i try to run, i try to flee!

Tue, 08 Nov 2005 15:39:20 GMT

for those of you who haven't figured it out yet, i have a different journal now.

one_man_riot

if i like you or you seem cool, i'll add you.

Anti-Rape Condom Aims To Stop Attacks

Sat, 03 Sep 2005 05:24:47 GMT

[jacked from http://strapdivision.com]

KLEINMOND, South Africa (Reuters) - A South African inventor unveiled a new anti-rape female condom on Wednesday that hooks onto an attacker's penis and aims to cut one of the highest rates of sexual assault in the world.

"Nothing has ever been done to help a woman so that she does not get raped and I thought it was high time," Sonette Ehlers, 57, said of the "rapex," a device worn like a tampon that has sparked controversy in a country used to daily reports of violent crime.

Police statistics show more than 50,000 rapes are reported every year, while experts say the real figure could be four times that as they say most rapes of acquaintances or children are never reported.

Ehlers said the "rapex" hooks onto the rapist's skin, allowing the victim time to escape and helping to identify perpetrators.

"He will obviously be too pre-occupied at this stage," she told reporters in Kleinmond, a small holiday village about 100km (60 miles) east of Cape Town. "I promise you he is going to be too sore. He will go straight to hospital."

The device, made of latex and held firm by shafts of sharp barbs, can only be removed from the man through surgery which will alert hospital staff, and ultimately, the police, she said.

It also reduces the chances of a woman falling pregnant or contracting
AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases from the attacker by acting in the same way as a female condom.

South Africa has more people with
HIV/AIDS than any other country, with one in nine of its 45 million population infected.

Ehlers, who showed off a prototype on Wednesday, said women had tried it for comfort and it had been tested on a plastic male model but not yet on a live man. Production was planned to start next year.

But the "rapex" has raised fears amongst anti-rape activists that it could escalate violence against women.

"If a victim is wearing such a device it may enrage the attacker further and possibly result in more harm being caused," said Sam Waterhouse, advocacy coordinator for Rape Crisis.

Other critics say the condom is medieval and barbaric -- an accusation Ehlers says should be directed rather at the act of rape.

"This is not about vengeance ... but the deed, that is what I hate," she said.

BEAUTYFUCKING

Mon, 15 Aug 2005 04:21:18 GMT

I'm starting a zine and I need submissions. The zine is called BEAUTYFUCKING.
Beautyfucking = fucking with society's idea(s) of beauty and/or redefining beauty to make it your own.

What I Need For It: PICTURES (especially photos) of people who don't look like Barbie/Ken dolls but don't look average either, and Writing (rants, poems, songs, short stories, etc.).

Who I Want To Submit Stuff: Anyone who fucks with beauty or has an opinion/opinions about fucking with beauty.

NOTE: Racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist and other bullshit will not be accepted. Keep that shit to yourself.

Kontakt: Ledd - oh_gib_mir_kraftAThotmailDOTcom
AIM - Ledd Bullet

Demand Justice for Linda

Thu, 04 Aug 2005 20:16:24 GMT

Demand Justice for Linda

Linda Loaiza as she looked before she was kidnapped, raped and beaten.A Violation of Human Rights

In July of 2001, 18-year-old Linda Loaiza was rescued by the Caracas police in Luis Carrera Almoina's apartment. She had been repeatedly raped and brutally tortured for four months; she was found in a state of severe malnutrition, with her earlobes destroyed, a nipple cut out, cigarette burns all over her body, multiple cranial fractures, and bruises and cuts on her face and genital area. After undergoing nine operations, Linda is still recovering. The lifelong physical effects of her ordeal include cataracts, impaired hearing, reduced movement, facial scarring and an inability to bear children.

The accused perpetrator, Luis Carrera Almoina, had been previously arrested for torturing his then partner Linda Loaiza after being rescued from four months of torture and rape at Almoina's hands.in 1999. He is the son of a Gustavo Carrera Damas, who at the time was president of a major university in Caracas. After being detained and put under house arrest, Carrera Almoina attempted to flee with the help of his father. He was captured the next day, and his father was later charged with obstructing judicial action.

Trials before the Trial

Linda Loaiza's case was deferred by the justice system 29 times and 59 judges declined to prosecute the man accused of torturing her. In August of 2004, nearly three years had passed since Carrera Almoina was charged with attempted homicide, rape and torture, and the case was approaching an expiration date, after which the accused would walk free of charges. In response, Loaiza staged a hunger strike on the steps of the Supreme Court. After 13 days on the steps, the media attention and social pressure Linda generated caused the Supreme Tribunal for Justice (the country's highest judicial body) to call for a trial to begin.

LInda during her two-week hunger strike on the courthouse steps.Injustice Rules

In an attempt to exploit an outrageous piece of the Venezuelan Penal Code which calls for a reduced sentence for crimes against sex workers, Carrera Almoina's defense claimed that Loaiza was part of a prostitution ring. If sentenced to jail time, Carrera Almoina would have only have had to serve a fifth of the normal sentence. No evidence was presented in support of these claims, and Loaiza has consistently denied them. Nevertheless, on October 21, 2004, the judge acquitted Carrera Almoina and his father of all charges, citing a "lack of evidence”, and ordered an investigation of Loaiza, her father and sister for prostitution.

Ruling Appealed

Loaiza and her attorney immediately appealed the ruling. In a statement, Loaiza affirmed, "I'm determined not to give up and to keep fighting for justice. I think many women in Venezuela and in the whole world have been through similar experiences and keep their suffering in silence for fear of the Linda Loaiza after her many surgeries.torture they will have to once again undergo, this time in the hands of the judicial system.” The district attorney supported the appeal, and had already noted irregularities during the trial, including illegally submitted evidence by the defense.

