Welcome to PAPER, for People Against Persecuting Erotic Rights. We’re based in Louisville and here to keep you informed about research and policy issues related to all things sex. Please check the PAPER homepage often for news and updates, and click around through our always-growing collection of links. You’ll find all sorts of information and research. There’s always something new to learn!
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Just what we need: proposed Indiana legislation making sexting a juvenile offense has been sent to a study commission. One might ask a few questions about the sexting panic. 1. Is this actually a problem? The answer to the first two would be an emphatic NO, and the answer to #3 would be an emphatic YES. Let’s hope the study commission reaches a smart conclusion. From The Courier-Journal: supporting the Fairness Ordinance and a veteran’s response to repealing DADT. Did you know that to join the EU, a country must protect gay rights? Good policy. Rick Santorum is spouting off more homophobic nonsense. Google “santorum,” if you don’t already know what it means as a slang term; we’re going to have a hilarious election cycle if Santorum, as the rumors have it, does run for president. A leader in ex-gay ministry is a convicted felon and con man. How utterly unsurprising. What to expect when you’re aborting. A black woman’s response to the lie that the pro-choice is racist. The Forty Days for Life harrass-a-thon begins again. Do consider escorting at our own EMW! Virginia anti-choicers are working to divert proceeds from a pro-choice license plate. More from pro-choice Catholics. Two sides of sexual anxiety: resizing condoms for male egos, and how much bleeding is normal with first intercourse? And, two sides of desire: debunking the myth that men always want sex, and… new hope for a female Viagra. On some notable feminists: lessons from Margaret Sanger, the brave life of abortion provider Susan Hill, and remembering Jody Howard. Super Bowl is finally behind us, but here’s some analysis on the Tebow-Focus on the Family commercial: He’s My Timmy, who almost didn’t make it into this world… and from the link in the commercial, DON’T KILL YOUR BABY! Ah, yes, the crazy was waiting in the wings. By the way, don’t fall for the horror movie stylings of Focus on the Family’s description of abortion—try Planned Parenthood’s instead. [And for one last shot of nasty, here's what conservative pundit Erick Erickson had to say. Yet again an anti-choicer shows how considerate he is.] Meanwhile, the dumb old trope that abortion providers are racist is getting play in Georgia. This stems from untrue accusations that Margaret Sanger, who founded Planned Parenthood, was a eugenicist. [Link is to the preservers and publishers of a new cache of Sanger's papers, which will handily dispel this rumor.] Terrorist Scott Roeder has no regrets. Why should he, when Operation Rescue has a bounty on abortion doctors? Over in the legislative end of anti-choice bullshit, some states are moving to mandate that abortion insurance can only be purchased as a rider. If you’re angry about all this—or optimistic!—sign up for the 2010 Southern Reproductive Justice Leadership Institute. Men and boys can get the HPV vaccine! If you think you’ve been exposed to HIV [or want to be prepared for that feeling], here’s a video about what to do. Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper are teaming up to fight unprotected sex. A wonderful essay on why “unnatural” sex acts aren’t just okay, butsome of the most beautiful, honorable, and deeply treasured parts of the human experience. Dan Choi, one of the most outspoken critics of DADT, is back in active duty. Yay! And, a majority of Americans think gays should be allowed to serve openly. Those who don’t, well, see the following: Louisvillians sound off on DADT. Homophobes fail to repeal gay marriage rights in Iowa and New Hampshire. [For true homophobia on display, check this.] Making a big mockery of straight-only marriage. In the religious world, pastor Ken Eastburn advocates Christians tending to their own morality rather than America’s, the Archbishop of Canterbury wants to get progressive, and a new religious institute report advises preaching reproductive justice. And in fundie idiocy, a Michigan fundie group has filed a lawsuit against hate crimes legislation, saying it will “eradicate” their religion. Treatment for gender identity disorder IS medical care! Should we teach feminism in school? Yep. Rhode Island has a sex-positivity institute! First off: the Kentucky House has approved an In God We Trust plate. As you might recall, ROCK’s been at it to get a vanity IGWT plate for years—should this pass, it effectively kills ROCK’s fundraising strategy, and if it doesn’t pass, we’re spared license plate theocracy. A true win-win! ROCK also got more free press from WAVE-3 this week when their demands weren’t met by the Clarksville Town Council. Not so amusingly, half the very anti-ROCK comments were deleted, but it would seem public opinion actually isn’t so much on ROCK’s side. The WAVE-3 reporter’s email is above the text of the article and Clarksville’s Town Council can be reached at trishAtdigicoveDOTcom. Let’s make our sex-positive