There are literally hundreds and hundreds of IGB videos, many from high-profile individuals and groups. The breadth of people and organizations that have submitted videos is evidence that a major shift in attitudes is taking place. There's still a long way to go, but I don't think we're that far off from a time when sexual identity is non-issue, which is good. The RCMP released this IGB video yesterday, and it's been making the rounds through most news and media outlets.
Sexual Orientation
Pansexual?
The Aikiu gay porn mash-up.
SFW, but just barely.
Dan Savage and the straight man.
From the Atlantic:
Dan Savage: The Gay Man Who Teaches Straight People How to Have SexOne of the Savage Love columnist's most notable qualities is his concern for heterosexual men—but that wasn't always the case.Two summers ago, over the Fourth of July weekend, the New York Times Magazine published a cover story I had written about infidelity and the future of marriage. My main character was Dan Savage, the writer and activist who for years has argued that many good marriages fall apart because couples have unrealistic expectations about monogamy. For months after my essay ran, I heard from friends, and from total strangers. Some of the mail was creepy: I got letters from two husbands who said they had been trying to broach the subject of an open marriage with their wives, and now they were hoping that, by leaving my article lying about the house, they could casually segue into the topic. But most of the letters were sweet and sincere and not the least bit unctuous. One newlywed woman, a neighbor of mine, saw me on my street and said, "Thanks for that piece. Dan Savage has meant a lot to me, and to my marriage."As it happened, almost every person who wrote or spoke to me about the piece was heterosexual. Dan Savage is famously gay, one of the most famous gay Americans, and I had no idea how deeply many straight people related to him—even more, how much they loved him, how grateful they were for what he said, for what he wrote, for him.Savage promotes the nuclear family unit because he believes that it is a healthy model for everybody: gay couples, straight couples, children. But his cheerleading for heterosexuals goes even further. He always seems to be rooting for us. I believe that one of Savage's most notable qualities is the particular compassion he feels for straight men.But Savage did not always feel so warmly. After a rough adolescence, he expected to find a little company in the theater department in college, and he was a bit perplexed, he recalls, to be "the only gay guy in the acting program." After college, "all these other guys in the acting program came out. That made me mad at straight people." Blaming straight people for closeted gay people does not make immediate sense, but remember that it was the mid-1980s, gay men were filling the graveyard, Ronald Reagan was doing nothing, and an out, proud gay identity was one possible munition against the enemy. If straight people were shaming gay people into the closet, fuck straight people."I started writing Savage Love still really mad at straight people," Savage says. "But getting their mail. . . . It's really straight guys who get the bum rap. The way straight people have redefined marriage, and the way they define sexuality, it's really unrealistic about male sexuality."And reading letters from straight guys made me hugely sympathetic to straight guys. And I was already sympathetic to straight women, because men are pigs and I sleep with men so know what that's like. I arrived sympathetic to straight women—I became sympathetic to straight men, reading these bat-shit letters from straight guys who were being terrorized and being driven crazy, because sex is scarce if you're a straight guy. It's not scarce if you have a pussy or if you're a fag. But if you're a straight guy?"Straight guys run the world, but that includes the Taco Bell franchise. They're less free sexually than anybody else. The girl who eats pussy once or twice in college can tell her husband, and he's not going to believe she's a lesbian, and she is not going to be terrorized by that experience. But these poor straight guys, who meet the one guy who blips onto their sex radar, and they're devastated! They think no matter how much sex they've had with women, this is proof . . . because straight male sexuality is two negatives bundled together: it's to not be a woman and to not be a fag. So anything a straight guy might be interested in that is perceived as feminine or faggy is really destabilizing to their selves."After reading their letters for a couple years, I realized gay men and women were complicit in this too. If you've had sex once with a man, they say you're gay. Gay men want you to be gay—if you look like Tom Cruise. There is not a lot of speculation whether Seth Rogen is gay. I fucked women. Nobody ever says to me, 'Oh, you couldn't have done that if you weren't actually straight."'And soon enough Savage had a lot in common with the average straight guy. He is a breadwinner in a fairly traditional marriage, with a son and a stay-at-home spouse. He is, to me, a fellow dad, one whose heart clearly lies with the two-parent family with children. As I learned in Seattle, he is one of the few men as boringly earnest on the pleasures of parenting as I am; he is adoring of his husband, Terry, and much of his finest work—his books, his This American Life essays—are hymns to close relatives.Right now, Dan Savage is our country's sex doctor and its love doctor, its number-one gay and its cheerleader for straights, its theorist of gay marriage and of straight marriage. There is, therefore, nothing particularly gay about the work he does at the moment; he has transcended those categories. And that is a feat only a gay man or lesbian could accomplish. I could never win the kind of acceptance as an authority on gay sex, or gay families, that Savage has won among straights. Our very few openly gay actors cannot get cast as straight leading men—they may be tolerated, even loved, but they are still marked—but Savage has broken free of the box. He is, I think, the first openly gay American to do so."One should never underestimate the simple radicalism of an openly gay man giving straight people sex advice," Andrew Sullivan told me. "To come out swinging like that, as an openly gay guy telling straight people what to do in bed, was more revolutionary than we now realize." It's true; I never realized it.When I am watching Dan Savage, or listening to him, or reading his words, I never even think about the revolution. I just think about sex, or I think about love. How radical is that.
