politics

Sex in the Public Square – Launch Party

by Viviane on 08/13/2007

in Events, Fetish & Kink, nyc, politics, sex, sexuality

sitps Sex in the Public Square Launch Party

Join us to celebrate the launch of SexInThePublicSquare.org!

Friday, August 17, 2007
Rapture Cafe
200 Avenue A between 12 St. and 13 St. (Google Maps)
Time: 7:00-10:00 PM
Admission: FREE and all are welcome.

The brain/love-child of sociologist Elizabeth Wood and writer Chris Hall, Sex in the Public Square is dedicated to expanding the space for public discussion of sexuality. Blending the techniques of blogging and social networking (think Blogger meets MySpace — but all open source!), Sex in the Public Square is a space on the Internet where members can explore which parts of sex are private, which parts are public, and what happens when private and public collide. We believe that sexuality is a fundamental component of human life, and that by excluding it from “polite conversation,” we lose an important element of democratic participation.

With forums, blogs, reviews, resource lists, calls for action, and a nationwide calendar of events dedicated to sexualities of all genders, colors, and persuasions and with thousands of visitors and new contributors joining each week, we’re ready to celebrate our “birth” and we want you to join us!

Readings and performances by:

Audacia Ray
Rachel Kramer Bussel
Lux Nightmare
Ignacio Rivera

and

NYC Porn Legend Veronica Vera

Plus screenings of film clips from Cinekink and some old sex ed films too!

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LGBT Debate – Viewer opinions wanted

by Viviane on 08/07/2007

in election, lgbt, politics

There will be a debate with seven of the eight current Democratic contenders for the Presidential nomination – every one except Biden – on Logo, the LGBT channel, on August 9. You can watch it on cable if you get the channel, or on Logo’s website. You can submit a question for the debate here.

In addition to being the newsletter editor for the Washington State Stonewall Democrats, I am a member of the OffTheBus campaign analysis team at Huffington Post, and hope to cover this debate. I’m interested in getting some reactions from people before, possibly during, and definitely after the debate. I ask that you be willing to identify yourself with your real first name, last name, and city and state of residence in order to be interviewed for this. I’ll want to talk via either phone or email with the same people both before and after; email me at my LJ address to get started. Here are some of the questions I’m interested in:

  • Will you watch this debate?
  • Did you know about it before this post?
  • What do you think of the idea of having an LGBT-focused debate?
  • What questions do you want answered?
  • What is your stakehold in this? Do you consider yourself to be a member of the LGBT community, a straight ally, an opponent, or what?
  • What is your impression of the candidates going into this debate? I’ll also want to know your impression of them afterward, and whether that’s changed for any of them, and why.
  • What is your impression of the candidates who were invited but didn’t choose to participate: Joe Biden and every Republican contender? Has that changed due to their decision not to participate in this debate?

Thanks,
River Curtis-Stanley
riverheart @ livejournal dot com

(X-Posted from the Livejournal Bisexual community)

Please don’t leave comments here – contact River directly at the email listed.

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The Christian Right’s Fear of Pleasure is Our Greatest Threat to Choice (Alternet)

by Viviane on 05/19/2007

in abortion, politics, sex

Chris Hedges (former Middle East NYT Bureau Chief) writes:

The denial of contraception, as is well documented, increases the number of unwanted pregnancies and abortions. And abortion is never going to go away. If it again becomes illegal, the rich, as in the past, will find ways to provide abortions for their wives, mistresses and girlfriends, and the poor will die in unhygienic back rooms.

But since this is a war with a wider agenda, abortion statistics and facts do not count. The Christian right fears pleasure, especially sexual pleasure, which it sees as degrading, corrupting and tainted. For many, their own experiences with sex — coupled with their descent into addictions and often sexual and domestic abuse before they found Christ — have led them to build a movement that creates an external rigidity to cope with the chaos of human existence, a chaos that overwhelmed them. They do not trust their own urges, their capacity for self-restraint or judgment. The Christian right permits its followers to project evil outward, a convenient escape for people unable to face the darkness and the psychological torments within them.

