What We Missed.

A fun mash-up celebrating Friday’s gay marriage victory in NY by comedian Katie Halper and web guru Marc Faletti.

The cost of jailing the innocent.

Kenyon Farrow on the tricky politics of gay marriage legislation.

Shani O’Hilton on 12,000 inmates awaiting a crack ruling.

Daffodil Atlan on the only Latina transgender beauty pageant.

A fun mash-up celebrating Friday’s gay marriage victory in NY by comedian Katie Halper and web guru Marc Faletti.

The cost of jailing the innocent.

Kenyon Farrow on the tricky politics of gay marriage ...

Kansas moves to be only state without one place to get an abortion

A Planned Parenthood in Kansas was denied state license to perform abortions based on new regulations that Senator Brownbeck has decided to implement. These new regulations, that include things like how many bathrooms there are in a facility, (surprise), only apply to abortion clinics. Not only are these new laws bizarre and obviously created to deny any woman in Kansas from having access to abortion, this also means there is no facility or doctor’s office in all of Kansas where a woman can obtain an abortion.

via Wichita Eagle,

Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri disclosed the denial by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment in a lawsuit it filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan. Its ...

A Planned Parenthood in Kansas was denied state license to perform abortions based on new regulations that Senator Brownbeck has decided to implement. These new regulations, that include things like how many bathrooms there are in a facility, ...

Sex is inappropriate for minors, but violence is a-OK

When I was in the 7th grade and studying German our teacher brought in popular mainstream German magazines to aid us in our second language education. I don’t remember much German and I don’t really even remember which magazines, but I do remember they were filled with nudity, including the infamous picture of a naked David Hasselhoff (ew) covered in puppies. Our teacher had blocked out all the nudity in the magazines to avoid getting in trouble with the school administration and in response to this he daringly made one point–in Germany, he said, they censor violence, not sex. In Germany, like the US, a country with a very violent history.

In a similar vein, this week the US Supreme ...

When I was in the 7th grade and studying German our teacher brought in popular mainstream German magazines to aid us in our second language education. I don’t remember much German and I don’t really even remember ...

My gender friends

I was talking about some personal gender stuff with Miriam yesterday and mentioned “Finn, one of my other gender friends” (because Finn had given me some really great advice). After our conversation I got to thinking about how important the concept of a “gender friend” has become in my life, and what an insider idea this is, a term that most people don’t even know.

A gender friend is someone I feel comfortable talking through gender issues with. I’ve got a range of gender friends, from folks I like to have nerdy theoretical conversations with to a few folks with whom I talk through incredibly personal issues. They’re people who share some important common understandings about gender, who I know I ...

I was talking about some personal gender stuff with Miriam yesterday and mentioned “Finn, one of my other gender friends” (because Finn had given me some really great advice). After our conversation I got to thinking about ...

Deportation case dropped for person in same-sex marriage.

It’s a good week for moving towards a world that doesn’t discriminate based on your sexual preference. Yesterday, immigration authorities dropped a pending deportation case against Henry Valendia, a Venezuelan man who is married to an American man. This case could set a precedent for future deportation cases being dropped as we watch to see if DOMA will truly be abandoned by the feds.

via NYTimes.

“This action shows that the government has not only the power but the inclination to do the right thing when it comes to protecting certain vulnerable populations from deportation,” said the couple’s lawyer, Lavi Soloway.

The case has been closely watched across the country by lawyers and advocates who viewed it as a test ...

It’s a good week for moving towards a world that doesn’t discriminate based on your sexual preference. Yesterday, immigration authorities dropped a pending deportation case against Henry Valendia, a Venezuelan man who is married to an American ...

Why HHS collecting LGBT health data is a big fucking deal

The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) announcement yesterday that they plan to begin including sexual orientation and gender identity in health data collection probably doesn’t sound that exciting unless you’re a total data nerd. But it’s actually a really big fucking deal.

The Affordable Care Act (health care reform) gave HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius discretion in collecting data about health disparities. Under the new plan, “HHS will integrate questions on sexual orientation into national data collection efforts by 2013 and begin a process to collect information on gender identity.”

There is a lack of data on LGBT folks, who we do know face disparities in health and access to health services. Without federal health data, it’s practically ...

The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) announcement yesterday that they plan to begin including sexual orientation and gender identity in health data collection probably doesn’t sound that exciting unless you’re a total data nerd. ...

Louisiana ends sex offender registration for sex workers


Women With A Vision Executive Director Deon Haywood.
Image via The Louisiana Justice Institute.

A law that branded many sex workers in Louisiana as sex offenders has finally been changed. From The Louisiana Justice Institute:

Governor Jindall’s office announced today that he had signed into law a bill, sponsored by Louisiana State Representative Charmaine Marchand Stiaes, that effectively moves prostitution convictions back to the level of misdemeanor.

Previously, police officers and prosecutors in Louisiana had a choice between charging accused sex workers under the prostitution law, which was a misdemeanor, or under Louisiana’s 200-plus year-old “Crime Against Nature” law, a felony. That law was interpreted to apply specifically to solicitation for oral or anal sex, but ...


Women With A Vision Executive Director Deon Haywood.
Image via The Louisiana Justice Institute.

A law that branded many sex workers in Louisiana as sex offenders has finally been changed. From The Louisiana Justice ...

What We Missed

Feministing was named one of the top 100 websites for women by Forbes Magazine.

North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue vetoed a bill passed by her state legislature that would have required a 24 hour waiting period of abortions, including mandatory ultrasound images.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced today it will begin to collect data on sexual orientation and gender identity as part of it’s national health data collection efforts by 2013.

A supportive Christian perspective on Slutwalks.

Why the Bible shouldn’t be used to justify homophobia.

13 US Senators made an It Gets Better video.

A 6th circuit Judge, appointed by George W Bush, rules Obama’s healthcare law is constitutional.

Feministing was named one of the top 100 websites for women by Forbes Magazine.

North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue vetoed a bill passed by her state legislature that would have required a 24 hour waiting ...

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