MetaFilter posts tagged with homosexuality and sex

Beneath the burqa

tavegyl — Thu, 14 May 2009 08:36:43 -0800

Shuttlecock burqas to fetish wear. Some snapshots of Pakistan's struggles with its sexual identities. Sex, love, dating and marriage* in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. In Peshawar, a vibrant porn scene coexists with conservative Islam and tribal traditions. Writers talk about being gay in Pakistan. In Lahore, where the Mela Chiraghan festival celebrates a Muslim sufi poet's love for a Hindu man, openly gay women have just launched Chay, the country's first magazine dealing with sexuality. Begum Nawazish Ali, a bisexual transvestite TV host, uses her transgressive persona to throw politicians off balance on air (previously). Meanwhile, there is a long history of hijras belonging to the third gender in Pakistan and neighbouring countries (photographs) (previously). This is also the country where Mukhtaran Mai was gang raped to punish her brother for a sexual transgression, the historical sex trade is no longer a respectable occupation, the Taliban flog a teenaged girl on film (warning: graphic), bans a Bollywood movie for "propogating homosexuality" and women are still killed for honour and subject to acid attacks. * Alys Faiz, the foreign wife of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, one of the greatest poets in the Urdu language, on marrying a Pakistani, just before the Partition

Cooking the Books on Sexual Orientation

digaman — Wed, 06 May 2009 08:43:36 -0800

Teh gay can be cured. So declared the most influential sexologists of the late 20th century, William Masters and Virginia Johnson, in 1979, providing much-publicized scientific backing for the "conversion" theory, and dozens of right-wing efforts to prove that homosexuality is a psychological aberration that can be fixed. Or were those case studies fabricated? In his new biography of the couple who helped spark the sexual revolution, Thomas Maier uncovers the truth and the cover-up.

free at las

halekon — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 16:48:42 -0800

“Matthew Limon, the gay man at the center of a Kansas law struck down by the state Supreme Court, was freed late Thursday night, but his ordeal may not be over.

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)

The Trial of John Dicks, and other True Stories

anastasiav — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 15:45:39 -0800

Homosexuality in 18th Century England :: an amazing compilation of primary source material from newspaper reports and other sources.

Snap into a Slim Jim.

angry modem — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 18:52:15 -0800

Sex is for fags.

the law + sex = strange bedfellows

arse_hat — Wed, 21 Jul 2004 12:36:23 -0800

How does same sex marriage differ from heterosexual marriage? It may really be until death do us part. or Awkward things happen when legislative debate trails judicial necessity.

Lovers in a Dangerous Place

stonerose — Wed, 14 Apr 2004 14:17:03 -0800

Where Having Sex is a Crime: Criminalization and Decriminalization of Homosexual Acts. As Western countries ponder the legalization of gay marriage, it's well worth keeping in mind that queer men and women are living in the dark ages elsewhere. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission tries to keep track of progressive and regressive steps, and advocate for liberty. It's a tough job.

A Gay ol' Time in Texas?

amberglow — Sat, 21 Feb 2004 10:07:35 -0800

RumorFilter: Gov. Perry of Texas in bed with his Sec. of State --for real! More on this brewing scandal here, here, here, here, and here. Perry in 2002 called Texas' then-existing/now-illegal sodomy laws "appropriate." And here's a rundown on the rumor and non-response (from the kos link)

Double lives/deadly lies?

adamgreenfield — Fri, 01 Aug 2003 20:04:28 -0800

Long, interesting article in the NYT Sunday Magazine (reg. req'd, apologies) about a putatively "underground" community of black men who have sex with other men and who do not self-identify as gay.

There's more than a few problems with the piece. The reportage has a kind of breathless/clueless tone to it - like when the author identifies the phrase "on the DL" as originating in a 1990's TLC song (!) - and a pseudoanthropological, National Geographic stink of imputed Otherness hangs over the whole enterprise, but I found it compelling anyway. If nothing else, it's an introduction to a entire new subculture I had always assumed the existence of, but never seen. (I particularly liked the NYT piece's excursion to a low-rent thug-life amateur pr0n operation. Gibson was right: the street does indeed find its own uses for technology.)

SCOTUS goes gay

mathowie — Thu, 26 Jun 2003 08:00:24 -0800

Supreme Court wisely rules that you can't legislate morality and that privacy between consenting adults is a-ok as the Texas sodomy law (that applies to homosexuals only) is struck down. Ruling invalidates other remaining sodomy laws on the books. Dancing in the streets ensues. And as usual, Scalia gets to add his wisecracks in the dissent. [via SCOTUSblog]

U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider anti-homosexual laws

pardonyou? — Mon, 02 Dec 2002 14:49:01 -0800

On September 17, 1998, in response to an armed robbery call, Houston police burst in to the home of John Lawrence. The police didn’t find a robber (nor would they – the call was deliberately false), but they did find Lawrence having sex with another man, Tyrone Garner. Lawrence and Garner were promptly charged with “engaging in homosexual conduct,” a misdemeanor under Texas law. They paid their fine and began a long legal challenge to Texas’ anti-sodomy law. That challenge has finally reached the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, which today agreed to hear their appeal early next year. Standing in the way is the Court’s own 1986 decision in Bowers v. Hardwick, in which it held that anti-sodomy laws are constitutional. That may be about to change.

Anatomy of sexual risk

The Jesse Helms — Sun, 01 Dec 2002 10:02:08 -0800

In the Trenches with Love and AIDS. An HIV-negative gay man shares why he sleeps with seropositive men and how he deals with the danger :
"When his health finally collapses, you clean his diarrhea off the sheets and floor and swaddle him in diapers against his will. When he falls into a coma, you lie next to him every night and jerk off amid the scent of looming death. Your orgasms are great. You hold his hand as his last breath slips away and then his mouth drops open and foam bubbles out. They take him away but you can't let him go yet, so you don't change the sheets for two days, and you masturbate some more."

chason — Fri, 08 Jun 2001 11:12:39 -0800

Great article on the whole Andrew Sullivan and Michael Signoreli fiasco. Finally, a well written viewpoint about the barebacking incident that raised the hackles of gay conservatives and liberals alike.