Helen Boyd Kramer's journal on gender and stuff
“Never has the dedication of the people who practice the teaching profession been spotlighted in the way it has over the past few days.We were shown, in dramatic terms, to what lengths teachers are willing to go to fulfill the crucial mandate they have been given: the education and welfare of the most precious members of our society. Yet they are so often treated with disdain.” – Chan Lowe
Be sure to read the blog post that goes with this amazing image.
In the midst of all this bad news – the NRA’s ongoing thick-headedness, Iowa’s full speed reversal into 1953 – there is some good news out of the state of Wisconsin: namely, that Wisconsin’s domestic partnership registry has been upheld as constitutional by a state appeals court.
This is especially good news as Wisconsin has a superDOMA in place, which not only bans same sex marriage but bans anything like marriage for same sex couples.
Here’s the basic gist:
Democratic lawmakers created the registry in 2009. Same-sex couples who join it are afforded a host of legal rights, including the right to visit each other in hospitals and make end-of-life decisions for one another. About 1,800 couples were on the registry at the end of 2011, according to the latest data from the state Department of Health Services.
Members of the conservative group Wisconsin Family Action filed a lawsuit in 2010 alleging the registry bestowed a legal status substantially similar to marriage to same-sex couples. The group argued that violates the Wisconsin Constitution’s ban on gay marriage.
Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen refused to defend the registry, declaring it was clearly unconstitutional. Former Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, appointed private attorneys to defend it, but Republican Gov. Scott Walker fired them after he took office in 2011 because he, too, believed the registry was unconstitutional.
Fair Wisconsin, the state’s largest gay rights group, stepped into the case to defend the registry. Dane County Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser ruled last summer that the registry was constitutional, finding it conveys a status that’s not identical or substantially similar to marriage.
Which means, in a nutshell, that right now is a damn good time to donate to Fair Wisconsin and thank them for their efforts on behalf of some very basic rights of same sex couples.
No, really, you can get the person with a penis in your life one of these! It’s called a Tuggie. Not like a Huggie, although I bet you could get one of those to match.
Why buy a boring, bland vibrator when you can buy one that looks like a candy cane? This waterproof vibrating stick of stripey goodness is way more exciting. Add some Secret Santa Tingle Gel for minty freshness.
Or, for those more on the naughty than nice end of things, crack this icicle whip: this winter treat can certainly leave a hot little mark.
Plenty of other toys, outfits and ideas at Adam & Eve will keep you warm this holiday season.
I got back to Appleton yesterday just in time for a blizzard to drop! It’s very pretty, and actually a very nice welcome back.
And this, a new video created by my lovely spouse and performed by members of Lawrence’s amazing Conservatory. Or, this is the pretty place where we work.
Not this year, but every year forever, these families’ holidays will be full of horrible memory. What a shitty, shitty thing. All that trauma, of the kids & the families & the teachers. Enough already.
I would like to see a month-long moratorium on gun sales every time a shooting like this occurs. Or maybe a month for every person killed.
Really I’d like to see us kick the NRA out of the goddamn country. I can’t imagine how all this death & trauma is worth anything to anyone. Even an idea. There is no liberty here. Just death.
If a civilized country can’t keep our school-aged children safe, we have no business being a country at all. Sorry, but we don’t.
Lawrence University just named Mark Burstein as the next President.
Way down at the bottom of the press release, this little detail: “Burstein will be joined in Appleton by his spouse David Calle, who is the Global Chief Financial Officer of Unilever’s Food Solutions business.”
I am so, so proud to work here, and pleased as punch, to boot.
I’m off for 2 weeks in NYC today, so if I don’t blog much, you know why.
And the APA has reinvented the wheel.
Still, this will hopefully be good news. Interesting other news is that he APA is working on treatment guidelines, or what sounds like an APA version of the SOC.
Here’s Julia Serano’s take which is an important and vital NOT SO FAST warning, because there is a new and improved, bigger and better than ever trans pathologizing diagnosis that’s been snuck in. This is so the equivalent of when homosexuality was removed but GIDC was inserted. feh.
Yes, amazingly enough: I’m writing something about a Packers fan. It’s a special case. He’s my nephew, the one who was born when I was but 6 years old, my oldest brother’s son.
He’s a lifelong NYer and a lifelong Packers fan.
& He was living in Freeport, Long Island, when Sandy hit. As he put it: that bitch took everything. He & his girlfriend carried out their dog and their TV, & that was all. Everything else they owned is gone.
They have been staying with her parents, & while I’m sure they will be able to get clothes and shoes and furniture and another place to live, no charity will prioritize a beloved collection, and that’s what his Packers paraphernalia was. Mind you, this is a guy who’s taken heat for being a Packers fan his entire life, surround as he is by Giants, Jets, and even Bills fans.
So, here’s the thing: I thought it would be especially cool if he got Packers stuff in packages with Wisconsin return addresses.
It doesn’t have to be new. It could be some small thing from your own collection that you’re willing to part with. I’m guessing he’s an XL or whatever a guy who is over 6′ tall might be. He’s not scrawny, not fat. Obviously, things that are not sized are probably best: clothes that are hats or scarves and the like. & Whatever other stuff it is football fans might collect would be great too.
So if you’re in, let me know and I will send you his address, OR you can drop the thing off at our house and I will ship it.
But I really would love it if he kept getting individual packages in the mail, all from Wisconsin.
Cool, right? And if anyone wants something in return (other than my love and appreciation), let me know, & we’ll see if we can work something out.