The Venezuelan women's movement, including PLAFAM, IPPF/WHR's member association in Venezuela, mobilized to raise awareness of the case and to provide legal and emotional support to Linda Loaiza in her fight for a new trial. On April 12, 2005, the seventh court of appeals annulled the verdict and called for a new trial. PLAFAM continues to raise awareness in the media and in public forums so that the same delays and corrupt measures will not be employed again.

Securing Human Rights

After months of anxious waiting, Linda is still waiting for the court to set a trial date. We can't allow the Venezuelan justice system to drag its feet any longer. Now is the time to take action supporting Linda Loaiza after four years of painful struggle and injustice. IPPF/WHR, in collaboration with the Venezuelan Women's movement, is appealing to the international community in a call for a timely and fair trial, free from corruption or irregularities of any kind.

Support Linda Loaiza's Struggle for Justice

Linda Loaiza's extraordinary story is an extreme example of not only the physical and sexual violence experienced daily by women all over the world, but also the stigmatization, and the financial and psychological burdens they suffer when Linda continuing her struggle for justice.seeking justice from state institutions. As a signatory of international human rights agreements, including the Convention of Belem do Para, and the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man regulated by the Organization of American States, the Venezuelan government guarantees every woman "the right to simple and prompt recourse to a competent court for protection against acts that violate her rights” and agrees to "undertake to establish the necessary legal and administrative mechanisms to ensure that women subjected to violence have effective access to restitutions, reparations or other just and effective remedies.”

IPPF/WHR, in partnership with the Venezuelan Women's Movement, calls for international support of Linda Loaiza, including ensuring her right to a timely and fair trial. Please join us by clicking here now (http://www.freechoicesaveslives.org/campaign/Linda/%takeaction-Linda%) to send a letter to key officials in Venezuela's judicial system.

Salon.com News | My gay therapy session

Thu, 21 Jul 2005 21:43:57 GMT

My gay therapy session
To find out how "reparative therapy" works, I pretended to be gay. My licensed Christian therapist explained to me why homosexuality is a mental disorder, what the "Wizard of Oz principle" is, and why kids who can't "hit the ball or fire the gun" are more likely to be gay.

Editor's note: This is the second part of a four-part investigation into the Christian netherworld of "reparative therapy," a disputed practice to convert gays and lesbians into heterosexuals. Read the first part here.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Mark Benjamin

July 19, 2005 | Barry Levy, a Christian counselor and licensed clinical social worker, is explaining to me what causes homosexuality. "Take the young boy who is more sensitive, more delicate, who doesn't like rough-and-tumble, who is artistic," he says. "He can't hit the ball, fire the gun or shoot an arrow. There is a high correlation between poor eye-hand coordination and same-sex attraction."

I am sitting in an overstuffed chair in Levy's office in suburban Rockville, Md. The metal blinds are mostly shut. Tissues are at hand on a small coffee table. Levy is a middle-aged white man with a gentle voice. He wears a button-down Oxford shirt and pleated khakis hiked a bit too high. He stares at me serenely across the beige carpet, his legs crossed, giving me a warm smile.

I was referred to Levy by the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, which claims on its Web site that homosexuality can be treated and prevented. "While the Bible clearly states that homosexuality runs contrary to God's plan for relationships, those who struggle with homosexual feelings are still God's children, in need of His forgiveness and healing," the group states. Conservative Christians say curing gays comes from loving them. "Compassion -- not bigotry -- compels us to support the healing of homosexuals," says the Family Research Council.

Levy practices what is called "reparative" or "conversion" therapy, which allegedly helps homosexuals become heterosexuals. The theory that homosexuality is a mental disorder that needs to be cured is the moral underpinning of the Christian right's crusade against gay marriage, sodomy laws, gay adoption and sex ed curriculums in schools. While all major modern mental health professions say conversion therapy is baseless and potentially dangerous, I wanted to experience for myself what is going on behind counselors' closed doors.

When I arrived in Levy's office, I was asked to fill out roughly 15 pages of questions about myself and my family. Mostly the questions centered on how I got along with my folks. In a section about my problems, I wrote "possible homosexuality." The fact is, I'm straight, I'm married to a woman, and I have a 3-year-old daughter and a son due in October. I wrote on the form that that I was married with a kid. But I lied and said I was also living a secret life, that I harbored homosexual urges.

According to the Bible, Levy says, homosexuality "is not consistent with the manufacturer's desire. It is not what the body is for. It is not what procreation is for. It is not what life energy is for. I am going to draw you out of that because the people around you are into that." To receive God in his holiness, Levy tells me, to experience the ultimate happiness for which God created men and women, a person needs to overcome any homosexual feelings.

Homosexuality, Levy asserts, is a mental disorder, a certifiable neurosis. "The psychoanalytic perspective has always considered homosexuality and same-sex attraction to be a neurosis. They still do and they still treat it." (In fact, mental health associations do not consider homosexuality a neurosis and do not "treat" patients for it. Dr. Douglas Haldeman, president of the Association of Practicing Psychologists, a group affiliated with the American Psychological Association, says it is wrong to identify homosexuality as a neurosis. "There is no scientific evidence of that, and there is no mainstream mental health organization or profession that supports this ancient, discredited theory," he says.)

Levy informs me that homosexuality is difficult to treat because it is about more than sexuality -- it is about a way of life. "I want to make a distinction between same-sex attraction and being gay," he says. "That is a whole ideology. It is a lifestyle. It becomes the locus, or organizing principle, of the identity of the human personality." Reparative therapy focuses on getting gays and lesbians to stop talking or walking "gay." One "ex-gay" program in Memphis, Tenn., Refuge, bars men from wearing jewelry, donning Calvin Klein clothes and listening to secular music.

