The Bilerico Project

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Suspended - During Gulf War

davidbadash@bilerico.com (David Badash) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:00:00 -0500

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is our nation's highest ranking military officer, and the principal military adviser to the President, the National Security Council, and the Secretary of Defense.

This country has long had a ban on gays in the military. In 1993, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" moved the ban from orientation to conduct, and from policy to law. Since then, America has had six Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And four of the six now support gays serving openly in the military.

Yet, despite evidence to the contrary -- and there is evidence -- the Republican and religious-right wing wind machines are still blowing hot and hard, suggesting repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will be the end of the U.S. military. Or worse.

Colonel Oliver (convicted felon, Nicaraguan gun smuggler, and - surprise! - Fox News contributor) North last week suggested repealing DADT would invite the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) into our Armed Forces. (I'm not quite sure how that would work, as you can't be a minor and serve in the military, but perhaps as he was running guns in Iran to help fight the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, North got a little too chummy with Noriega and what he was selling?)

Continue reading ""Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Suspended - During Gulf War"...

Things I'm not worried about: LGBT affirmative action

alex@bilerico.com (Alex Blaze) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:00:00 -0500

A bizarre article appeared this morning on The Advocate's website, by gay conservative James Kirchick, denouncing LGBT affirmative action.

The first thing that's bizarre about the article is that it's denouncing LGBT affirmative action. I don't know anyone who's proposing that, any municipality that's discussing an LGBT affirmative action program, or any school or business thinking about doing that. We can't even get ENDA passed, so no one's thinking about affirmative action. So weird.

Then Kirchick spends about 400 words discussing Aiden Quinn, a bus driver who had an accident while texting in Boston who also happened to be trans. The link to affirmative action?

"[Quinn] was initially hired as a minority and used her [sic] transgender status,'" an MBTA source told ABC News. The MBTA rebutted that charge, saying that Quinn was hired through a job lottery, although the T does advertise itself as an "affirmative action employer."

That's right, an anonymous, unconfirmed source, who doesn't explain how they know what they know or how the MBTA would go about determining whether someone is transgender. This is countered by the agency, on the record, presenting a perfectly confirmable and believable fact: that they, like many government agencies, use a job lottery for hiring qualified people.

He asks:

Continue reading "Things I'm not worried about: LGBT affirmative action"...

Didi! (Part 2)

sean@joey-aristophanes.com (Sean Martin) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:00:00 -0500

Chattiness is next to godliness. Or something like that. Or so they tell me. :)

Click here for a larger version.

PA Rep John Murtha dies

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:00:00 -0500

Condolences to the family of Representative John Murtha. The Pennsylvania congressman died Monday after complications after surgery. He was 77.

Representative Murtha was an outspoken critic of the War on Iraq.

Murtha was initially hospitalized in December and had to postpone a hearing with Defense Secretary Robert Gates on the administration's strategy in Afghanistan. The congressman returned to work after a few days in the hospital and helped oversee final passage of the 2010 defense appropriations bill.
...
Murtha had represented Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District since 1974, making him the chamber's eighth most senior member. According to his biography on the House of Representatives Web site, Murtha was the first Vietnam War combat veteran elected to Congress.

Murtha got a 70 on HRC's latest Congressional Scorecard.

Vintage erotica: beautiful dreamers

gloria@bilerico.com (Gloria Brame Ph.D.) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:30:00 -0500

Postcard from the 1920s. Their sweetness and affection say so much more than I could with words.

Sore Toes and "Angry Trannies"

tonidorsay@msn.com (Antonia D'orsay) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:30:00 -0500

Such a politically incorrect title for this post, but let's not let that detract from the article...

I'm often called an "Angry Tranny." I count among my friends some of the most vocal and verbally aggressive trans folks online. I don't hold back for the most part when I write, and I am not afraid to say things that are both unpopular and often unpleasant.

I do not take the high road, and I can and do wallow in the gutter of verbal disparagement of others.

My article yesterday here has sounded alarm bells among at least two Phoenix based activism organizations. I had the temerity to speak up and take them to task for not attending Creating Change. These two particular groups -- whom I won't name -- are not bad organizations, and the people who are part of them are not bad people. They have passion and desire and they seek social change and they want the credit for achieving it so bad that they will do damned near anything to get it.

And the title reflects what happens when you challenge them. It is, in the end, a microcosm of what it means to be an "angry tranny."

So let's look at what is involved in that, shall we?

Continue reading "Sore Toes and "Angry Trannies""...

Exclusive Pics: Lt. Dan Choi back in service?

jeff@bilerico.com (Jeff Sheng) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:30:00 -0500

This past weekend at the NGLTF Creating Change conference, there was a notable absence that many have already tweeted and remarked about. Lt. Dan Choi was supposed to lead a Knights Out sponsored workshop on Friday morning about ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," but wasn't able to make it. He was called back to duty.

