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"Life expands or shrinks in proportion to one's courage." ~Anain Nin
Gay peck on the cheek almost diverts international flight Twelve days earlier, British police had foiled a terrorist plot to blow up airliners. Heightened security had delayed the flight by about two hours, and passengers, by the time they boarded, were ready to relax. “I had a José Saramago book I was looking forward to reading,” Leisner said. “And then I was going to take some melatonin and have a little nap.” Shortly after takeoff, Varnier nodded off, leaning his head on Tsikhiseli. A stewardess came over to their row. “The purser wants you to stop that,” she said. “I opened my eyes and was, like, ‘Stop what?’ ” Varnier recalled the other day. “The touching and the kissing,” the stewardess said, before walking away. Tsikhiseli and Varnier were taken aback. “He would rest his head on my shoulder or the other way around. We’d kiss—not kiss kiss, just mwah,” Tsikhiseli recalled, making a smacking sound... The purser asked the men to describe what they’d been doing, and she acknowledged that their behavior had not been inappropriate. Tsikhiseli then asked if the stewardess would have made the request if the kissers had been a man and a woman. Suddenly, Leisner said, the purser “became very rigid.” Contradicting what she’d told them before, she stiffly said, “Kissing is inappropriate behavior on an airplane.” She then said that she was busy with the meal service and promised to come back. jaybird found this for you @ 14:16 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
Mixed Picture Emerges of Global Gay Rights While cities around the world hosted upbeat gay pride parades in recent weeks, human-rights activists kept watch on a contrasting set of developments: gays beaten by demonstrators in Moscow, convicted on sodomy charges in Cameroon, targeted by sweeping anti-gay legislation in Nigeria. "It shows there are still dangers in just being gay _ and dangers in speaking out," said Paula Ettelbrick, executive director of the New York-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. "You need people willing to stand up and claim their space, even against tremendous odds _ country by country, city by city." Ettelbrick's commission, along with other human rights groups and some members of Congress, are intensifying their efforts to monitor and protest abuses and oppression of gays and lesbians overseas. Results have been mixed. Regions of concern include Africa, where many politicians engage in anti-gay rhetoric; Islamic countries where gay sex is illegal and sometimes punishable by death; and certain Eastern European countries where gay pride marches have been banned or targeted by harassment and violence. "In a lot of countries, you've got gays and lesbians enjoying new visibility, but at the same time the opposition forces become more angry," said Scott Long of Human Rights Watch. "People need to be aware of the possible backlash." jaybird found this for you @ 20:08 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
I love what you've done with the place: Womb environment 'makes men gay' A man's sexual orientation may be determined by conditions in the womb, according to a study. Previous research had revealed the more older brothers a boy has, the more likely he is to be gay, but the reason for this phenomenon was unknown. But a Canadian study has shown that the effect is most likely due to biological rather than social factors. The research is published in the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Professor Anthony Bogaert from Brock University in Ontario, Canada, studied 944 heterosexual and homosexual men with either "biological" brothers, in this case those who share the same mother, or "non-biological" brothers, that is, adopted, step or half siblings. He found the link between the number of older brothers and homosexuality only existed when the siblings shared the same mother. The amount of time the individual spent being raised with older brothers did not affect their sexual orientation. jaybird found this for you @ 14:59 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
Anti-gay zeal greatest in those fearing own gayness? For some time I’ve been mystified by the obsessive hostility by some in our community toward folks of the same sex who want to marry. I always figured if you don’t want a gay marriage, then don’t have one. But then I happened on a scientific survey on homophobia (the irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals according to the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary), and the motivation behind at least some of the condemnation became clear to me. At the University of Georgia, researchers conducted an experiment involving 35 homophobic men and 29 non-homophobic men (as measured by the Index of Homophobia). All of the men participating in the experiment considered themselves exclusively heterosexual. This study, published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Volume 105, No. 3, August 1996, described how each of the participants was shown sexually explicit heterosexual, male homosexual and lesbian videotapes. The level of sexual arousal of each man was determined by a technique that measures arousal. Sexual arousal for the homophobic and non-homophobic men was found to be similar when they viewed both the heterosexual and the lesbian sexual activity. However, when the two groups viewed the video of two men engaging in sexual behavior, a significant statistical difference arose. In this instance, the group