This is an excerpt from Dan Savage: The First Gay Celebrity, by Mark Oppenheimer, an e-book that can be purchased here.
Best anti-anti-gay marriage rant ever?
Via the SLOG (NSFW!!!):
Big Gay Al: I'm super!
And yes, this is satire.
Gay bashing and homophobia in the Ukraine.
From the BBC:
Ukraine takes aim against 'gay propaganda'
Svyatoslav Sheremet, head of Gay Forum of Ukraine, is attacked earlier this year
The Ukrainian parliament could give final approval next week to a bill that aims to outlaw "pro-homosexual propaganda" - any "positive depiction" of gay people, gay pride marches, or even the screening of a film like Brokeback Mountain.
Critics have described the legislation, which imposes indeterminate fines and up to five years in prison for repeat offenders, as a throwback to the Middle Ages, although it is only a couple of decades since homosexuality was a criminal offence here and in the rest of the USSR.
In some ways, Ukraine is an open and tolerant society. It was the first former Soviet republic to decriminalise homosexuality, in 1991. It has sprouted its own gay rights movement, and gay night clubs operate freely in central Kiev.
But despite this, the bill - which sailed through its first reading last week - enjoys wide backing. All major political parties are united in support, and polls indicate that many Ukrainians support some restrictions on the rights of sexual minorities.
One of the legislation's incubators is the Christian Hope evangelical church in Kiev. Located in a nondescript five-story structure outside the city centre, Christian Hope provides a wide array of educational and charity services, and has established a network of some 150 churches throughout Ukraine. It has also helped collect thousands of signatures in support of three anti-gay bills put forward in parliament this year.
After a rousing service in the church's warehouse-like auditorium focusing on the agonies of sin and bliss of salvation, I meet the chief pastor, Valery Reshetinsky. For him, the fight against homosexuality is a matter of "national security" upon which the survival of the nation depends.
"Here's the issue," says Pastor Reshetinsky, a large-boned man with a slight moustache, tells me. "In a real democracy, my freedom and rights are limited by the freedom of someone else."
In his opinion, freedom of speech for sexual minorities is a violation of what he considers his inalienable right not to have to hear something he finds offensive.
"You can't do everything that you want to do, because there are people who have the exact same rights as you do," he insists.
The pastor goes on to accuse a worldwide conspiracy of Masons, New-Agers, postmodernists and financiers of various nationalities, of imposing ideas that are not "characteristic for Ukraine" on the nation's children.
The first reading of the bill last week unleashed a deluge of condemnation from human rights organisations, both inside and outside Ukraine, who have christened it a "gay gag law". The ban would be a gross violation of European and international conventions, they say, leading to further marginalisation of Ukraine's LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community.
Read the rest here.
The homosexual agenda.
The Betty Bowers site is satirical commentary on what's been called the gay or homosexual agenda by social conservatives. The contention is that the gay community, and those who support it, is trying to infiltrate all aspects of society in attempt to normalize non-heterosexual sexual orientations. This includes indoctrinating school-ages children and influencing Hollywood's programming. I've posted some other satire about it before (link).
From her site:
As every Christian knows, there is only one enemy that threatens our entire civilization. And I am, of course, not talking about Satan. I'm talking about those damned homosexuals! Yes, they give otherwise dull hair radiant highlights and our imperfect décor those fabulous flourishes that elude our more predictable heterosexual sensibilities, but at what price? In exchange for a little panache, we allow homosexuals to steal our children and destroy our Christian marriages. And how do they do this? With their secret masterplan -- The Homosexual Agenda!Many a well-intentioned person has asked me, "Betty, what exactly is The Homosexual Agenda?" Well, if you have to ask, you are probably already under its pernicious influence and blithely hop-scotching your way straight to Hell. Nevertheless, the details of The Homosexual Agenda have -- up until this day -- been kept more secret than the nature of John Travolta's and Tom Cruise's marriages. But I am pleased to announce that through innumerable free vodka sea-breezes and some artful Christian skullduggery, I have gotten my hands on an authentic copy of The Homosexual Agenda. Praise the Lord!I have had my secretaries, Miss Anne Thrope and Anita Priceczech, transcribe The Homosexual Agenda from the back of a used cocktail napkin (the original is to be placed in the Smithsonian Institute) for your convenient reference. Never again shall we be surprised by what these malevolent Nancy Boys are up to. While they may still be able to surprise us with a cunningly perfect piece of Chinese porcelain for our Biederimeier end-table, they will never again be able to surreptitiously take over our culture, families and prime-time television without God-fearing Christians being one step ahead of them! Praise the Lord!