The causes of homosexuality, Levy explains, are many, but childhood loneliness figures prominently. "When a child is neglected -- if not abused, then neglected or isolated -- loneliness is often experienced as genital tension," Levy says. "When kids are understimulated, they play with themselves, and the source of greatest stimulation is obviously your genitals or your mouth." I tell Levy I did not think I was a lonely kid. "There are more reasons," he responds. "I got more."

He suggests that I may lack confidence and am turning my admiration for bold and masculine men into sexual desire for them. "I call it the Wizard of Oz principle," he says. "The lion wants courage so he can be the most courageous one on the journey. Some people call it the 'cannibal compulsion.' Cannibals will eat people, but only the enemies they admire. If their enemies are courageous, cannibals will eat their heart. If they are strong, they'll eat their muscles. There is a compulsion to take into yourself the qualities you feel you're lacking and someone else has. Eroticization is one of the ways to do that."

He turns to a central theory of reparative therapy, which is that a son's unrequited love for an emotionally unavailable father gets transferred into sexual desire for men. Homosexual feelings can arise, Levy says, "when a boy is not affirmed in his gender by the father, who might be mean, who might be cruel, who might be absent. Often, there is a highly conflicted relationship where the mother disparages the father. She misidentifies with the marriage and might even start to identify with the son." Under those circumstances, Dr. Joe Nicolosi, president of the National Association for Research and Treatment of Homosexuality, later tells me, "temperamentally sensitive" boys become vulnerable to homosexuality.

Levy says reparative therapy is effective, but that a cure for homosexuality takes at least two years of weekly counseling. (My one hour cost Salon $140.) He says that if I stay in therapy, I will either turn straight or get "significant relief."

The success or failure rate for changing gays is difficult to quantify. One study, often cited by conservative groups like Focus on the Family, shows incremental success from reparative therapy. But critics point out that the study was based solely on interviews with subjects arranged by ex-gay ministries; in fact, many of them worked at the ministries.

Levy tells me that reparative therapy can be a lonely business. "There are not a lot of us who do this work," he says. "It is politically incorrect. And it is difficult." He also admits that "not everybody who starts down this road gets cured. This is not a sure-fire cure. I wish I could tell you that it is, but it is not." But he remains committed.

Homosexuality "is not just another flower in God's garden," Levy says. "This is something that happens to people that can be fixed. And if someone comes seeking relief from this suffering, we would be wrong not to offer them relief."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What a bunch of psychobabble!!!

Salon.com News | Turning off gays

Thu, 21 Jul 2005 21:37:44 GMT

Turning off gays
A loose network of Christian ministries and social workers, with the blessing of the political right, are putting gays and lesbians on the couch, determined to "cure" them.

Editor's note: This is Part 1 of a four-part investigation into the Christian netherworld of "reparative therapy," a disputed practice to convert gays and lesbians into heterosexuals.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Mark Benjamin

July 18, 2005 | Last month, the Montgomery County Board of Education in suburban Maryland settled a lawsuit over sex education in the county's public schools, brought in part by PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays). The group is a branch of a national network of "ministries" that claim homosexuality is a chosen and dangerous lifestyle, and that through "reparative therapy" a gay person can be turned straight -- into an "ex-gay."

PFOX won a restraining order in May and successfully halted the county's new sex ed curriculum, intended, among other things, to promote tolerance toward gays by treating homosexuality as natural and benign. A judge concluded the school curriculum did exclude other views on homosexuality -- namely, those of PFOX. Under the settlement last month, the county agreed to pay $36,000 of PFOX's legal expenses. The group also gets a seat at the table in drafting a new sex ed curriculum for county schools.

With homosexuality and gay marriage at the vortex of the culture wars, religious conservatives say the victory in Montgomery County will be the shot heard around the world. "This has national significance because Montgomery County is a wealthy, influential school district and the lid has been ripped off an agenda that has crept into schools nationwide," declared Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute at Concerned Women for America.

"We are going to march across the country and we are going to help parents organize in every county," says Richard Cohen, president of PFOX. "We want parents to check out the curriculum in every place where sex ed is being taught, and if they are advocating homosexuality without any other diverse views being offered to the children, we will help them with a legal defense."

Cohen says he will press Montgomery County to teach that homosexuality is an unhealthy lifestyle that can be fixed. "With respect to the risks of homosexual behavior, that would be fair," he says. A PFOX pamphlet states that homosexuality is a "developmental process not genetically determined" and can be treated with therapy. It notes that gay sex results in surging AIDS rates, drug abuse, "gay bowel syndrome," psychological problems and violence.

The pamphlet insinuates that men having sex with men is what causes AIDS. It fails to mention that HIV can be transmitted through either heterosexual or homosexual contact. It does not acknowledge that of the 50 million people currently living with HIV -- 3 million of whom die annually -- nearly half are women. Nor does it point out that officials worldwide are most alarmed by the rise in AIDS among girls and that AIDS rates among homosexual men in the United States have fallen 27 percent since 1990.

Despite the Maryland settlement, PFOX's claims about homosexuality are, according to virtually all mental health professions, wrong, bizarre and potentially dangerous. "I can give you a short answer of where reparative therapy fits in with the modern mental health profession: It does not," says Dr. Douglas Haldeman, president of the Association of Practicing Psychologists, a group affiliated with the American Psychological Association. "These theories have been discredited for years."

Despite their dubious scientific and therapeutic standing, reparative therapy ministries, some of which accept kids and operate like a cross between churches and boot camps, largely function without oversight and licenses.

Not that science or psychiatry has ever been a roadblock to the religious right. In the nation's divisive culture wars, gay issues have proved to be winners for Christian conservatives, who helped power right-wing Republicans into control of two branches of the federal government (the third may soon be in hand). In the last election, gay-marriage bans passed in all 11 states where they were on the ballot.

