Join the D.C. Area’s Top Chefs and Mixologists for HRC’s Fourth Annual Chefs for Equality
Join HRC and the D.C. area’s top chefs, pastry chefs and mixologists for a night of dining in style in support of equality on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at The Ritz-Carlton, West End in Washington, D.C.
HRC.org
Alcatraz Tourists Gasp As Great White Shark Attacks Seal in SF Bay: WATCH
Tourists visiting the island prison of Alcatraz witnessed something few have ever seen: a great white shark predation of a seal or sea lion inside San Francisco Bay.
A video posted to YouTube by tourist Meredith Coppolo Shindler has over 475,000 views and is getting attention not only for the shark, but for the little boy heard on the video who is excited about the shark:
“That’s a great white!…Holy crud!…It’s right under us! It’s Jaws! It’s Jaws! It’s Jaws!…That’s the awesomest thing I’ve ever seen in my life!”
Said David McGuire, Director of the San Francisco based shark conservation group Shark Stewards and Research Associate at the California Academy of Sciences in a statement:
“This is the first recorded predation event I know in the San Francisco Bay. It definitely looks like a white shark, about 8-10 feet from the phone video sent to us. The tourists were pretty excited.”
Watch:
Shark Stewards adds that the shark sighting is a sign that the Bay’s water is getting healthier:
Although there is no record of an attack on humans, great white sharks have been observed inside the Bay on several occassions. A study by the Stanford Tagging of Pacific Pelagics documented several tagged sharks entering and exting the Bay in a study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society in 2009.
Five white sharks entered the Bay over a period of two years, one shark entering four times. The only documented white shark fatality in San Francisco came on May 7, 1959, when Albert Kogler Jr., 18, died while swimming in less than 15 feet of water after he was attacked off Baker Beach, about one mile west of the Golden Gate Bridge.
“For me its pretty exciting and a sign that the health is returning to the San Francisco Bay ecosystem. We swim in the Bay every day at the Dolphin Club without a shark encounter. Its why we call this month Sharktober.” said McGuire. “The risk of shark attack is extremely low. Over eighty swimmers from the Dolphin Club and South End Rowing Club swam from Alactraz last week, and another race is scheduled for next weekend. It is up to the leadership what to do, but I suspect this shark is well fed.”
The post Alcatraz Tourists Gasp As Great White Shark Attacks Seal in SF Bay: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Andy Towle
Alcatraz Tourists Gasp As Great White Shark Attacks Seal in SF Bay: WATCH
Artist Spotlight Robert de Michiell
Christopher Harrity
www.advocate.com/artist-spotlight/2012/6/02/artist-spotlight-robert-de-michiell
Anti-Bullying: Failing to Tackle Gender and Sexual Inequalities
For October, Anti-bullying Month, we are engaging several key sociologists who research gender and sexuality in education in conversations on LGBTQ bullying. This is the first of these posts.
Jessica Ringrose, Ph.D. is Professor of Sociology of Gender and Education, at University College London Institute of Education. She is currently researching feminism in schools and young people’s networked gender and sexual cultures. Her most recent book is Children, Sexuality, and Sexualization.
Victoria Rawlings, Ph.D. is a Senior Research Associate at Lancaster University. She conducts research on young people’s social, emotional, and discursive lives, with a focus on gender and sexuality. She is currently investigating the self-harm and suicidal feelings of LGBTQ youth in England.
J & V: The first thing we need to think about when we talk about bullying or “anti-bullying” is exactly what the word “bullying” means. When the word bullying first emerged, it meant something very distinct. There was thought to be a “bully” and a “victim,” and the bully exposed the victim (defined as “helpless” or “weaker”), repeatedly and over time, to injury.
Our research suggests, however, that what are understood to be bullying behaviors are typically rooted in longstanding social inequalities. The power relations that create rigid gender binaries (girl vs. boy) and heterosexuality as normative, which are widely upheld in institutional contexts like family, school, work and online forums, create the conditions for so called bullying.
