Posts under ‘LBGT’

(Image courtesy of digado)

As many of you may already know, I have recently launched a community, collaborative blog: sexgenderbody.com. In the last couple months, my content here had become a bit too higgledy-piggledy even for myself. I found that I had a great deal to say on personal politics, the politics of self-definition. This is not a conflict with the conversations I have been having here in the realm of Politics with a capital P, the politics of institutions and society at large or simply – groups.

Do you write about any of these issues and communities?

LGBT
TS/TG/TV
FETISH
SEX WORK
POLYAMORY
SWING
BDSM
TRANSHUMAN

Do you work with these communities as an advocate or ally and would like to write?  Would you like to make an impact across your own affected community and reach out to other SGB communities?  Would you like to help bridge the gap between all SGB identities to increase understanding, acceptance, rights and respect?

A new collaborative community blog is being launched that will bring these communities, individuals and issues together in frank, open discussion.  Contributions will come from anyone that wants to post at the site, cross-posters from other blogs active in a community and featured writers.

We are looking for Feature Authors for this site from among the following:

ESTABLISHED BLOGGERS
ADVOCACY AND RIGHTS WRITERS / BLOGGERS
PUBLISHED SGB AUTHORS
SGB JOURNALISTS

Interested parties please contact admin @ sexgenderbody.com with the following:
NAME
EMAIL / IM / TWITTER
PHONE
SGB ISSUE OR COMMUNITY OF YOUR FOCUS
BLOG ADDRESS
WRITING SAMPLE

The site is scheduled to begin in May 2009.  The selection of Feature Authors will be completed by April 15.

Thank you

This week, I attended Clarisse Thorn’s Sex+++ Film Series at Hull House in Chicago. This feature was a film on polyamory, entitled: When Two Won’t Do. The film is a documentary created by two people exploring polyamory for themselves. There was a discussion group afterward. The response to this film series has been overwhelming and Tuesday was no exception, with upwards of 70 people crammed into a room that expected maybe 40.

(Image courtesy of thinkvegan.net)

Sexism is the ‘gateway ‘ism”, that makes all other ‘isms’ possible.  It precedes all other forms of discrimination, setting the example that there are some people that view others as inferior and they use brutality upon them.  What I mean by that is that because our family and society models are built around the model of inequality, injustice and brutality – we accept that behavior as normal.  So, too is racism, classism, speciesism and any other oppression by one group toward another.  The behaviors of sexism are the behaviors of bullying, injustice, intolerance and cruelty.

This is about my friends, how amazing they are to me.  

My new friend:

I recently posted about a community whose rights are routinely ignored, stripped and abused.  I took a risk in writing it because I know very little about the community.  I spoke about what I do know; about my belief that the law works for everyone or it works for no one.  I have no friends, no family, no coworkers in this group of people.  Yet, as a human being, a father and a citizen I have reached a point where I can no longer sit by while others are bullied simply because they are different and fewer in numbers.  So, I spoke out from my heart that how we the large groups treat the smaller, how the strong treat the weak yields a foul harvest for all of us. 

(Image courtesy of indiesocial.com)

I walked onto the train platform in downtown Chicago today.  A woman had just finished shopping at Macy’s and had several red shopping bags.  She was trying to put everything into one bag.  The wind picked up and blew some of the empty bags down the platform.  I took off running and stopped them from blowing out onto the street. 

Then, she yells to me that: "It’s OK!  They’re empty."  Then she sits down and waits for the train with her two bags full of stuff.  The 5 empty big red bags are just out there on the platform and she makes no effort to pick them up.  I told her that I didn’t want litter for a Christmas present, picked them all up and threw them in the trash (no recycling on CTA platforms…dammit!).

I was travelling this weekend and did not have the time to do any posting. I saw a couple of good posts on the subject of Transgender Rememberance Day. I have to be honest and admit that I did not even know this occasion existed. I am sad that it is necessary, but I am happy to support it.

Individuality is something we claim to cherish in this country. Individual’s rights. The spirit of individualism. Historically, societies punish the people that exercise the most discretion and personal choice in their definitions of themselves as individuals: Transgender.

So Newt Gingrich, the spokesperson for pious corporate racists (aka GOP) spouts off on O’Reilly about how advocates of Gay Rights are ‘radicals’ intent on Facism.

Thanks to Media Matters

Religions claim to be the authority for how we live our lives. They claim this authority from God. Most religious organizations depend on donations from their faithful believers in order to stay in business. There are all sorts of religions, claiming to speak for / to God. Their business model consists of being paid to tell people what to do in life. Their revenue stream is tied directly to their credibility as a source of right-living advice. If people allowed to make up their own minds about their sexuality, then they are likely make up their own minds about a whole lot of things. This is what scares gay-bashing religions most of all.