Archive for June, 2005
Thursday, June 30th, 2005
My post [1] on Susie Bright and Aura Bogado generated some great comments.
I struggle with the issues of sex work and pornography as a feminist. So when Me (that's the commenter's name) offered her comments to my piece, I found myself learning new things. These new things brought some fresh perspectives and more complexity.
Me writes:Much of the most ground-breaking work done to legalise sex-work and organise sex-workers has been done by non-anglo and third-world women... Yet there seems to be a lot of stuff around at the moment implying the opposite. I think it reflects a real ignorance and prejudice on the part of the left and feminist movements about this issue.I responded:I once heard Riki Ann Wilchens say that social movements in the u.s. are started by the underclasses, funded by the upper classes and managed by the middle classes.
Stonewall happened through the efforts of black and Latino gay men and drag queens. As a transsexual man, I find myself disgusted with some white gays and lesbians who yell, "Stonewall! Stonewall!" who neither want trans people in "their" movement nor particularly understand the priviledges that accrue to them as people with white skin.
[1] http://jaysennett.typepad.com/jay_sennetts_blog/2005/06/hustling_the_le.html
Posted in Anti Assclownery, Queer, Truth | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, June 29th, 2005
Wil Dunham [1], who graciously agreed to be interviewed here [2], has recently had his first photography exhibit and sale in Richmond.
Check out some of the pictures [3] from the show and drop Wil a congratulatory note or maybe even buy one of his stunning photographs!!
[1] http://www.wildun.com/
[2] http://jaysennett.typepad.com/jay_sennetts_blog/2005/05/the_ordinary_ma_1.html
[3] http://www.authenticeccentric.com/?p=28
Posted in Man | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 28th, 2005
What's not to love about Bitch, Ph.D. [1]?
She's got a great motto: Saving the World, One Good Bra at a Time.
And last week, she attempted to answer the question, Am I a Big Ol' Queer [2]? as someone involved in an open marriage/heterosexual polyamorous relationship.
In answering the question, she offers up that she has never read any queer theory in her life. Already I love her!
She then takes us through both the pros and cons for claiming the label "queer," including a lucid discussion of queer as identity versus action and what does it mean for her as heterosexual to like best the various communities of queers she has been part of.
[1] http://bitchphd.blogspot.com/
[2] http://bitchphd.blogspot.com/2005/06/am-i-big-ol-queer.html
Posted in Anti Assclownery, Queer | 3 Comments »
Sunday, June 26th, 2005
When Jay asked me to be a guest author on his blog, one of the things he asked me to write about was the revolutionary nature of Christ. On Pride Sunday, that seems like an appropriate thing to do.
I heard a quote this morning which set me to thinking. William Sloan Coffin said, "The integrity of love is more important than purity of dogma." That is the radically inclusive love of Christ which is so revolutionary.
Jesus of Nazareth did not go to the powerful, the wealthy, the mainstream to begin his ministry or to teach. His first public proclamation that he was the Messiah was to a Samaritan woman in John 4. Samaritans were half-breed Jews, and considered unclean as well as enemies of the Jewish community. Women were unclean a good part of the time, and certainly of less value and potential than men. And he chose a sinning Samaritan woman to boot. He had all of Israel waiting for their Messiah and he chose her.
Dogma is what we have made of the message of Jesus. Love is what the message was: love for ALL people in ALL situations. We are the ones who have put limits and conditions on that love. "The integrity of Love is more important than the purity of Dogma."
What would happen if we ignored, to the best of our ability, dogma? What would happen if we simply practiced a radically inclusive love? I know one thing that would happen. Our eyes would be opened and we would see Christ at a Gay Pride parade.
Happy Pride weekend, Everyone.
Ona
Posted in Anti Assclownery | 1 Comment »
Friday, June 24th, 2005
Armed Victim [1]'s post [2] made me laugh out loud. Have a great weekend everyone.
[1] http://armedvictim.blogspot.com/
[2] http://armedvictim.blogspot.com/2005/06/senate-reaches-compromise-on-gay-flag.html
Posted in Queer | 1 Comment »
Thursday, June 23rd, 2005
Since the mid 1990s many great books have been published addressing notions of masculinity, maleness, gender and feminism. From Michael S. Kimmel and Michael Messner’s Men’s Lives to R.W. Connell’s Masculinities, to Mark Allister’s Eco Man: New Perspectives on Masculinity and Nature conversations have begun around this thing called “masculinity.”
