epporsimuove

Last night, Richard Cohen, a gay-to-straight activist whose company has been linked to the kill the gays bill currently in the Parliament of Uganda, was interviewed by my idol, Rachel Maddow. The video and transcripts are behind the cut.

( VIDEO - The Rachel Maddow Show : Interview with Richard Cohen (08 December 2009) )

( TRANSCRIPT - The Rachel Maddow Show : Interview with Richard Cohen (08 December 2009) )

There are a couple of really important points here that I would like to emphasize. First of all, Rachel Maddow emphasizes over and over again that Cohen is not accredited by any professional physiological or psychiatric organization in the US or Canada. Secondly, Cohen's information is blatantly false; there are two passages that she reads to him where he says it is wrong and will not be included in the next edition. Thirdly, Cohen apparently does not know what is even in his book.

However, the most detrimental aspect of Cohen's "work" and organization is Cohen's inability to see how harmful his, and the right's, continued assurance that non-heterosexuality is a choice or a psychological condition. If being non-straight is a choice and a viable option, then the doorway is thrown open for legislation like Uganda's kill-the-gays bill. In addition, this falsehood is incredibly harmful to young people who are coming out to themselves or the world. It reinforces the idea that non-heterosexuals are wrong, confused, and less than their straight counterparts. It is one of the reasons the suicide rate for LGBT teens is so much higher than the suicide rate for non-LGBT. It is the reason X called me crying, saying "I don't want to be gay. I want to be normal; I want to be happy." Maddow may not have said it, but I will. Fuck you Mr. Cohen.

For a slightly funny take, see this spot from InfoMania.



I am working on a transcript for this video.

Title: Bodies at Rest
Fandom: Blade Runner
Subject: Decker/Rachel/Gaff
Notes: Created for the 2009 polybigbang. This is a companion mix to kittydesade's gorgeous fic of the same name. Part 1 | Part 2


( Bodies at Rest : a ficmix for kittydesade in the 2009 polybigbang )

Yesterday marked the 11 year anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard. For those who don't know, Matthew Shepard was a college student at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. On October 6, 1998, Matthew Shepard was taken from a local bar, tied to a fence post, beaten with a gun, and left to die. The next day, he was found and rushed to the hospital. Six days later, Matthew Shepard died without ever regaining consciousness. Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre Project went to Laramie in the days and months following Matthew Shepard's murder to interview the residents of the town. These interviews were turned into a play, and later an HBO miniseries, entitled The Laramie Project.

I was eight when Matthew Shepard died. I don't remember much; I think I saw the candlelight vigil on television, but I could just be incorporating what I know now into my memories of then. However, I discovered The Laramie Project in high school and have been touched by Matthew's story ever since.

Last night on the eleventh anniversary of Matthew's death, a reading of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later was performed in 130 theatres nationwide. The play follows the Tectonic Theatre Company as they return to Laramie ten years later. It deals with the disasterous 2004 20/20 special about the murder which claimed Matthew's death was not fueled by homophobia, but by drugs; the election of Wyoming's first openly gay state legislature and her experiences with the defense of marriage resolution in Wyoming; the impact of the murder on the town, specifically the university; and Judy Shepard's activism.

I saw the reading at the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati. The entire reading was superb, but there were three moments that vividly stood out to me. First was the recounting of the debate in the Wyoming House regarding the defense of marriage proposal. While the debate began with no hope of defeating the bill and with a Republican congressman arguing that children from married homes with one man and one woman grow up happier, better behaved, smarter, etc...(same bull we have heard before), the tone changed as two Republicans then gave speeches opposing the bill. The first talked about his gay daughter, and how he could not vote for a bill that made her less of a person than she is. The second began "We are the state of Matthew Shepard and Brokeback Mountain, but we are also the state of the first female legislature..." Both were amazing inclusions into the show. (BTW: The bill was defeated 35-25).

The second moment began the second act, an interview with Russell Henderson, one of Matthew Shepard's murderers. Russell genuinely seems full of remorse. Our understanding of the murder is that Henderson was following Aaron McKinney. This does not excuse what Henderson did, not at all. However, you do walk away feeling sorry for him and wondering where exactly we went wrong that he got caught up in something like this.

Aaron McKinney is also interviewed in the piece. He comes off decidedly less well that Henderson. McKinney's changing story (from homophobia to drugs to robbery) constantly comes off as fake. He is interested in the Nazis, and, while he would like to goes to Germany, admits that he could be arrested for some of his tattoos while there (swastikas on his arms and NAZI written in Old English type on his lower back). McKinney's interview gives the impression that he is beyond hope. He is someone you want locked away.

The third moment in the play is Judy Shepard's interview with the company. She talks about why she transformed from a very private person at the trial to the public figure she now is with her activism work. She talks about her family's decision to request the removal of the death penalty in McKinney's sentencing. Perhaps most powerfully, Judy Shepard talks about the hopelessness she feels in some of the activism work. Ten years later, she says, and we still don't have a hate crimes bill passed.