And a sample from the agenda:
8:00 a.m. Wake up. Wonder where you are.8:01 a.m. Realize you are lying on 100 percent cotton sheets of at least a 300 count, so don't panic; you're not slumming.8:02 a.m. Realize you are actually in your own bed for a change. Wake stranger next to you and tell them you are late for work so won't be able to cook breakfast for them. Mutter "sorry" as you help him look for his far-flung underwear. You find out that you tore his boxers while ripping them off him last night, so you "loan" him a pair of boxer-briefs, but not the new ones because you never intend to see him again.8:05 a.m. Tell the stranger, whose name eludes you, "It was fun. I'll give you a call," as you usher him out the door, avoiding his egregious morning-breath.8:06 a.m. Crumple and dispose of the piece of paper with his telephone number on it when you get to the kitchen.8:07 a.m. Make a high protein breakfast while watching the Today show. Wonder if the stories you've heard about Matt Lauer are true. Decide they must be.8:30 a.m. Italian or domestic? Decide to go with three-button Italian and the only shirt that is clean.8:45 a.m. Climb into red Z4 and try not to look too much like Barbie driving one of her accessories as you pull out of your underground parking. Revos or Armanis? Go with Revos.9:35 a.m. Stroll into office.9:36 a.m. Close door to office and call best friend and laugh about the guy who spent the night at your condo. Point out something annoying about best friend's boyfriend but quickly add "It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks, just as long as you love him."10:15 a.m. Leave office, telling your secretary you are "meeting with a client." Pretend not to notice her insubordinate roll of her eyes (or the cloying "poem" she has tacked to her cubicle wall).10:30 a.m. Hair appointment for lowlights and cut. Purchase of Aveda anti-humectant pomade.
See the rest of the agenda here.
Conversion therapy cartoon.
Orientation, identity and sex all explained in less than 4 minutes.
This has been making the rounds:
California bans conversion therapy for teens.
Ostensibly, the purpose of conversion therapy is to treat peoples' same-sex attraction (i.e., make them straight). It's practiced all over the world in many different forms. The main proponent of conversion therapy in North America and Europe is the religious right, who take their cue from scripture (i.e., homosexuality is a sin).
As you might suspect, this type of therapy has caused outrage among those who believe that sexual orientation is a human rights issue. Additionally, there's no evidence that conversion therapy works. However, there is evidence that it leads to several negative outcomes (i.e., increased distress, depression, anxiety, suicide, etc.).
Last week California passed a law banning conversion therapy for teenagers. This is an interesting move. On the surface, it seems like an excellent thing to do given its ineffectiveness and potential harm. But, many therapists and clinicians are concerned that using the law to change and control treatment approaches is inappropriate and dangerous. They note that there are many, many types of therapy that are legal but have no scientific support (i.e., no evidence supporting their effectiveness).
Paul (thanks!) passed along an article about the change in the law. Not surprisingly, the religious right has already started pursuing lawsuits to have the legislation overturned.
From the BBC:
California bans teenage gay conversion therapy
California Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law a ban on therapy aimed at making gay teenagers straight.
When the law comes into effect on 1 January, the Golden State will become the first to outlaw the practice for people under the age of 18.
The bill was backed by mental health groups, and gay rights activists say reparative or "conversion therapy" can increase risk of depression or suicide.
Counselling and prayer is used to help some Christians deal with gay urges.
The bill was signed over the weekend along with more than 100 pieces of legislation sent to the governor by California's state legislature.
Two Christian groups, the California-based Pacific Justice Institute and the Florida-based Liberty Counsel will challenge the law.
The Liberty Counsel said it planned to argue in its lawsuit that the measure infringes on the First Amendment and equal protection rights.
'Junk science' In his statement, Gov Brown said sexual orientation change efforts "have no basis in science or medicine and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery".
The Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group, said: "We're grateful to Governor Brown for standing with California's children.
"LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] youth will now be protected from a practice that has not only been debunked as junk science, but has been proven to have drastically negative effects on their well-being," the gay rights advocate added, urging other states to take up similar measures.
But the National Association for Research and Therapy on Homosexuality said the bill was a "legislative over-reach".
Some conservative groups have said banning the therapy would restrict a parent's right to care for children going through gender confusion.
California is embroiled in a long-standing legal tussle over gay marriage.
A law called Proposition 8 banned same-sex marriage in California just months after it had been introduced. But a court overturned the ban in 2010.
After an appeal was upheld, the matter may now come before the US Supreme Court for a final ruling.
It Gets Better project wins award at the Emmys.
It's hard to imagine that people haven't heard about the It Gets Better project, started by Dan Savage of Savage Love and his husband Terry Miller. I've posted about it on the blog several times (link, link, and link), including a video submitted by President Obama. The project is fundamentally about providing hope to gay and bisexual teenagers.
From the Hollywood Reporter via the SLOG:
Dan Savage and husband Terry Miller received a standing ovation Saturday when they were presented with the Governors Award at the Creative Arts Emmys. The men were honored for their work on the “It Gets Better Project,” an anti-bullying campaign and video series that has earned submissions from stars and international figures including President Obama....Savage told reporters afterwards that he became emotional when seeing the crowd’s warm response. “The award is not for us. It’s for the project,” Savage said. “I think it’s a moment in our culture when it's broken through to the world that LGBT children were suffering and dying. The award means that the culture is reconciling itself to the needs of LGBT kids, who grow up in straight families and are often bullied by their own families. “To get a standing ovation from that crowd was flabbergasting ... I actually teared up and then I couldn’t see to read the teleprompter and I had to wing it.”
NFL players in support of gay marriage.
This story has lit up the wires, especially the letter from Chris Kluwe (at the bottom of this post).
It all started when Brendon Ayanbadejo, a Baltimore Ravens player, publicly threw his support behind gay marriage equality in Maryland - there's currently a ballot initiative that would legalize gay marriage.
Professional athletes publicly offering support for gay marriage is a new phenomenon, and likely represents and major shift in the public's attitudes towards sexual orientation and civil rights. This trend will continue and I doubt it will be too long before gay professional athletes in the most popular North American sports (e.g., hockey, baseball, football and basketball) start publicly coming out. The impact of this cannot be understated. Not only that, the first pro athlete from one of the four majors to come out is going to go down in history as a hero to the majority. I'm hoping it's a Canadian hockey player on a Canadian team. Call me patriotic.
In response to Ayanbadejo, a Maryland state Democratic legislator named Emmett C. Burns Jr. wrote a an official letter from his office to the Baltimore Ravens requesting that the organization muzzle Ayanbadejo.
Emmett-Burns-letter-jpg_203633
Here's the letter in all its glory (click to make larger):
Not one to back down, Ayanbadejo called Burns Jr. out and the story blew up. At one point Ayanbadejo tweeted:
Football is just my job it's not who I am. I am an American before anything. And just like every American I have the right to speak!!!
Since this all went down, others have come to the support of Ayanbadejo including the president of the Ravens and the NFL Commissioner.
Another NFL player, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, also took up the cause, writing Burns Jr. a scathing letter which was distributed to the media:
Dear Emmett C. Burns Jr.,
I find it inconceivable that you are an elected official of Maryland's state government. Your vitriolic hatred and bigotry make me ashamed and disgusted to think that you are in any way responsible for shaping policy at any level. The views you espouse neglect to consider several fundamental key points, which I will outline in great detail (you may want to hire an intern to help you with the longer words):
1. As I suspect you have not read the Constitution, I would like to remind you that the very first, the VERY FIRST Amendment in this founding document deals with the freedom of speech, particularly the abridgment of said freedom. By using your position as an elected official (when referring to your constituents so as to implicitly threaten the Ravens organization) to state that the Ravens should "inhibit such expressions from your employees," more specifically Brendon Ayanbadejo, not only are you clearly violating the First Amendment, you also come across as a narcissistic fromunda stain. What on earth would possess you to be so mind-boggingly stupid? It baffles me that a man such as yourself, a man who relies on that same First Amendment to pursue your own religious studies without fear of persecution from the state, could somehow justify stifling another person's right to speech. To call that hypocritical would be to do a disservice to the word. Mindfucking obscenely hypocritical starts to approach it a little bit.