This work has continued into transmen/ftm/trannsexual male communities with the work of Morty Diamond’s From the Inside Out: Radical Gender Transformation, FtM and Beyond and Jamison Green’s Becoming a Visible Man. DJ Katastrophe, poet and hip hop artist Tim’m West and performance artist and activist Imani Henry also represent progressive forces investigating, interrogating and reorganizing understandings gender, masculinity, race, class and feminism.
Posted in Man, Queer, Writing | 7 Comments »
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2005
Of the good senator from Mississippi's response to Senate Resolution 39, in which the Senate officially apologized for its forceful contribution to supporting lynching as a standard feature of american behavior, Majikthise [1] writes:Thad "Dead Hand" Cochran (Miss.) Doesn't feel he should have to apologize for the passage or non-passage any legislation by the U.S. Senate. Ever. Period. It's the principle of the thing. Her observations of Mr. Cochran and the twelve other Senators who did not sign the resolution remind me of comments made by Rita Schwerner Bender [2], the widow of murdered civil rights activist Michael Schwerner, upon meeting reporters after Edgar Ray Killen was found guilty of manslaughter."I hope that this conviction helps to shed some light on what happened in this state," the petite, white-haired widow said. "Yet, there is something else that needs to be said.
"The fact that some members of that jury could have sat through that testimony, and could not bring themselves to acknowledge that these were murders, committed with malice, indicates that there are still people, unfortunately, among you who choose to look aside and choose to not see the truth.
"And that means that there's still a lot more yet to be done."
[1] http://majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/2005/06/lynching_apolog.html#comments
[2] http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050621/480/msrs11506212157;_ylt=AgQq7SOjkqDwNd1gvssbhBJH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3bGk2OHYzBHNlYwN0bXA-
Posted in Anti Assclownery, Truth | Comments Off
Monday, June 20th, 2005
Jennifer Vanasco's piece [1] in the Washington Blade proclaims the "death of femme...."
Yeah.........right!
So many morsels of junk leap out at the reader I find it hard to begin....
[1] http://www.washblade.com/2005/6-17/view/columns/death.cfm
Posted in Queer | 1 Comment »
Monday, June 20th, 2005
On Saturday I purchased several native wildflowers, grasses and one vine for my backyard.
Our backyard contains a sugar maple with many surface roots, which dry out the soil. Nothing currently grows there.
This year, for some reason, all the gardens at our suburban home have ignited my passions. I've transplanted four lilies, a holly bush, and three rose bushes, all needing more sun; purchased, with the divine Ms. H., two hostas, six Asian lilies, a wines and roses bush, marigold and pansies for the annual boxes and basil, cilantro, thyme, dill and rosemary for the herb boxes; received some free ground cover from our neighbor, a master gardener in her own right.
I have no idea why this year I've decided to tend our gardens. (I bought soaker hoses, too, and now find garden tchotchkes inflame my passions. What I once described as "shit on a stick" has now become fun, whimsical (neither an adjective I liked nor one ever used to describe me!) elements to add to the garden.
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Thursday, June 16th, 2005
I spend a significant amount of my time thinking about the culture of the medical industry in this country and how the bioethics industry, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare insurance companies, public policy, public opinion and the media intersect(s).
Today I visited one of my favorite websites, Not Dead Yet [1]. Diane Coleman, Founder and President of Not Dead Yet, gave testimony [2] "Before the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources Of the Committee on Government Reform Of the U.S. House of Representatives; Oversight Hearing on "Federal Health Programs and Those Who Cannot Care for Themselves: What Are Their Rights, And Our Responsibilities?"
She speaks eloquently about how the so-called right to die with dignity movement frames people living with disabilities. In addition to chastizing bioethicists for working diligently to kill Terry Schiavo rather than use their combined efforts to force healtcare companies to pay for medical needs, Coleman brings attention to a reality that will, I believe, fundamentally change how we conceptualize the so-called "right to die" and disability in general:I recently read a journal article about the problems with advanced directives. A consistent finding in several funded studies is that people change their minds about what treatments they want, and what level of disability they will accept, as they move through the experience of having increasing disabilities. The disability community has a response to that, to use a popular phrase, "well, DUH."
[1] http://www.notdeadyet.org/
[2] http://www.notdeadyet.org/docs/ColemanCongTestmy041905.html
Posted in Anti Assclownery, Healthcare Insurance | 3 Comments »
Thursday, June 16th, 2005
Why would a Queer person stay in a Christian church? Particularly one like mine, which bans my ordination? That question always elicits a deep sigh from me before an answer. It's not an easy decision when the Church (Capital C) as a whole does so much spiritual violence to LGBT persons. And yet I stay for, what I believe, are good reasons.
Before I tell you mine, I want to quote reasons from one of my favorite authors, Carter Heyward. She is a leading feminist and radical theologian who also happens to be a lesbian and Episcopalian priest. She was a professor at Episcopal Divinity School in Boston until her retirement. I want to quote to you a bit of her introduction to her book Touching Our Strength: The Erotic as Power and the Love of God. (1989) I highly recommend this book to everyone, Queer Christians especially, although I know the name alone will give some readers palpitations....wait till you read the entire book!
Posted in Queer, Religion | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, June 14th, 2005
In April I wrote [1] about wanting to achieve a goal of receiving 100 writing rejection slips.
Well, last week I received one, bringing my total to 2.
The most shocking fact...the rejection email contained two major grammatical errors!
Thrilling! Absolutely f---ing brilliant!
[Note to self: Consider starting own publishing company with higher standards.]
[Further note to self: I have a lot of work ahead of me, with only 2 rejections to my name.]
[1] http://jaysennett.typepad.com/jay_sennetts_blog/2005/04/finishing_up_a_.html
Posted in Queer, Writing | 4 Comments »
Friday, June 10th, 2005
Just a short addendum to my "Debate is Over" topic....this time on queer marriage. For me, there are two parts to marriage: the religious/spiritual component and the legal/civil component.
As for the religious/spiritual part, well God can bless any couple God chooses to bless. Falwell can't stop God, Dobson can't stop God, the Vatican can't stop God. If God chooses to bless a Holy Union service held in a bar, no one can stop that. So the religious/spiritual question is moot.
As for the legal/civil part of marriage, I pay taxes too and am entitled to the same privileges and benefits of any other taxpayer. So the legal question is moot.
Just a Queer Christian perspective. Whew, one more debate over!
Ona
Posted in Queer, Truth | 9 Comments »
Thursday, June 9th, 2005
Susie Bright originally posted this letter in the comments section. She has given me her permission to post her letter to ZNet here on the main page of this blog.
Please read Aura Bogado's ZNet [1] article to better understand Susie's response.
[Update June 9, 2005 6 pm: ZNet has seemingly not yet published Susie Bright's response]
[Update June 13, 2005 10:00 am: ZNet has published Susie Bright's response here [2]]
__________________________________________________________
Dear ZNet Editors and Readers:
RE: Hustling the Left by Aura Bogado; June 05, 2005
Aura Bogado may think that I made a number of "incorrect assumptions" about her, but I think I had a better sense of her politics than she has made of mine. When Hustler called me and asked me to write a hit piece on her, I had enough sense to reply that they were out of line. I wish she might have given me the same benefit of the doubt. But no good deed goes unpunished, eh?
[1] http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=8012§ionID=91
[2] http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=8043
Posted in Queer, Truth | 1 Comment »
Thursday, June 9th, 2005
Ona's dear friend, Ann-Marie, passed away yesterday morning. A fear-less, god-full woman, all will miss her.
In a post [1] earlier this week, Ona wrote about her dear, dear friend: [S]he was asking me if I knew that Jerry Falwell makes all his students at Liberty University sign an anti-homosexual pledge. Then she said, "I would scold him if I could and tell him God doesn't make trash."
She doesn't have a gay son or daughter. She doesn't have a personal investment in the Queer rights movement except for the friends she has sought out in it. What she does have is a deep commitment to the belief that all people, just as they are, are created in the image of God, queer or not. At 82, her theology is a great deal more "cutting edge" than the majority of Christians in this country. She is a powerful ally because of the influence she has had in the senior residence where she lived. Every day, she lived an example of radical inclusivity in a population that didn't have any "out" people living in it. This is the kind of ally we desperately need. I celebrate her existence and witness in my life and the lives of so many others.Amen.
[1] http://jaysennett.typepad.com/jay_sennetts_blog/2005/06/celebrating_our.html#more
Posted in Queer, Religion | Comments Off
