straight and/or Of Priv, could spend a little time and energy telling their fellow Hetero-occidentaloid-Y-chromosomists something useful or interesting about diversity, and to encourage the promotion of said diversity.

When I was asked to contribute to this project (which was being cooked up last July) I had some concerns. I wasn’t sure if I needed a space to do this, since I have a widely read blog in which I am constantly telling my fellow Hetero-occidentaloid-Y-chromosomists how to behave, and they pretty much do whatever I tell them to do. Hetero-occidentaloid-Y-chromosomists are so compliant and all. Since then, I’ve gotten Yet Another Blog where I can do even more of this behavioral mentoring, so, I thought, why should I bother with another effort like this. Just let the other guys have a space.

But then I decided to take advantage of the offer to try something entirely different. The project is self-explanatory, but since you may need some encouragement to pay attention to it, here are the opening sentences in the first of three videos I made for More than Men:

The More Than Men Project is a campaign by the Women Thinking Free Foundation. This is for white men (usually straight , often privileged, etc.) to take an active role in diversity advocacy. This is my chance to tell my fellow white guys what I think about what they should be thinking.

But I get to do that all the time. So, I thought I’d ignore the instructions and try something a little different.

A short memo …. with attachments. It is the attachments that matter.

Dear Straight White Male with Privilege:

This is not hard.

You just need to pay attention to the voices in your head. You supply the head. Attached, please find the voices, in three parts, which I call Part I, Part II, and Part III.

Part I: Sheril Kirshenbaum, Desiree Schell, and Jafsica.

Part II: Asha.

Part III: C. Anderson, Stephanie Zvan, Natalie Wagner, Serena

I would appreciate it if you’all would consider self censoring your comments, and trying to put encouraging or positive comments on the More than Men site posts, the YouTube videos, or below, and if you have criticisms or can’t stop yourself from being a dick, put those comments on the X Blog version of this post (which you will find here). Thank you in advance for that.

The More Than Men Project

The More than Men Project is an effort initiated by the Women Thinking Free Foundation to develop a space where men, often white and/or straight and/or Of Priv, could spend a little time and energy telling their fellow Hetero-occidentaloid-Y-chromosomists something useful or interesting about diversity, and to encourage the promotion of said diversity.

When I was asked to contribute to this project (which was being cooked up last July) I had some concerns. I wasn’t sure if I needed a space to do this, since I have a widely read blog in which I am constantly telling my fellow Hetero-occidentaloid-Y-chromosomists how to behave, and they pretty much do whatever I tell them to do. Hetero-occidentaloid-Y-chromosomists are so compliant and all. Since then, I’ve gotten Yet Another Blog where I can do even more of this behavioral mentoring, so, I thought, why should I bother with another effort like this. Just let the other guys have a space.

But then I decided to take advantage of the offer to try something entirely different. The project is self explanatory, but since you may need some encouragement to pay attention to it, here are the opening sentences in the first of three videos I made for More than Men:

The More Than Men Project is a campaign by the Women Thinking Free Foundation. This is for white men (usually straight , often privileged, etc.) to take an active role in diversity advocacy. This is my chance to tell my fellow white guys what I think about what they should be thinking.

But I get to do that all the time. So, I thought I’d ignore the instructions and try something a little different.

A short memo …. with attachments. It is the attachments that matter.

Dear Straight White Male with Privilege:

This is not hard.

You just need to pay attention to the voices in your head. You supply the head. Attached, please find the voices, in three parts, which I call Part I, Part II, and Part III.

Part I: Sheril Kirshenbaum, Desiree Schell, and Jafsica.

Part II: Asha.

Part III: C. Anderson, Stephanie Zvan, Natalie Wagner, Serena

I would appreciate it if you’all would consider self censoring your comments, and trying to put encouraging or positive comments on the More than Men site posts, the YouTube videos, or my Scienceblogs copy of this post, and if you have criticisms or can’t stop yourself from being a dick, put those comments below, on this version of this post. Thank you in advance for that.

An Extraordinary Year For Gay Rights

navy girl kissing her signifant other
The first first kiss with girls.

NPR notes that 2011 was an extraordinary year for gay rights.

“In September, the end of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy allowed gay, lesbian and bisexual people to serve openly. And just this month, two female sailors became the first to share the Navy tradition of a “first kiss.”

This summer, New York became the sixth and largest state yet — along with Washington, D.C. — to allow same-sex marriage.”

This year, 2012, we have an anti-gay marriage amendment on the ballot in Minnesota. We will fight that and it won’t pass, but when that happens, it will be one of the few referendum type decisions that is pro-gay instead of anti-gay. And thus, we will continue to see a turn of the tide, a sea change, and since we are on a streak of nautical metaphors, a lot more Navy First Kisses!

Gays to Koch: “We are sorry for ruining marriage”

Amy Koch was the highly placed Minnesota legislator who recently resigned from her leadership post when it became clear that she was about to be, or was being, accused of/caught doing a staff member.

Koch issued an official statement yesterday about the situation:

Amy Koch apologized late this afternoon for “engaging in a relationship with a Senate staffer,” though she did not name the individual.

