Media coverage: how are we seen?

[jack]

Oh, that's quite true. I fully expect Cuba to legalize same-sex marriage before Florida does.

I expect the Vatican to legalize same-sex marriage before Florida.

are y'all hinting i might want to be considering relocation 

[BayCityJohn]

Why Jack?  Are there weddiing bells on your horizon?

[jack]

considering that my "horizon", such as it is, is about 6 inches in front of my nose, i think not.  but cali has begun building affordable homes for the gay seniors, and florida only acknowledges our existence to take something away.

[michaelflanagansf]

22 percent of gays lack health insurance
published Monday, May 19, 2008

Nearly a quarter of gay and lesbian Americans lack proper health insurance, while gay men and lesbians are twice as likely as their heterosexual counterparts to have no health coverage, according to a new poll.

Harris Interactive reported Monday that 22 percent of gay and lesbian survey respondents have no health insurance, compared to 12 percent of heterosexual adults in the survey.

see more info here:

http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2008/05/19/5

[CellarDweller115]

22 percent of gays lack health insurance
published Monday, May 19, 2008

Nearly a quarter of gay and lesbian Americans lack proper health insurance, while gay men and lesbians are twice as likely as their heterosexual counterparts to have no health coverage, according to a new poll.

Harris Interactive reported Monday that 22 percent of gay and lesbian survey respondents have no health insurance, compared to 12 percent of heterosexual adults in the survey.

see more info here:

http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2008/05/19/5

That's one of the reasons where I stay where I am in regards to the company I work for.  I may be able to leave and get a better paying job somewhere else, but my company offers medicial coverage for same sex partners of their employees.

[michaelflanagansf]

Gambia arrests Spaniards for "gay proposals"

Authorities in Gambia have arrested two Spanish men for allegedly making "homosexual proposals" to taxi drivers, police said Monday.

The arrests come less than three weeks after Gambia's president ordered homosexuals to leave the West African country and threatened in a nationally televised speech to "cut off the head" of anyone discovered to be gay.

The Spanish nationals were taken into custody Friday after the taxi drivers reported being solicited by them, police spokesman Sulayman Secka said. He declined to give further details on the incident or say when the men might be released.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/po/20080602/co_po/gambiaarrestsspaniardsforgayproposals

[michaelflanagansf]

Lesbian kiss at Seattle ballpark stirs debate
By MANUEL VALDES, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, June 5, 2008

Most of the time, a kiss is just a kiss in the stands at Seattle Mariners games. The crowd hardly even pays attention when fans smooch.

But then last week, a lesbian complained that an usher at Safeco Field asked her to stop kissing her date because it was making another fan uncomfortable.

The incident has exploded on local TV, on talk radio and in the blogosphere and has touched off a debate over public displays of affection in generally gay-friendly Seattle.

"Certain individuals have not yet caught up. Those people see a gay or lesbian couple and they stare or say something," said Josh Friedes of Equal Rights Washington. "This is one of the challenges of being gay. Everyday things can become sources of trauma."

As the Mariners played the Boston Red Sox on May 26, Sirbrina Guerrero and her date were approached in the third inning by an usher who told them their kissing was inappropriate, Guerrero said.

continues here:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/06/05/national/a042954D94.DTL

[michaelflanagansf]

Hollywood sees cracks in gay "glass closet"
 By Alex Dobuzinskis  Thu Jun 5, 3:17 PM ET 

 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood's "glass closet" may not be shattered, but with stars such as Ellen DeGeneres and T.R. Knight openly out and shows like "The L Word" proving popular in recent years, insiders say being gay or lesbian is no longer a career breaker for celebrities.

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday gave a final approval for gay marriages in the state, clearing the way for talk show host DeGeneres and her girlfriend of four years, actress Portia de Rossi, to marry as planned.

Last week actress Lindsay Lohan, 21, was the subject of widespread talk in celebrity magazines that she was having a lesbian affair with friend Samantha Ronson, prompting some in Hollywood to encourage her to go public with the relationship.

story continues:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080605/lf_nm_life/hollywood_gays_dc;_ylt=AnacAhObL3J5o.rx9pGSkniGWo14

[michaelflanagansf]

Polish Catholic centre offers 'get well' therapy for gays
  by Zofia Stepinska  Fri Jun 6, 12:07 PM ET 

LUBLIN, Poland (AFP) - Often considered sick, deviant or sinners, gays and lesbians in deeply Catholic Poland are being nudged towards church-steered programmes designed to help them fight their homosexuality.

In the southeastern city of Lublin, a hub of Roman Catholic teaching, a nondescript white building houses Odwaga, or Courage, an organisation which offers "therapy" for homosexuals -- to the consternation of gay rights groups who find it an aberration.