voices heard! Another ROCK member got a letter in the Courier today. She writes, When I read “A Super Bowl advertisement we can do without” by Timothy Rutten in The C-J’s Feb. 3 edition, I was already nodding my head in agreement to what I was sure was going to be a detractor of Go Daddy’s blatant use of porn culture and sexuality of women to sell its product. Interestingly, the idea of porn culture is not strictly far right—many very liberal thinkers object to an oversexualized culture. PAPER, of course, advocates not a wholesale condemnation of pornography and sexuality, but striving toward a culture where sexuality is just one aspect of whole, healthy people. What’s more interesting, though, is the idea that sexuality of women is something objectionable. So much of porn’s titillation factor is in seeing women behave in unladylike ways; it might lose its more addicting quality if everyday women weren’t shamed for being sexual entities. The Courier also printed an editorial on the terrorist Scott Roeder and more abortion-related letters to the editor. Amanda Marcotte takes down “101 Reasons not to Have an Abortion” spectacularly. A new anti-choice bill in Utah illegalizes miscarriages. Yeah, the anti-choice movement cares about women. Sure. And more on Tebow: there are actually TWO anti-choice Tebow ads, both funded by the extremists at Focus on the Family. Unfortunately feminist reaction to the ad has not been received well. At least there are the following touching and/or funny videos. Planned Parenthood hired two sports notables–wisely, men, as anti-choicers aren’t going to respect women talking about why abortion is a force for good–to make the official counter-ad. Florida’s Raging Grannies sing it like it is. Jimmy Kimmel makes the most biting counter. Meanwhile, Kentucky’s own Planned Parenthood and ACLU made a great showing in Frankfort for real sex ed. Real sex ed is getting proper funding again, thanks to Obama–Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards responds. In other sex ed news, a new study said abstinence education works. Huh? Well, it’s not abstinence-only education, it’s sex ed that highlights the positives of abstinence while giving good health and contraception information. More on this here. Sexting as kiddie porn is nothing short of absurd. The Courier also opined on repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and whew, the homophobia came rolling in. It’s not just Louisvillians: Ollie North said repealing DADT will lead to NAMBLA being in uniform, the American Family Association said gayness ought to be illegal, as did the Family Research Council. Remember, the AFA and FRC are two of ROCK and their ilk’s biggest sources of “evidence.” Neighborly, huh? Although Obama and Hillary Clinton attended the National Prayer Breakfast, put on the theocratic group The Family, they condemned the Family’s work in hate-mongering and would-be genocide in Uganda. In the Courier, another religious GLBTQ-friendly voice was heard–come on, sane Christians, keep making noise. A top Canadian music magazine named a transman for Canada’s sexiest man. Yay progressiveness! Another disgusting little ploy: homophobes aren’t content with saying gays are evil, they’re ugly, too. LA will not make condoms mandatory in porn, for a variety of reasons… link is more NSFW than most. People always have questions about sex, most of which boil down to, “Am I normal?” Who cares? Got a painfully curved penis? Help may be on the way. Whew! We’ve seen the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the trial of anti-choice terrorist Scott Roeder, the Prop 8 trial, the vindication of Theatair X, and plenty more. Locally, an anti-choice rally was held downtown, Kentucky’s numbskulled state Senate passed a terrible bill requiring women to have ultrasounds before getting an abortion, and Louisvillians continued to duke it out in the letters to the editor. The ultrasound bill is pretty atrocious—it also requires a face-to-face meeting with an abortion doctor 24 hours before the procedure and imposes stiff fines on doctors, among other things. Word has it the bill won’t pass the Kentucky House, but if you are concerned please consider attending the Reproductive Justice Project Rally in Frankfort Thursday, 2/4. The rally was scheduled to demonstrate for real sex ed for teens, but this bill demands some attention. The Roe v. Wade anniversary prompted much writing, with NARAL declaring it Blog For Choice Day. Amanda Marcotte explains that she’s pro-choice because she loves life, the good Kentuckians over at Barefoot & Progressive weigh in, and this post collects a number of other feminists’ thoughts. Jessica Arons, director of the Women’s Health and Rights Program at American Progress, calls Democrats to action. The Roe anniversary also marked the beginning of the trial of Scott Roeder, admitted murderer of late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. [Listen to Dr. Tiller here on why he chose this career.] RH Reality Check did a day-by-day account: Days One and Two, Day Three, Day Four, and Day Five. You can watch Roeder’s testimony Roeder was today found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to life. Let us remember, though, that Roeder is