Religious conservatives are on a mission to ban more than gay marriage. They want to outlaw civil unions giving same-sex partners some of the legal privileges of married heterosexuals, reinstate state sodomy bans, and defeat hate-crimes legislation that would increase penalties for violence against gays. They are also taking their battle to the states. This spring, the Texas House considered a measure that would have banned gays from becoming foster parents. Opponents argued the measure would uproot 3,000 foster kids. It didn't pass.

The Christian right's political agenda rests on its contention that sex is natural only among heterosexual couples. A sexual preference for partners of your own gender is therefore a psychological disorder and a sin. In the words of the Rev. John J. Smid, who left "homosexuality and its entanglements in February of 1984," and is now the executive director of Love in Action International, a reparative therapy group in Memphis, Tenn., people who identify themselves as gay or lesbian are in the hands of the devil: "Satan, working behind the scenes, has succeeded in redefining the meaning of key words, and therefore we only reinforce and strengthen a false identity by calling individuals by a name that does not apply."

In the trenches to change gays is a loose network of organizations and individuals. Licensed counselors may charge $200 an hour for treatment in an office, complete with a sofa; Bible study support groups may meet for free in a church basement; and Christian ministries will provide inpatient care that can last years and cost thousands of dollars. Exodus International is the umbrella group for reparative therapy ministries, a clearinghouse for information and a referral service for counseling. The group claims over 120 ministries in the United States and Canada with links to 30 more in 17 countries.

Reparative, or "conversion," therapy, as described by its practitioners, resembles something like Freudian psychoanalysis mixed with a dose of Christian theology. The basic theory is that a young boy's futile search for love and affection from an emotionally unavailable father gets contorted into sexual desire for men. "What we are seeing, almost without exception, is the classic triadic family pattern," says Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, president of NARTH (National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality). "That is, a distant, detached, critical father, an overinvolved, intrusive, domineering mother, and a temperamentally sensitive, introverted artistic son." As for women, "We see an early breach between the mother and the daughter at an early age."

This summer, the ministries' controversial methods flared up in public. Gay rights protesters hounded Love in Action after the parents of a 16-year-old boy, "Zach," sent their son to Refuge, an intensive Love in Action therapy program -- apparently against his will -- after he told them he was gay. Just before going into the eight-week program, Zach wrote in his blog, "I can't help it, no, I'm not going to commit suicide, all I can think about is killing my mother and myself. It's so horrible," he wrote.

According to Love in Action's rules, posted on Zach's blog, clients must report sexual fantasies to the staff. The program specifies the exact length of haircuts and how many times men must shave each week (seven). Love in Action bars jewelry and clothing by Abercrombie and Fitch. The rules prohibit "campy gay/lesbian behavior and talk." New clients are not allowed to talk to or make eye contact with anyone for the first three days. Clients have to wear pajamas to bed and if they get too cozy they "must always have exactly one person between them." Clients cannot keep a diary, and all their belongings are searched every morning by the "Chain of Command." All secular media, including music and movies, are forbidden. Also, during counseling -- no "disgusting" faces.

The Refuge program is "like a boot camp, but worse," Zach wrote. "What is it with these people? How could you support a program like this?"

The Tennessee Department of Children's Services investigated the Love in Action facility for possible child abuse but discontinued it because of lack of evidence. The brouhaha exposed an oddity of the ex-gay ministries, which is that they are largely unregulated. Ministries claim they are not hospitals or any other facility that would typically require regulatory oversight or licensing. Love in Action spokesman Tommy Corman says the facility does not need to be licensed by the state at all because it is not doing anything "therapeutic." A bold declaration, considering the group promotes "the prevention or treatment of unhealthy and destructive behaviors facing families, adults, and adolescents," according to its Web site.

Nevertheless, the ministries fall into a regulatory blind spot. "There has been some question of who licenses that facility," said K. Danielle Edwards, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Children's Services. "This would not be under our jurisdiction. I have not been able to ascertain who licenses that facility." On July 11, the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities sent a letter to Love in Action, warning the facility that it may be operating without a required license. Results of the investigation are pending.

James Dobson's powerful lobby, Focus on the Family, claims that "thousands" of gays and lesbians have been changed. But statistics are hard to come by, and change is hard to measure. Many of those who have been enrolled in the ministries say conversion programs are emotionally destructive and destined to fail.

Writer, actor and comedian Peterson Toscano did a two-year stint at Love in Action in an effort to cure his homosexuality. "I felt like I was in a biblically induced coma," he says. Toscano, Christian, struggled with his homosexuality as a young man and even considered throwing himself in front of a train. It was only after leaving Love in Action that he gained peace of mind and accepted his sexuality. He says that even if the reparative programs do convince gays and lesbians that they are cured, "It is a ruse because they have to give up their sexuality.”

Wayne R. Besen, author of "Anything but Straight,” which tracks scandals inside conversion groups, says much of the close coordination between ex-gay groups and the religious right started in 1998, when a conglomeration of 15 religious right organizations sought new traction in the culture war, launching $600,000 in ads in major U.S. newspapers, touting the achievements of the ex-gay ministries, complete with a photo of a crowd of beaming ex-gays. Besen quotes Robert Knight, then with the Family Research Council, who called the ad campaign the "Normandy landing in the larger cultural wars."

During a flurry of media coverage that followed the ad blitz, Newsweek put the ex-gay issue on its cover, along with a picture of Exodus International chair John Paulk and his wife, Anne, who had both allegedly left homosexuality behind. In his book, Besen photographed John Paulk cruising in a Washington, D.C., gay bar while he was still chair at Exodus and worked for Focus on the Family. Besen tracks down a dizzying array of former ex-gay leaders who later came out of the closet for good, including the two founders of Exodus.