E: That’s an important point. Social norms and power relations are almost universally left out of discussions of bullying, and so addressing them is not a part of most anti-bullying strategies. It’s been our position (QuERI’s) that bullying is actually a regulating social process that targets “difference” and reaffirms what is considered “normal” or “acceptable” in a given school. So understanding those social norms is critical to understanding which kids are getting targeted for bullying.
V: Yes — norms work in the school environment to indicate who is “fitting in” and who is not — in other words, who is “different.” How this difference becomes understood as undesirable or unintelligible, and how it becomes the prerogative of students to police and regulate this difference is far more complicated. It is important, though, to reject the notion that bullies are inherently bad and think about the systems (social, cultural, institutional) that encourage and reward those kinds of actions.
J: I was wondering, what do we mean by LGBTQ bullying? The bundle of terms — lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer — highlight a lot of identities seemingly in opposition to normative heterosexuality. However, restricting interventions to those terms also limits our ability to confront the systems that result in their bullying. Should bullying initiatives that respond to an LGBTQ agenda also take into account issues of heterosexism that effect so called ‘straight’ and cisgender people too?
E: When we (QuERI) write about these issues, we include gender non-conforming behaviors broadly. The system of gender regulation impacts all students — those who conform, those who don’t, and all the shades in between. We know from research that the further youth fall from idealized forms of masculinity and femininity, the more vulnerable they are to bullying as well as more severe forms of violence. LGBTQ students are among the most targeted. So we agree that we need to think about the effects of heteronormativity broadly, including the sexism inherent in it, when we think about bullying.
J & V: We have been thinking, similarly, about what being shamed as “gay” or ‘faggot’ in schools has in common with being called a “slut.” Gender and sexual norms regulate (that is shame and seek to “correct”) deviations from a heterosexual gender binary. They communicate that non-heterosexual or transgender are somehow less appropriate than straight or cisgender, but also dictate norms of acceptable behaviour within the gender binary of ideal masculinity and femininity (for example, girls should not be ‘too’ sexually active, and boys should not be passive or emotional).
Research indicates that the key to change is to tackle the wide gamut of gender and sexuality based stereotypes together to address a cluster of issues including sexism, homophobia and transphobia (Pascoe, 2011).
We think that LGBTQ issues need to be treated as a package to address issues of sexism and sexual harassment for so called “straight” kids too. For example many forms of slut shaming are not typically recognized as bullying because the sexual shaming of girls’ dress is sanctioned in many official school dress and uniform code policies and practices (Ringrose & Rawlings, 2015).
E: Yes! This is so important to changing the ways bullying is discussed. Slut and fag are seen as the worst things to be called in many schools and both are about gender transgression. That’s important to note — that in some schools, the worst thing you can do is transgress gender norms. That’s really powerful if you stop to think about it. For decades, work on bullying has focused on that bully/victim binary and completely failed to note the ways bullying behaviors function in the school environment. In recent years, we have been calling for a paradigm shift, positioning the aggression targeting LGBTQ and gender non-conforming students within a broader system of gender regulation experienced by all people all the time. It is also interesting that bullying and sexual harassment, including slut shaming, are seen in schools as different problems. They should absolutely be tackled together. That they have not been tackled together and that bullying redress has largely focused on the individual “bully” is a key reason (we think) that schools have not really seen anti-bullying efforts succeed long term.
J: So if anti-bullying frameworks are failing to address behavior that promotes gender bias and sexual violence, and simply banning the words “gay” or “slut” doesn’t work because that doesn’t get to the root of the problem, what should schools, parents, and young people do? We have been part of a research network in the UK running feminist lunch and after-school clubs that provide young people with safe spaces in which to discuss gender and sexuality and critically engage with ideas about ‘appropriate’ femininity and masculinity. But we have met some backlash against feminism in schools from teachers and students who find the word threatening.