Overall, this new epilogue for The Laramie Project is very powerful. I feel lucky to have seen it. It reminds us for the need for something to be done, whether that is hate crimes legislation or something different. Don't forget, homophobic hate crimes did not end with Matthew Shepard. Last year alone there were over 1400 hate crimes against sexual minorities. Something must be done.

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the intersection of labels and identity. We build much of our identity based on labels. Don't believe me? Quick, describe yourself in thirty seconds or less. Go ahead, I'll wait.

My description would be something along the lines of "I am a white, female, uu, liberal, bisexual feminist." All of which are labels, and not even all of the labels which I assign to myself. In fact, they are labels created by someone else, but which I have now commandeered and identified myself within. No one has the right to tell me I do not deserve to label myself as I do.

To give a more concrete personal example, my description of myself as bisexual is often challenged, for various reasons. The challenges range from "bisexuals don't really exist, they are just confused/lying/etc" to declarations that I am not bisexual enough to be labeled as such because I have not had sexual relationships with both sexes or genders. When such label objections come up, I am forced to defend my identity.

Two recent events have really compounded this idea of labeling and identity for me. The first is the recent attention surrounding track star Caster Semenya and trans mayoral candidate Melissa Sue Robinson. Both have recently been discussed in the media, and generally not respectfully. (I blogged a bit about Caster Semenya earlier this week, and here is a brief, and not perfect, discussion of an article about Melissa Sue Robinson.)

The importance of labels and identity is very apparent when dealing with sex and gender. Anyone who does not easily fit into a male-female observed gender (the gender an observer assumes a person to be) and an observed gender that matches their own gender identity, will often be forced to defend their own gender labeling and identity. For Robinson, this means constantly being labeled "a transgender" (and their are a myriad of problems with that statement) and often being referred to as a male. For Semenya, I would be incredibly surprised if every article about her from now on does not label her a hermaphrodite, regardless of whether that is a label she wishes to adopt herself.

The second event was a recent outpouring of discussion about whether men can be feminists. Some said yes, a feminist is someone who exemplifies and values a 'feminist' mentality. Others said no, the definition of a feminist requires a gender/sex of female.

All three of these examples depend on differing definitions of the label discussed. And the problems extend beyond feminist and gender and sexuality examples: the LDS (Mormon) church, for example, is often considered not Christian; although most of my friends and acquaintances in the LDS church consider themselves to be Christian.

Where the problem lies is not simply in our different definitions of what bisexual/female/male/feminist/Christian/etc is, but in our own identity connections to those terms. Do people care as much when it is not the definition of their own label that is being questioned? When we meet others who label themselves as we do but do not do so in the same manner, our own identity and 'right' to that label is called into question. Likewise, when we meet people similar to ourselves who labels themselves differently, our 'right' to reject that label is questioned.

So, in the end, my point is this: everyone has the right to craft their own identity and to assign whatever labels desired to that identity. If you do not agree with their own self-labeling, declaring that label to be false is not the correct response. I, at least, will respond positively to a respectful question: "I often think of a bisexual as...How do you define it?" Please don't be offended if you don't change my mind, I probably won't change yours. And, really, neither of us should be expected to. But dialogue and genuine attempts at understanding, that should be expected.

Please allow me to geek out at the fact that the complete series of Farscape is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. I don't know if I am patient enough to wait and get it for Christmas, or if I am going to demand it on the day it comes out.

Farscape: The Complete Series

Today in Iran, a massacre occurred that is being called Iran's Tienanmen Square. The information is still vague, but reports are coming out of the country about police hacking through protesters with axes, pushing people off of bridges, and bludgeoning protesters with clubs. Just to make this exceedingly clear; THIS IS NOT OKAY. And, no, there is nothing the US can do about it.

First, there are a few troubling comments that I have seen repeated over and over again that I would like to address.

( THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE US OR ISLAM! )
( Iran Links Dump: from feminism to news )

Anything I am missing? What have you been reading? What do you think?

ETA: Updated Liveblogging links for today.

I have quite a few things I want to talk about in the next few days, among them religion (Christianity and Islam), Iran, and this.

It is the last one I want to address in this post. It involves a very offensive video game, and the creator's mistaken and misinformed ideas about love and relationships in the modern media. I am leaving this post public for now.

( The path to true love is obviously through abuse and torture, right? )

I have to admit, were the creator not so vocal about his beliefs surrounding this game and adamant that this is okay, I would likely support his right to produce and sell the game wherever. It is, after all, a game. There are plenty of books out there that have rape scenarios, and I do not want them banned. But the creators of those put them out there with the intention of playing on certain fantasies. They are not there to suggest a someone should actually implement them.

Today, I come to you in handy-dandy list form! (AKA, I am too brain dead to form a coherent paragraph with effective transitions between each idea).

