Tag Archive for "Queer Issues"

Posts Tagged Queer Issues

Mary Gonzalez will be the first out pansexual legislator in the US

There’s been a lot of talk about coming out lately, but what Mary Gonzalez did last week is a first. Gonzalez won the El Paso Democratic primary in May, and since there’s no challenger she’s set to become the representative from her district. And on Friday, she came out as pansexual in the Dallas Voice:

After coming out as bisexual at 21, Gonzalez said a few years later she started dating “gender-queer” and transgender people, and later identified as pan.

“As I started to recognize the gender spectrum and dated along the gender spectrum, I was searching for words that connected to that reality, for words that embraced the spectrum,” she said. “At the time I didn’t feel as ...

By zerlina • 11 years ago

Frank Ocean makes TV debut and beautiful music history

Last week R&B singer Frank Ocean made history. He is the first R&B singer to come out and reveal that his first love was a man.

With the release of his debut solo album, Channel Orange Ocean makes beautiful music and pushes the boundaries of traditional pop and R&B with not so subtle references to being in love with him. Critics took notice and wrote up reviews praising his courage considering Hip Hop and R&B’s general unease and open hostility to gays and lesbians.

Ocean’s disclosure is especially interesting given the fact that he has been the lead singer for the openly homophobic and misogynistic rap group Odd Future. The groups front man Tyler the Creator seems to be ...

Last week R&B singer Frank Ocean made history. He is the first R&B singer to come out and reveal that his first love was a man.

With the release of his debut solo album, Channel ...

By Jos Truitt • 11 years ago

Enough with “I date women and trans men”

I’m traveling on the east coast right now, which has thrown me back into the kind of queer, mostly female assigned community that exists in the “I date women and trans men” frame (I’m not saying this doesn’t happen on the west coast – but I’ve found alternatives way more easily). This is a big part of what my Girl Talk piece was about, but I want to address this particular issue really directly.

“I date women and trans men” is the definition of cissexism. It’s basing your frame for sexuality on the gender coercively assigned to a person by their doctor at birth, not on that person’s actual identity. In this case, we’re talking about folks who were assigned ...

By zerlina • 11 years ago

‘Brave’ has a gender problem

*If you haven’t yet seen Brave and want to avoid any spoilers at all, avoid this post. If you don’t mind minor spoilers for plot points (but not outcome) continue reading*

I avoided any reviews or spoilers before seeing the new Pixar movie Brave yesterday. I wanted to go into the movie about a young heroine archer Merida unbiased by group think.

While I enjoyed the film, I was underwhelmed. Perhaps, I was in need of a plot, centered around this medieval Scottish princess with firey red curls, that packed more of an emotional punch. After I got home I went to read my favorite culture blogger Alyssa Rosenberg over at ThinkProgress who highlighted one of the more problematic themes in ...

*If you haven’t yet seen Brave and want to avoid any spoilers at all, avoid this post. If you don’t mind minor spoilers for plot points (but not outcome) continue reading*

I avoided any reviews or spoilers before ...

By zerlina • 11 years ago

MA federal appeals court rules DOMA unconstitutional

A Massachusetts federal appeals court ruled DOMA unconstitutional today, setting the stage for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case on same-sex marriage for the first time since Massachusetts was the first state to make it legal 9 years ago.

The state’s attorney general Martha Coakley praised the ruling in a statement:

Today’s landmark ruling makes clear once again that DOMA is a discriminatory law for which there is no justification. It is unconstitutional for the federal government to create a system of first- and second-class marriages, and it does harm to families in Massachusetts every day. All Massachusetts couples should be afforded the same rights and protections under the law, and we hope that this decision will be the final ...

By zerlina • 11 years ago

Air Force Academy graduates first openly gay cadets

Yesterday was an historic day. The President spoke at the commencement ceremony of the Air Force Academy, and nearly eight months after the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” the Academy graduated its first openly gay cadets. The cadets were not identified but school officials confirmed that since repeal of the policy at least four cadets from the graduating class are openly gay.

In his commencement address, President Obama said the graduation marked “a new feeling in America.” The cadets are graduating into a world without Osama Bin Laden, a world where we have ended the war in Iraq, and where we have finally begun the process of drawing the war in Afghanistan to a close. The President also highlighted ...

By zerlina • 11 years ago

Mitt Romney: anti-gay bully

The Washington Post has a rather lengthy report up today on Mitt Romney’s time at the prestigious prep school Cranbrook. The report details Romney’s years as a high school senior in 1965 and his reaction to a new student, John Lauber, who Romney felt looked too gay.

Mitt Romney returned from a three-week spring break in 1965 to resume his studies as a high school senior at the prestigious Cranbrook School. Back on the handsome campus, studded with Tudor brick buildings and manicured fields, he spotted something he thought did not belong at a school where the boys wore ties and carried briefcases. John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed ...

By Eesha Pandit • 12 years ago

Tyler Clementi’s roommate Dharun Ravi convicted of hate crime

*Trigger warning*

Last week, Former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi was found guilty of a hate crime and invasion of privacy in the case stemming from the suicide of his former roommate Tyler Clementi.

The background: In September 2010, Ravi and fellow classmate Molly Wei used a webcam to record Clementi kissing another man. Ravi tweeted about it and shared the video with others. He’d also made plans to host a “viewing party” of Clementi on a date with a man. And while the reasons for his suicide are surely complex and involve an entire culture of homophobia, this case has gotten the attention it has because of the timing of Tyler Clementi’s death, which occurred only a few days after these ...

*Trigger warning*

Last week, Former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi was found guilty of a hate crime and invasion of privacy in the case stemming from the suicide of his former roommate Tyler Clementi.

The background: In September 2010, ...