Besen also pegs current PFOX president Richard Cohen, who is leading the charge against liberal sex ed in Montgomery County. He writes that Cohen is a former Moonie and an acolyte of the Wesleyan Christian Community Church on Vashon Island near Seattle. According to Besen, citing a 1977 Associated Press report, the group was exiled from an Illinois church for allegedly practicing therapy sessions where men, women and children breast-fed on women stripped to the waist. Cohen responds that he did get therapy from the Wesleyan church but witnessed no such activity. "I have no idea of such nonsense," he says. “I have not a clue what [Besen] is talking about. I got counseling from a religious organization that he tried to call a cult. Wayne is a little boy whose main cult is character assassination."

Besen says the religious right is pushing the ex-gay philosophy particularly hard right now to buttress its aggressive agenda on gay marriage. "They are really getting behind this,” he says. Exodus spokesman Randy Thomas responds that his group aims to help people and not to serve as a political foil to advance the policy positions of the religious right. "I know a lot of people think that we are pawns of the religious right, but we are not," Thomas says. (The Exodus Web site does include some reports on policy issues, like opposing hate-crimes legislation. "The hate experienced, in the majority of hate crimes, is not necessarily coming from those who disparage others as much as it is from the victim toward himself," one report reads.)

Gay rights groups are not buying it. Ex-gay ministries, and the religious right, are "distorting the truth and the scientific and medical evidence to move their political agenda forward," says Steven Fisher, vice president of communications for the Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest gay rights organization.

It is not just gay rights activists who say that efforts to change gays and lesbians are voodoo therapy. The nation's two mainstream psychiatric and psychological associations, the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association, deny reparative therapy's very premise. Along with the National Association of Social Workers, these groups say homosexuality simply is not a mental disorder. Being gay by itself is not a problem, they point out; rather, the negative mental health consequences of discrimination have been well established and cited as a factor in higher suicide rates among gays. Therapy to change homosexuality may simply telegraph to patients they are sick when they are not, that they can fundamentally change their sexual orientation when they cannot. If so, failed efforts to change could prove disastrous, particularly for deeply religious gays.

"The mental health professions in this country do not value or credit conversion therapy at all. And we are increasingly aware of the potential harms of this misguided treatment," says Haldeman, of the Association of Practicing Psychologists. "There are a substantial number of people who go through this who are harmed for some period. This is just a dressing up of old, old theories that have never been proven."

The American Psychiatric Association has asked ethical psychiatrists to refrain from reparative therapy. "We are finding that the numbers of people claiming to be harmed by reparative therapy are increasing," says Dr. Jack Drescher, chair of the American Psychiatric Association's Committee on Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues. "I don't know about the suicides because it is hard to determine why somebody killed themselves afterward. But the harm is increasing." The legislative body of Drescher's APA approved a statement this past spring that endorsed gay marriage to help reverse gay stigma. They also cite evidence that stable, monogamous relationships are beneficial for mental health, whether gay or straight.

It was the rejection of homosexuality as a mental disorder that launched the "ex-gay" movement in the first place. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. But a relatively small group of mental health professionals rejected that move, arguing that the APA caved in to aggressive political pressure from the gay rights movement, as opposed to science.

"That opinion is a political and not a scientific position," says Nicolosi from NARTH. "These major mental health associations have been hijacked by small political interest groups." That's nonsense, says Drescher. However, Drescher says the mental health profession does agree with the reparative therapy crowd about one thing: No one knows for sure what guides sexual orientation, gay or straight, but mounting evidence suggests a biological component. "We do know there is a very good likelihood that [homosexuality] is biologically related. We do have some studies that indicate a biological component," he says. That homosexuality may be innate, Drescher says, bolsters the argument for gay rights. "And that's what the religious right is fighting against," he says.

But Drescher says that whether you take the nature or nurture side of the argument doesn't matter when it comes to protecting the health and civil rights of gays and lesbians. "Even if homosexuality is not innate, you could still argue for civil rights."

The Art of War - Children's drawings illustrate Darfur atrocities

Wed, 20 Jul 2005 21:43:52 GMT

The Art of War - Children's drawings illustrate Darfur atrocities

a little ode to testosterone

Sat, 16 Jul 2005 07:06:59 GMT

Testosterone has made me feel so much more okay with myself and my body. i've been ok with my cunt since November of 2004 and i'm as okay with my tits as i was before T. i love my dick, my body hair and my facial hair. i like my voice. i'm okay with being out of control in a sexual situation, which i think is partly due to T making me more OK with my body and partly due to my believing my boyfriend won't go past my comfort limit if i tell him not to. i like being submissive sexually. i like getting fucked, i like feeling like a sex object, i like recieving a certain amount of pain with pleasure. i also like being dominant sexually and otherwise, i like fucking, i like feeling like i'm a damn good fuck, i like giving a little pain with plenty of pleasure. i love feeling okay with all of that. I love feeling like I'm closer to being complete. One injection into my thigh muscle once every two weeks seems too easy for the benefits I get.

Bindlestiff Family Cirkus

Sat, 16 Jul 2005 06:43:44 GMT

I really want to see the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus. It looks, sounds and seems amazing. I saw them on Real Sex just a little while ago and I want to see them live! I've been talking about having my own traveling circus one day, but a traveling sex circus is an even awesomer idea! I also think it's rad that they play with gender as well in their various sexual/circus performances. What an awesome idea.

denim canvas

Sat, 16 Jul 2005 00:09:12 GMT

Casaan and I drew pictures after taking a break from crashing toy trucks and then we decided to paint with watercolors. We painted a rather impressive painting and made a mess and one or both of us got paint on my shorts and near my left knee (which was nearest to him), so I ended up having him paint my shorts :D They look awesome. Before they were just plain denim but now they're nice and colorful! He not only painted the front of them, he also painted the loop on the left leg, inside the left front pocket and on the butt of the shorts. hehe. My little artiste' nephew. Dad took a picture of us and then I took a better picture of the shorts so you's guys can see how pretty they are. He also painted my feet and shirt a little even though I told him not too. Mom was annoyed cuz we made a mess but it was fun painting with him on paper and my shorts. :D I just wish Casaan wouldn't mix paints so much but I probably did too as a little kid. Anyway, the pictures of my newly nifty shorts are on my dad's camera and I dunno when they'll be uploaded but when they are, I'll post them here cuz they're rad.