of homophobic men showed a considerable increase in sexual arousal while the group of non-homophobic men did not. The implication of this study is that homophobia in men is a reaction to their own repressed homosexual urges. Of course, for some time many therapists have believed that prejudice against homosexuals involves projection — the transfer of fear and repulsion about one’s own homosexuality onto others. In other words, men (and women) who cannot accept their same-sex desires (suppressed or conscious), release their intense feelings of self-hatred through the condemnation of other people’s homosexuality. Some men, confronted with insecurities about their heterosexuality, attempt to appear hypermasculine — highly competitive, sexually aggressive, domineering with women, physically imposing, tough, unfeeling and detached — to mask their self-doubt. [More: Lesbians' brains respond differently from those of heterosexual women. More sensibly, of course.] jaybird found this for you @ 20:03 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
Duh: The Science Of Sexual Orientation The bedrooms of 9-year-old twins Adam and Jared couldn't be more different. Jared's room is decked out with camouflage, airplanes, and military toys, while Adam's room sports a pastel canopy, stuffed animals, and white horses... Jared was eager to show her his G.I. Joe collection. "I have ones that say like Marine and SWAT. And then that's where I keep all the guns for 'em," he explained. Adam was also proud to show off his toys. "This is one of my dolls. Bratz baby," he said. Adam wears pinkish-purple nail polish, adorned with stars and diamonds. Asked if he went to school like that, Adam says, "Uh-huh. I just showed them my nails, and they were like, 'Why did you do that?'" Adam's behavior is called childhood gender nonconformity, meaning a child whose interests and behaviors are more typical of the opposite sex. Research shows that kids with extreme gender nonconformity usually grow up to be gay. Danielle, Adam and Jared's mom, says she began to notice this difference in Adam when he was about 18 months old and began asking for a Barbie doll. Jared, meanwhile, was asking for fire trucks. Not that much has changed. Jared’s favorite game now is Battlefield 2, Special Forces. As for Adam, he says, "It's called Neopets: The Darkest Faerie." Asked how he would describe himself to a stranger, Jared says, "I'm a kid who likes G.I. Joes and games and TV." "I would say like a girl," Adam replied to the same question. When asked why he thinks that is, Adam shrugged. "To me, cases like that really scream out, 'Hey, it's not out there. It's in here.' There's no indication that this mother is prone to raise very feminine boys because his twin is not that way," says Michael Bailey, a psychology professor at Northwestern University and a leading researcher in the field of sexual orientation. Bailey says he doesn't think nurture is a plausible explanation. Psychologists used to believe homosexuality was caused by nurture — namely overbearing mothers and distant fathers — but that theory has been disproved. Today, scientists are looking at genes, environment, brain structure and hormones. There is one area of consensus: that homosexuality involves more than just sexual behavior; it’s physiological. jaybird found this for you @ 20:56 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
JON CARROLL: I believe I lost it. I believe I lost it. I believe I yelled. It was in an empty room, so no animals were harmed in the making of that yell, but still. I felt frustrated. And you know what's really good when you're feeling frustrated? Remembering that you have a newspaper column. Last year the Ford Motor Co. started to buy ads in several publications aimed at gay readers. They did so, one presumes, because they realized that gay people buy automobiles, and Ford has, alas, not been selling many automobiles lately. Then the company got assaulted by the American Family Association, a creation of the Rev. Donald Wildmon, a clever right-wing agitator with a hate-based agenda. So Ford announced that it would stop advertising in gay publications. But then, whoops, Ford reversed its reversal and said, never mind, it was going to advertise in gay publications after all. So then a representative of the AFA announced that it was reinstating its boycott. "We cannot, and will not, sit by as Ford supports a social agenda aimed at the destruction of the family." What a vile sentence. What a vile sentiment. What overbusy, underbrained worms these people must be. I am not yelling. jaybird found this for you @ 20:19 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
Asheville Run Amok Part II: Screwie Hoolie Nails It "I hate the sinful lifestyle." But, he went on to say, tomorrow's rally is "not about hate." By way of clarification, Dr. Runion said, "If a pedophile or serial killer walks into my house, I don't respect him." But he would share the Bible with them. "I'm a child of God," he went on, "and I can commit any sin you can commit. Sin is by choice." After Runion's comparison of homosexuality to pedophilia and serial murder, I asked about Charles Taylor's "Family Council" of which he is a member, and he told me that the group is made up exclusively of men and that they provide counsel regarding faith and family values to the Congressman. Runion said that many denominations are represented on the Council and that I could get a list of members from John Hilkert in Rep. Taylor's office. Screwy Hoolie: "Does Congressman Taylor agree with you on this issue [homosexuality is an abomination]? Dr. Runion: "Yes sir, he does." jaybird found this for you @ 00:17 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