Behind its walls, men are taught to kick a football around, women take cookery lessons and, above all, participants spend time praying with priests.

"The goal isn't to change the patient, to shift their orientations, but rather to prepare them to accept their leanings," said Lena Wojdan, a Warsaw-based psychologist involved in Odwaga programmes.

story continues:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/polandreligioncatholicgay;_ylt=AplC9o.bzXEa7B1JfWhQMNIDW7oF

[tfferg]

'Odwaga's take is more nuanced, Wojdan told AFP in an interview away from the centre's premises. Journalists are not welcome at Odwaga, which was founded in 2007 by the church-linked Light-Life Foundation.

'"They need to accept that God created them as they are. This is something that they have been given to bear as a burden," said Wojdan, sporting a large crucifix around her neck.

'The aim is to convince participants they should try to choose between a "sinful" sex-life and a chaste, Christian existence.

'"This is a kind of suffering which has meaning for Christians, a suffering that they have to face each day," Wojdan added.

"A human being is capable of knowing what's really important to him or her and thus of overcoming his or her feelings. When you want a sweet, for example, you are completely able to resist the urge," she said.'


Nuanced I'd call it sadism.

And what kind of psychologist can't tll the difference between a trivial, passing desire for a sweet and living out who you really are and seeking a fully developed relationship with a partner?

[michaelflanagansf]

Nuanced I'd call it sadism.

And what kind of psychologist can't tll the difference between a trivial, passing desire for a sweet and living out who you really are and seeking a fully developed relationship with a partner?

One which has a philosophy already in place which presupposes psychology and/or common sense.  It's abysmal and disgusting as well as stultifying as far as any sort of perspective on human wholeness and growth.

[jack]

the puritan stock from which portions of THIS nation sprang would understand and approve this thinking.

hence much of the trouble marriage and psychiatry have weathered here.  self fulfillment is irrelevant, slavish adherence to the demands of one's cultural heritage the utmost good.

oddly,one of the few advantaged to recognizing and accepting one's gayness, is that several of those shackles have been irretrievably broken.

[quithammerin]

Just wondering what folks thinj about a recent article in the Globe and Mail Family Life section, which gave advice on having a talk about sex with one's teenaged sons.  After stressing that:

No means no. It's an iron-clad rule. (And it applies when the boy says it, too.);
 Physical force is seriously never okay;
 It is not okay to have sex with someone who has a diminished capacity to say no — they're drunk, drugged or suffering any other impairment;
 If a girl puts herself in a situation where she is vulnerable — drinking alone with you, for example — it does not automatically mean yes;
 What you do sexually with a girl is a private matter between the two of you;
 It is never okay to have sex without a condom. It's dangerous to you and dangerous to your partner;
 It is never okay to make fun of a girl's body.
Then it goes on to say:

In regard to gay male teenagers, these rules apply as well. But with gay teens it is more complex, because they are more vulnerable to sexual predators than straight male teens, and that absolutely needs to be discussed with them as well.

A letter to the editor the next day protested that the above pararaph perpetuated a "stereotype of the older gay man as a predator".  Was the letter-writer being too touchy? 

[CellarDweller115]

In regard to gay male teenagers, these rules apply as well. But with gay teens it is more complex, because they are more vulnerable to sexual predators than straight male teens, and that absolutely needs to be discussed with them as well.

A letter to the editor the next day protested that the above pararaph perpetuated a "stereotype of the older gay man as a predator".  Was the letter-writer being too touchy? 

I don't think the letter-writer was being too touchy at all.  The statement in italics reinforces two stereotypes.  The first is that gay men "stalk" young boys.  Gay men are not pediphiles.

Second, it reinforces the thought that women are not sexual predators.  In recent times, the news has been inundated with stories of female teachers having sex with their young male students.  Women are just as capable of being a "predator" as men.  All young children can be at risk, from either sex.

[quithammerin]

Thanks for that reply.  I really do think this is worth discussing; even here in Canada, a few people sometimes seem to assume that there's some kind of direct connection between homosexuality (male or female) and the propensity to abuse minors.  That misconception needs to be cleared up!!  And the more visible gay people are, the more people realize they know gay people, the more people's weird ideas will be put to rest, that one among them.

But I will say,  admit perhaps, that I have a tendency to think that it's men one needs to keep an eye on when it comes to protecting the young and the vulnerable.  It used to be a yuk-yuk thing - is anyone old enought to remember "Have some Madeira M'dear"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW_zi8n4HDQ

I do realize, though, that there are plenty of men full of decency and integrity, and it's wise to remember that the desire and willingness to exploit the vulnerable is not restricted to any one group of people, unfortunately.

On the other hand, I think it is good to see parenting tips for parents of gay boys in the papers - what do straight people need to know about riaising healthy gay boys?  Do you think the advice was worthwhile at all?