V: I think that’s a key question and there is no quick or easy fix. Firstly, schools need to begin asking and answering difficult questions about gender, power, and systems of privilege. Students and teachers need to be provided with opportunities to recognize and explore the effects of these systems and the outcomes of their behaviors, including opportunities to learn about diverse lives and identities, or to interrogate their own and others’ positions of privilege- particularly around gender and sexuality. In short, rather than attempting to pathologize or celebrate particular individuals (which is exactly what traditional, popular anti-bullying initiatives have done), there need to be moments that facilitate recognition and change of systemic cultures, policies and practices (Davies & McInnes, 2012).
E: Agreed. There are no one-size fits-all pre-packaged anti-bullying programs to get us to culture change. One place we need to start is with teacher education. In the U.S., no states require a diversity course for future teachers. They need those experiences you mentioned Victoria — to learn about diverse lives and identities and interrogate their own biases. And gender and sexuality need to be an integral part of that coursework.
We need to make clear connections between gender inequality, sexism, and the harassment experienced by LGBTQ and gender non-conforming kids — including girls who express sexual agency. Student activism can be a useful tool for bringing awareness to schools, and Jessica your work with young people is inspiring. No easy answers, but moving away from the bully/victim binary is a start!
Thanks to you both for participating in this conversation!
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Open Question: To those who do believe it is a choice, why would someone choose the pain and social regection that comes with being lgbt? Explain your view?
Longtime HRC Supporter Wins Lexus Raffle at National Dinner
HRC Federal Club and Steering Committee member Christie Brezina won a 2016 Lexus NX 200t F SPORT at HRC’s 19th annual National Dinner.
HRC.org
DVD: “San Andreas,” “Big Eden,” “The Lives We Lead,” & More!
Disaster, romance and an Aussie family drama make up this week’s home entertainment highlights.
The West Coast gets all sorts of earthquake-d in the disaster spectacle San Andreas (above), a lonely gay city boy finds love in his rural hometown in Big Eden, and the lives of two Australian sisters and a gay guy are followed in The Lives We Lead.
Now for the trailers and details!
($44.95 3D Blu-ray, $28.98 DVD; Warner Bros)
California finally gets hit with “the big one” — and a few other quakes to boot — in this CGI-rich disaster movie very much in the vein of (and surprisingly not directed by) Roland Emmerich. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stars as an LAFD helicopter pilot who will of course come to the rescue of a handful of characters like a family and two wise-cracking British siblings. The dialogue by scriptwriter Carlton Cuse is mind-numbing and repetitious, along the lines of Poltergeist 3, yet it’s crazy to see all that CGI destruction in 3D. Extras include making-of featurettes, deleted scenes, gag reel, stunt reel and a commentary from director Brad Peyton.
($24.95 Blu-ray, $14.95 DVD; Wolfe)
Henry Hart, a gay New York artist, returns to his rural Montana hometown when grandad’s heart goes all wonky. There, Henry reunites with his unrequited High School crush (Tim DeKay), now the father of two children, yet it’s striking Pike Dexter (Eric Schweig), the shy Native American who runs the town’s general store, who seems a more likely match for the lonely Hart’s heart. Refreshingly, the town’s gossipy residents, rather than run them both out with pitchforks or whatever small town folk use for such shenanigans, merrily attempt to hook the pair up. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry. It’s adorable.
Despite being one of the most sweet, romantic and heartfelt LGBT titles of its time, director Tom Bezucha’s Big Eden was also a bit of a sleeper and still is. To celebrate its 15th Anniversary, a sparkling remastered Blu-ray edition has been released, which features an all-new looking-back featurette with Bezucha and stars Gross, Schweig, DeKay, and Louise Fletcher. It’s a must.
($24.99 DVD; Davo Hardy Productions)
This ambitious indie feature debut of Australian actor/director/writer Davo Hardy spans fifty turbulent years — from childhood to old age — in the lives of a pair of oil-and-water sisters, Edith and Pamela. Gavin, one of the boys/men most important in their lives is gay, and plays a prominent role. Fun Fact: The Lives We Lead originated as a 10-minute play with the film’s co-writers/stars, Sally Williams and Georgina Neville, but was expanded to feature film length with two male characters, including the openly gay Gavin.