We received these photographs from Lt. Choi to publish and share with our readers from his training this past weekend, and he does express his deep apologies to the conference participants at Creating Change that he was not able to attend.

Continue reading "Exclusive Pics: Lt. Dan Choi back in service?"...

Mika still isn't out?

alex@bilerico.com (Alex Blaze) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:30:00 -0500

"As a teenager I got every type of abuse. It was mostly about the way I looked and a lot of it was homophobic. I used to sit in the bath or shower and think, 'Oh God, I'm a weirdo. I'm a freak. How am I going to survive?'

I thought, 'I'll become an untouchable version of myself, then I'll be able to survive without being treated like s**t for the rest of my life.' I now live my life totally openly and apologetically. But I don't divulge my private life and neither do I believe in labels. I could fall in love with anybody and have done in the past, so I don't operate from a position of fear. So much of what I do is based around identity, sexuality and genderlessness. But I still get a hard time, especially in the U.K."

--Mika, speaking with the Sunday Mail

A Quick Word About Traditional Values

dondavis@bilerico.com (Don Davis) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:00:00 -0500

We all need a good laugh these days--especially if it involves a bit of skewering the other side at the same time--and I want you to take just a second and have a look at this important message from the Traditional Canadians for the Preservation of the Traditional Definition of All Things Traditional, courtesy of the CBC's Rick Mercer Report.

Sarah Palin wants YOU to point fingers and shut up

kipgwilliams@gmail.com (Kip Williams) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:00:00 -0500

I just watched Sarah Palin's speech to Tea Party Nation on MSNBC. She is a used car saleswoman. A deceiver. And she doesn't care about people of color or queer folk, poverty or children in jail. Her message is self-serving and mean-spirited even tho she wears a smile on her face. She makes fun of her opponents, and acts like she's just being folksy. She doesn't once mention bailing out bank execs or selling out healthcare reform to insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry. But she reminds us over and over to be afraid of terrorists and to strive for upward mobility. She deflects all blame from our broken Congress, and places it squarely on Obama's shoulders.

The racist and small-minded teabaggers applaud and catcall, and the media goes wild. Sarah Palin just might win the White House in 2012.

Continue reading "Sarah Palin wants YOU to point fingers and shut up"...

When Will African Descended Trans People Get To Tell Our Stories On HBCU Campuses?

monica@bilerico.com (Monica Roberts) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:00:00 -0500

One of the things I and other transsisters enjoy doing is telling the story of African descended trans people to college students around the nation.

Since only one side of the story has been told for the last 50 plus years, it is a joy to pass along our knowledge to students, administrators, and instructors eager to learn more about transgender issues from our unique chocolate flavored vantage point.

But while we African descended trans people deeply appreciate the opportunities that we get to do so, one thing that bothers us is the fact that we are primarily holding these discussions at predominately white institutions.

Continue reading "When Will African Descended Trans People Get To Tell Our Stories On HBCU Campuses?"...

On Health Care, Vegas-Style, Or, Figure It Out In The Ambulance, Chump

dondavis@bilerico.com (Don Davis) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:00:00 -0500

I was supposed to begin the long-delayed series of PTSD stories I've been planning, but before we begin, I need to tell y'all about something that just happened in my house.

For us it wasn't a matter of life or death, but it is the kind of story that explains, perfectly, why we need to reform the health care system we have today--and for that matter, it's also a great explanation of why a single-payer system would be a giant step forward for everyone in this country, whether you're insured today or not.

It's also hilarious and sad and frustrating, all at the same time--which makes today's story a pretty good allegory for the current American way of doing health care.

So follow along, have a good laugh...and at the same time, take a minute to consider what could be, and how much less irritating things should be.

Continue reading "On Health Care, Vegas-Style, Or, Figure It Out In The Ambulance, Chump"...

Traditional marriage: Good enough for King David

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:00:00 -0500

Indiana Family Institute policy director Ryan McCann wrote a post on their blog advocating for passage of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but does the "traditional marriage supporter" who blames his fondness for discriminating against gays denounce the Biblical history of polyamorous marriage? Or does he castigate the current practice of only having one marriage partner at a time when he condemns, "changing the definition of marriage legally"?

Clip from the logically unbalanced post after the jump - plus a free sneak peek of the IFI's new traditional marriage bumpersticker.

Continue reading "Traditional marriage: Good enough for King David"...

