One comment I have heard is that the CPRB can’t be counted upon, but this has most often come from folks who have never filed a complaint. I think there is a lack of understanding as to how the CPRB functions and what it can and cannot accomplish. I hope that as I work on the Board, I can help the community better understand this and then take advantage of this important resource.
I think a part of it is this pervasive sense of homophobia (although perhaps a less virulent strain) that permeates our culture and judges people by stereotypic standards of “maleness.” In Cowell’s case, he is just a little bit… well, less that butch. You know what I mean? Or, it may not be just a matter of maleness, but the fact that some men who are “male” enough, refuse to follow some expected standard (stereotypic) of behavior. Even more interesting than the facts that gay rumors follow some people, is the fact that some folks who are closeted, can protect that closet so well. Why is it that media will perpetuate the “is he gay rumors about some folks and turn a blind eye towards others?
Connected to this notion is to ask, who is really ultimately responsible for how complex issues get resized into misrepresentative but catchy phrases. Is it the media, or is it the opposition which then uses the media for it’s own goals?
The future of Pennsylvania’s recently passed voter ID law may be decided in Commonwealth Court. A lawsuit filed Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the NAACP claims the the law, which requires voters to show state issued photo identification at the polls, is unconstitutional. The groups are asking the court to block enforcement of the law before the November election. “We truly believe that if this law is allowed to go[Read More…]
Right to Know Law requests filed for correspondence, financial records related to controversial corporate front group, the American Legislative Exchange Council HARRISBURG, PA — Keystone Progress today asked the Pennsylvania Senate and House of Representatives to release all records related to the shadowy and controversial corporate front group, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The Keystone Progress RTKL request asks for: All correspondence, including surface mail and email, containing the words ALEC or American Legislative[Read More…]
Perhaps, I’m just put off with “Gay” being used as a concept. Isn’t that one more way to dehumanize the reality of our shared queer lives? We aren’t really in love with members of our own sex, we are just concepts, right?
![Who can say what without being a [fill in the word]: The Sharon Needles Controversy.](https://thomascwaters.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/nigger-200x150.jpg)
Don’t love me (or hate me) because of what I look like. Love me (or hate me) because of who I am- the whole of me. Now, Sharon doesn’t talk in terms of “love,” she uses more shocking confrontational images, and perhaps some of the controversy is more about how her confrontational style makes people feel uncomfortable.
Here is some video I captured at Art All Night in Lawrenceville last evening. The event is always really great, and I found this year to be no exception. I loved the location this year. Really amazing old factory. The video isn’t all that good- shot on my iPhone 4, but I think it does capture the power of both the drims and the dancers. It ends abruptly as my phone’s battery was getting low.[Read More…]
From my perspective, At least four different levels or elements at play and one of the reasons why different people have such different takes on the Pitt Trans Policy issue grows out of assumptions about these four things.
In the biggest picture image: how many little girls and little boys growing up across Pennsylvania, will now have one more positive reference for being publicly gay?