Evil Amok in Asheville! Did anyone else notice the HUGE two-page spread ad in the middle of today's Asheville Citizen-Times Home & Garden section? Was anyone else horrified and offended? Sounds like a mighty good time for a bit of reality infusion. This will be, as we say here in the south, a hoot. In the words of their "leader," bring 'em on. jaybird found this for you @ 19:25 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
Busted, LOL: Anti-Gay Baptist Leader Arrested for Soliciting Gay Sex An executive committee member of the Southern Baptist Convention was arrested on a lewdness charge for propositioning a plainclothes policeman outside a hotel, police said. Charmed, I'm sure. Via metachat. jaybird found this for you @ 13:05 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
Pride: The Great Queers of History    For example: Harmodius and Aristogiton (6th cent. BC)... Lovers famous for overthrowing the tyrant Hipparchus in 527 BCE, thereby inaugurating Athenian democracy. Celebrated for their mutual devotion and love of liberty. Many statues of the pair survive. jaybird found this for you @ 20:39 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
...No matter how imperfect these studies are, when you put them all together and examine them closely, the message is clear: While post-birth development may well play a supporting role, the roots of homosexuality, at least in men, appear to be in place by the time a child is born. jaybird found this for you @ 11:11 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
...and happily ever after 
Boston's beloved pair of swans -- feted by city leaders, residents, and tourists alike as one of the Hub's most celebrated summer attractions -- are a same-sex couple. Yes, scientific tests have shown that the pair, named Romeo and Juliet, are really Juliet and Juliet. The city's Parks and Recreation Department conducted the tests months ago, but didn't announce the results for fear of destroying the image of a Shakespearean love story unfolding each year in the Public Garden. Um, nothing's spoiled. In fact, the story just got much sweeter. Finally, people can understand that homosexuality is just plain natural. Unless, of course, the righteous flag wavers condemn these creatures to hell. Bah. Nature Rules. jaybird found this for you @ 16:21 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
save the children (from Dobson) ...Perhaps more interesting, however, is James Dobson's recently published guide for parents to help discover if their child is gay. (Dobson is the leader of the ultra-right-wing group, Focus on Family) jaybird found this for you @ 09:25 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
so long  "It's been really historic. It's one of the first times that gays and lesbians got to see ourselves on TV in something other than the safe-bet friend or the neighbor. We were portrayed with authentic flair as real three-dimensional characters." NOTE: This is usually the last place to come to read up on teevee talk, but I found this show to be very important in a number of ways. While it may not have helped to portray queer people in less stereotypical ways, it put on screen something all of us could identify with. I will miss it. jaybird found this for you @ 11:11 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
Oh, Canada! [The bill] is expected to win Senate approval and become law by July, making Canada the third country after the Netherlands and Belgium to allow gay marriages. Gay marriage is already legal in eight of 10 provinces and one of Canada's three territories... Prime Minister Martin: "We are a nation of minorities and in a nation of minorities, it is important that you don't cherry pick rights. A right is a right and that is what this vote tonight is all aboot." jaybird found this for you @ 11:30 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
The Thirty Years War Note: You can't read this without getting just a tish angry. 1981... The Council for National Policy, a highly secretive club of America's most powerful far-right religious activists, begins meeting quarterly at undisclosed locations. Among the members will be R.J. Rushdoony, who calls for death penalty for homosexuals, and anti-gay crusaders James Dobson, Beverly and Tim LaHaye, Jerry Falwell, Tony Perkins and Phyllis Schlafly. George W. Bush will meet with the Council during his first campaign for president. jaybird found this for you @ 11:58 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
really haute couture What we question here is why reported alien episodes from the contactees through the abductees (experiencers) exhibit heterosexual behavior (the seduction of Villas Boas or David Huggins for instance) but the homosexual gestures by “male aliens” in abduction scenarios are played down, even when they are the main ingredient in the reconstruction. Yes, George Adamski’s Venusian friend Orthon was referenced in such a way that one might conclude he was either androgynous or totally effeminate, but since Adamski’s tale is fraudulent, the description of Orthon is, very likely, a projection of Adamski’s sexual preferences. jaybird found this for you @ 16:15 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
