MetaFilter posts tagged with Gay and sexuality

No One is Born Gay (or Straight): Here Are 5 Reasons Why

nakedmolerats — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:23:56 -0800

The Social In(Queery) Blog presents a criticism of the "born this way" paradigm. Their postscript is an elegant summation: "Ultimately, the terms set forward in the public debate about this subject–biology versus “choice”–are quite limited, mainly because “choice” is not the most useful term for describing all of the possibilities that sit apart from biology. Several social, cultural, and structural factors can shape our embodied desires and erotic possibilities. The fact that these factors are not physiological in origin does not mean that they aren’t coercive or subjectifying, resulting in a real or perceived condition of fixity or “no choice.” We know that social factors also become embodied over time. And yet, I remain somewhat committed to the concept of “choice”–or something like it–to describe the possibility of a critical and reflexive relationship to our sexual desires. Personally, the idea that I don’t have control over who or what I desire is a big turn-off to me, so I am constantly pushing back on what feel like the limits of my own desires."

Men in Saris: Mumbai's new lavani dancers

infini — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 06:50:31 -0800

Men in Saris: Mumbai's new lavani dancers Lavani is a folk dance, traditionally performed by women for men. The popularity of Bin Baykancha Tamasha (or Performance Without Women) and other female-impersonation groups in Mumbai suggests that the city may slowly be getting comfortable with flamboyant expressions of male sexuality.

Gay Mormon Records Reactions To His Coming Out

shivohum — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 08:14:14 -0800

This Gay Mormon Spent 1 Year Recording His Friends Reacting To Him Coming Out. (SLYT). He's rather chipper, considering his church says he can't get married or have sex...

Beyond the Vault

Artw — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 10:52:09 -0800

Gaming made me - RPS writer Patricia Hernandez on how Fallout 2 shaped her world view, her politics and her sexuality.

The Gay Moralist

Blasdelb — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 02:25:35 -0800

You are likely already familiar with many of the arguments for and against marriage equality but here are cogent arguments for precisely why it is needed, unthreatening, and beneficial; patiently explained by a gay philosopher who recently spent quite a bit of time hanging out with NOM’s co-founder, Maggie Gallagher. Corvino, also known as “The Gay Moralist (for his longtime column of the same name), is chair of the Philosophy Department at Wayne State University in Detroit. He has spoken at over 200 university campuses on ethics, sexuality, and marriage. “My goal is to promote a more thoughtful conversation on these issues,” he says. “Moral concerns should be conversation-starters, not conversation-stoppers.” The Definition of Marriage If Gay Marriage, Why Not Polygamy? Do Children Need a Mother and Father? Debunking the Regnerus Study Is Gay Marriage a Threat to Traditional Marriage? Is Gay Marriage a Threat to Religious Freedom? Why Marriage? (Why not Civil Unions?) Are People Who Oppose Gay Marriage Bigots? Is Homosexuality Unnatural?

"Watch closely. This is how gay men have sex now. That is where semen belongs. Fuck AIDS."

andoatnp — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:34:56 -0800

"The Most Important Gay Porn Film Ever Made?" [NSFW Warning: Pictures of a naked guy, no sex or penis shown.]
"Dawson's 20 Load Weekend redefined bareback porn and the men who appear in such porn. It influenced subsequent videos and expanded the availability of bareback films. It depicted a prevailing truth about gay sexual behavior "post-AIDS" and arguably encouraged risky sexual adventure-seeking. It led to the saturation of bareback porn online, making unprotected sex normative to whomever might be watching. To dismiss this film, to minimize its social and cultural impact, would be to demonstrate a profound misunderstanding of gay sexuality today."