Gender: A Social Construct Or A Biological Reality?

Thu, 14 Jul 2005 03:00:24 GMT

Do you believe gender is simply a social construct or a biological reality? If the former or latter, why do you believe that? Can you give facts to back up your answers?

I'm discussing this with Vicky which is why I'm asking this.

I think gender is a biological reality but that humans are naturally influenced by each other (society).

Vicky seems to think gender (or maybe gender expression, she kept using both) is a social construct.

[talking about my awesome friend Sara]
AngryTeenageRiot: hmm.so she;s an XY-chromosme girl?
ledd bullet: i guess, i dunno what her chromosomes are. but yeah she's MTF
ledd bullet: i dunno what mine are either actually
AngryTeenageRiot: thats what i meanti thought chormosmes were sex-assigned.
ledd bullet: nope

AngryTeenageRiot: explain to me this chormosme thing i
ledd bullet: i dunno what to say about it
ledd bullet: but i'll make something up if you submit something to my zine ;-)
ledd bullet: i'd submit something to yours
AngryTeenageRiot: well how you can bbe assigned male ro female at birth and yet not have the chromsoms for male be xy and for wimmin be xx
ledd bullet: you can be intersexed
ledd bullet: or have those syndromes
ledd bullet: whatever they're called
AngryTeenageRiot: thats true but if someone is mtf
AngryTeenageRiot: then they have xy chromosmes
ledd bullet: i dunno, she probably is xy but i dunno for sure
ledd bullet: not necessarily
ledd bullet: at least, i don't think
ledd bullet: i dunno
AngryTeenageRiot: no it's waht determiens gentialia unelss intersex condition
ledd bullet: *shrug*
ledd bullet: maybe she is xy then
ledd bullet: i dunno
ledd bullet: some people are xxy or xyy
ledd bullet: or whatever else
AngryTeenageRiot: thats an intersex conditon though then teir gentialia wouldnt be "fully developed" or whatever the scientifc term amy be
ledd bullet: not necessarily
ledd bullet: it's a specific syndrome, one of those
ledd bullet: not necessarily intersexed
ledd bullet: everything about them is different
ledd bullet: even their personality
AngryTeenageRiot: yes if you have xxy or xyy then it can mean inferitity or some other sypmtom
AngryTeenageRiot: bullshit about personilty
ledd bullet: it's not bullshit
AngryTeenageRiot: personiality has nothign to do with sex.
ledd bullet: there have been studies
ledd bullet: maybe chromosomes don't only determine sex
ledd bullet: it is a specific syndrome
ledd bullet: some men have it
AngryTeenageRiot: that's such bull. what about butch dykes/ are they intersexed because they act masculine? its crap.
ledd bullet: and it makes them more prone to being violent
AngryTeenageRiot: that's gender typicasl behavior, having nothign to do with sex and everythign with scialization
ledd bullet: not true
AngryTeenageRiot: fine mens personality are indefintly different form womens because humyns are born that way. not because of socializationa nd thus gender and sex are the same thing *eye roll*
ledd bullet: gender and sex are not the same thing
ledd bullet: if you think gender is only or mostly based on society, you're wrong
AngryTeenageRiot: gender by definiton is a social construct.
AngryTeenageRiot: thus having virtually ntohing to do with sex
ledd bullet: you're wrong
AngryTeenageRiot: my gender expression can be masculine and id still identify as and be female. and vice versa
ledd bullet: i'm not talking about gender expression
ledd bullet: i'm talking about gender
ledd bullet: gender is not a social construct
AngryTeenageRiot: yes its a socail cosntruct thus the term?'gender binary"
ledd bullet: bullshit
ledd bullet: there's much more to gender than that
AngryTeenageRiot: whats yr definition of gender?
ledd bullet: i'm not sure. i usually say "how a person identifies".
ledd bullet: boy girl man woman something else
AngryTeenageRiot: yes and that is a social construct
ledd bullet: no
ledd bullet: you're wrong
AngryTeenageRiot: you cant jsut sya im worng without backing it up
ledd bullet: me identifying as male has nothing to do with society
AngryTeenageRiot: thats sex.
ledd bullet: no
ledd bullet: my sex is not male
ledd bullet: my sex is female
ledd bullet: my gender is male
ledd bullet: gender is at least half biological
ledd bullet: you should read a book called Phallus Palace
ledd bullet: there's a bit in there that talks about gender and how it can't just be a social construct
AngryTeenageRiot: correct me if i'm wrong, but is it not true that you feel thatyour biological sex *should* have been male?
ledd bullet: yes
AngryTeenageRiot: exactly. does that have anythign at all to do with gener expression?
ledd bullet: no
ledd bullet: it has to do with how i feel
AngryTeenageRiot: like feminint or masculintiy
ledd bullet: no
ledd bullet: that's not what i'm talking about though
AngryTeenageRiot: okay. thus proving my point
ledd bullet: no
ledd bullet: you're still wrong
ledd bullet: hold on
ledd bullet: i'm going to get something to show you what i mean
ledd bullet: brb ok?
AngryTeenageRiot: hold on you gotts heard what i was gonna day
ledd bullet: i will
ledd bullet: i just need to get something
AngryTeenageRiot: being tht you feel that yr bio sex should have bee male, yr transexual. that doesn't have to do with yr personailt of being masculine or feminine. it's about how you feel internally.