Koch declared in an official statement that she’s “made some mistakes and errors in judgment” and has “deep regret.” She apologized to constituents, the Republican party, fellow legislators, and her family.

“The events of recent days have been very difficult for me and those close to me,” Koch said.

Although Koch has not named the other person whom she was boinking, it is rumored that it was/is Michael Brodcorb.

Now, who really cares? This is between Amy her boyfriend, her husband, and anyone else who may or may not be involved/uninvolved. But, of course, we tend to make a big deal out of it when the person doing the extra-marital affairing is a Family Values Teabagging Republican Shit, as is the case here.

But really, is it Amy’s fault that her marriage is ruined? After all, marriage in general has been ruined by the gay people, right? Gay people have, generally speaking, ruined everything, including marriage, and other stuff too. So, of course Amy was unable to maintain her Family Values Marriage under those circumstances.

And, to their credit, Teh Gayz have apologized.

The gay and lesbian community of Minnesota has issued a letter of apology to recently resigned Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch for ruining the institution of marriage and causing her to stray from her husband and engage in an “inappropriate relationship.”

“On behalf of all gays and lesbians living in Minnesota, I would like to wholeheartedly apologize for our community’s successful efforts to threaten your traditional marriage,” reads the letter from John Medeiros. “We apologize that our selfish requests to marry those we love has cheapened and degraded traditional marriage so much that we caused you to stray from your own holy union for something more cheap and tawdry.”

Both Koch and her alleged boinkee Brodkorb campainged hard to get a constitutoinal emendment on the ballot so that Minnesota Voters can Trample Out the Gay by making it unconstitutional to even change the law to allow those gay people to marry. But, apparently, they did not campaign hard enough, too little too late, leaving the barn door open after the horse has flown the coop. And now, sadly, they had to pay. By fucking. And getting caught doing so.

Those Gay People are ruining it for everyone.

And now, the complete text of their letter: Continue reading Gays to Koch: “We are sorry for ruining marriage”

Happy Nonnormative Holiday

This is the time of year that everyone sends everyone else those greeting cards made out of your family photos. To some extent it must be true that the images in those photos reify socio-normative standards. The images are iconic of the expectations of what a family looks like, because they are self selected pictures of people’s families spread about in their social milieu.

We always think about doing that but never get to it. We’re bad that way. So, instead, I’ll just send around this video sent to me by MoveOn.org:

Transgender child throws scouts into tail spin, ruins everyting

From Huffington Post:

A Colorado-based Girl Scouts troop’s decision to admit a 7-year-old transgender child this fall has prompted three leaders to resign and dissolve their troops.

As The Christian Post is reporting, all three of the troop leaders were affiliated with the Northlake Christian School in Covington, Louisiana.

Susan Bryant-Snure, one of the leaders who resigned, told The Baptist Press that the Girl Scouts’ action is “extremely confusing” and an “almost dangerous situation” for children. “This goes against what we [Northlake Christian School] believe,”

Holy crap people, get a grip.

Americans For Truth About Homosexuality’s LaBarbera mad at Obama

… and other matters.

You will be stunned to learn that Americans For Truth About Homosexuality president Peter LaBarbera isn’t happy either, asking, “Who knew that when President Ronald Reagan spoke idealistically about America becoming a ‘shining city on the hill,’ that city would turn out to be Sodom?” LaBarbera said that Obama and Clinton are putting America in a position of “defiance toward her Creator to a new level” and endorsing an “affront to our Declaration of Independence”

More here.

Meanwhile, Republicans break out the popcorn to watch anti-choice porn:

Mike Huckabee has been making the rounds on right-wing radio promoting a new anti-choice documentary he produced with Citizens United called “The Gift of Life” which profiles anti-choice activists as well as those who were “saved from the abortionist”…Huckabee is scheduled to premier the film in Iowa next week and he invited the candidates seeking the Republican nomination to join him for the event where each would be given five minutes to address the audience and flaunt their anti-choice credentials … and so far, four candidates have accepted the invitation…

source

Here’s a triler … you could always visit the YouTube site and unlike it!
Continue reading Americans For Truth About Homosexuality’s LaBarbera mad at Obama

School District Rethinking Policy on Gender Orientation and Identity Issues

Over the last two years, six students in the Anoka-Hennepin County Schoool District committed suicide, it is believed, after being bullied or harassed for their gender orientation. This is the largest school district in the state of Minnesota. Up to this point, the district has had a strange kind of “don’t ask don’t tell” policy regarding gender orientation. According to this policy, if a student walks into a councilor’s or trusted teacher’s office with concerns about his or her gender-identity related situation … e.g., the student is being bullied in the teacher’s class … the teacher is required to pretend that they know nothing about gender identity and to say nothing and do nothing. Or, to be more precise, the staff or faculty member is requires to “remain neutral” in the matter. It is against policy to be sympathetic, to emphatic, to express concern or, in short, to stand up for the student. Continue reading School District Rethinking Policy on Gender Orientation and Identity Issues