One of my friends has this interesting point of few on homosexuals.
Now, let me say that I don't agree or disagree, I'm just stating what she said.
No need to get nasty =]

Anyways, that whole thing about me being a lesbian brought it up.
She said that she thinks that people who are gay or bisexual are confused.
That something happened in their lives or past lives that they now turn to the same sex.
She continually told me that it doesn't matter if anyone is gay or not, but that is her point of view.
Also, she said that we are not made that way, and that is a good point.

What do you think?


x-posted

I joined sometime a week ago or so, but now I have time for introductions.

I am a 20-year-old female from Upstate New York, Rochester area.

I've only realized my pansexuality recently, but now I'm so happy I have a word for it!

I am active in the S.T.A.R. (Students for Tolerance and Respect) club at my college, which is the sort of gay/straight alliance, or Out and Proud club as it was once called.

So hello all, and how do you do? feel free to check out my journal or add me. ask me questions. whatever.

Collage of videos demonstrating Obama's commitment to the Queer community!
http://queersunited.blogspot.com/2008/07/obama-pride-video-collage.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL1250393820080714

Man wins damages over gay driving test retake
Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:56am EDT

ROME (Reuters) - An Italian court has ruled the government must pay 100,000 euros ($157,700) in damages to a man who was told to retake a driving test because he was homosexual.

When 26 year-old Danilo Giuffrida told doctors he was gay at his medical examination for military service, they passed the information to the transport ministry, who told him he must repeat his driving test or have his license withdrawn due to his "sexual identity disturbance."

Giuffrida agreed to re-take his test, passed it for a second time, but the ministry renewed his license for just one year rather than the usual 10 years because of his homosexuality.

The judge ruling on the case in Catania, on the southern island of Sicily, said the actions of the defense and transport ministries showed "evident sexual discrimination" against Giuffrida and ran counter to his constitutional rights.

The behaviour of the ministries led Giuffrida to have "a grave sense of mistrust towards the state," added the judge, who ordered them to pay him 100,000 euros of damages in his verdict issued on Saturday.

Giuffrida's lawyer said the case marked the first time the state had been punished for sexual discrimination, and he hoped Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi would "summon Giuffrida and apologise to him on behalf of the state and all Italians."

Giuffrida said the sentence was "a step forwards for civil rights because from now on what happened to me can't happen again."

(Reporting by Gavin Jones and Roberto Landucci; Editing by Matthew Jones)

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved.

Crossposted with permission.


The bisexualdatingnow.com story gets even better. If you haven't seen the original article, here it is: http://www.baywindows.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc3=&id=76889

Now the CEO of Tangowire has written a letter, which, I have to say, I laughed through: http://www.baywindows.com/index.php?ch=columnists&sc=letters&sc2=&sc3=&id=77233 (scroll down past the first 3 letters)

Curious to hear people's comments. I certainly have mine.

Please post this far and wide on the net.
-Nick (kmt0215)

Hi all,

I have recently found myself engrossed in a British soap entitled "Holly Oaks". (Has anyone heard of/seen it?) It's basically a teen drama about a group of high school friends. The clips that I was able to find focus on one particular story line that follow two characters, John Paul and Craig. At the beginning, each have girlfriends, and Craig consorts happily with his, Sarah, while John Paul has a slightly more frigid repor with his own, Hannah.
Eventually, John Paul comes out as gay and breaks up with Hannah, and confesses to Craig that he loves him. After this point, Craig seems troubled, and goes through a period in which he seems to get used to the idea, beginning to view John Paul in a different light. Eventually, the two become romantically involved, though Craig still does not break up with his girlfriend.

The show spends a long time developing this awkward love triangle, with Craig caught between Sarah and John Paul, outwardly happy with Sarah while keeping his secondary relationship with John Paul a secret. He is really self-conscious, and seems to be seriously bothered by the idea of the negative backlash from other people knowing about himself and the other boy. He goes to great lengths to ensure that no one will find out about it. At first, this appears to just be a convoluted coming out story--with Craig falling in love with John Paul and just keeping Sarah as a "cover" of his homosexuality. All of the characters within the show seem to view it this way, too--but a lot of the things that Craig says and the ways he acts never quite fit for me...there was something not quite clicking.

