Monthly Archives: January 2015
QueerView Jan. 23: A Look Back At The Week In LGBT News Stories
QueerView Jan. 23: A Look Back At The Week In LGBT News Stories
Each week HuffPost Gay Voices and HuffPost Live will take a look back at some of the biggest queer news stories from the past week. Check back every Friday for your queer news round-up in this regular feature titled “QueerView.”
Obama Makes History With LGBT-Inclusive State Of The Union
President Obama made queer history on Tuesday by becoming the first president to say the words “lesbian, bisexual and transgender” in a State of the Union address.
Could Nationwide Gay Marriage Help The GOP?
The Supreme Court will once again take up same-sex marriage.
Colorado Baker Refuses To Write Anti-Gay Message On Cake
Denver’s Azucar Bakery is coming under fire for refusing to decorate a cake with anti-gay slurs and images.
New Renaissance For LGBT Artists Of Color
Tona Brown joins HuffPost Live to talk about being on the cover of Swerv Magazine.
‘Girl on Girl’ Documentary Shines Spotlight On Femme Visibility
Jodi Savitz joins HuffPost Live to discuss her documentary “Girl on Girl.”
President Obama Is Our #UnicornOfTheWeek
President Barack Obama is the #UnicornOfTheWeek! Alex explains why.
This Is What It’s Like To Be LGBT In Puerto Rico
Juan Carlos Vega joins HuffPost Live to discuss queer life and LGBT rights in Puerto Rico.
REVIEW: Cucumber, Banana, Tofu – 'unapologetically sexual' ****
REVIEW: Cucumber, Banana, Tofu – 'unapologetically sexual' ****
Explicit sex and naked honesty abound in Russell T Davies’s fruity new gay drama trio
jamiet
www.gaystarnews.com/article/review-cucumber-banana-tofu-%E2%80%93-unapologetically-sexual160115
HRC Joins 13 Human Rights Urge Obama Administration To Take New Action Against Gambian Government
Bipartisan Coalition of Wyoming State Lawmakers Introduce LGBT Anti-Discrimination Bill
Bipartisan Coalition of Wyoming State Lawmakers Introduce LGBT Anti-Discrimination Bill
A bill that would prohibit employment discrimination based on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity has been filed in the Wyoming Senate by a bipartisan group of state lawmakers, the Casper Star-Tribune reports:
In addition to employees in the private sector, the Wyoming Human Resources Division would have to consider people seeking employment on the basis of their suitability and qualifications and without regard to their sexual orientation or gender identity, the bill states.
Public school teachers would not be discriminated against in compensation on account of sexual orientation or gender identity, according to SF115.
The bill would not apply to employment practices of a religious corporation, association, educational institution or society.
It also would not apply to people who work in ministry. They are currently protected under Wyoming law, and the legislation further articulates the protections, according to a statement by Compete Wyoming, a statewide coalition of business leaders who seek an update in the state’s law to draw more competitive workers to the state.
“This bill is about 9 to 5, 7 to 7 or whatever your workday is,” said Liz Brimmer, of Compete Wyoming. “It is about judging workers on their performance, qualifications and talent. It’s just bad business to discriminate, and updating this law is important in the Equality State so that workers are productive, taxpaying and safe.”
Senate President Phil Nicholas and House Speaker Kermit Brown, both Republicans from Laramie, have signed on to the bill.
Anti-gay State Rep. Nathan Winters, meanwhile, has introduced a bill that would empower everyone from county clerks to private photographers to discriminate against LGBT citizens if their religious beliefs compel them to.
Kyler Geoffroy
Short clip of Andrew Solomon at The Hastings Center LGBT Symposium Nov. 2014.
Short clip of Andrew Solomon at The Hastings Center LGBT Symposium Nov. 2014.
LGBT Health and Human Rights: New Ideas for Dynamic Times Read. Full symposium at …
Patrick Stewart: 'Supporting Gay Rights Is Natural'
Patrick Stewart: 'Supporting Gay Rights Is Natural'
The iconic actor talks about his new film Match, the joys of sex, and why he’s honored to to be misidentified as a gay man.