ALSO OUT:
Tomorrowland
The Gallows
Dope
Faith of our Fathers
Lawrence Ferber
Australian Bobsled Stud Simon Dunn Shows Off His ‘Virgin’ Moves: WATCH
Australian bobsledder Simon Dunn was pretty excited to go see the Madonna concert in Edmonton the other night. Here’s how he prepared.
Watch:
And one more:
Getting ready for the @Madonna concert #masc4madonna pic.twitter.com/Kpuw0YHP7U
— Simon Dunn (@bobsleighsimon) October 13, 2015
The post Australian Bobsled Stud Simon Dunn Shows Off His ‘Virgin’ Moves: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Andy Towle
Australian Bobsled Stud Simon Dunn Shows Off His ‘Virgin’ Moves: WATCH
7 Tough Questions Progressives Want Answered At The Democratic Presidential Debate
The last two presidential debates have basically been exercises in outrage for progressives. Save for the moment Carly Fiorina smacked down Donald Trump’s sexism, the Republican events were the stuff of liberal nightmares — defenses of the Iraq War, expressions of admiration for Kim Davis, a botched discussion of climate change, and silence on racial injustice.
So there’s likely some relief among progressives that Tuesday’s presidential debate will be among Democratic candidates whose worldviews might align closer to theirs. But that does not mean that the candidates will have it easy. There are key distinctions the Democratic candidates will need to make between themselves and their opponents — both on the Republican and Democratic side of the aisle — before voters make their choices.
In order to make those distinctions, ThinkProgress reached out to groups with progressive values on a cadre of issues, ranging from gun violence to climate change, to find out what questions they hope the Democratic candidates will answer and why. Here are some of the responses we got.
Frank Kulick, adjusts a display of wooden crosses, and a Jewish Star of David, representing the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, on his front lawn, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, in Newtown, Conn.
CREDIT: AP Photo/David Goldman
This question was actually pointed out to ThinkProgress by Everytown For Gun Safety, a group advocating gun control. Erica asked it on CNN’s Facebook page when the network asked the public to provide questions to ask the Democratic candidates during the debate. Andy Parker, the father of on-air reporter Alison Parker who was killed by a gunman earlier this year, separately asked if candidates would work to require background checks for all gun sales.
“We want all the candidates, from all parties, to tell us what they will do to prevent the gun violence that kills 88 Americans every day and injures hundreds more,” Everytown spokesperson Stacey Radnor said.
In 1999, President Bill Clinton’s administration filed a Department of Justice lawsuit against major American tobacco companies, alleging they conspired to deliberately mislead the public about the health impacts of smoking. In 2006, the court found the tobacco companies guilty of fraud, conspiracy, and racketeering.
Now, similar allegations have been made against the fossil fuel industry — that they deliberately conspired to mislead the public about the impacts of human-caused climate change. The companies pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into campaigns of politicians who deny the science of human-caused warming and work actively to prevent climate action. At the same time, at least one company — Exxon — likely knew that climate change was a problem for 27 years.
“Evidence is overwhelming that Exxon in particular … knew about climate change in the ’70s and ’80s, but then engaged in a deliberate effort to cover up, confuse, and obfuscate the science because of the impact on its business model,” Miller said. “Climate change has already harmed Americans in ways too numerous to list; the companies that caused climate change, and caused the cover-up, should be held responsible.”
Desiree Griffiths, 31, of Miami, holds up a sign saying “Black Lives Matter”, with the names of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, two black men recently killed by police, during a protest Friday, Dec. 5, 2014, in Miami. People are protesting nationwide against recent decisions not to prosecute white police officers involved in the killing of black men.
CREDIT: AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
In recent years, a number of states have passed measures that ostensibly make it harder to vote, either by self-interested gerrymandering, eliminating early voting, or requiring specific forms of identification at the polls. Though some courts have ruled these laws unlawful, the ones that do still exist tend to disproportionately discourage voting in minority communities.
“From the recent Alabama DMV closures to the wave of the voting restrictions after the court gutted the Voting Rights Act, the sanctity of the ballot remains uncertain,” McElwee said. “There is strong evidence that these attacks on the ballot are motivated not just by partisanship, but racial animus.”