Finally, I realized what it was--Craig is pansexual. After realizing this, it all becomes obvious. Below are [vaguely paraphrased versions of] some of the things Craig said:
"I'm not gay, I just fell in love with you [John Paul]."
"I love you and Sarah, BOTH of you...just in different ways. Other people wouldn't understand, so they can't know."
[in response to someone asking how he could choose John Paul over a girl]"It's not about being gay or straight, it's about who you fall in love with."
"I don't feel gay, there's just never been anyone but John Paul."

When his brother asks him if he is bi, his first instinct is to deny it--"no...well maybe...I don't know..." implying that the label does not feel right to him. When his family finds out about the affair and gives him trouble about it, Craig tells John Paul, in distress "This is all happening because you're a bloke...none of this would be a problem if you were female!" which implies to me that he would prefer John Paul be a girl, simply because his gender is irrelevant to Craig and if he were female other people would be more understanding.

He keeps repeating things like this over and over and over. It's really hard for him--because after he and John Paul are outed, everyone assumes he must be confused about his sexuality, and that *that* must be what is causing turmoil for him. Even John Paul begins to feel angry, because he views Craig's continual assertions that he is not gay as rather denials of who he truly is. But his sexuality seems to be the one thing that is very clear to Craig--he loves John Paul, as a *person*, not as a gender--and he honestly was in love with his girlfriend, too.

I found this all pretty interesting because it is the only show that I can readily think of that shows the problems faced not just by a gay boy--but by a pansexual. Half of Craig's problems stem from the fact that he describes his feelings very clearly and explicitly and yet everyone misinterprets them, and nobody is willing to try to understand the complexity of his situation and identity. I'm not sure if the writers did this on purpose--I suspect they didn't--but when I view the show, thinking of Craig as pansexual, his dialogue and reactions to things all seem right on the mark and everything makes sense. It's a story about these issues almost in spite of itself.

I was just wondering what people's thoughts were on this, or if anyone else had other examples of TV programs/media that might touch on some of these issues, either deliberately or otherwise.

Current Mood: chipper

The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition is pleased to announce the release of its 2008 GENIUS Survey in partnership with Ernst & Young.  GenderPAC works to ensure that classrooms, communities and workplaces are safe for everyone to learn, grow and succeed.

The Gender Equality National Index for Universities & Schools (GENIUS), GenderPAC’s most recent effort to end discrimination and promote awareness, encourages colleges and universities to recognize the benefits of a GenderSAFE^tm campus - supportive equitable and protective for all students. Choosing to participate in GENUIS sends a strong public statement that bullying or discriminating based on the race, sex or gender of a student, faculty, or staff member is not tolerated at your institution

Fill out the survey at:  www.gpac.org/GENIUS2008survey, and make sure that we have data for as many schools as possible. Your voice will help us continue to work towards a safe and welcoming environment for every student.

While we greatly appreciate the interest taken in GENIUS by students, staff and faculty at academic institutions outside of the United States, at this time GENIUS is only able to track schools based in the United States.

yeah crazy days...i think i am experiencing a very common bi/pansexual problem...
I have been going out with this lovely guy for 8 months and i love him hes my best friend..we have discussed my sexuality and hes said hes not bothered about me seeing other girls...
so last weekend i was at this big music festival the isle of wight festival it takes place in the grounds of my school. i had a great time and on the last night i met this girl shes adorable slightly butch more kind of farm girl tomboy.... beautiful blonde hair with these cute freckles...we started talking and we got on really well we love the same bands and we re going to uni near eachother etc. all my friends smoke and we started playing this game of blowing the smoke in eachothers mouths and it finally came to me and her and i just knew i wanted to kiss her...
we went round with eachother the whole evening until my friends wandered off so me decided to go dancing in a tent and we just got so close and ended up kissing we kissed all night pretty much....
she knew i had a boyriend and we kind of talked about it a bit...she was hung up on this straight girl...
so now i m stuck not being able to get her out my head...my boyfriend got jealous when i told him...so i feel really guilty...
i desperately want to see her again or talk to her but i m scared i was just a re bound for a start and if i see her again i might kiss her again and that wouldnt be fair on my bf...i cant talk to my friends really because they are all really gossipy and would either tell my bf or her...
i feel a bit lost...i need to get this out because it makes me so confused

