I Will Attend NYC Pride

Dan Savage is wrong for his transphobia and racism, 100% wrong, the LGBT Community cannot allow such a visible and public figure to make such disturbingly bigoted statements. Leaders in the LGBT Community should publicly question his remarks.

But not going to NYC Pride because of Dan Savage? No, I will attend the event. It is one of the largest and most visible LGBT events in the world, and only gets bigger each year. It is still a most effective way to spread a general message to the non-LGBT society of uncompromising tolerance. All things considered, I still believe the amount of good that comes out of NYC Pride far outweighs any shortcoming (so far). This should not be the criterion for everything, but for a major event such rationale is valid.

What about the other Grand Marshal? No, not Terry Miller, I mean Rev. Pat Bumgardner (pictured). She is the Senior Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church. She has dedicated her life to combating racism and transphobia and in many ways her actions speak much louder than Dan Savage's words. She is being honored for her work, and is just as much a Grand Marshal as Dan Savage. Totally boycotting the NYC Pride on account of Dan Savage's past comments would be to allow his divisive remarks to overshadow this woman's good works.

Health Inqueery

The Institute of Medicine released a study of LGBT persons across the United States on March 31st. This study is significant because most LGBT health projects, until now, were organized an executed within the gay community itself. The study came to the ultimate conclusion that more research is needed to accurately assess the health of LGBT Americans.

Here are some of the findings:

• There are tremendous gaps in practitioner knowledge and training of the health needs of LGBT people, as well as an overall lack of education regarding the health needs and concerns within the American LGBT Community.
• LGBT Americans have poor access to health insurance
  
• High rates of mental health problems, substance abuse, suicidal thoughts/attempts and depression
• Increased risk of contracting STI's including, of course, HIV
• Lesbians and bisexual women may be at an increased risk for breast cancer, higher rates of obesity and greater rates of smoking and alcohol consumption then heterosexual women
• Overall, the LGBT community smokes more than the heterosexual community
  
• Some studies have indicated that long term use of hormone therapy may increase risk of cancer, although the report also noted that more research is required
• Older LGBTs are less likely to have access to medical care for the elderly and are less likely to live with partners into old age than their heterosexual counterparts
• In American society at large, men typically show more of an interest in sex than women. This pattern occurs within the LGBT community as well
  

However, more important than a laundry list of health findings and statistics is the underlying cause of those findings: the social pressure of living as a sexual minority. The study notes this truth, but also acknowledges that more research must be conducted to attain a more nuanced understanding of the effects of mainstream society on LGBT people.

Of course their are significant holes in this study. In fact, the study itself acknowledges that. The report recommends that researchers collect more data on gender identity and sexual orientation as well as recommending that researchers include LGBT people in their studies. Also it noted that more needs to be done to account for differences among race, geographical location and socioeconomic status with the LGBT Community

The fact that the study exists is a step in the right direction. Now comes the hard part: qualifying the data and convincing more LGBT people to participate in future health studies (ultimately the success of future studies will boil down to the degree of LGBT participation). Yet overall, the publish of such a report is a victory for equality.

DON'T BE A DRAG -JUST BE A QUEEN

I've listened to 'Born This Way' a few times now and I think it's really good in more ways then one. First, I have to say that I'm pretty sure that this is the first massively popular lead single to prominently mention a gay affirmative message in plain English.

But to me the real reason why this song is hugely valuable to the overall progressive movement is the spiritual undertone of the lyrics.

As everyone knows by now, the main message of the song is acceptance (as well as self-acceptance) of everybody as individuals. The song justifies this acceptance by stating that if God has made each person, and that God makes no mistakes, then society must open up to all of what makes people unique.

Such an affirming message by a popstar wouldn't ordinarily be that important, but the spiritually-based claim makes 'Born This Way' fly in the face of the Religious Right. Quite overtly, the song takes on the claims of Traditional Christians and other religious groups that it is not okay to embrace LGBT people and other marginalized groups because it is not 'part of God's Plan.'

The time is ripe within the mainstream public discourse for groups espousing tolerance and acceptance to systematically attack the main motivation and argument of the Religious Right, 'God's Plan' or 'God's Will.'

That is not to say that liberals should attack people's public religious expression, but rather attack the tendency of those individuals to imply that their religious beliefs are the end all and be all at the expense of other beliefs. The way to do this is to simply take away their arguments and use it against them, like what the song does.

Imagine watching a debate on a popular news show with one conservative claiming that God did not make people to live a gay lifestyle, and a liberal talking head countering just as forcefully with the claim that God made people to live that way?

It would definitely make for a confusing and loud program. Yet if both sides claimed that God was on their side, then the public would effectively see that they both can't be right.

Basically, the song affirms much of what the Religious Right considers to be 'disordered' and it is already widely heard by many all over the country. Yet it uses God as a justification, effectively stripping the Religious Right of their main point.

I'd say that's a victory for the progressive movement. And distributing this message didn't cost progressive groups a dime.

Born This Way

I found out about this blog, called 'Born This Way.' In the author's own words, its goal is to provide "A photo/essay project for gay adults (male and female) to submit pictures from their childhood (roughly ages 2 to 12) - with snapshots that capture them, innocently, showing the beginnings of their innate LGBT selves. It's OUR nature, our TRUTH!"

Personally, I am surprised that I haven't come across something like this sooner. It's an interesting blog. While it is presented in a lighthearted manner, the objective couldn't be more serious. The author decided to start this blog to counter the right-wing rhetoric that propelled Proposition 8 to success. I challenge any LGBT person who has unaccepting and bigoted relatives to show them this blog along with a photograph of himself or herself as a queer child.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, that picture with my post is of yours truly (I know, I was quite the looker back then) with a childhood friend circa '97 or '98...at a Spice Girls concert. Born this way, baby!