This was written as part of a response to Martha Nussbaum’s opinion piece found here: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/veiled-threats

I’d like to share my personal view on the burqa (face mask) controversy. My views are not based on the black-and-white, binary, false dichotomy presented too often by both supporters of the face-mask ban and those who wish to defend the garb.

Continue reading 'The Burqa/Niqab ban controversy'»

Have you ever said, “I’m not gay, but…” or “I’m not bisexual, but…” as a disclaimer before expressing how much you are attracted to someone of the same gender as you?

If you are progressive, liberal, and you stand for LGBT rights, have you ever wondered why you need to give a disclaimer like that before expressing feelings that might qualify you as being bisexual?

I have.

First of all, as a bisexual woman (I prefer the term queer) who has been in relationships with both men and women, and who is in a happy, long-term relationship with a woman, I find it hurtful when some of my friends still qualify their own sexual desires for people of the same gender by first separating themselves from people like me. There’s nothing wrong with being heterosexual, but there is something very wrong with being heterosexist, which is the idea that heterosexuality is the default, natural, normal thing to be, and that it’s a black or white area with no variations.

If you are telling someone how you support gay rights, you don’t need to keep qualifying that with “I’m not gay or nothing, but…”. Similarly, if you are telling people that you are bi-curious, or attracted to someone of the same gender, then those of us who have put our lives on the line to be honest about sexuality, would appreciate it if you could stop talking about this matter like it’s a hot potato that you are willing to support in passing, but not willing to own, even when you yourself have feelings that would qualify you as bisexual.

Continue reading '“I’m not a queer or nothing, but…”'»

An insightful piece about the “Third Wave” of feminists who are now redefining the meaning of the word “Feminism” as a broader, more comprehensive movement than perhaps it’s been in the past.

The word of the day is intersectionality — the understanding of multiple ways of being and living that shape a person and how we experience the world, and in turn how the world treats them. The idea that one individual can be faced with a multitude of oppressions which can’t be addressed individually any more than the person herself can be physically divided into pieces and be expected to survive.

Extremist Muslims and Right-Wing Westerners can agree on one and only one sociocultural phenomenon: hating gay people. It’s painful for the moderates of both sides to accept, but it is a reality that must be confronted by intelligent people on all sides before any real, positive, progressive change can be realistically forged.

“I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for an American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America, I point the finger in their face and say `you helped this (September 11) happen.’”

-Jerry Falwell (Aug 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007)

…247gay.com
…NPR news

Tories reopen same-sex marriage debate.

Poor clueless Stephen Harper… just doesn’t realize what century he’s in. As one commenter on this article put it, “Harper is a complete fool. A bigot, prejudiced, homophobic simple little man.”