homophobia

Today the Boy Scouts of America released a long-awaited decision on whether it will continue its ban on LGBT scouts and adults. The announcement: The Boy Scouts will continue to ban LGBT adults from volunteering, but allow openly gay kids to be scouts. 

Clearly, the logic of this resolution is ludicrous.

Remember One Million Moms (OMM), the group that is still protesting JC Penney, Oreo cookies, and that show GCB that no one watched? Well, they've got a new target in their sights: NBC's upcoming sitcom The New Normal.


The horror!

Well, this has been an exciting week!

• As you've probably heard, Andersoon Cooper came out earlier this week. Super exciting to hear, but here's why when straight people say things like "it's about time?" or "why did he even have to come out in the first place?" it's rude, entitled, silencing, and downright annoying. [Tiger Beatdown]
• Speaking of coming out, has Frank Ocean changed the game? He released an incredibly powerful statement via Tumblr, which is stirring up some commotion in the often homophobic world of hip-hop, and is also creating a lot of tender feelings. Excuse me while a tear up a little—his mom is super proud and said he's an "incredible human being." [Ebony/Tumblr/Colorlines]
• Rookie is releasing its fancy first print edition in September! This is so exciting! Are you excited? [Rookie]
• Did you see that "Booty Pop" video? Tami Winfrey Harris breaks it—and the stereotype of the hypersexual black male—down for you. [Clutch]
• Anti-choice legislation strikes again! First New Jersey, and now North Carolina is to defund Planned Parenthood—an estimated $200,000 will be stripped from the state's two remaining Planned Parenthood affiliates. [Ms. Blog]
• Objectification or empowerment? Caroline Heldman has devised the Sex Object Test to measure the presence of sexual objectification in an image. [Sociological Images]
• Hey, look! Wal-Mart is still horrible, and the Supreme Court doesn't care about the oppression of women. [Autostraddle]
• June Thomas talks about the history of closed captioning, and how streaming online content ignores deaf viewers. [Slate]
• Catch up on your queer history. United in Anger: A History of ACT UP, a film by Jim Hubbard, is being screened in a few places this month (NYC, Philly, LA, DC, I'm talkin' to you), and you should go see it!
• Check out this awesome video of Janet Mock and Isis King on media representations of trans women. [In The Life Media]
• Portland update: The second annual Portland Queer Music Festival is coming up on July 22nd, and half of it is all-ages! Pre-sale tickets are available now!

What have you been reading, musing, raging, or raving about? Share your thoughts in the comments!

After witnessing some of the ugliest effects of sports culture play out this past week, it's good to see that some douchebags are being held (somewhat) accountable for their actions. In Buffalo, Wyoming, Pat Lynch stepped down as Buffalo High School football coach after circulating a "Hurt Feelings Report" survey for his team before a playoff game. The survey asks you to check if you are "thin-skinned," "a pussy," "a queer," "have woman like hormones [sic]" among other options.

Yesterday, Republican Presidential hopeful Herman Cain clashed with Piers Morgan about whether or not people are born gay. Here's the video:

The important thing to know is that Cain sets out saying that "homosexuality is a sin" because of his "Biblical beliefs," but Morgan quickly steers the conversation into "born this way" territory, outraged that Cain won't concede his point. Cain's response: "What does science show? You show me evidence other than opinion, and you might cause me to reconsider that... Where's the evidence?"

I have a confession to make. I was raised in an evangelical Christian home, and when I was much much younger... I was a fan of contemporary Christian music (CCM). Oh, yes. I reailzed just how much of an affront to music it is almost half of my life ago, but lately, I've been thinking about just how entrenched it is in the ideology of the Christian Right. Consider this awful 1995 track by Twila Paris called "Rescue the Prisoner." (The "prisoner," it turns out, is a member of the LGBTQ community who is said to be "demanding rights" and "defending wrong.")

In May, Religion Dispatches published my first interview with former darling of the Christian contemporary music scene, lesbian singer-songwriter Jennifer Knapp. Then over the summer, I got to meet and interview Knapp in person while covering the Wild Goose Festival, an event that celebrated (predominantly Christian) spirituality, justice, and art. We talked a bit about the limitations of Christian music, feminism and sexuality on the same day she filmed the "It Gets Better" video below. I'll be critiquing some evangelical Christian music later in the series, so I'm very excited to share unpublished parts of our interview with you here today: 

Bringing you fine, feminist work from around the web!

• Bitch YA Blogger Jessica Stites follows up on police response to Ms.' petition demanding they apologize for having a woman who reported her rape fined.
• Queerty shares a video and list, "Just In Case You Forgot Why The Family Research Council Is A Hate Group."
• Monica at TransGriot provides a history lesson about the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot. (Trigger warning for discussion of racism and physical violence.)
• Bitch contributor Sady Doyle reports on Friday's protest of last week's shameful "not guilty" verdict at the Raw Story.
• Shakesville's Melissa McEwan comments on the latest fail by the New York Times. (Quotable: "This column smells like barf.")
• Tom at Original Plumbing talks about the Lambda Literary Awards and being an out artist.
• Check out V-Girls' latest project: collecting photo, video and text submissions for the I Am an Emotional Creature workshops they'll be leading with Eve Ensler in South Africa.
• The Guardian reports on author Naipaul's eyeroll-inducing insistence that no woman could write as well as him.
• Feministe's Clarisse gives us the rundown on feminist sci-fi awards!
• Bitch contributor Emily Manuel blurbs about the "fauxtreversy" around baby Storm's biological sex being a secret and the "imposing their ideology" accusation at Tiger Beatdown.
• At AlterNet, Laura Rena Murray explains the wrongheaded practice of police pointing to condom-carrying as evidence of being a sex worker... and the oft-dismissed bill that would prevent it.
• Mother Jones reports on the FIFA soccer scandal.
• WTF? Feministing discusses Cadbury's new ad, which compares Naomi Campbell and a chocolate bar.

Any reactions to the pieces we've shared? What else have you been reading?

 

Bravo, Frisky, for exposing so many angles of biphobic bullying!

Oh, wait. Is that not your intention?

Time for a link exchange! Here's a glimpse into what we've been reading:

• Hopping mad about the misleadingly-named Independent Women's Forum's misinformation about the pay gap? Feministing tells it like it is.
• Also at Feministing, check out this report from the 2011 Civil Liberties and Public Policy Conference with video and quotes from the Transfeminisms panel.
• Bitch contributor Chally Kacelnik finishes her series in response to the question "Where are you from?" on Feministe.
• Shark-Fu at AngryBlackBitch powerfully responds to the streak of racist billboards attacking black women. (via Bitch Flicks)
• AfterEllen's Dorothy Snarker cheers on Sundance's acquisition of feminist favorite My So-Called Life!
• Bitch contributor Emily Manuel opines on what the term "pro-life" should actually mean at Tiger Beatdown.
• Speaking of Tiger Beatdown, their founder Sady Doyle (who is also a Bitch contributor) writes about convicted assaultant Jeffrey Gray, who was elected to office despite his crimes against women. (Trigger warning for domestic abuse and rape.)
• The Huffington Post reports on the discovery that middle and high schools in New Jersey were filtering QUILTBAG-related content from school computers. The filter is being removed thanks to the ACLU.
• Amanda Marcotte has a new recording up at RH Reality Check about the Slutwalk, the claim that "uterus" is a dirty word and more!
• Jill does a hilarious takedown of Dove soap's advertising on I Blame the Patriarchy.
• Ms.' blog interviews the women behind the feminist play The Panza [Spanish for "belly"] Monologues!
• In the WTF category, Queerty shares the U.K.'s new, but still bizarre and revealing, rules about gay men giving blood.
• ColorLines addresses the Grammy Awards' recent decision to cut some of their awards categories and how this may affect artists of color.
• The annual Austin queer music day party GayBiGayGay is releasing a book! That comes with a free CD of bands that play! Check it out or pre-order your copy today!
• Also check out the environmental documentary Vanishing of the Bees, likely headed to a theatre or classroom near you!