i knew there was something to it! Using a brain imaging technique, Swedish researchers have shown that homosexual and heterosexual men respond differently to two odors that may be involved in sexual arousal, and that the gay men respond in the same way as women. The new research may open the way to studying human pheromones, as well as the biological basis of sexual preference. Pheromones, chemicals emitted by one individual to evoke some behavior in another of the same species, are known to govern sexual activity in animals, but experts differ as to what role, if any, they play in making humans sexually attractive to one another. jaybird found this for you @ 12:24 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
modern eugenics To the dismay of gay-rights activists, the Food and Drug Administration is about to implement new rules recommending that any man who has engaged in homosexual sex in the previous five years be barred from serving as an anonymous sperm donor. The FDA has rejected calls to scrap the provision, insisting that gay men collectively pose a higher-than-average risk of carrying the AIDS virus. Critics accuse the FDA of stigmatizing all gay men rather than adopting a screening process that focuses on high-risk sexual behavior by any would-be donor, gay or straight. jaybird found this for you @ 07:48 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
who do we have to thank? ...Data collected in for 2004 confirms that a dramatic rise in anti-LGBT hate incidents noted by the organization in the second half of 2003 continued unabated, and perhaps even worsened in throughout 2004. “This year’s report has to be viewed as a follow-up to our report from a year ago,” said Clarence Patton, NCAVP’s Acting Executive Director. “In the last edition of this report it became all too clear that with respect to violence, the nation's LGBT communities had entered a very new, and very dangerous era in which all of us were under attack at levels not seen in recent years," continued Patton. "The leaders of America's anti-gay industry are directly responsible for the continuing surge in hate violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. While other forms of crime continued to fall, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs has documented a 4% increase in anti-LGBT crime in 2004, coming on the heels of a 26% increase in the last half of 2003. This spike in violence parallels the exact same period since the Right went into demonic, anti-gay hyperdrive following the Supreme Court's Lawrence v. Texas decision in July of 2003. Since then, church pews and the public airwaves have been awash in ugly, anti-gay rhetoric and fear-mongering. jaybird found this for you @ 12:33 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
waging respect As the fight over Terri Schiavo's fate played out in court, gay and lesbian organizations watched quietly from the sidelines, aware that any outcome would speak to one of the key motivations in their quest for same-sex marriage: the right to make medical decisions for a partner. It's an issue faced regularly by same-sex couples, and the battle that Michael Schiavo waged with his in-laws as he sought to remove his wife's feeding tube only underscored their difficulties, said David Buckel of the New York-based gay rights group Lambda Legal. "It certainly resonates with us," said [the] director of marriage-related activities for Lambda Legal. "If folks look at this situation and see that a spouse is struggling to carry out the wishes of his loved one, imagine what folks face when they don't even have access to the spousal relationship because they can't get married." jaybird found this for you @ 11:26 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
Mapping Gender Gay men employ the same strategies for navigating as women - using landmarks to find their way around - a new study suggests. But they also use the strategies typically used by straight men, such as using compass directions and distances. In contrast, gay women read maps just like straight women, reveals the study of 80 heterosexual and homosexual men and women... The hypothesis is that homosexual people shift in the direction of the opposite sex in other aspects of their psychology other than sexual preference. That is, gay men may take on aspects of female psychology, and lesbians acquire aspects of male psychology. In short: You flyin'? We get you there. jaybird found this for you @ 12:43 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
one year after the winter of love The Democrat who allowed nearly 4,000 gay couples to tie the knot one year ago in defiance of California law is marking the anniversary by holding a reception for them at City Hall this weekend, by making it clear he has no regrets, and by criticizing his own party as too timid. "I can't stand my party right now," he said Tuesday in an address at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. "Is it political expediency? Is it accommodation that we're after? Or is it about standing up on principles and values?" jaybird found this for you @ 12:56 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
variations on a theme "That is SO gay!" I've been thinking about that expression a lot lately. What does it mean? I'm hearing it from kids, on television, and even around my office. Did the expression trickle up from the middle schools? Is it a playground epithet that is simply in vogue with the grown-ups? Or is it a sign that gay culture is so integrated into the pop culture that even the hets now see the evidence of homo-style in their everyday lives, and make jokes about it? And IF gay culture is being mainstreamed to this degree, what does that mean to us? I put a call out to some fellow bloggers and asked them this: "What is the GAYEST thing you've EVER done?" The answers I received were at once predictable and surprising. There were mentions of doing drag, of course. And of pervy, slutty sex...of course. As for the other things...well, they're all listed below. You will love it. Feel free to let us know who YOU think is the MOST gay of the gay. Or contribute your own extra faggy moment in gayness. jaybird found this for you @ 08:48 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