(more. . .)

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Abstaining from Comprehensive Sex Education (Harvard Political Review)

by Viviane on 04/12/2007

in abstinence, education, politics, sex

By Tremayne Gibson and Rusty Mason

Sex: it is everywhere from magazine covers to television screens to billboards. Though sex has become a major engine of advertisement and entertainment in modern America, how to properly teach children about it remains a contentious debate. There is due cause for urgency in this debate, as the United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world. To combat this, some propose teaching young people the benefits of “waiting” to have sex. Others take a more comprehensive approach and advocate educating adolescents to make their own, fully informed decisions. Despite its nature as a key public health issue, recently multiplying sex education programs in the United States seem to owe their growth and composition more to political concerns than research-based recommendations.

(more…)

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Edwards Says Wife’s Cancer Has Returned (NYT)

by Viviane on 03/22/2007

in election, john edwards, politics

By JOHN M. BRODER and ADAM NAGOURNEY

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., March 22 — John Edwards, the North Carolina Democrat, said Thursday that his wife’s cancer had returned in incurable form. He proclaimed that he would continue his bid for the presidency, saying, “The campaign goes on strongly.”

The announcement here by Mr. Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, followed an emotional 72-hour stretch.

On Monday, Mrs. Edwards reported pains to her doctor and learned that her cancer might have returned. On Tuesday, Mr. Edwards cut short a trip in Iowa to fly back on a charter plane. The couple, alone, went to the University of North Carolina hospital on Wednesday for a daylong battery of tests that confirmed the diagnosis. (more…)

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Last Day to Comment on .XXX (Full Frontal Politics)

by Viviane on 03/09/2007

in internet, politics

Sabrina reminds us:

Today, March 9, is the last day to comment on the proposed .XXX domain extension.

  • .XXX domains would cost $60 per URL per year
  • The new extension would be voluntary, punishing businesses that choose to self-regulate and not addressing the vast majority of adult webmasters using .com, .net, or international extensions
  • Defining adult content, commercial or noncommercial, is very subjective
  • The extension would likely become mandatory or pseudo-mandatory through credit card processor regulations; this would financially penalize the adult industry in a way that no other industry is subject to as well as open the industry up for censorship

(more…)

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Ann Coulter’s Funny That Way… (Time)

by Viviane on 03/06/2007

in ann coulter, john edwards, media, politics, speech

Are straight people allowed to say “faggot”? Are white people allowed to say “nigger”? Generally no. Our unwritten speech codes require that those words be used only by gays and blacks, respectively (black gays can say both). Which is just as it should be: minorities can reappropriate slurs if it empowers them or even if it just humors them — I think it’s funny when fellow gays sarcastically say “Hey faggot” to me. But it wouldn’t be so funny if, say, my heterosexual boss said it. Sorry, straight people: you don’t get to say “faggot.” (I can still be fired for being gay in most U.S. states, so you still have the better end of the bargain.) Speech codes are one of the many social devices that keep us from all murdering each other with our bare hands in the grocery aisle.

But speech codes deeply offend conservatives, which is the point Ann Coulter was making when she said this last week: “I was going to have a few comments about the other Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards. But it turns out that you have to go into rehab if you use the word ‘faggot.’” (more…)

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Ring Toss: Links for 2007-03-05

by Viviane on 03/05/2007

in abstinence, media, news, politics, roundup

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Germany’s ‘Rose Monday’ Parade (Yahoo News Photos)

by Viviane on 02/22/2007

in humor, politics

rosy%2Bbush%2Bbutt Germanys Rose Monday Parade (Yahoo News Photos)
A float depicting U.S. President George W. Bush being spanked by the Statue Of Liberty passes by during the Rose Monday carnival parade in Mainz, western Germany, on Monday, Feb. 19, 2007. Thousands of spectators attended the traditional street carnival parade in the state of Rhineland-Palatinates’s capital. (AP Photo/Bernd Kammerer)

Thanks, Lolita!

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Abstinence-only sex ed finds few scientific fans (SF Gate)

by Viviane on 02/11/2007

in abstinence, birth control, education, health, politics, reproductive rights, violetblue

Mike Weiss, Chronicle Staff Writer

There is no good scientific evidence that teaching abstinence to teenagers will by itself prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, say the authors of a recent study. Yet they found that comprehensive sex education is declining and that more youngsters are being taught nothing more than abstinence.

As with similar debates over stem cell research and abortion, California and the Bush administration are at loggerheads over an ethical issue with far-reaching public consequences — in this case, the best approach to sex ed for middle and high school students.

More than $1 billion in federal aid has been poured into state-run abstinence-only programs in the past decade after the Bush administration decided there was an imbalance that favored comprehensive sex education and slighted abstinence. State school systems accepting the federal money are required to teach that sexual activity outside marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects, and that a married, monogamous relationship is the expected standard. (more…)

[via violet blue]

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Texas Gov. Rick Perry Orders Mandatory HPV Vaccinations

by Jessica Gold Haralson on 02/05/2007

in health, politics

vaccine Texas Gov. Rick Perry Orders Mandatory HPV Vaccinations
To put it lightly, Texas is known for its unsavory reputation amongst the sexually progressive.

The bad rap is certainly warranted — my home state is home to abstinence-only education, Purity Balls, and middle-aged soccer moms arrested for selling Hitachi Magic Wands to their friends. Heck, NARAL gave us an F on abortion rights and contraceptive access. It’s the last place on Earth one would imagine that the vaccine to prevent the sexually transmitted HPV (human pappilomavirus) would be provided to young girls — many conservatives claim that a vaccine would “encourage” young women to become sexually promiscuous, and advise parents against looking into the treatment for their daughters.

Yet Governor Rick Perry, an anti-choice conservative Christian, just signed an order making HPV vaccines mandatory for schoolgirls across the state of Texas.

It could be a rare sign of enlightenment from the politico. Or, it could be a sign of money talking — a top official from Merck, which produces the HPV Vaccine, sits on Texas’ Women in Government Business Council. Nevertheless, it’s a bold move for Perry and it will be interesting to see if other traditionally anti-choice states follow suit in providing the vaccination.

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Washington Initiative Requires Proof of Procreation From Married Couples (Daily Dose of Queer)

by Viviane on 02/04/2007

in gay, marriage, politics, queer, washington

Initiative 957, an initiative requiring all married couples to file “proof of procreation” within three years of a marriage, was filed by the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance in response to a ruling made by the Washington Supreme Court last year stating gay and lesbian couples could be prevented from marrying by the state because Washington has a legitimate interest in preserving marriage for couples who can procreate. I-957 has been accepted by Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed.

(more…)

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That (Pink) Dog Won’t Hunt (Susie Bright)

by Viviane on 01/30/2007

in dick cheney, gay, lesbian, mary cheney, politics, sexuality

Dick Cheney seems to have released an all-points-bulletin to his party that if one more person so much as sneezes the word “g-a-y,” he is going to stick his fist so deep in their ass they’ll never walk the light of day again. (more…)

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Woman jailed after reporting rape (Yahoo)

by Viviane on 01/30/2007

in contraception, crime, EC, law, politics

By PHIL DAVIS, Associated Press Writer Tue Jan 30, 3:43 PM ET

TAMPA, Fla. – A woman who told police she had been raped was jailed for two days after officers found an old warrant accusing her of failing to pay restitution for a 2003 theft arrest.

While she was behind bars, according to the college student’s attorney, a jail worker refused to give her a second dose of the morning-after contraceptive pill because of the worker’s religious convictions.

The 21-year-old woman was released Monday only after attorney Vic Moore reported her plight to the local media.
(more…)

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Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Be Terrified that Dr. Eric Keroack is in Charge of the U.S. Federal Family Planning Program (RH Reality Check)

by Viviane on 01/26/2007

in health, politics, sexuality

Link

Thanks, Lolita.

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