also a terrorist, not just a murderer. More on anti-abortion violence here [and it is well-documented]. Also, will there be another generation of abortion providers? One must wonder, with the personal safety risks and lack of education. Meanwhile, also on Roe day, the March for Life descended upon DC. Sarah Palin cooed about this on Facebook, Jezebel responded. There is a bad trend in the anti-choice sphere of appropriating pro-choice language—we’ve got to call this bullshit for what it is. Also, much was made over the youth in attendance of the rally, but that’s not really the feat anti-choicers might like to believe. Speaking of youth and sex rights, here’s how to train youth to value reproductive justice. An unfortunate firestorm has flared up as CBS is allowing an anti-choice ad featuring Tim Tebow and funded by Focus on the Family to air during the Super Bowl, which violated its former anti-advocacy advertising policy. In light of the controversy they’ve amended the policy. Pro-choice groups have considered how to respond, and seem to be focused on shutting the ad down. We can also mock it. PAPER, by the way, proposes a counter-ad with a well-known successful woman or mother of a successful person detailing why her abortion was a fantastic choice. Sadly abortion is so stigmatized in this country no one would want to admit to one on TV, which is yet another problem. The ad is also controversial since Tebow’s mother’s story sounds a little off, and because CBS is cynically using a serious social issue to get free buzz AND paints the anti-choicers as the better side. State trends in abortion in 2009. Reflections on the last decade in reproductive justice. Two interesting books to look for: Dispatches from the Abortion Wars, and The Means of Reproduction. Last in the abortion section, a good mockery of Bart Stupak. In excellent local news… the regulations were unconstitutional. ROCK was predictably petulant, saying what goes on in Theatair X is “unimaginable,” and we enjoyed this. To tell Clarksville not to pass stupid restrictions on adult businesses, call either 812-283-1504 or email Clarksville’s town council at trishATdigicoveDOTcom. And if you’re still unconvinced that groups like ROCK are harmless, here are some recent stories from around the world of braindead bans caused by sex-negative panic: a dictionary banned from school for containing “oral sex”. Or The Diary of Anne Frank banned in Virginia schools for being “pornographic.” Outside of school, how about banning small breasts and female ejaculation in porn? Or artists stripped of their funding for “indecency”? Such stories proliferate where sex-negativity abounds. In Indiana, though, not all fronts are so liberated. 2009 saw more pro-GLBTQ bills passed than the last two years combined. At the Prop 8 trial, religion was mostly absent, ex-gay therapy was discussed, and homosexuality claimed to be linked to pedophilia [by someone Prop 8's backers are distancing themselves from]. The case does seem to be leaning toward repealing Prop 8, thankfully… even Cindy McCain is for gay marriage. This sounds like an interesting political race. Oh yeah, despite an anti-choice ad, CBS won’t allow a gay dating site’s ad. Ugh. In other gay dating site news, eHarmony must merge its straight and gay sites. ‘Bout time. Teen pregnancy has risen in America—thanks, abstinence-only education. Contraception will be made more available to women in the military. Study on education and cervial cancer risk. Americans might soon have another emergency contraception pill, already available in Europe and maybe more effective than Plan B. A wonderful condom ad: Lastly, pioneering reproductive justice activist Ruth P. Smith has died. Thank you, Ruth, you will be missed. This week the Kentucky Senate passed to the floor a bill that forces women to have an ultrasound before getting an abortion [the webpage has been glitchy, so you may have to refresh to get it to load correctly]. Kentucky law already requires counseling, in case you didn’t know. Find your representative’s contact info here so you can tell him or her to vote against this anti-choice nonsense. The Courier also ran an op-ed on this. Oh, and here’s The Onion’s take on such terrible laws:
Meanwhile, remember how Louisville’s anti-choice protesters have been showing up to the abortion clinic dressed like escorts? The feminist blogosphere picked up on it, and the protesters weren’t happy. Excerpt: While these escorts may seem to you as brave, enduring, heroes, and more..to me they are individuals who use Saturday mornings as a way to justify being as angry and mean as possible. Who yell insults, profane language, and dance in the streets while women go into the abortion clinic. These insults come after attempts to simply say good morning or hello. We do not hate the escorts, nor believe they are deemed our “enemies” as they do. We are divided on this issue of great importance, yet I do not believe that it means we must hate one another. Lies, lies, lies. This anti-choicer has conveniently ignored all the insults, judgments, and sanctimoniousness that come from the protesters. Escorts also don’t scream at the women going into the clinic, so I suppose it could be an honest mistake not to hear their kind words. The best thing is, the anti-choicer who wrote this silly email is in the video shot by escorts. So we know exactly the hatefulness he or she espouses, regardless of what they say later. [More here, including the video.] Meanwhile, the murderer of Dr. George Tiller may be found guilty of manslaughter instead. This sets a terrifying precedent—essentially allowing lesser sentences for murdering abortion doctors. We can only hope it’s a means to curtail appeals. More here. On having anti-choice allies. More debunking of the abortion causes breast cancer lie. Stupak might run for governor. Well, it’d get him out of Congress at least. Why the big disparity between states offering anti-choice and pro-choice license plates? The following is tax-funded abstinence-only education in action: Because clapping for the clap is so much better at curtailing teen pregnancy than telling teens condoms are effective. Riiiiight. The Courier also ran an op-ed this week about all the Kurtz homophobia ruckus. More reader response here. This week the Prop 8 trial began. Evidence will include testimony from gay couples, and a historian’s take on marriage. Meanwhile, the homophobes have demanded not to be shown on camera. Do they secretly know their weak arguments are based on hate, or what? Always hilarious: prominent Irish homophobe Iris Robinson was caught in an extramarital affair with 19 year old chef for whom she embezzled $50000. Juicy! By the way, did you know divorce rates are higher in states banning gay marriage? Reluctance may be growing about the Kill the Gays Bill in Uganda. The Democrats might finally start moving on repealing DADT. Fun stuff: how gay are Catholic priests… or how many people are into blasphemy play? And, also from The Onion, Gay teen worried he might be a Christian. And yes, it IS set in our own Louisville. Neither victims nor voiceless: sex workers speaking for themselves. And, America’s first legal male prostitute compares himself to Rosa Parks. Uh, well, we guess it’s good for male prostitutes to be ballsy. Lastly, one that goes to the heart of what PAPER stands for: breaking the generational shame about sex. The Courier-Journal drama with Archbishop Kurtz continues to unfold in reader letters, more reader letters, and even more reader letters. And the comments were many. Make your gay relationship [or gay-friendliness] known in the Census. The Obama administration has now banned bias over gender identity. About the Prop 8 lawsuit, which will be televised. New Jersey rejected gay marriage this week, but the whole country of Portugal legalized it. The Kill the Gays Bill saga in Uganda gained publicity when the New York Times covered it. More here, and about how evangelicals are trying to distance themselves here. Frankly, this should become the PR disaster for evangelicals that pedophile priests were for the Catholic church. The AIDS/HIV travel ban has finally been lifted. The sex addiction model isn’t harmless. Revisiting purity balls, and yes, they’re still creepy and awful. And a new poll says most parents think their kids are “model citizens.” Absurd: carrying three condoms in DC could get you arrested for prostitution. A new study says guilt may lower women’s sex drives. Meanwhile, Amplify points out that when sex is normal, normal people talk about sex. Did you know some of Toronto’s mental health professionals are painfully sex-negative? Kenneth Zucker is leading the transphobic wing of psychiatry, and the definition of paraphilia may expand so much that everyone is included. January is Cervical Health Awareness Month. Why do we forget that abortion is a fundamental right? Here’s Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards on reproductive justice around the world. At our own EMW Women’s Clinic, the anti-choice protesters are now wearing orange “life escort” vests. Also picked up on Feministing. Guess what? Abby Johnson , the former Planned Parenthood employee scared anti-choice by watching an abortion, is a big LIAR. Catholic bishops have embraced anti-choice terrorists. No shit: study says more frequent sex increases chance of pregnancy. Another study reminds us that sex is good for your health. Alan Moore has just released a paean to erotic history. Your intrepid webmistress’ schedule is awry, so bear with us for the next couple of weeks. We may be making some big changes to the site, too! And on to the news. The drama continues to unfold regarding Louisville’s own Archbishop Kurtz, who donates to homophobia: the director of the Fairness Campaign responds, and so do readers. But best of all was Kurtz’s own response to criticism: Unfortunately, the editors of The Courier-Journal characterized the support for marriage as bigotry. As archbishop, as a former social worker and as a citizen, I write to express my objection to referring to the church’s efforts, as well as those of countless citizens throughout the United States, in such derogatory terms. In fact, the majority of voters in more than 30 states have supported marriage as the union of one man and one woman. It never ceases to amaze me that people can be genuinely uncomfortable with being called bigots, but have no discomfort at all with their own actual bigotry. Kurtz says he’s not, and “supporters of marriage” are not, bigots, but equates gay marriage with theft. He misrepresents marriage by implying “almost every civilization” treated marriage as Catholicism does, and relies on the old trope that homosexuality is somehow unnatural, because he can’t say the only reason he opposes gay marriage is because Paul and Moses told him so. Given that homosexuality is wholly natural, that gay families can be healthy and happy families, that gay marriages involve consenting adults, and that marriage has indeed been different culture to culture, there’s no conclusion except that Kurtz and his ilk are bigots. [Also let's remember that gay marriage laws come with clauses saying no church must perform/recognize gay marriage.] Meanwhile, such homophobia’s real ramifications continue to play out in Uganda, where life imprisonment for gays is gaining more support than the death penalty. In Malawi, a gay couple got married in protest of the Ugandan bill and were promptly arrested. In happy news, however, Argentina has its first married gay couple, and Obama has appointed transwoman Amanda Simpson to the Department of Commerce. A map of the world by gay rights:
Fun: daytime TV’s first gay love scene. Should unmarried straight couples get benefits? The abstinence-only clowns are hoping healthcare reform will save their lies. See also: the new paperback version of Jessica Valenti’s The Purity Myth. More on abortion compromise from a Senator; response here. Locally, our own ACLU sent representatives to protest Stupak-Pitts, as well as condemn Rep. Chandler’s vote for the amendment. Happy update: the military dropped the ban on pregnant soldiers. On red and blue family values, and realities. And, where science gets really stupid: a new study says the g-spot doesn’t exist. [Another study recently confirmed its existence.] Sigh. Why was this even questioned? Lastly, if a product relies solely on sex to sell while having nothing to do with sex, it’s probably a mediocre product. … and it’s a big one. Remember how no federal dollars can go to abortion? This includes military hospitals. More here. Takes on the [necessary for the 60th vote] abortion clause in the healthcare bill from Feministe, Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards, Cynthia Nixon, and a participant in the National Day of Action opposing Stupak-Pitts. Unsurprisingly on all fronts, the bill limits abortions where they are most common—red states. Speaking of red state nonsensicality, Chuck Norris thinks that if the Virgin Mary had abortion access, Jesus would have never been born. *headdesk* is about all we can say for that one. Also, what about healthcare reform’s impact on STI diagnosis? And here’s a guide to discussing healthcare reform and reproductive rights. Updated guide here. On the lie of “pro-life” and anti-choicers’ sensitive consciences. Update on Oklahoma abortion rights. More here. Hillary Clinton affirms US stance FOR reproductive health. Meanwhile, Spain is making progress. Lastly in the abortion section, something cool: a pro-choice license plate in Virginia! Embarrassingly, Louisville’s Archbishop Kurtz is fighting hard against gay rights. Courier editorial here, letters to the editor here, and political cartoon here [all have comments, some of which are true reminders of the red state in which we live]. Meanwhile, more churches threaten to cut homeless charity to stand tall for homophobia. Disgusting. The NY Times profiled the evangelical “big thinker”, Robert P. George. We’d feel bad for someone so sexually repressed if he weren’t working so hard to make sure everyone else is. George’s bullshit debunked here. Happily, Mexico City is moving to legalize gay marriage, but elsewhere around the world gay rights continue to be horrifyingly nonexistent. Here’s a story about a Ugandan lesbian fighting back against the Kill the Gays Bill. The awesome poster for season two of RuPaul’s drag race:
Did you know there’s a National Porn Sunday? We bet it was nice and sex-negative. Dealing with porn in relationships, and from a feminist stance. Fun: design NYC condom wrappers! This week saw the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. More here. Over in India, a male movement seeks to save lady sex workers by marrying them. A provocative church-sponsored ad in New Zealand. Is sex addiction real? We tend to think anything in life can be abused, sex included, and real treatment gets at the underlying problem. Here’s the story of a man fresh from Dr. Drew’s sex rehab show. A new study says sexting isn’t that common, while another says casual sex won’t ruin your life. Big surprise… Fetish art objects, and ballistic duck penises. Duck genitals are more interesting than you think! Lastly, something optimistic: we are making progress, and we’ll probably win the war… it’s just taking longer than we’d like, is all. It’s been a relatively good week for gay rights in the US: a gay marriage vote passed the DC Council, and Houston elected an openly gay mayor. In California, however, it’s big business to oppose gay rights. Here’s an interesting piece about biology, religion, and rights. Over in Uganda, the fundie bigot who proposed the Kill the Gays Bill promises not to back down about the death penalty. We can only hope the other Ugandan legislators will vote this travesty down. Ironically, in the midst of the controversy, they have passed a law banning female genital mutilation. On the conflict of psychology, profits, and transgendered people. Congress just passed a remarkably progressive and sane appropriations bill, which ends abstinence-only funding, allots money for sexual health research and teen pregnancy prevention, and improves abortion access, among other very good things. Also, the healthcare reform bill can do much good for sex ed. Lois Capps [D-CA] responds to Stupak. On the power of pro-choice men as allies. Egypt is moving progressively on abortion. Make love, not porn: a sex-positive site reminding people that porno sex isn’t all that realistic. You can email suggestions—go on, we all have our little porn gripes. See classism, sexism, and sex-negativity intertwine here, where no one believes a prosititute would know what hypocrisy is. But, in happy sex work news, Nevada now allows male prostitutes. A new study says casual sex doesn’t bother young people, but many young people have been left with misconceptions and ignorance after abstinence-only education. It’s worse than we feared, including widespread beliefs that birth control causes cancer. Did you know adultery is still illegal in New Hampshire? Unfortunate: vaginal gel does not block HIV. Girl-bashing and its very real consequences. Something fun indeed: Fleshbot’s top ten sex toys of 2009. I’m sure there are still some adult stores having xmas sales! Your intrepid webmistress apologizes for the delay. And here we go. What is wrong with a country when beating women is more acceptable than men kissing men? Destigmatizing female sexuality, and more on the problems with studying female desire. Meanwhile, this essay digs into “hookup culture” and related misogyny. And, really, vagina mints? Crap like this wouldn’t make it to production if women hadn’t been made insecure about their genitals. The Swedes have renamed the hymen the “vaginal corona.” Read more here. Abortion in media: first, a new abortion “dramumentary” is out and it doesn’t seem so fair and balanced, and unfortunately, Lila Rose is lying on tape again [link is to a nice debunking]. Abortion news across the country and abroad: Dr. Carhart, now the only late-term abortion provider since Dr. Tiller’s murder, is now being targeted, abortion and emergency contraception access are improving in Europe, especially in Ireland. Our own Congress just ended an effort to permanently repeal the global gag rule. Let’s hope the 2012 President doesn’t reverse Obama’s executive order, huh? For the religious readers, here’s more on religious support for abortion rights. Abortion and healthcare: first, awesome news! Nelson’s Senate amendment to ban insurance from covering abortions FAILED! [More on that amendment here, here, and here.] Now we just have to see that Stupak doesn’t get through when the healthcare bill goes back to the House. Sign a new petition here, and refresh your rage [and learn something about political action] here. Also, here’s some anti-choice stupidity shown for what it is and here’s more on the ever-present personal-is-political reality. Let’s get to something a bit saucier: porn! Porn star Sasha Gray gives an interesting interview, Phillip Toledano documents phone sex workers, and sex workers consider their profession and feminism. Meanwhile, has porn has porn made men bad at sex? Does porn change men’s views of women? Are there any more porn virgins? [Depends on the porn, is our answer.] There’s drama in the Flynt family, and according to at least one escort, prosititutes save marriages. [We're going to say that depends on the marriage, too.] In religious bigotry news, Baltimore fundies are getting time to present a case for hate in court [and other rabid fundies say condoms prevent the Rapture---just precious!]. Thankfully sane Christians are have put forth an Affirmation Declaration. Here’s Rachel Maddow with more on the Kill the Gays Bill and “ex-gay therapy.”
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy [Transcript here.] While international leaders and the Holy See condemned the bill, American fundies were reluctant to do so. [More here.] Perhaps most notable among the suddenly reticent fundies was Rick Warren, who tried to wash his hands of the matter despite being connected to it until he was, essentially, shamed into saying something. The bill may well have killed many, but after the outcry, the death penalty and life imprisonment clauses have been dropped. A victory, though, hilariously, in the new draft of the bill, Uganda will be offering ex-gay therapy. This ties in neatly with The Family, by Jeff Sharlet. This book, a truly terrifying book, exposes the fundies in the thick of American politics and where the Jesus-and-capitalism brand of Christianity came from. In good news, DC has okayed gay marriage! Unfortunately, New York did not. Cynthia Nixon responded to the defeat here, in a wonderful essay. Also wonderful is this helpful flowchart of the gay marriage debate. Odds and ends: hot gay elf sex in a video game, on same sex schools for boys, and condom sabotage. |
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