Superman is a good guy. More than that, Superman is the best guy. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster in 1932, he's the archetypal superhero, a man of enormous power who places himself in service to the powerless. To borrow a famous phrase from the 1940s Superman radio serial, he stands for "truth, justice and the American way". -
Why Orson Scott Card isn't the right man to write Superman.
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posted by Artw
on Feb 14, 2013 -
255 comments
The
You Can Play project was created by GForce sports, former Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke, and his son Patrick Burke to ensure that LGBT athletes have equal opportunity in professional hockey.
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posted by jessamyn
on Jan 16, 2013 -
11 comments
Politico
reports that the AP's online stylebook has recently banned the term "homophobia." AP Deputy Standards Editor Dave Minthorn explained "it's just off the mark. It's ascribing a mental disability to someone, and suggests a knowledge that we don't have. It seems inaccurate. Instead, we would use something more neutral: anti-gay, or some such, if we had reason to believe that was the case." Slate's Nathaniel Frank
disagrees with the decision stating that in an effort be appear neutral, the AP risks being part of the problem. James Rainey at the LA Times
surveys the arguments for and against the decision and notes that homophobia may be the right term in some situations.
posted by Area Man
on Nov 29, 2012 -
115 comments
"Look, goddamn it, I’m homosexual, and most of my friends are Jewish homosexuals, and some of my best friends are black homosexuals, and I am sick and tired of reading and hearing such goddamn demeaning, degrading bullshit about me and my friends." - Merle Miller.
In 1970, two years after Stonewall,
Joseph Epstein wrote a cover story for Harper’s Magazine,
Homo/hetero: The struggle for sexual identity, that came to chilling conclusions: "I would wish homosexuality off the face of this earth." His incendiary language prompted author/journalist/writer Merle Miller to come out of the closet in the New York Times Magazine, with an angry and poignant plea for dignity, understanding and respect: "What It Means to Be a Homosexual." 40 years later,
that essay helped inspire the launch of the "It Gets Better" campaign. Via [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Oct 17, 2012 -
62 comments
Sadly, despite the growing acceptance of variable sexuality in western culture, there's still widespread acceptance of casual homophobia.
NoHomophobes.com seeks to shine a bright light on this, in the hopes of rendering this speech as socially unacceptable as racist slurs.
posted by ChrisR
on Sep 29, 2012 -
61 comments
Is Some Homophobia Self-Phobia? Many have
suspected but now the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology has
published empirical research on the subject. In the study, 20% of self-identified "highly-straight" participants demonstrated some level of same-sex attraction in reaction time tests. These individuals were significantly more likely than any other group of participants to favor anti-gay policies. Also in
NYTimes.
posted by dave99
on Apr 28, 2012 -
100 comments
The two largest groups that provide ex-gay counseling are Exodus International, a nondenominational Christian organization, and NARTH, its secular counterpart. If Exodus is the spirit of the ex-gay movement, NARTH is the brain. The organizations share many members, and Exodus parrots the developmental theories about same-sex attractions espoused by NARTH. Together with the late Charles Socarides, a psychiatrist who led the opposition to declassifying homosexuality as a mental illness, Nicolosi formed NARTH in 1992 as a 'scientific organization that offers hope to those who struggle with unwanted homosexuality.' By 1998, the group was holding an annual conference, publishing its own journal, and training hundreds of psychiatrists, psychologists, and counselors. Nicolosi remains NARTH’s most visible advocate.
[...] When I first reach Nicolosi on the phone, he says he remembers me well and that he is surprised that I 'went in the gay direction. You really seemed to get it.'Gabriel Arana talks about his experiences with attempting to change his sexual orientation:
My So-Called Ex-Gay Life.
posted by shakespeherian
on Apr 11, 2012 -
31 comments
Star of the popular sitcom
30 Rock, Tracy Morgan, allegedly told a Nashville audience
during his comedy routine on June 4 that " gay is a choice," "there is no way a woman could love and have sexual desire for another woman, that's just a woman pretending because she hates a .... man", and that "gay was something kids learn from the media and programming, and that bullied kids should just bust some @## and beat those other little fuckers that bully them, not whine about it. "
Truth Wins Out, a self-described "a non-profit organization that fights anti-LGBT religious extremism" is calling for Morgan to respond to the allegations
posted by roomthreeseventeen
on Jun 9, 2011 -
230 comments
Earlier this week, the Republicans in the Minnesota House of Representatives
asked Bradlee Dean to give the morning prayer.
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posted by jiawen
on May 21, 2011 -
80 comments
Charles Barkley on homophobia in sports It bothers me when I hear these reporters and jocks get on TV and say: ‘Oh, no guy can come out in a team sport. These guys would go crazy.’ First of all, quit telling me what I think. I’d rather have a gay guy who can play than a straight guy who can’t play.”
posted by ThePinkSuperhero
on May 18, 2011 -
85 comments
A Call for Change. In an eloquent and thoughtful letter on the Tegan and Sara website, Sara Quin asks "When will misogynistic and homophobic ranting and raving result in meaningful repercussions in the entertainment industry?" Tyler the Creator, the object of her ire, responds on his twitter feed in
characteristic fashion.
posted by joannemullen
on May 16, 2011 -
150 comments
Physiological Impacts of Homophobia. 'New research from Concordia University suggests that the stress of being rejected or victimized because of sexual orientation may disrupt hormonal responses in lesbians, gays and bisexuals. ''Compared to their heterosexual peers, suicide rates are up to 14 times higher among lesbian, gay and bisexual high school and college students''Michael Benibgui, who led this investigation says abnormal cortisol activity in LGB youth, combined with the vicious cycle of stress, could be further influenced by a complex set of biological, psychological and social factors. “This study shows a clear relation between abnormal cortisol levels and environmental stressors related to homophobia,” he says.'
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posted by VikingSword
on Feb 4, 2011 -
44 comments
Microaggressions. This blog seeks to provide a visual representation of the everyday of “microaggressions.” Each event, observation and experience posted is not necessarily particularly striking in and of themselves. Often, they are never meant to hurt - acts done with little conscious awareness of their meanings and effects. Instead, their slow accumulation during a childhood and over a lifetime is in part what defines a marginalized experience, making explanation and communication with someone who does not share this identity particularly difficult. Social others are microaggressed hourly, daily, weekly, monthly.
posted by prefpara
on Jan 21, 2011 -
56 comments
''I don't think it's appropriate they feel discriminated against, and I'm very upset they feel that,'' "After inviting friends to her home for ''pre-drinks'', [Hannah Williams] stood on her doorstep and watched her classmates file into the darkness to attend one of the highlights of the school year. Instead of joining them, Hannah took off her heels and black dress and went to bed...A few weeks earlier a teacher had told the year 11 student she couldn't attend the dance with her 15-year-old girlfriend, Savannah Supski. She was asked to bring a male instead."
posted by rodgerd
on Nov 10, 2010 -
70 comments
