Broad magazine issue 72 October 2014 Whats Your LGBT IQ?

Issue 72, October 2014 part 1

BROAD

what’s your lgbt iq?

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A Feminist & Social Justice Magazine

BROAD A Feminist Social Justice Magazine A Feminist& & Social Justice Magazine

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Issue 73: In g/Gods We Trust

Publish your stories, art, opinions, poetry, & politics by 10/28:

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BROAD 2014-15 ISSUES September

#feminism October part 1

What’s Your LGBT-IQ? October part 2

In g/God(s) We Trust November

Sentence: Criminal?

December

BROAD Love January part 1

c(age)s January part 2

Dis(sed)-abilities February

Living In Color March spring break issue

Body Talk March issue

Broads & Babes O the Places You’ll Go May

In Labor

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April

adjective: 1 having an ample distance from side to side; wide | 2 covering a large number and wide scope of subjects or areas: a broad range of experience | 3 having or incorporating a wide range of meanings | 4 including or coming from many people of many kinds | 5 general without detail | 6 (of a regional accent) very noticeable and strong | 7 full, complete, clear, bright; she was attacked in broad daylight noun: (informal) woman. slang: a promiscuous woman phrases: broad in the beam: with wide hips or large buttocks | in broad daylight: during the day, when it is light, and surprising for this reason | have broad shoulders: ability to cope with unpleasant responsibilities or to accept criticism | City of broad shoulders: Chicago synonyms: see: wide, extensive, ample, vast, liberal, open, all-embracing antonyms: see: narrow, constricted, limited, subtle, slight, closed see also: broadside (n.) historical: a common form of printed material, especially for poetry

BROAD Sylvia Bennett

Diversity & Assessment Editor

Meaghan Cook

Website & Archives Editor

Ellie Diaz

Content & Section Editor, Art Director

Patrick Fina

Layout & Design Editor

Mandy Keelor Editor-in-Chief

Kait M

Content & S

What’s Your LGBT IQ? quotes:

“Then label our ass with , ‘Here come the sissies! But yet just two hours ago, you know, you were all ~Shontae from Leon Pettiway’s Honey Honey Miss Thang over me.”

“Coercive sex segregation remains the norm in elementary and middle school, even before reported ~Eileen McDonagh & Laura Pappano sex differences triggered by puberty have yet to show.”

Section Editor

MISSION:

WSGS:

J. Curtis Main

Advisor, Consulting Editor

Mario Mason

Publicity & Social Media Coordinator

Broad’s mission is to connect the WSGS program with communities of students, faculty, and staff at Loyola and beyond, continuing and extending the program’s mission. We provide space and support for a variety of voices while bridging communities of scholars, artists, and activists. Our editorial mission is to provoke thought and debate in an open forum characterized by respect and civility.

Founded in 1979, Loyola’s Women’s Studies Program is the first women’s studies program at a Jesuit institution and has served as a model for women’s studies programs at other Jesuit and Catholic universities. Our mission is to introduce students to feminist scholarship across the disciplines and the professional schools; to provide innovative, challenging, and thoughtful approaches to learning; and to promote social justice.

Gaby Ortiz Flores Consulting Editor

Maggie Sullivan Publicity & Social Media Coordinator

Elishah Virani

Diversity & Assessment Editor

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Madsen

WHAT’S YOUR LGBT IQ?

Welcome to the fourth annual What’s Your LGBTIQ? Issue. While LGBTIQ people have existed in all societies, cultures, and times throughout theirstory, not until the past few decades, across the world, has widespread awareness, support, and acceptance gained momentum.