Current Mood: confused

Hello all, bit of an off-topic-ish post here.

I'm currently writing my post graduate dissertation, it's on queer parents and how Lee Edelman's ideas about reproductive futurity are challenged by them.  One of the big examples I am using is Thomas Beatie, I've read the story in the advocate, and coverage in the national newspapers here in the UK, but I understand Beatie has a deal with People magazine, I've had a look and I don't think the big article he did with them recently is available online.  My request is this - if anyone has the copy of the magazine in which he is featured would you be able to scan and email it to me?  Alternatively, if anyone is able to find it online could you link me?

Someone also mentioned to me a few days ago that there was some new coverage of the progress of his pregnancy in the press in the last week but I haven't been able to find that.  I believe the coverage was in UK papers, don't suppose anyone remembers seeing it in a paper in the last week?  Just which paper it was in would be enough for me to find it.  Found it in the News of the World!

Well aware this is a bit cheeky, it's just infuriating not being able to find what I know is out there, and I decided to ask here because this is the community which alerted me to the story several months ago! 

Thanks in advance anyone and everyone!

Current Mood: busy

The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition is pleased to announce the release of its 2008 GENIUS Survey in partnership with Ernst & Young. GenderPAC works to ensure that classrooms, communities and workplaces are safe for everyone to learn, grow and succeed.

The Gender Equality National Index for Universities & Schools (GENIUS), GenderPAC’s most recent effort to end discrimination and promote awareness, encourages colleges and universities to recognize the benefits of a GenderSAFE campus - supportive equitable and protective for all students. Choosing to participate in GENUIS sends a strong public statement that bullying or discriminating based on the race, sex or gender of a student, faculty, or staff member is not tolerated at your institution

Fill out the survey at: www.gpac.org/GENIUS2008survey, and make sure that we have data for as many schools as possible. Your voice will help us continue to work towards a safe and welcoming environment for every student

( TAKE ACTION: Support LGBT Rights Worldwide! )

An Explanation And Clarification

Just recently I x-posted a request for audio and video files for an audio-visual project by The Melted Rubber Humans.  Given the nature of the request I should not have been surprised by the hostile responses I have received.  I can see this project could be very open to misinterpretation.  It has not been possible to respond to all the emails I have received personally, but I really would like to assure everybody that this project is genuine.  I have explained my motivations and purpose and how to participate in a blog entry which is too long to reproduce here, but I hope you will give me the benefit of the doubt and read it.  I believe there is a huge creative potential amongst Live Journallers and hope that some of you will give this project your earnest consideration.  Thanks.

I've been lurking in this comm for a couple of YEARS (different journals), never really got around to posting, I've commented here and there on my last journal but I figure it's about time I at least introduce myself.

I'm 21, and for as long as I can remember I have never felt like I should have been born a female, yet my desire for my own children and the fact that I am more attracted to men than anything else purely for that fact has kept me from really doing anything about it.  I've never been real comfortable with having breasts or a vag.  I really don't think they belong there.
I discovered this com when I was 17 and that fact made me able to figure out what my sexuality was.  I've known I was attracted to more than just men and women from a very early age.  Because of that I've pretty much been able to come to terms with who and what I am.


Well I don't know anything else interesting I could put in here, but if you have any questions feel free to ask away.

I would also like to meet more people who understand where I am coming from as far as my gender issues.  With the exception of a few people I've never met anyone who was going through something similar and I really do feel pretty lonely sometimes.