2. "Many of your fans are opposed to such a view and feel it has no place in a sport that is strictly for pride, entertainment, and excitement." Holy fucking shitballs. Did you seriously just say that, as someone who's "deeply involved in government task forces on the legacy of slavery in Maryland"? Have you not heard of Kenny Washington? Jackie Robinson? As recently as 1962 the NFL still had segregation, which was only done away with by brave athletes and coaches daring to speak their mind and do the right thing, and you're going to say that political views have "no place in a sport"? I can't even begin to fathom the cognitive dissonance that must be coursing through your rapidly addled mind right now; the mental gymnastics your brain has to tortuously contort itself through to make such a preposterous statement are surely worthy of an Olympic gold medal (the Russian judge gives you a 10 for "beautiful oppressionism").
3. This is more a personal quibble of mine, but why do you hate freedom? Why do you hate the fact that other people want a chance to live their lives and be happy, even though they may believe in something different than you, or act different than you? How does gay marriage, in any way shape or form, affect your life? If gay marriage becomes legal, are you worried that all of a sudden you'll start thinking about penis? "Oh shit. Gay marriage just passed. Gotta get me some of that hot dong action!" Will all of your friends suddenly turn gay and refuse to come to your Sunday Ticket grill-outs? (Unlikely, since gay people enjoy watching football too.)
I can assure you that gay people getting married will have zero effect on your life. They won't come into your house and steal your children. They won't magically turn you into a lustful cockmonster. They won't even overthrow the government in an orgy of hedonistic debauchery because all of a sudden they have the same legal rights as the other 90 percent of our population—rights like Social Security benefits, child care tax credits, Family and Medical Leave to take care of loved ones, and COBRA healthcare for spouses and children. You know what having these rights will make gays? Full-fledged American citizens just like everyone else, with the freedom to pursue happiness and all that entails. Do the civil-rights struggles of the past 200 years mean absolutely nothing to you?
In closing, I would like to say that I hope this letter, in some small way, causes you to reflect upon the magnitude of the colossal foot in mouth clusterfuck you so brazenly unleashed on a man whose only crime was speaking out for something he believed in. Best of luck in the next election; I'm fairly certain you might need it.
Sincerely, Chris Kluwe
P.S. I've also been vocal as hell about the issue of gay marriage so you can take your "I know of no other NFL player who has done what Mr. Ayanbadejo is doing" and shove it in your close-minded, totally lacking in empathy piehole and choke on it. Asshole.
And Chris Kluwe interviewed about his letter on CNN:
Totally Biased: Who Would You Gay Marry?
Gay myth busting.
Courtesy of Davey Wavey (check out his YouTube channel for way more awesome and hilarious videos - and lots of hot shirtless dudes):
Marvel comic book superhero marries boyfriend.
This is somewhat old news (from a few weeks ago) but worth posting.
From The Mary Sue:
Marvel Comics has decided to take their characters in a new direction, one that hasn’t been explored in their pages before. Today, the publisher announced that their character Northstar would be proposing to his long-time boyfriend Kyle in the pages of Astonishing X-Men #50. And ABC’s The View had the exclusive.
Behar’s lame attempt at a joke aside, I wish the ladies had gotten more time to talk about this momentous move. Northstar, aka Jean-Paul Beaubier, was the first Marvel character to be revealed as gay but not the first in comics altogether. The first is most often credited to Extrano from DC Comics back in the 80s. Coincidentally enough, DC is planning to reveal one of their previously existing male, iconic characters as gay in a story this June. You may also remember Archie Comics getting the jump on this particular issue with the marriage of their gay character Kevin Keller to his significant other last year.
In a press release Axel Alonso, Marvel Editor in Chief, said, “The Marvel Universe has always reflected the world outside your window, so we strive to make sure our characters, relationships and stories are grounded in that reality. We’ve been working on this story for over a year to ensure Northstar and Kyle’s wedding reflects Marvel’s ‘world outside your window’ tradition.”
Read the rest here: link.
The Gay Agenda.
From The Jest:
Film: Psychopathia Sexualis.
Passed along by Katie (thanks!), who stumbled upon this while studying. From the film homepage:
Employing a complex multi-narrative structure, Psychopathia Sexualis dramatizes case histories of turn-of-the-century sexual deviance, drawn from the pages of Richard von Krafft-Ebing's notorious medical text. Among the cases are a sexually repressed man who discovers an unhealthy appetite for blood; a homosexual man who submits himself to a doctor who promises to 'cure' his condition; and a masochist who hires a pair of corseted prostitutes to enact a most peculiar performance. In the final chapter, a woman who has spent her life suppressing her lesbian desires is hired to tutor a sexually curious young woman. These stories are bound together by the thread of an ambitious doctor who not only studies the patients, but uses them as pawns and playthings.
Sadly, it looks like the film was rubbish - reviewers completed panned it.
Here's the trailer, for interest's sake: