Meanwhile… a prominent homophobe has been caught returning from a European vacation with a male sex worker, hired from RentBoy.com [link is to the site's statement on the outing]. The outed homophobe claims he was just trying to share the “good news of Jesus Christ” with [...]]]> And, happy birthday to the Pill! Here’s Loretta Lynn’s ode.

Meanwhile… a prominent homophobe has been caught returning from a European vacation with a male sex worker, hired from RentBoy.com [link is to the site's statement on the outing]. The outed homophobe claims he was just trying to share the “good news of Jesus Christ” with the sex worker. [A second sex worker has come out saying he, ah, performed services for Rekers.] This is especially hilarious in light of just who this homophobe is–not a garden variety preacher or “family values” politician, but George Rekers, a founder of the Family Research Council and member of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality. Rekers has received government money to defend anti-gay Florida adoption laws–and was so homophobic they didn’t even accept his testimony. Rekers also preaches the usual sex-negative crap to teens on his site.

Why does it seem closeted gays are the main ones spearheading homophobic movements? Rachel Maddow also has a response:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

It’s quite plain, all in all: gayness can’t be “cured,” and we shouldn’t wish for a cure anyway; sexual shaming just can’t always overcome human nature; and, frankly, the sex-negative are people who’ve internalized the sexual shaming.

Meanwhile, homophobia still gets prominent play in Uganda.

One of the worst symptoms of sex-negativity is its pretense that women are simply less sexual than men–and, usually, religious sex-addiction programs are designed for men. However, some are “ministering” to “sex-addicted” women. Excerpt:

To the wide array of programs offered by evangelical megachurches like Westside, the group adds what Ms. Renaud says is something long overdue. While churches have addressed pornography use among the men in their congregations and among the clergy, a group for women who say they are addicted to pornography is new territory, she said.

“In the Christian culture, women are supposed to be the nonsexual ones,” said Ms. Renaud, who also runs an Internet site called Dirty Girls Ministries, choosing the name to attract people searching for pornography. “It’s an injustice that the church is not more open about physical sexuality. God created sex. But the enemy has twisted it.”

Ms. Renaud, who is taking a DVD course in sexual addiction counseling from the American Association of Christian Counselors, said she started the group and the Web site based on her own experiences. She became interested in pornography at age 10 after finding a magazine in her brother’s bathroom. After that, she said, “I wasn’t able to get enough of it.”

“At school I wanted to go home and look at it more,” she said. “Then I went online. I’d stay late at the library to look at it. Eventually I got into masturbation, phone sex, cybersex.” She also cracked the code on the family’s satellite television service, she said. “That was my life for eight years.” Then, she said, she met a Christian woman who helped her stop.

It is profoundly sad to us to see women taught that their desires are “addictions”–look at some what some of the women in the group had to say:

Michele L. H., 27, who spoke on the condition that her last name not be used out of respect for her husband and son, said Ms. Renaud’s group had helped her stay in her marriage. When she was young, she said, relatives sexually abused her and made her look at pornography as instruction in how to behave. As an adult she needed pornography to be aroused with her husband, she said.

“I’m learning the correct way of intimacy and bonds,” she said of the group. “It’s learning what your spouse wants, his needs.” In her first weeks, she recalled, she struggled to avoid masturbation.

…

Kelsie, the 17-year-old, also agreed to speak on the condition that her full name not be used. She said that she had been taught secular views about masturbation, but that Ms. Renaud’s way made more sense.

She added: “You have to take into consideration what’s best for the one you’re going to be with. Say someday I’m married and my husband can’t please me as much as I please myself. That’d be terrible.”

The very real issue of abuse for Michele is plainly left untreated, while Kelsie has been so brainwashed she thinks it would be “terrible” to get more pleasure out of masturbation than sex. Too bad if she’s one of those many women who don’t orgasm from intercourse, huh? Here’s some description of the graduation ceremony:

For the graduation ceremony, Ms. Renaud passed out balloons and asked the group to write down the things they were giving up. Out came the bad stuff: Porn, Masturbation, Lustful Thinking, Cutting, Feeling Useless, Dad’s Bad Choices, Self-Gratification, Self-Mutilation, Unhealthy Thoughts.

Think about that, dear readers–masturbation and lustful thinking are equated with self-mutilation, “Dad’s Bad Choices,” and unhealthy thoughts. This is the worldview trying to ban porn from brick-and-mortar stores and healthy sex ed from schools. It is not harmless.

Anyway… a new study shows many women are easily aroused, too, and enjoy hooking up.

The ACLU says our own EMW is one of the most-harrassed abortion clinics in the country. Your intrepid Webmistress went down last Saturday, and between being another friendly face for the patients, was told she had a “cold dead atheist heart” like the other “Deathscorts” by this high-volume sermonizing anti-choicer, John Heuglin of New Bethel Church [who, according to his other YouTube videos, doesn't believe in evolution, either--how surprising], and was screamed at in the face by multiple protesters. I also heard a couple sermons, a Mass, plus arguments from one idiot about how archaeology can’t disprove the Bible and the usual “You’re going to hell, God will judge you” nonsense. Immanuel Baptist is another significant fundie presence, seeming to be behind the “life escort” vests, designed to be confused with the “clinic escort” vests.

All in all, the usual hate, judgmentalness, and lies one expects from the sex-negative.

A new Guttmacher study says abortion has become more concentrated among low-income women.

Hm… do “family values” weaken families? Yes!

Oh, look: another deluded parent stealing a library book so the precious children won’t be corrupted. ROCK likes this tactic; what book is next? What encyclopedia content?

An economic analysis of the relationship between pre-marital sex and its destigmatization.

Study from the National Campaignt to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy finds unprecedented vast ignorance about reproduction and contraception among American youth. Thanks, abstinence-only and sex-negativity!

What an anti-teen sexting bill ought to look [...]]]> Happy post-Derby recuperation, and here’s a [very distilled] round-up from the interim.

An economic analysis of the relationship between pre-marital sex and its destigmatization.

Study from the National Campaignt to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy finds unprecedented vast ignorance about reproduction and contraception among American youth. Thanks, abstinence-only and sex-negativity!

What an anti-teen sexting bill ought to look like. Take heed, Kentucky legislators.

Advice to a twentysomething raised by sex-negative religious parents… who now feels terrible guilt about sex, even while married.

ROCK’s been endorsing this stupid effort by the Family Foundation of Kentucky to make all strippers keep distance from clients and wear pasties.

More investigation into the fundies with too much power in this country, from Rachel Maddow:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Well, what do you know? Strip clubs are safer than churches! At least in Australia.

Next Saturday is the day before Mother’s Day, and that means we ought to help EMW out. [And, you know, call our moms and such.] The protesters continue to get coverage, especially after anti-choice starlet Lila Rose leaked a heavily-edited two-year-old attack video about EMW. [See Planned Parenthood's response to such attacks here.]

Meanwhile, a ten-year-old Mexican girl is being refused an abortion. Maybe this will be the tipping point for Mexican abortion rights–we can only hope.

A woman live-tweeted her abortion.

Abortion and contraception aren’t new–they have a 4000 year history!

Pro-Choice Public Education Project: education about abortion-related SCOTUS cases.

Gallup finds that education “trumps” gender in predicting abortion rights support.

Now this is the sort of class homophobes can proudly claim: after a Mississippi lesbian student, Constance McMillen, asked to take her girlfriend to the prom [while dressed in a tux, *gasp*], the school canceled the whole prom. You can picture how much this pleased the rest of the students. After the school was forced to hold the prom, however, McMillen and her date and some disabled students were the only ones who attended. It was a decoy prom. The real prom had been held elsewhere, and kept secret from McMillen and the others.

Well, at least DC passed a resolution against the Uganda kill-the-gays bill.

More science shows that the Pill won’t kill us.

What does porn for women really look like?

A bunch of fundies got Morrison’s Song of Solomon banned from a school. ROCK frequently endorses this tactic–what did you read in school that someone objects to?

A cornucopia of climaxes: the language of orgasm.

Also, we’re updating, adding, and tweaking throughout the site. We’re also planning some new post features. Stay tuned!

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 [...]]]> 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.

ROCK Drinking Game Rules

1 shot for [...]]]> Speaking of turkeys, the ROCK blogger’s at it again. Debunking of this post is here. The ROCK blogger followed up the first Oprah rant here. Since we at PAPER tend to be a little hedonistic, we’ve come up with a drinking game for reading ROCK blog posts—or anything ROCK produces!

ROCK Drinking Game Rules

1 shot for each piece of shoddy logic.
1 shot for each link to a study by a fundie with no scientific credentials.
2 shots for each false dichotomy.
3 shots for each time they act like only men view porn.

Cheers!

[Clips of the show that so irked the ROCK blogger available here.]

And now on to non-ROCK links. The Stupak drama continues: the George Washington University School of Health predicts that the Stupak Amendment would utterly choke abortion access. Jezebel reacts here. And in another cute trick after threatening to cut their charity work if gays are given rights, Patrick Kennedy has been banned from receiving communion because he is pro-choice. Classy.

There is an abortion rights win to report, though: anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers in Baltimore must clearly label themselves as non-abortion providers. Excellent.

Sexism at work: doctors are skeptical about need for drugs that boost female sexual desire.

Here’s a story about someone “transitioning” from porn star to non-porn-star. Also, here’s a followup about the Belle du Jour story from last week—very worth reading.

Color us unsurprised: out in Africa, Rick Warren preaches the homophobia. Meanwhile, a new study finds that homosexuality was not a factor in the infamous abuses by Catholic priests.

Really? Fox tries to say female conservatives are more persecuted than female liberals. Link is to an article showing otherwise, largely because of Fox’s crappy treatment of liberal women.

Cuba is offering free penis implants.

Women should show 40% of their skin to attract a man, says this study. Not sure how well that one holds up!

Evidence that abstinence-only doesn’t work continues to pile up—STIs are spreading at “soaring rates.”

It’s an interesting week for porn. Sociological Images considers a new doc on the industry, and Jezebel’s take [...]]]> Here’s a cultural shift PAPER can get behind: an argument for premarital sex. It seems especially apropos considering some of the new fundie children’s devotionals.

Evidence that abstinence-only doesn’t work continues to pile up—STIs are spreading at “soaring rates.”

It’s an interesting week for porn. Sociological Images considers a new doc on the industry, and Jezebel’s take is here. Meanwhile this week, sex blogger and call girl Belle Du Jour outed herself, and turns out she’s a scientist. More here.

Sometimes it does a total libertine good to read a very moderate take on hookup culture, though we should note that the silly “feminism is for sluts” meme continues.

Sadly, the Stupak-Pitts Amendment is still in place. Here’s a hell of a column by Katha Pollitt on the subject. [More along the themes Pollitt discusses here and here at Jezebel.] Also check out Kay Steiger for some more clarification, and this eminently sane and fact-based treatise on abortion.

Check out these films: The Coat Hanger Project [abortion, obv], and For the Bible Tells Me So, on gay rights and religion.

Here’s the story on a governor rejecting gays in the funeral parlor, but the following’s much funnier:

Following the hate crime precedent, the repeal of DADT may be attached to next year’s defense budget. Oh, and want more proof homophobia is still thriving? An Alabama school canceled the whole prom rather than allow a lesbian couple in. Pitiful.

All about Transgender Awareness Week and Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Excellent read on who rapists are and about the bullshit facing women who need a rape kit.

On that note, remember sexsomnia? It’s apparently an acceptable defense in court.

Here’s how anti-choice adoption centers really work.

More on the prostitution debate in Rhode Island.

Great news: Church of England drops case against fetish photographer!

On going to Canada to get married.

Gawker asks if “bonnet porn” can save the publishing industry. If you’ve been in Walmart lately, you [...]]]> Here’s the week in sex rights news on this harmonious date:

Here’s how anti-choice adoption centers really work.

More on the prostitution debate in Rhode Island.

Great news: Church of England drops case against fetish photographer!

On going to Canada to get married.

Gawker asks if “bonnet porn” can save the publishing industry. If you’ve been in Walmart lately, you might have noticed all the Christian romance novels. Apparently that’s a bigger market than I had already imagined. Ah, repression!

Speaking of repression at work, here’s a regular feature at Joe My God listing the week in “holy crimes.” Notice how many involve sex crime.

The theme in this week’s newspost does seem to be religion, doesn’t it? Let’s break down PAPER’s attitude toward religion for anyone concerned.

First, PAPER is not anti-religious, but PAPER is secular. We know too well the importance of separating church and state, and many PAPER members know far too well that religion can be a toxic influence on a life. That said, your religious beliefs are and should be your own—and that means, truly, your own, not the government’s.

We absolutely oppose all policy and law which has only religion or religious tradition as its basis. Religion is very essentially a matter of faith, while policy and law very essentially need to apply to the observable world. Plainly faith and the observable world are removed from each other.

Because PAPER is concerned only with the observable world, PAPER champions science and humanism. On the scientific ground purely religion-based policy or law fails, because religion and science simply aren’t after the same kinds of knowledge. Anti-choicers, for example, tend to be evangelicals, and base their anti-choice views on a Christian notion that God makes no mistakes and therefore no fetus should be aborted. And so, they work to illegalize abortion, and refuse to acknowledge the thousands of circumstances that might make a woman consider an abortion or the harm that comes to women receiving back-alley abortions (remember, illegalizing abortion will never get rid of it). Likewise, stigmatizing homosexuality has not gotten rid of homosexuality—it has only made the lives of homosexuals miserable and denied them their rights. The scientist boggles at the ignorance that strives to illegalize abortion or stigmatize gayness, while the humanist weeps at the total inhumanity of it.

Abortion and gay rights are just two issues—big issues, but only two issues—that sex rights encompasses. Sexuality is a real, observable, and wonderful thing that affects humanity on a profound scale. Its effect is certainly as powerful as religion’s, but constantly sexuality is demonized. To be god-fearing is to be good and upstanding; to be sexual is to be dirty and sinful. We say, this is the 21st century and these notions are ridiculous. Let us make policy and law based on what we can observe and verify, and let religion breathe outside the confines of politics.

So, we at PAPER welcome everyone, of any faith. We are not interested in destroying religion. We only ask that you keep your religion out of policy and law, and we will keep our policy and law out of your religion.

Daniel Radcliffe donates to the Trevor Project, which counsels GLBTQ teens.

Join the March for Equality.

Profile of the conservative who’s preparing to fight for nationwide gay marriage rights.

The evangelical solution, if you don’t want to abstain: marry early.

More damning info about abstinence-only education.

Study shows that the [...]]]> Sad but, well, inevitable: the internet is undercutting the porn business.

Daniel Radcliffe donates to the Trevor Project, which counsels GLBTQ teens.

Join the March for Equality.

Profile of the conservative who’s preparing to fight for nationwide gay marriage rights.

The evangelical solution, if you don’t want to abstain: marry early.

More damning info about abstinence-only education.

Study shows that the HPV vaccine’s benefits outweigh the risks. (PAPER does question some of the sentiments in this article, however—what’s with some doctors not wanting to stamp out HPV?)

Oral sex is a natural and beautiful thing.

Is porn changing teen sex practices? While we here think it’s probably futile to try to generalize the way this article does, a wider variety of sexual expression is probably a good and healthy thing—especially if it is empowering. We link this piece because it’s some solid food for thought.

ROCK was at Chik-fil-A Tuesday. See coverage and scroll down for the wonderful comments here and here.

A silly guest blog post about recognizing sex addicts at work. Hard to say where the statistics cited are pulled from. [...]]]> A sex-negative organization likens porn to cigarette smoking and asks Olmsted, MN hotels not to offer adult movies. Thankfully Professor Eli Coleman reminds us that porn has never been linked to rape or violent behavior.

A silly guest blog post about recognizing sex addicts at work. Hard to say where the statistics cited are pulled from. It’s also worth asking what other reasons one might have for workplace porn consumption—is something preventing porn consumption at home?

Candie’s has launched an “Abstinence is Sexy” campaign. Unsurprisingly, it is slut-shaming and heteronormative.

New scientific study shows that women tend to underestimate their bosses’ opinion of their work.

Why ignore misogyny?, a post at Feministing. Has some important thoughts on the killer George Sodini and the culture that bred him.

New Gallup poll shows Americans are evenly split on abortion.

Scientists are at work on a new “molecular” condom that will reduce HIV/AIDS transmission.