Blog Archives

Did You Choose To Be Straight?

When did you choose to be straight?

When did you choose to be straight?

When did you choose to be straight?

That’s a question gays and lesbians pose when they’re asked, “When did you choose to be gay? Or lesbian?”

Is sexual orientation chosen?

Have a look at some research.  Read the rest of this entry

LDS Kids Punished for “Sins” of LGBTQ Parents

LDS Temple, Salt Lake City

LDS Temple, Salt Lake City

I grew up Mormon, and I’m dispirited by a new policy announced last week:

Mormon children of same-sex couples can no longer be blessed as babies, baptized, ordained to the priesthood, serve missions or join the LDS church until they turn 18. And only then if they leave their homes and disavow their parent’s same-sex relationship.

The Salt Lake Tribune writes about Nick Literski, a gay man from Seattle, who feels physically shaken by the news. Read the rest of this entry

“Suffragette” Says Stop Respecting Fear Over Need

"Suffragette"

“Suffragette”

• What are the tyrannies you swallow?

• What do you need to say?

• What are the words you do not yet have?

In the days after undergoing a biopsy to see whether a tumor taken from her breast was malignant, Audre Lorde examined her life.

What she most regretted were her silences. Read the rest of this entry

I’ve Never Felt Sexual Desire

Asexual pride

Asexual pride

By Courtney Nahmens

I’m asexual with no desire for sex.

I’m also aromantic, feeling no desire for romance.

I do understand what is considered sexy, sexual innuendo, and words surrounding sexuality like whore, tease, sensual, etc. I understand the language and actions surrounding sex.

I just don’t feel aroused or any differently in the presence of sexual content.  Read the rest of this entry

Christians for Gay Rights

Marriage Equality

Marriage Equality

Having heard the battle cry, “Gays are against God!” my Women’s Perspective club decided to visit the Christian club on campus.

We’d visited a lot of clubs, on numerous issues, hoping to take in various points of view. So we took a turn with “The Upside Down Club,” so named because they felt that their ideas were the reverse of society’s.

This group surprised us more than any other. Read the rest of this entry

Why So Angry At Trans-Racial Folk?

Orange is the new Black?

Orange is the new Black?

I’m puzzled by the reasons people give for their anger over Rachel Dolezal’s transracial turn.

Like arguments that contradict each other:

It’s okay to be transgender but not transracial because Read the rest of this entry

Caitlyn Jenner: More Than Sexy?

Caitlyn Jenner

Caitlyn Jenner

We rejoice at Caitlyn Jenner’s courage and happiness as she transitions, bodily, to womanhood.

But as she “came out” so did some disturbing truths about how we value women, says Rhonda Garelick in a New York Times piece. In a Vanity Fair spread,

Ms. Jenner poses in skintight dresses, a cinched black lace corset and two different gold evening gowns … She lounges on a sofa, peers into mirrors or reclines with her head thrown back, eyes closed… (appearing) languid and glamorous, her body still and on display rather than performing any activity…

This seems less the liberation of a true self than a reminder of the straitjacket requirements of acceptable, desirable womanhood.

Read the rest of this entry

I’m Ok, You’re Ok, Bruce Jenner’s Ok

Bruce Jenner transitioning.

Bruce Jenner transitioning.

Bruce Jenner is the most high-profile transgender person to come out of the closet.

And people seem fairly accepting of the transition so far. But transgender folk face hate crimes at astonishing rates, says Nick Kristof at the New York Times. He points out:

So far this year at least three transgender people have been reported murdered in the United States. The Human Rights Campaign issued a report the other day listing 13 transgender women murdered in 2014: They were shot, strangled, burned and beaten.

Bullies project their own shame onto others. And then they beat the crap out of what they hate inside themselves. Sometimes verbally, and sometimes physically.

What is it about transgendered-ness that cues insecurity? Read the rest of this entry

Should Businesses Have More Rights than Gays, Women and Blacks?

Business rights v human rights.

Business rights v human rights.

Should businesses have more rights than people? In particular, people who are gay, female or black?

Because the US has a history of privileging businesses over historically underprivileged people.

And it’s getting worse. As Harvard’s Kennedy School observes: Read the rest of this entry

Jesus Was a Feminist 

Jesus, a feminist

Jesus, a feminist

Looking at mainstream Christianity today, few would guess that Jesus was a feminist.

Jesus’ life story is found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And there is no sexism in any of them.

Instead, Jesus recognized the worth and dignity of everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity or class (feminism is concerned with all of these). Read the rest of this entry