Auto response from ledd bullet: be right back

LEAVE A MESSAGE

ledd bullet: i know this
ledd bullet: once again, i'm not talking about gender expression
AngryTeenageRiot: well when you say chromosmes determine persoanlity
AngryTeenageRiot: thatswat it comes out as
ledd bullet: no, i was only saying that i'd heard that regarding Karyotypes
AngryTeenageRiot: karyotypes?
ledd bullet: http://www.pathguy.com/xyy.htm but i think it may have been a different syndrome, or what i have heard i just have yet to find info on
ledd bullet: "I believe those who argue that gender is merely a social construct... are ignoring biological reality."
ledd bullet: there's more, but i don't feel like typing it all out
ledd bullet: he's talking about testosterone and how it's changed peoples' perceptions of him, and has changed him physically and how people and animals respond differently toward him
AngryTeenageRiot: "Despite decades of male-bashing from the Left, I think most people still like a man (or woman) who is responsibly aggressive. "
AngryTeenageRiot: wow yr gonna belivr that source/
ledd bullet: what's your problem with that statement?
ledd bullet: he said "responsibly" :-P
ledd bullet: i don't get what that has to do with anything though
AngryTeenageRiot: "male bashing frm the left"
ledd bullet: oh
ledd bullet: hm
ledd bullet: yeah, that's dumb
AngryTeenageRiot: it's coming form a person who obviously seems to have some kind of issue with sexism and gender/sex plays into that. thus i dotn see how he is credible. other than that he mgiht be one of those jerks being like "oooh it's notu our fault men are so aggressive."
ledd bullet: XYY syndrome is a rare chromosomal disorder that affects males.
It is caused by the presence of an extra Y chromosome. Males normally have one X and one Y chromosome. However, individuals with this syndrome have one X and two Y chromosome.

Affected individuals are usually very tall and thin. Many experience severe acne during adolescence.

Other symptoms may include lower than average intelligence and antisocial or behavioral problems.

ledd bullet: that's from http://www.icomm.ca/geneinfo/xyy.htm
AngryTeenageRiot: If you are considering ending the life of your unborn child "just because he is an XYY", don't do it.
AngryTeenageRiot: yeah i wouldnt trust a conservative source
AngryTeenageRiot: theres mroe factors to it though
AngryTeenageRiot: last i chakced kids with excessive acne always ge tpicked on becaus eof that. it's a bullshit study. also the whole men in prison ting is bullshit because prisons have proven time and time again to befundemntally flawed
ledd bullet: maybe some are
AngryTeenageRiot: maybe some are what?
ledd bullet: i don't think the acne has much to do with the "antisocial behavior"\
ledd bullet: maybe some prisons are fucked up
AngryTeenageRiot: and i think that there are more factors for 1 in 1000 kids to have anti social behavior.
AngryTeenageRiot: and prisons are fundemntally fucked up and that itself can cause extra agressiveness
ledd bullet: there may be
ledd bullet: i think male aggression is also bioligical though
ledd bullet: testosterone makes one more aggressive
AngryTeenageRiot: yes.. so besides the obvious physical evidence which i wll take, i dont see the personality bullshit
ledd bullet: well
AngryTeenageRiot: i don't think males are more agressive then femals.
ledd bullet: they have an extra male chromosome
ledd bullet: well, you're wrong
ledd bullet: anyone who knows anything about the effects of testosterone will tell you differently
AngryTeenageRiot: i didn'tsay testoreone didnt make you agresisve
AngryTeenageRiot: but it'd sldo ood to note that that women have testoserone to and that many female animals ar emor agressive them males
ledd bullet: females have less testosterone
AngryTeenageRiot: yes and even so
ledd bullet: seems like mostly they're aggressive when their hormones are out of wack
AngryTeenageRiot: no female t rex is naturally mroe agressive then the males
AngryTeenageRiot: and female black widows kill their male mates and any female animl will get epically violent if you fuck with their children
ledd bullet: female animals aren't necessarily more aggressive
AngryTeenageRiot: i didnt say that
AngryTeenageRiot: but males arent neccarsily mroe agressive then females
ledd bullet: seems to me they are
ledd bullet: generally
ledd bullet: male animals are more likely to fight over territory and other shit that female animals aren't as likely to fight over
ledd bullet: females mainly protect their offspring
AngryTeenageRiot: females fight over territory and food all the time
AngryTeenageRiot: male sare storgner ill give you that much but thats cause of testoserone
ledd bullet: food yeah, i dunno about territory, but maybe
ledd bullet: i think males are more likely to fight over territory
ledd bullet: yeah i know that
AngryTeenageRiot: but i dont see that as havin to fo with agression
ledd bullet: you don't see how fighting has to do with aggression?
AngryTeenageRiot: and yes testoserone does increase agression as many people who have gone under treatment with t will prove but i dont see iyt as an inherently male trait as femles can be jsut as agressive ansd that can be caused by hormons (estorgen0
AngryTeenageRiot: as well
AngryTeenageRiot: and i have to go
AngryTeenageRiot: ill ttyl
ledd bullet: ok
ledd bullet: yeah, females can be aggressive as well, and who knows which hormone that's caused by
ledd bullet: but it seems to me that men are more likely to be aggressive
ledd bullet: like generally

Wed, 13 Jul 2005 20:04:14 GMT

well, i got a ticket to see NIN. I'll be in the pit in front of the stage. Fucking AWESOME.

i've also got clean teeth, slightly sore gums and a copy of the May 2005 issue of Bicycling. I think I shall get a subscription.

oh and my wisdom teeth are still under the gums and probably still in the bone so i should just leave them alone. if they ever come in, i may or may not have to have them removed.
i did have dark stuff in the grooves of my top molars (the ones all the way back), so i need to make sure to brush really well there so they don't get decay.

oh and I'm getting more hair where a labret piercing would be and that makes me happy. but i need to shave cuz my underchin hair makes me look grungy.