McElwee also asked what candidates would do to bolster turnout among low-income people, people of color, and young people, noting that a mere 41.9 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the 2014 midterm election.
According to the International Energy Agency, two thirds of all proven fossil fuel reserves will have to be left in the ground to avoid catastrophic climate change. At the same time, the U.S. government still contracts with fossil fuel companies to allow them to extract coal, oil, and gas from public lands.
“[Countries] are going to need to make the choice to keep this carbon locked in the ground,” Pica said. ” A recent report by Friends of the Earth and the Center for Biological Diversity found that the U.S. could have more than 450 gigatons of CO2 under its public lands and waters. … A litmus test for climate leadership is the willingness to take on corporate polluters to keep fossil fuels in the ground in order to protect our climate.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) speaks at rally on Capitol Hill sponsored by Planned Parenthood
CREDIT: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Most if not all of the Democratic candidates have expressed support for Planned Parenthood in the wake of the Republican Congress’ attempt to defund it. But tougher than merely expressing support for the women’s health organization would be a question about how, specifically, the candidates plan to push back on those attempts and be successful.
“We wonder in what ways could a president be more demonstrative of their support for sexual health services in terms of money and legislation,” Keifer said.
A key tenet of the Black Lives Matter movement is reforming the criminal justice system, which disproportionately punishes black Americans in a number of ways.
One of the ways this racial inequality manifests itself is via a disproportionately high rate of recidivism — or return to criminal activity — among African-American male youth. In addition, mandatory minimums — which require judges to impose severe penalties against those convicted of low-level drug crimes — has resulted in a disproportionate amount of jail time for black Americans.
“We would like to see a more restorative justice approach so that individuals who are charged don’t have to do mandatory sentences,” Imani said. “There are other solutions to correcting their behavior so they won’t get into this whole revolving door of the prison system.”
Though the debate over LGBT equality has long focused on same-sex marriage, many advocates are hoping this next election season will tackle some other issues in the community — particularly what’s known as school pushout. Advocacy group reports over the years have found that LGBT youth and youth of color “not only face bullying and harassment from peers, but also harsh and disparate discipline from school staff, relatively higher levels of policing and surveillance, and blame for their own victimization.”
As a result of this, the drop-out rate for LGBT students is higher — and according to the Center for American Progress, making up a disproportionate percentage of the population in the villein justice system. New research has revealed some anti-bullying legislation can be effective.
“School push out is a crisis for LGBT youth and youth of color that has gotten far too little attention,” Palmquist said. “Candidates need to show an understanding of LGBT issues beyond marriage and nondiscrimination, including issues affecting marginalized populations like LGBT youth of color.”
The post 7 Tough Questions Progressives Want Answered At The Democratic Presidential Debate appeared first on ThinkProgress.
Emily Atkin
thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/10/13/3711003/democratic-presidential-debate-questions/
Open Question: How would I go about paying for male-to-female HRT?
I’m 18 and I have a slightly-above minimum wage job. I still live with my parents, and only on of my siblings know that I’m considering any of this. I still need to buy a car, which I’ve been looking on Craigslist for.
There is a LGBT Teen group in my area, and I intend on going. But, they hold their meetings during my work hours. So consistently going will be a problem, as I’d need to tell my parents to borrow the car and negotiate with my boss on getting off early on Wednesdays.
I’ve found a gender therapist, though I have yet to see him yet. He doesn’t require insurance, but charges $125 for a 50-minute session. Is that to much? I think it sounds reasonable, but I’ve never dealt with therapist rates before.
I intend on going to community college for 2 years, and then transferring to a connected university. More than likely majoring in Economics. Which is going to be a good chunk of money and debt.
From what I’ve read, HRT will cost $10,000 a year… for the rest of my life. I intend on getting FFS as well, but I’ve read it’ll cost upwards of $36,000. When would be the best time to get FFS after HRT? Also, I don’t know any surgeons that specialize in that surgery.
So does anyone have any tips to make this more financially feasible? Or suggestions for alternatives? Or just general advice?
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