Jase Peeples
www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/film/2015/01/23/patrick-stewart-supporting-gay-rights-natural
This Is What Masculinity Really Means To Men
This Is What Masculinity Really Means To Men
“Dominance.” “Power.” “Strong.” “Alpha.” “Control.”
These are just a few of the words traditionally associated with masculinity.
We often hear men being described as “manly” or “macho” or “effeminate” — concepts that seem to define individual men along a sliding scale of masculinity. But in a world of both gender inequity and rapidly shifting gender roles, what does masculinity really mean?
We asked a group of men how they felt about the concept of masculinity, what they they find problematic about it, how they define the word and how they wish it was defined. What we discovered is that most of them aren’t quite sure. As HuffPost Deputy Features Editor Greg Beyer put it: “Masculinity is what it means to be a man — which I think is not such a simple thing.”
The one thing every man we spoke to agreed on is that having fewer limitations on what men and women “should” and “shouldn’t” do is a win for everyone. Because at the end of the day, we’re all just human beings.
Equality Has No Borders: Interning with HRC Mississippi
Equality Has No Borders: Interning with HRC Mississippi
A new year and a new semester also mean a new round of interns here at HRC Mississippi.
HRC.org
Here Are The Top Ten Kinkiest Cities In America. Sir, Yes, Sir!
Here Are The Top Ten Kinkiest Cities In America. Sir, Yes, Sir!
How exactly does one measure the kink-factor of a major metropolitan area? Surely there are prevailing opinions on the matter — San Francisco and New York come to mind first.
But to celebrate the launch of Kink University (we’re still a little unclear on what that is), the aptly named purveyors of all thinks kink, Kink.com, went looking for the top ten kinkiest cities in America.
To reach their results, they examined “total kink population (as measured by active members on kink social network Fetlife), the percentage of the population that identifies as kinky, the number of kink-aware professionals (therapists, doctors, lawyers) listed on the NCSF’s excellent resource directory, and by the porn purchases of their inhabitants, using data from Kink.com.”
Here’s what they found, and #1 may surprise you:
# 10: Las Vegas
“While a relatively small amount of Vegas’s population is kink-identified (just under 2% identify as kinky), and the city’s resident population tends to swing more than switch, few place make kink as big part of their business as Sin City. From fetish balls and kink-themed clubs to porn shoots and dungeons, Vegas is where the rest of the world goes to get kinky. Not surprisingly, it’s low on kink-aware professionals, like doctors and therapists, but heavy on pro-domme listings. Which, if you think about it, are just kink-aware professional of a different sort.”
# 9: Philadelphia
“Until we saw the numbers, we never would have guessed that the City of Brotherly Love might also be the City of Poly Gimp Throuples. But you can’t argue with data (or dommes). Philadelphia only broke the top five in one metric (for total kink-identified population — 27,411), but it placed in the top ten in nearly every kinky category we measured. The Philly scene maybe more undercover than in neighboring centers like New York and Atlantic City, but that just means that they get creative. After all, who but Philadelphians would throw a BDSM-party in an abandoned church!”
# 8: Boston
“At first, Boston may not seem like a hotbed of caning and submission. But then you think about those Puritan punishments — the stocks, the whips, the branding, the dunking stools — could give even Kink a run for it’s money. Not to mention that, as the biggest city in New England, it pulls in a kinky population from all over the northeast. Over 3% of the population is active on Fetlife, it’s porn tastes are VERY restrained — but we don’t mean vanilla, we mean actual restraints. Massachusetts was the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. If Bostonian kinksters has their way, poly could be next.”
# 7: Seattle
“What is it about the Pacific Northwest that brings out the kink in so much of it’s population? Seattle ranked second among US cities in kinksters-per-capita. Over 3.7% of its population has a profile on Fetlife (the second highest percentage of any city in the study) and with (just behind San Francisco). And like DC, Seattle’s VERY fond of it’s BDSM and fetish porn. Of course, it’s also the birthplace of The Stranger’s Savage Love column, long before Dan Savage’s weekly interrogation of alternative sexuality became a syndicated phenomenon — which might explain the lack of a taboo around issues like polyamory, fetish and anal.”