Wed, 13 Jul 2005 16:56:35 GMT

i skipped class today and now i'm regretting it because i'd forgotten that NIN tickets go on sale for Spiral members today, including tickets for the show I'm planning on going to. My parents are pissed-off that I didn't go to class, which means they might not let me use one of their credit cards to buy a ticket. FUCK. I hope they do. I NEED to go to this show. I NEED TO SEE NINE INCH NAILS AGAIN.

gah

Wed, 13 Jul 2005 02:19:31 GMT

i don't even really wanna go to college anymore (except to take German). this class i'm taking fucking sucks.. we're learning how to read textbooks, take notes, etc. "Learning how to learn", Klod says, and she's absolutely right. I fucking hate it. On top of the boring subject matter(s), my teacher's a bit arrogant. She believes she can come in 15 minutes late because she has teacher privilege and that she doesn't have to tell us what the fuck is going on. I'm not the least bit pleased, as you can tell. As of right now, I'm just assuming I have no work to do - I can't know for sure because I don't think the teacher told us. What the fuck? I want to drop this stupid fucking class so badly but it only goes til August 16th i think and I need it to take a hopefully unretarded English class. I've barely started college and I'm already hating it. This is fucking fantastic.

I can't wait to hang out with Klod and get tattoos. I need something else to do besides being bored and tired in class, sleeping and watching Fight Club with various peoples' comments voiced over.

Mon, 11 Jul 2005 16:28:02 GMT

looks like i'm getting tattoos tomorrow instead of today. ah vell.

oh god! class! eww!

Mon, 11 Jul 2005 05:46:24 GMT

i have to get up in less than 6 hours. RD099 starts at 9. i have no clue where the class is. i'm going to be tired and will probably sleep in class. and blah. blahhhhhh. don'twannagoatall.ohmygodthisisgoingtosuck.

yeah. anyway. i'm hungry. my dinner was basically ice cream.

ok. bye.

raise the roof und a little hell

Mon, 11 Jul 2005 03:01:12 GMT

EVERYONE GO LISTEN TO THIS NOW!!!! It's fuckin hilarious. Blame Klod. http://www.shehori.com/heino/music/DasBooty.mp3
http://www.shehori.com/heino/music/DasBooty.mp3
http://www.shehori.com/heino/music/DasBooty.mp3

HAHAHAHAHA

goal!

Sat, 09 Jul 2005 23:28:16 GMT

watching Brazil kick Argentina's ass made me miss playing soccer. MC (at least the TP campus) has no soccer team though.

I have to take gym at some point and that freaks me out cuz of the whole changing-and-showering-with-others thing. Ugh. Hopefully I'll have had top surgery by then, but I know I won't have had bottom surgery, and I'm not changing in a women's locker. Gah. Even in 8th grade I didn't like changing in the girl's locker room. I'm sure I'll have to come out to the gym teachers and whatnot. Ah well, I'll cross the bridge when I come to it.

Zine Submissions

Sat, 09 Jul 2005 05:32:39 GMT

Hey. It is my duty to ~~bug~~ remind you to submit stuff to the queerpunk zine!!! Doesn't matter what you submit really as long as it's not nazi-type shit. Send it to me, Jordan (Ledd), or Aidyn (Aidyn, heh, or Mary) via email.

It'll be a paper zine by queer punks, skins, etc., for whoever/whatever.. have fun with it. Write about bands you like, shows you've been to, things/people that piss you off...whatever... send artwork, photos, letters, rants, poems, songs, etc....whatever floats your boat.

Send it to:

Jordan/Ledd: oh_gib_mir_kraft AT hotmail DOT com

or to

Aidyn: marylikewoah AT verizon DOT net

Questions, suggestions, etc. can be sent to us via email or on AIM:
Jordan/Ledd AIM = Ledd Bullet

Aidyn AIM = NightengaleShane

P.S. JOIN QUEER_PUNKS

too hot to wear a shirt but i have boobs so a shirt i must wear :(

Fri, 08 Jul 2005 05:54:28 GMT

it's too farging hot to wear a shirt but my brother's coming home and i don't want him or his friends or anyone else seeing my boobage. oh Top Surgery Fairy, where are you? (Oh, right, your name might be Dad and you're probably sleeping. Nevermind.)

♥ Men ♥

Fri, 08 Jul 2005 03:46:11 GMT

Men in general are so fucking sexy. I love male chests and stomachs, male shoulders, male backs, male faces, male asses, male crotches, male body hair, male voices, etc. I'm so glad I'm gay.

And I can't wait until I get top surgery so I can have the right kind of chest and be happier and sexier.

Ratties!

Fri, 08 Jul 2005 01:22:12 GMT

Look at these cuties!!

Ass Tacos

Fri, 08 Jul 2005 01:15:20 GMT

One day, I'm going to start a band called Ass Tacos, because my fart smells like tacos... ass tacos.

Ahahaha

No Appointments Needed

Thu, 07 Jul 2005 23:52:39 GMT

Hurray! I called Jinx Proof and asked the dude who answered if I need to set up an appointment if i already have the designs and he said as long as the designs don't need to be changed, I don't need to make an appointment. Yay :D So this means I can just go to Jinx Proof whenever and get the tats done.

regarding the attacks on London

Thu, 07 Jul 2005 16:06:15 GMT

My heart goes out to folks in London. Hopefully things won't get as bad there as they are here.

I have a feeling that any place that is allies with the U.S. is gonna be attacked at some point until these motherfuckers in al quaida are all killed.