Again, a scientist has discovered a possible genetic clue to 'the gay.' jaybird found this for you @ 16:19 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
Gay Religion: An Evaluation From “sick” and “perverted” or “sinful” and “broken”, most LGBT persons come to name their desires “healthy” and “natural” or “God-given” and “whole.” This requires not only atomistic re-labeling of the errant hormonal surge or emotional attachment, but a re-telling of your story within family, society, and God’s creation. When this story—which you’ve crafted through self-reflection, study, and the blood, sweat and tears of coming out—collides with an alternate telling, such as the one your family holds on to, there is no objective means of deciding whose is right. Each story heals wounds in the opposing parties (feeling different for one, fear of the different for the other), answers questions which are framed in unique ways (“God, why did you make me like this?” and “God, how could these things exist in the world?”), and cannot simply be stepped into without dramatic re-orientation of assumptions. jaybird found this for you @ 12:26 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
 But They Sure Seem Gay! A compendium of TV Characters often cited as queer due to their sexual ambiguity, rather relevant due to this recent ridiculous hullabaloo .* (go Sponge!). jaybird found this for you @ 19:11 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
Same-sex foster care a success From the cluttered kitchen to his insistence on saying grace before dinner, Medaglia takes pride in his family's average suburban lifestyle. But that "average," Medaglia acknowledges, comes with an asterisk. Medaglia and his partner, Cliff Candida, are gay. Three of the four children who live in their home are in foster care. They have been raising the fourth -- a 6-year-old daughter whose birth family isn't able to care for her -- since infancy. "We're an average household," said Medaglia, 41, who owns a local hair salon. "The only difference is that there's just not a woman here." The existence of same-sex foster parents has come under increased scrutiny following a court ruling in Arkansas last month that struck down that state's ban on gay foster parents. The state plans to appeal. jaybird found this for you @ 07:48 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
Hey, Jesus, tell us about your buddies... Prof. Smith points to a fragment of manuscript he found at the Mar Saba monastery near Jerusalem in 1958 which he says alludes to Jesus having a homosexual relationship with a youth he raised from the dead. The fragment shows that the full text of St. Mark, Chapter 10 (between verses 34 and 35 in the standard version of the Bible) includes the following passage: "And the youth, looking upon him (Jesus), loved him and beseeched that he might remain with him. And going out of the tomb, they went into the house of the youth, for he was rich. And after six days, Jesus instructed him and, at evening, the youth came to him wearing a linen cloth over his naked body. And he remained with him that night, for Jesus taught him the mystery of the Kingdom of God". jaybird found this for you @ 16:30 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
Powerful story, and accompanying slideshow: Coming Out for One of Their Own The fliers arrived three weeks ago. Some came over the fax machines of local churches, and others appeared mysteriously around town. Printed in bold was the heading "Westboro Baptist Church." No seeming cause for alarm. Sand Springs, population 18,500, is a Christian stronghold in the gently rolling hills of eastern Oklahoma. But the message that followed was a rant against a 17-year-old Sand Springs resident named Michael Shackelford and his mother, Janice, the subjects of a recent Washington Post series examining Michael's struggles as a young gay man in the Bible Belt. The fliers posted a photo of Michael, called him a "doomed teenage fag" and announced that followers of Westboro Baptist in Topeka were on their way from Kansas to stage antigay protests in Sand Springs. jaybird found this for you @ 07:53 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
Gay community fears new era of intolerance Some campaign speeches verged on tub-thumping hatred. In Oklahoma Tom Coburn warned of lesbians invading school bathrooms. In South Carolina Jim Demint said openly gay teachers should be banned from schools. In Florida Mel Martinez, the former Bush housing secretary, called his opponent, in reality unsupported of gay rights, a 'darling of the homosexual extremists'. I'd love to meet a homosexual extremist. Someone who is so utterly gay as to be 'extreme.' I hear tell they travel in packs and spontaneously erupt into hour long "Vogue" sessions, frightening the children and making even the most straight man succumb to momentary titillation. Yeah, we're only extreme, as Patrick Henry said it, "in the defense of liberty." And that's not a gay thing, it's a human thing. Get over it. jaybird found this for you @ 10:17 in Gay, Lesbian, Queer & Free | | permalink
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