# 6: Los Angeles
“For a city with a reputation for fake boobs and blonde hair, Los Angeles sure has a dirty side. Thanks to relatively cheap rents and municipal anonymity, L.A. is home to more dungeons and playspaces than any other city on our list (including Sanctuary LAX, Den of Iniquity, Bar Sinister, Dominion, Dungeon West and Submission LA). L.A. had the third highest total population of self-identified kinksters (over 35,000, just behind Chicago and New York), though they only make up less than 1% of the total population — which knocks them down the list a bit. But where else but L.A. would you be able to take a fitness class led by a pro-domme?”
# 5: Washington D.C.
“No one cares more about a wholesome image than a politician. And by most public measures of kink, the nation’s capital ranks fairly low among US cities — but skyrockets when it comes to kinky porn! Of all the major cities in the United States, no one was more likely to have a membership to a Kink.com than a Washingtonian. Think of it as the city of secret kinksters. DC’s Domina Vontana recently linked the city’s appetite for kink to its appetite for power: interns are the slaves, staffers are the submissives and the Senators are dommes. (At least in public.) Since she sees all of them behind closed doors, we’ll take her word for it.”
# 4: Chicago
“Leather culture as we know it was born at Chicago’s Gold Coast bar in the late 1950s , and the city has hosted the International Mr. and Ms. Leather contests since 1979. In fact, the annual contest may even best San Francisco’s Folsom Street Fair as the highest of the kink high holidays. Throw in the Leather Archives and Museum, a thriving dungeon scene (including GD2, Continuum, The Studio) and a wealth of professional resources for both LGBT and kink-identified populations you’ve got hell on earth…in the best possible way.”
# 3: New York City
“The birthplace of not only Stonewall but the Ramrod, not to mention The Eugenspiegel Society, Cinekink and Pandora’s Box, New York has more total kinky residents (82,584 active Fetlife profiles, at last count) than any other city in the US — even if they make up a smaller percentage of the total population as they do in smaller cities like Seattle or Portland. But while the famous Folsom Street East fair had to move in 2013 after neighbors in the increasingly-upscale Chelsea neighborhood expressed “embarrassment” about the kinky public spectacle, Kinksters fought back, it returned last year with plenty of perversion. And even if rents crowd out dungeons, with over 8 million residents, there’s no place like New York for diversity of kink.
# 2: San Francisco
“The home of the Folsom Street Fair, the Society of Janus, Mr. S. Leather, Kink.com and Kink University, when it comes to kink, San Francisco is never far from the top (even when it bottoms). The city’s unconventional sexual history goes back to the bawdy days of the Gold Rush, and today, San Francisco offers more professional resources to kink-identified people than any other city on our list, with a kink-identified population that rivals much larger cities. But the tech boom hasn’t been all good for BDSM and fetish — legendary play spaces like Mission Control and the Power Exchange have faced evictions as rents have risen, the city instituted a nudity ban that would have been unthinkable a few years back. Even sex anchor tenant Kink.com has floated the idea of picking up the castle and moving to Nevada, in the face of anti-porn legislation. It may not have taken the top spot this year, but don’t expect this city to submit for long…
# 1: Portland, OR
“Put a whip on it! With nearly 4% of it’s population logged on to kinky social networking site Fetlife, Portland has the highest percentage of kinksters per capita in the US — and is nearly as rich in resources for the BDSM, fetish and poly communities as much larger cities like San Francisco, New York and Chicago. It’s also become a leader in pushing the scene forward — it’s the home of influential kink blog, Leatherati, and it was local Portland artists who (for better or worse) launched the HealthGoth trend. The numbers speak for themselves. In a recent survey by the Portland Mercury, nearly 42% of Portland identified as something other than monogamous and 33% as something other than heterosexual. Just about the only metric that Portland scored low on was kinky porn consumption. But then again, it might be because they’re getting so much IRL. Congrats, Portland — sir.
Dan Tracer