A Taxing Question of Medical Necessity

kelley@bilerico.com (Kelley Winters) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:00:00 -0500

Many trans and especially transsexual Americans were relieved this week by the U.S. Tax Court decision to reverse earlier IRS positions and allow costs of hormonal and surgical transition care to be deducted as medical expenses. The ruling concluded:

Petitioner has shown that her hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery treated disease within the meaning of section 213 and were therefore not cosmetic surgery. Thus petitioner's expenditures for these procedures were for "medical care" as defined in section 213(d)(1)(A), for which a deduction is allowed under section 213(a).

However, this recognition of the legitimacy of medical transition came at a cost to the dignity of transsexual women and men. It relied on the flawed diagnostic nomenclature of Gender Identity Disorder (GID) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and its implication of mentally "disordered" gender identity. Paradoxically, this case fueled opposition to medical transition access, based on the current wording of the very same GID classification and its more virulent companion diagnosis of Transvestic Fetishism. While the Tax Court decision underscored the utility of some kind of diagnostic coding for those who need access to hormonal or surgical transition care, it also illustrated the urgency of reforming the GID diagnosis and removing the Transvestic Fetishism category in the next revision of the DSM, published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

Ms. Rhiannon O'Donnabhain underwent corrective genital surgery in 2001 and claimed a tax deduction for surgical and hormonal treatment expenses as well as the cost of a breast augmentation procedure. Her courageous nine year battle with the IRS to affirm the medical legitimacy of her transition care took a tortuous off-again, on-again path among the potholes of politics and prejudice.

Continue reading "A Taxing Question of Medical Necessity"...

Didi! (Part 1)

sean@joey-aristophanes.com (Sean Martin) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:00:00 -0500

The joys of meeting new neighbours... and their gifts...

Click here for a larger image.

Swedish lesbian love ad rejected by papers

alex@bilerico.com (Alex Blaze) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:00:00 -0500

A new print and television ad campaign by an LGBT org in Sweden has been rejected by two major newspapers already. Below is the rejected print at (the sentence says "love has many faces"):

The editor of one the paper's says it's not because the ad is too sexy, but that "it reproduces a cliché-filled image of lesbian love." Don't ask me how he became the final arbiter over what will advance Sweden's lesbian population's goals.

The television spots are after the jump.

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Green penis veins, oral sex pregnancy, and other sex questions

gloria@bilerico.com (Gloria Brame Ph.D.) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:30:00 -0500

Actual questions and answers from a sex advice column in the Pune Mirror (India).

I got married a month ago and we have unprotected sex everyday. I have one bad habit, which is that I eat paper. Is this harmful? I have tried to get over this habit but cannot. My husband doesn't know about it. Will this pose a problem for me during pregnancy? Also, I have been suffering from a major stomach ache since the past few days. Could it be because of eating paper?

Is it paper or pepper that you eat? Either way, your stomach pain may be related to your eating habits. You will not have a problem during pregnancy due to this.

More after the jump.

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Roll Up Your Sleeves, Arizona

tonidorsay@msn.com (Antonia D'orsay) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:30:00 -0500

So it's late in the day today at Creating Change, and I'm pissed off at people from Arizona.

Rather intensely so. Here I've encountered a teacher from Coolidge, Alison Davidson from Saga in Tucson, Kim Pearson, who's based out of Lake Havasu, Trudy Jackson and Micheal Weakley from Phoenix.

There's no one here from Equality Arizona. No one from Marriage Equality Arizona. No Arizona Stonewall Dems or Arizona Log Cabin, no East Valley group, no "we are family"...

And yet, over the last several months, I've seen them all talk about how they need certain tools and skills and trick and tips and all that other stuff, and All Of That Stuff is here.

Continue reading "Roll Up Your Sleeves, Arizona"...

'He set me free...'

mattcomer@bilerico.com (Matt Comer) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:30:00 -0500

Over the weekend Towleroad posted the video of an "ex-gay" teenager and his testimony at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. If you're reading this and thinking, "That place sounds familiar," you should be reminded of Lou Engle and TheCall. Engle and his nationwide, youth "revival" have made headlines over the past year or so as several bloggers and organizations (including the SPLC) have tracked his routinely militant and violent religious rhetoric. (You can read my in-depth report on a similar religious militant in Charlotte, N.C., and his ties with Engle in here.)

As the teen, Jacob, is sharing his testimony, a worship leader chimes in: "Do you hear that? He was set free from addictions to homosexuality, heroine, crack cocaine. Anything else?"

Towleroad writes, "Unfortunately, Jacob was not delivered from ugly exploitation on YouTube and elsewhere by the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City."

Watch the video, and more commentary after the jump...

Continue reading "'He set me free...'"...

Taylor Swift wins a Grammy, but I still can't sing!!

buck@bilerico.com (Michael Buckley) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:00:00 -0500

A semi low key slightly less gay hyper recap of the 2010 Grammy Awards! I am traveling but wanted to share some thoughts with you! This video may suck but it is still better than Taylor Swift's live performance.