:3
/endrambling

Current Mood: cheerful

( I can't do this )

So I spoke to this guy online tonight. Really sweet. We seemed to click on so many levels. I'm not one to jump the gun when it comes to people, so if I feel a spark, it's usually significant. So everything's going great until out of nowhere he starts asking me if I'm sensitive about my height (6'2"). That leads us into a discussion about how guys get intimidated and emasculated by the fact that I'm taller than them. He then goes on to admit, that he was "turned-off" by my height, since he tends to have a more "dominant" personality.

I don't know why this bugs me. But it does. In part because he isn't the first guy who's told me they're bothered by my height. I know better than to feel insecure, but I can't help but feel like shit when someone tells me that all my good qualities, everything they like about me is negated by how tall I am. It's bad enough a lot of people don't even approach me because of it.

I guess I'm just really disappointed in him. And in myself for thinking that people were less shallow and not a slave to their archaic gender stereotypes. I've always walked the line. I'm not butch. I'm not femme. I'm just me. My friends say I'm "girly in a masculine way". I never liked gender labels. I never cared if someone was tough or girly, short or tall. To me, if a person was awesome then who cares? Why are people so barbaric? More importantly, why do I let them disappoint?

Rant over.
Thanks for reading.

Current Mood: aggravated

I'm not really good with this sort of thing but I decided to finally use my account just for this community. I've been lurking for a while since I was too chicken to sign in and post. When I found this community I was so excited since no label ever seemed right to me. I've only told two people about being pan since my family is extremely conservative.

~Alex

Current Mood: anxious

Anyone want to befriend me? Anyone want to read my journals here? I'll read yours and comment. I am bored and lonely. Hope to hear from some of ya soon!!!!

Current Mood: dorky

A few interesting and controversial headlines have popped up in the news and the gay blogosphere that raise some important questions. At what point is gay activism intruding upon free speech and freedom of expression rights? Freedom of speech and expression must be protected even for anti-gay forces, because if we don't have these basic freedoms it becomes a slippery slope and eventually we will not have the right to express our opinions.

I write this in light of some stories recently, such as a student who wore a t-shirt to school saying "Be Happy - Not Gay!" at a diversity event, who got in trouble. The courts have since ruled she is entitled to wear the shirt.

What about Crystal Dixon's case with the University of Toledo V.P. of Human Resources who outside the university wrote an opinion column denouncing homosexuality, claiming it is a choice. She has been fired under grounds that she mentioned she was a worker at the school and is now suing the school.

Finally there was the case at Smith College, where the College Republicans brought in Ryan Sorba who created a book called "The Born Gay Hoax" who spoke about bogus research regarding LGBT people. Students interrupted his anti-gay speech by screaming "We're Here, We're Queer, get used to it" the student protesters overwhelmed the room forcing Mr. Sorba to leave the campus and cancel his speech.

Youtube clip of the Smith protest:


What do you think about GLBT activism and where do we draw the line to ensure free speech rights, or is it okay to intrude upon the free speech of others when they seek to intrude on our civil liberties and spread falsehoods about our community?

http://queersunited.blogspot.com/2008/05/open-forum-free-speech-where-do-we-draw.html

‘Voices Against 377 is a coalition of Non Governmental Organisations (NGO) and progressive groups based in Delhi. It is a point of intersection and dialogue between various social movements that these groups represent, where a united voice is being articulated against Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalizes private consensual sexual acts deemed to be against the order of nature.

Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is cited below:

“377. Unnatural Offences.
Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.”

The law penalizes certain sexual acts equally. For example oral sex, regardless of whether it is heterosexual or homosexual; even penile-masturbation of one person by another – is considered criminal. Although facially neutral, the law has effectively stigmatized and criminalized a section more than others, namely same-sex desiring people, including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), hijra, kothi and other Queer people. The law has been used by the police to intimidate same sex desiring people and has been a source of serious human rights violations."

Take action on the issue sign the petition:
http://queersunited.blogspot.com/2008/05/voices-against-377-equality-for.html