We hope this new issue furthers this momentum!

media/art we’ve got mail #feminism, Issue 71

Wilma Loves Betty

words are useless

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“My Abusive Ex, M

Love Has No Bounds Elishah irani Tiger Lily Meagan Cook Megan Benton aka Emotions the Poet BOI Woman Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi

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“Break Fre

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Margaret Cho Gloria Anzaldua Audre Lorde Harvey Milk Leslie Feinberg RuPaul Charles Susan Stryker Kate Bornstein

“To Be or Lesbian.../Creation of.../Ornacia...Bronwyn Lundberg The Bisexua Gender Identity Part 2/5Thomas Levesley Gender is a Construct Keir McCoy Rupaul’s Drag Race Winner’s CollectionThom “How I Becam Queer Scribe Miyuki Baker Margaret Cho Ryan Johnson Zoraida Reyes Jerise Fogel Babushkas in Love Judy Innes Truth in Advertising Gay Pride Parade Robert Mendoza Transphobic Nike’s Hyperdunk True Colors Keri Cichy We Blaze /In The Dragon’s... Felix d’Eon Coming Out Lorraine Inzalaco BROAD Stonewall Creative Media Activism Bolstridge Oreo Absolut what’s your Armani lgbt iq? gender nonconformity sexuality: innate? learned? date bi/trans?

Legislative Theatre “Evolution of LGBT Labels Creates a how many lgbtqs?

Shit People Say to Asexuals Revolution in Gender Norms” what if you had gay kids? MTV Interview: Young & Asexual Ellie Diaz

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Issue 72, October 2014

A Feminist & Social Justice Magazine

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screen/play The Fosters

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Lauren Banka’s Bisexual 20/20 Intersex Interview SNL Commercial Transphobia

In g/Gods We Trust Theme, Mission, & Team Navigating BROAD’s Design Annual Theme Schedule Letter from BROAD: Patrick Visiting Editor: Paige Gardner BROADs behind the scenes

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”Two Moms and Purple Pants” Megha Patel ”I may not be an [LGBTIQ] Expert” Nell Cook ”This is not a “Coming Out” story. This is a story of realization.”

Anonymous

CONTENTS World of Women

de R Out?

“Filipino Perspective” Elishah Virani

Making Amends?” J. Curtis Main

EaRt

Kaleidescope

Middle Eastern Musings “An Angry Lesbian in the Middle East” Abeer Allan

“The Bones of Our City” Sabrina Minhas

In the k(Now)

ee” X. Cathexis

“Talking out of Both Sides: Internalized Prejudice in LGBTQIA” Sylvia Bennett

aitor

Not To Be: al Dilemma” Paige Gardner

ry Atheist

me an Atheist” Mario Mason

Status Quo Combustion “L Versus G: Stick Stick Stick Stick to the Status Quo” Lubna Baig

cles ”Good news, bad news” JD

&

”Nurture/Nature” A. J. De Gala ”Oppression from Societal Views of Masculinity Upon Homosexual Males”

In(visible) “A Statement Revisited” Alex White

Liberation Leaders Sally Gross, Inersexed South African Tona Brown, Transgender Violinist

WLA (Re)Animated Catholic Church and Homosexuality Lavender Woman Magazine

Adam Mogilevsky

Kristi Madsen

microaggresSHUNS LGBTQI Identities click for contents

”Gender Expression in a Kindergarten Classroom: Coming out of the Closet”

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Letter from BROAD State of the Magazine, October 2014 Patrick Fina

We Hope you find yourself in these pages

While our identities may be invisible, once they’re known, we are able to join a network of individuals that come from every background and walk of life BROAD Info + Editors

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Every time we come out and share a part of ourselves we deepen the roots and the history of our community.

since I graduated – I don’t think iPhones were even out and available yet when I got to switch my tassel and listen to yet another graduation rendition of ‘The Time of Your Life’ by Green Day. But seven years later, by being open and true to myself, I’m amazed at the amount of solidarity and love that comes from such a little place people can be so quick to judge. While it may be far from perfect, I not only get care packages on a regular basis from folks I haven’t worked for in seven years, I also went out with five of my high school friends this summer in Chicago, and they wanted to go to as many LGBTQI+ nightlife places as I could take them.

We hope you find yourself in the pages.

Patrick Fina, Layout & Design Editor

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imaginable. Truly, if not for being out and proud, there would be far less meaningful connections with people that are truly different from me (in experience and all facets of identity). By embracing and learning our LGBT-IQs, and our own personal stories, we create a network of rainbow entwined familial connections that spans from every nook and cranny of lived experience to another.

Every time we come out and share a part of ourselves we deepen the roots and the history of our community. While our identities may be considered by some scholars to be invisible, they create such a powerful web of narratives that we are able to dedicate an entire issue solely to honoring our shared their/her/ xir/hir/his-story.