The Bully Pulpit

zarq — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 09:54:30 -0800

Late last month, after vocally anti-gay evangelical author and blogger Jonathan Merritt's essay defending Chick-Fil-A appeared in The Atlantic, Azariah Southworth outed Merritt on his blog. An interview with Merritt about his sexual orientation. Follow-up column from Southworth: Why I outed a Christian star. Southworth is the former host and producer of The Remix, a once-popular Christian reality TV show, which was pulled from the airwaves back in 2008 after he came out. Jonathan Merritt is the son of Dr. James Merritt, former President of the Southern Baptist Convention. "Outing" public figures as gay or lesbian (who hide their sexual orientation, typically out of fear of homophobia) without their permission is not a new practice, but it remains controversial. The term "outing" gained prominence in March 1990 after Michaelangelo "Mike" Signorile wrote a cover story for the now-defunct magazine Outweek: "The Secret Gay Life of Malcolm Forbes." (pdf of that issue here, archive of Outweek's entire run, here.) Profile of Signorile from June 1990. In 2007, he wrote about the Forbes story. Throughout his career, Signorile has outed many celebrities and public figures, and was likely one of the first to do so as a form of pro-gay political activism, by outing those whose rhetoric or political policies were anti-LGBT. In 2009, a documentary by Kirby Dick called Outrage was released. (Previously.) It's available in its entirety on YouTube in nine parts. English, with Portuguese subtitles. The movie outed a number of closeted gay politicians who create or vote for discriminatory, anti-LGBT legislation. NPR's review of the film was censored prior to press, to remove the names of three politicians. For American media, there is no industry-wide standard regarding the ethics of outing. Back in 2010, a panel discussion about outing public figures was held during the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association's 20th annual national convention in San Francisco. Signorile was one of the panel members.

Of course, really, EVERYONE loves Alec Guinness

Artw — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 09:37:07 -0800

Some people are gay in space. Get over it.

WARNING: Please check in with a heterosexual “accountability buddy” before reading this article

hermitosis — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 07:35:45 -0800

How I Went Undercover at Bachmann's Clinic: Truth Wins Out (or TWO) activist John Becker took a hidden camera with him to five therapy sessions at a Christian counseling center run by Marcus Bachmann. Meanwhile, QUEERTY debates whether making fun of Mr. Bachmann's own decidedly "gay-sounding" voice (and theoretical repressed-gay tendencies) is fair game, or whether it counts as homophobic bullying.

Kind Of An Anti-Penthouse Letter

The Whelk — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 16:39:46 -0800

(NSFW) BUTT magazine (previously, previouslier) has undergone a huge redesign this year and asked readers to submit reviews of their sexual encounters. They don't always go well. Except maybe in Mongolia.

Peter Grudzien is the original New York gay country musician

Kattullus — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 20:45:19 -0800

Peter Grudzien lives in New York and makes psychedelic country music or at least used to, since only two albums of his material ever came out, The Unicorn in 1974, and The Garden of Love, which is mostly a collection of demos. His songs are varied, ranging from noise music to straight up country, and their subject matters are equally wide-ranging, from strange fare, such as lyrics about his clone being at Stonewall, to straight-up love songs. His best known original is probably The Unicorn, a beautiful song whose lyrics recast the early 70s New York gay demimonde in terms of a barren zombie-filled wasteland which will be reborn when the titular unicorn is found by the queen. Other songs on YouTube are White Trash Hillbilly Trick, New York Town and an instrumental cover of the Georgia Gibbs hit Kiss Me Another. Finally, here's a lovely cover of The Unicorn by Calgary folkie Kris Ellestad.

First of all, gay sexuality is not a threat.

BuddhaInABucket — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:18:16 -0800

Gays vs. Straights. OkCupid does the math.

"We know it's a little clichéd – but here's what we want to tell the census: We're here. We're queer. And we want you to ask us about it."

ocherdraco — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:36:41 -0800

The 2010 United States Census will be able to count gay marriages and partnerships. George Takei and his husband tell you how. Even with the restrictions placed on that data by the Defense of Marriage Act, that's good news for the LGB part of the spectrum, but what about T? If you're transgender, despite what the Census might tell you, it's not so simple to be counted. (hat tip to nadawi) And for those of you who are queer but single, the Equal Roots coalition encourages you to use the "some other race" option to declare your sexual identity along with whatever other race identification you may choose. Queer the Census is pushing for an LGBT-inclusive question on the Census.

"We dragged your sorry ass through the Underground Railroad."

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:47:55 -0800

Are the ties that bind gay men to straight women beginning to fray?

A Day in Hand

acb — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:52:40 -0800

The latest tool to challenge homophobia: same-sex hand-holding. This past weekend, a same-sex hand-holding relay was held in London, to coincide with Olympic-related events. It's not just for gay and lesbian couples; sympathetic heterosexuals are encouraged to join in and take a stand, or rather a stroll, for tolerance.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell -- Kill

digaman — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:15:12 -0800

The Surge is working [tm] -- but for gay Iraqis who face a murderous new spate of violence by theocrats and militiamen, notsomuch. "More than 430 gay men have been murdered in Iraq since 2003... [but] many officials say they feel that in a country at war, there are more pressing concerns than gay rights."

