Well, not really, but a student journalist interviewed me for a Lawrence University series called “The Secret Lives of Our Profs” series that runs in the school paper, The Lawrentian.
Lesbian/Trans Communities
Safe Space Radio, who did an interview with me a few weeks back (and who just celebrated their 100th show!), has just done an interview with Jen Hudson on the intersections of the lesbian & trans communities.
Jen speaks about how delicate the relationship can be between two oppressed and marginalized groups, and her intention to speak only about her particular experience. She described the forces that bring the two communities together, including gender variance, oppression and risk of violence . . . Jen also spoke about tensions within the communities about the F to M transition and whether it reflects a misogynist rejection of femaleness.
Film about Angie Zapata
A film made about the life & death of Angie Zapata is premiering this week in Denver:
This local story is told by local filmmakers. Denver company Loco Lane Filmworks, helmed by Director Alan Dominguez, created this 1-hour documentary by speaking to Angie’s family and friends as well as showing photographs of Angie. Scored by Mackenzie Gault (of Flobots fame) and featuring a song by L.A.-based band Ozomatli, the film focuses on Andrade’s life as remembered by her family as well as the trial of her killer.
It’s called Photos of Angie.
ESPN Interview with Kye Allums
Surprisingly sympathetic, no?
“Gay” Caveman Wasn’t Gay…
…. she was trans. After one researcher comments that “he was a man with a different sexual orientation, homosexual or transvestite. What we see here does not add up to traditional Corded Ware cultural norms” because of the position she was buried in and because of the implements she was buried with.
Why must otherwise intelligent, educated people conflate sexual orientation and corss-gender identity? At least one of the other researchers seems to know what’s what:
Another member of the archaeological team, Katerina Semradova, said that colleagues had uncovered an earlier case dating from the Mesolithic period where a female warrior was buried as a man.
She added that Siberian shamans, or witch doctors, were also buried in this way but with richer funeral accessories appropriate to their elevated position in society.
‘This later discovery was neither of those. We believe this is one of the earliest cases of what could be described as a transvestite or third-gender grave in the Czech Republic.’
That said, we don’t know that she wasn’t gay, either: maybe some of the things she was buried with were given to her by her wife.
All kidding aside: ze could have also been part of a third gender tradition, male-identified but fulfilled a woman’ role.
Or ze might have been trans in a period before people used hormones, identity documents and surgeries to transition. That is, we seem to know a little something about this person’s own gender role, but not necessarily about hir gender identity, and we absolutely don’t know who this person desired, partnered with, had sex with, or loved, while ze was alive. Therefore: we really don’t know anything about hir sexual orientation whatsoever (or rather, no indicators of such were mentioned in the article).
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1374060/Gay-caveman-5-000-year-old-male-skeleton-outed-way-buried.html#ixzz1InnbGDRT
Victories
What do you expect of two people who went on their first date to see Point of Order and now live in the birthplace of Joe McCarthy? You expect gung-ho progressive politics, dammit.
Tonight, after being a Daily Kos reader for a goddamn long time, Betty posted a piece about our local elections here in Appleton, WI:
I live and work in Appleton, Wisconsin.
Two of our Alderman elections were won by people I know and respect. Both were first-timers.
…
This is big and it’s nice. The town I live in has a progressive backbone and just showed it. The birthplace of Joe McCarthy.
Nice.
Appleton is part of the Green Bay/Oshkosh corridor (probably the biggest by population) and from what I can tell, leans conservative (I’m a recent emigré from Brooklyn, NYC).
Wahl and Metille are progressive. And they won. Impressively.
In Prosser’s back yard.
Small victories.
Appleton, WI has two more progressive voices in elected positions.
Nice.
I like the small victories. They smell like big ones.
Of course we are still waiting, will be waiting a while for the Prosser/Kloppenburg results, but in the meantime, we have these victories.
Two Tune Tuesday: The Pretenders
First: no listening until you go VOTE.
I have always been only a little bit Chrissie Hynde fan, but recently she’s hit me exactly the right way: every song, every lyric, every everything is just right. Maybe I had to get old enough to get her delicate mix of melancholy & anger, but either way: these two songs are very much the two moods I feel like I’ve been switching between for a year or so.
i shot my mouth off & he showed me what that hole was for she sings, which has to be one of the ruder lyrics ever sung by a woman: changing tires is slang for oral sex.
Offensive: Mockumentary about Musical of Boys Don’t Cry
I know we’re going to get into a new round of conversation about art and humor and whatever the fuck else, but I’m horribly offended by the idea of a “mockumentary” about a supposed musical based on Brandon Teena’s death.
Just stop it already: leave trans people out of this bullshit.
It would have been just as possible to create a mockumentary about how stupid & shallow musical theater people can be without dragging that young man into it.
Ugh. Bad taste doesn’t even begin to describe my disgust.
And no, I don’t have to see the goddamn thing. I barely held back the contents of my stomach watching the short preview.
I did actually check to make sure this wasn’t published on April Fool’s Day, in some hope that it was a joke. It wasn’t, and it isn’t.
April 4: We Are One
Today, the AFL-CIO is leading a national day of solidarity with Wisconsin workers and others in states whose rights and unions are being threatened. They’ve got a live feed of various events throughout the day. There’s a Twitter hashtag too, of course.
You can find a local gathering on their website, too.
Japanese Dog Rescue
I don’t know about you, but I needed a story like this one right about now.