I’d come home for a break every year or so, never quite losing connection with a few select folks, and a few select places I always made sure to visit. I’d also like to point out that nearly seven years have elapsed

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Of course, I had to share a story to help showcase this.

Let’s set the stage: I went to high school in a town of about 5,000 people in Southeastern, semi-rural Georgia. Being a transplant ‘yankee,’ originally form Jersey and Philly, I never quite fit in, but still found a group of friends, had some good times, and wished my town well when I went off to pursue my undergraduate studies.

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Visiting Editor Join BROAD’s team for Your Issue Paige Gardner

Paige’s Column:

Traitor “I can go both ways”

Paige currently serves as a Program Coordinator for Student Diversity & Multicultural Affairs and works closely with programs that focus on leadership development, advocacy and outreach through various programming efforts. Prior to joining Loyola University community, she graduated from Seattle University with a Master of Education in the Student Development Administration program and received her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Development from Mills College. Her professional interests lie in supporting students of the global majority in their discernment process while on their educational journey. Paige is a lover of the arts and is inspired by human expression through music, art, and writing. As a queer woman of color she is especially passionate about social justice issues as it relates to intersections of identities.

Traitor is a column willing to analyze the complexities of multiple intersectionalities as it relates to the themes and topics Broad has to offer.

We as a nation, live within the confinements of a “black and white” society, out-casting the range and depth of colors that fall in-between and/or outside of “the norm”. For those who tread on the lines of discomfort and find ways to defy societal norms, I hope to provide a space for you, a space for readers to feel that their invisible identities are seen and heard without question. I offer a space for readers to examine their dominant and subordinate identities in which at times the lines can get murky and the colors can bleed into each other. Traitor encourages you to take a stance that may not always be popular or loved by the masses. Broad readers will be liberated, supported, enlightened, and/ or challenged to take other perspectives and consider the path they choose to follow despite the labels that become attached to your decisions.

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I urge you all today, especially today in these times of terrorism and chaos, to love yourselves without reservation and to love each other without restraint.

Unless you’re into leather; then by all means, use restraints.

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just words? just speeches?

Margaret Cho

The amount of racism, sexism, homophobia, and hatred in general that lies beneath the surface of the American dream is astounding and serious.

Love is the big booming beat which covers up the noise of hate.

If public figures came out of the closet, then the LGBT kids who saw them on TV would feel safe before they even knew why they felt dangerous. Maybe if enough people came out of the closet, gay kids would never feel danger.

They treat it like it’s a disease, like being gay is contagious. Being gay is not contagious. And if you think that it is, YOU’RE GAY.

Try to love someone who you want to hate, because they are just like you, somewhere inside, in a way you may never expect, in a way that resounds so deeply within you that you cannot believe it.

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If you’re against same sex marriage but you laugh your ass off to Will & Grace, you are a hypocrite, and you’re not allowed to pick and choose what you like from our culture, and leave behind the burden of inequality.

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srotidE + ofnI DAORB

search this

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warning: results with assumptions LGBTQI Searches

who to follow social media social justice social life BROAD people

Blogs autostraddle.com goodasyou.org windycitymediagroup.com transcendgender.com republicoft.com thosetwodaddies.blogspot.com mombian.com chicago.gopride.com

Twitter @glaad @TheAdvocateMag @WipeHomophobia @TPEquality @BuzzFeedLGBT @TransEquality @WordGayPride @HRC @TransMediaWatch

/NEWSLGBT /lgbtqnation /Advocate.LUC

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Facebook

microaggresSHUNS it’s the little things that count BROAD People

it’s just a phase | gay best friend e

she just hasn’t been with a real man | girl crushe why are you dating a man if you’re bi?

have you had real sex | no homoe how can you be religious? | but you don’t act gaye

that’s so gay | which bathroom do you use?e

so how does ‘it’ work? | lipstick lesbiane so you’re going to adopt? e

you’re just confused are you sure? | but you’re too pretty to be gaye (to transfolk) are you sure you aren’t just gay?e

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tell-a-vision visions & revisions of our culture(s) MTV Interview: Young and Asexual

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A 1. What is the value of forums like Aven for BROcreating a community for asexuals?E GOT WE’V IL 2. Why is community important?