Dreamwidth
If you are reading this on LJ, I have pretty much moved over to Dreamwidth. I am still gonna be posting in both places for the time being, but eventually my two journals are going to split off. If you are on Dreamwidth and want to friend me there, comment or send me a message and I will give you my Dreamwidth screenname. And, if you don't have a Dreamwidth account and want one, let me know. I have invites that are not being used.

Updating
The good thing about Dreamwidth and my being so excited about it is that I have started posting again. I get the feeling this will get more frequent after I move back in with Dad in a town where I know no one at all.

Icons
I have them! Finally got some uploaded to DW.

Home
Speaking of moving, I am going to Ohio to live with Dad for the next few months, possibly a year. I am planing on entering graduate/law school in Fall 2010, but with Mom heading to China and me without any real plans for the next year, moving up North sounded like the best option.

Fandom
My proud accomplishment for the past six months? I made it through all ten seasons and two movies of Stargate SG1, and all five seasons of Stargate Atlantis (fine, I have three left, but I'm practically there). Next up? Farscape, which will only further my crush on Claudia Black (aka Vala Mal Doran, aka Aeryn Sun) and Ben Browder (aka Cameron Mitchell, aka John Crichton). This could get bad.

Meta
I am really enjoying reading through the fandommeta page. Work has been so slow that I have been exploring all of the fandom battles I missed last semester. I have come to a few conclusions about myself and my own prejudices and privileges; I have also seen a few people expressing ideas that made me go "YES! THIS! A million times this!" If anyone is interested, I can recommend some great reading. Anyone have anything to recommend to me? I need more reading at work.

Alright, that is all I got for the moment. My brain is still not fully connecting with the world around me; its to focused on other things.

Also, two news stories I have found incredibly interesting this week - one in a positive manner and one in a negative one. Firstly - the wife of the moderate contender in the Iranian presidential elections is an interesting, powerful female in the Middle East and I look forward to seeing what she will do if her husband wins, maybe even if he doesn't. Secondly - this = Epic Fail! I understand protecting the baby; that is to say, I understand the good intentions of the judge. However, locking a woman up for being pregnant and having AIDS IS NOT OKAY! It sets too many precedents and says to many negative things about AIDS and pregnancy. See Feministing for more.

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb.

Oh this book. In my Adolescent Literature Class last semester, everyone was recommending this book. "It's amazing, brilliant, spectacular, etc." Well...I almost put it down in the first twenty pages. Then again ten pages later, and again, and again. However, I have never not finished a book just because I didn't like it. (It is that whole anti-failure complex I have). In the end, I am glad I finished it. I really liked the ending and the last two hundred pages were brilliant. I flew through them. However, the first two hundred pages were a bear to get through.

Onto the book. She's Come Undone is the story of Dolores Price, a girl who always seems to be losing someone. Dolores is one of the reasons I had such a problem with the book in the beginning. I simply did not like any of the characters, including Dolores. They were constantly making stupid, awful decisions, and I could find no redeeming qualities that I would admire. I have a very low tolerance for stupidity.

That being said, the book picked up considerably halfway through. While I had to slog through the first half, the second half was over before I knew it. Once Dolores takes charge of her own life and destiny, even though it is the wrong decision she makes, I became interested again. I am now working on Lamb's second novel, I Know This Much is True. I don't know if I will get through this one. It's not that this one is boring, but I already am having problems with the characters.

There is just so much to do and figure out. I feel like I am being pulled in so many different directions. Gah!

Before Thanksgiving:
- Clean apartment (really clean. The parents are coming and are going to want to see the new place.)
- Finish YA Lit portfolio. Got a lot done on it today, but I still have 10 more pages to write (single-spaced. Who wants their papers in single-spaced typing??) BTW: this class has taught me, the next time I go on and on the week before withdrawal deadline about whether to drop the class or not...just drop the fucking thing!
- Find somewhere to eat on Thanksgiving.
- Finalize Independent Study. I'm really excited about this; it is going to be on Shakespeare and Youth Culture and I am setting up a blog for it.
- Do posting and written assignment for Government. Not too concerned. Out of the 74 points remaining in the class (one assignment and one test) I only need 39 to get an A.

For finals:
- Write Shakespeare paper. Also really cool. It is going to deal with the body and personhood and identity, especially in Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant of Venice.
- Write retold fairytale for Women's Studies. Just got the assignment, but I think I know where I am going with this. Probably going to be based around The Seven Swans story. Dealing with silence and issues of motherhood.

Over break:
- Complete Boren application. and application for Kenya study abroad.
- Research Phd programs in Composition and Rhetoric. So far my favorites are Berkeley, Syracuse, and Michigan, in that order. However, Michigan might be just a bot too close to my mother's family.
- Write conference paper for the Last Unicorn. I really want this completely done by the time I go back to school.
- Yuletide.

I think that is it. Next semester is going to be a bear though. My schedule is nice...I only have class Tuesday and Thursday mornings, but I also have my independent study, GRE to study for, work, UWC, conference, mentoring, etc. I'm gonna be a little stressed. But at least I think I will enjoy it a lot.