Should we worry?

FunkyHelix — Sat, 17 May 2008 10:40:24 -0800

Mercedes Allen looks at who's in charge of deciding the fate of Gender Identity Disorder in the DSM-IV. The APA (American Psychological Association) has announced it's intention to revise the DSMV (Diagnosis and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). The expert they've named to chair revisions on sexuality and gender is Kenneth Zucker. Zucker is the major remaining proponent of Reparative Therapy for LGBT folks. Zucker has named Ray Blanchard to work with the group that will re-write the section on Gender Identity Disorder. Blanchard is connected with 'ex-gay' organizations, and believes that all transpeople are really sex offenders.

Gay By Design?

grapefruitmoon — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 14:23:09 -0800

Gay by Design? : What does your car say about your sexual orientation? Do you drive a lesbaru? Or how about one of the Top Ten Gay Cars of 2007? Are you having a hard time being able to tell if your car is gay or not? Just drive right on over to gaywheels to find out more about cars and the "pink dollar."

Gay and Lesbian Europe in the 30s and 40s

serazin — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 11:58:17 -0800

A multimedia exhibit on the Nazi persecution of homosexuals, Wikipedia on gays under the Nazis, Paragraph 175 - a documentary profiling gay survivors of Nazi era policies, and memorials of the gay Holocaust. A few Nazi-era gay and lesbian figures of note:

- A Berlin intellectual and pioneer in sexuality research, and an early advocate for gay rights, (controversial in part for his early support of outing) Magnus Herschfeld died in exile after Nazis destroyed his Institute of Sexual Science.
- The butch orchestra conductor Frieda Belinfante and gay artist William Arondeus were part of the same resistance group that first falsified papers for Dutch Jews, and then when Nazi's began to compare these falsified papers with city records, set fire to the Amsterdam Registry building.
- Lily Wust, the wife of a German soldier, fell for a Jewish woman at the wrong time. Their story became the subject of a book and film.

You get the gay from your brothers

NortonDC — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 18:00:08 -0800

You get the gay from your brothers. Or maybe not.

A nice counterpoint to Dobson's shit

amberglow — Mon, 15 Aug 2005 16:58:22 -0800

What Makes People Gay? --long, informative article from Boston Globe on recent scientific developments regarding nature or nurture. Studies on twins, brothers, CGN, the "big brother" effect, fetal development, genetics, hormones, etc. and don't miss the Evangelical Preacher who converted to the belief that homosexuality is not a choice but rather a predisposition, something "deeply rooted" in people.

Pheromones for everyone!

dov3 — Tue, 10 May 2005 08:49:23 -0800

Different scent attraction for men, women, and homosexuals Interesting report about homosexual men responding differently to pheromones as heterosexual men but very similar to women. (NYT)

SpongeBob Goes to Church

livingsanctuary — Mon, 14 Feb 2005 07:39:30 -0800

SpongeBob Goes to Church With the recent kafuffle over SpongeBob's perceived sexual orientation, the United Church of Christ felt it was only fitting to extend to him an invitation to attend their inclusive services. Apparently, he accepted the invitation.

Blame Canada.

showmethecalvino — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 05:07:53 -0800

Same-sex marriages in Canada may be coming soon, but that's nothing. The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that it's OK to masturbate in front of your windows! (Full ruling here, previous mefi discussion here.) The Conservatives in Canada worry that all this moral decadence may lead to polygamy, but Canada's had a polygamist community for some time now. Still, the government does seem to be examining the issue. Meanwhile, parents in Atlantic Canada are outraged their children are learning about mutual masturbation and oral sex. What's next -- adults-only barbershops? Oh, wait....

Ah, science.

joe_murphy — Thu, 20 Jan 2005 07:46:33 -0800

New research takes steps towards finding the "gay genes." A study conducted on gay brothers in more than 100 families found several genetic regions of similarity with linkage to sexual orientation. This is kind of dense (scroll to the bottom of the page for the FAQ), but that's because it hasn't been written up in the press so there are only journal doc's and scientific summaries available.
This is the press release, which is clearer (Microsoft Word).
This is the article on the study, as published in the journal Human Genetics (PDF).