MA E 3. How do family, friends, and culture influence how individuals understand their asexuality?

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Link:

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EN/ SCRE Y PLA

What’s your LGBTIQ? BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities Ellie Diaz

Evolution of LGBT Labels Creates a Revolution in Gender Norms Americans will rarely hear or see the phrases “homosexual marriage,” “homosexual rights” or “homosexual pride parade.” The term “homosexual” is rarely used to describe the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender community and is instead replaced with friendlier labels such as “gay” or more recently “queer.” The evolution of titles for the LGBT community reflects the expansion of customizable gender features and gender-neutral options.

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, German psychologist Karoly Maria Benkert coined the term “homosexuality” in the 1800s. Until 1974, the American Psychiatric Association labeled “homosexuality” as a mental illness.

Due to the word’s historically applied stigma, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, a LGBT news media outlet, listed “homosexual” as an offensive term in its media reference guide because it is “aggressively used by anti-gay extremists to suggest that gay people are somehow diseased or psychologically/emotionally disordered…”

“The problem with the term ‘homosexual’ is (that) it has the word ‘homo’ in it, which of course has always been used as a slur and is now seen as both reductive and

narrow,” Paul Jay, an English professor at Loyola University, reported. “And then it has ‘sexual’ in it…it reduces identity to sex and what we like to think of as sexual orientation.”

The Associated Press Stylebook also made a change in referencing the word. In 2005, the Associated Press Stylebook wrote that “gay” was “acceptable as a popular synonym for both male and

“Gay men have done this thing where they’re taking the word ‘queer’ back,” Mogilevsky stated.

“Instead of it being used as a negative, it’s used as a positive.”

Queer Nation NY, an activist organization founded in 1990, is dedicated to ending violence and discrimination against the LGBT community. Andrew Miller, a member of Queer Nation, explains the history behind the word “queer.”

“Our decision to use the word ‘queer’ to describe ourselves in the early ‘90s was first and foremost a political act of empowerment,” Miller stated. “It showed people that what they perceived as something negative, being gay or lesbian or bi or trans, we saw as something positive.”

Miller defines the word “queer” as an individual who is male, female, transgender, gay, lesbian, bisexual or straight.

“Queer is a way of expressing a sexual or gender identity that doesn’t conform to traditional, heteronormative ideas about sex, gender and sexual politics,” Miller explained.

“The Queer Nation Manifesto,” published by the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power in 1990, addresses the transition from the label “gay” to “queer.”

“Using ‘queer’ is a way of reminding us how we are perceived by the rest of the world,” the ACT UP pamphlet states. “It’s a way of telling ourselves we don’t have to be witty and charming people who keep our lives discreet and marginalized in the straight world…Queer, unlike gay, doesn’t mean male.”

The evolution of the word “homosexual” to more encompassing words such as “gay” and “queer” reflects how organizations now treat gender. Instead of strict “male” or “female” categories, some companies are offering gender-neutral or customizable options for gender labels.

For 10 years, Facebook offered only “male” or “female” as gender options. In Feb. 2014, Facebook allowed U.S. users to choose from 50 different genders including cisgender, gender fluid, questioning and pangender.

Jay, who touches on queer theory in his English courses, believes that the former Facebook gender categories isolated users.

“Those categories inevitably (had) a policing element to them,” Jay said. “They’re constricting and enforce dominant ideas about how people conform. They’ve been used to discriminate against and oppress people.”

Universities have also expanded former gender norms by allowing gender-neutral housing and creating unisex or gender-neutral bathrooms.

The Human Rights Campaign compiled a list of 139 gender-neutral student housing in the U.S. including University of Michigan, Brown University, Stanford University and Harvard University.

The University of Chicago reports that 2 percent of the student population opts for its Open Housing program.

Washington College in Maryland will offer gender-neutral housing in the upcoming fall. The college’s student organization, Encouraging Respect

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Adam Mogilevsky, a Loyola University Chicago student and member of Interfaith Advocate, believes that the label “gay” may become outdated in the future.

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BROAD Info + Editors

President Barack Obama also refrains from the label “homosexual.” According to a Human Rights Campaign report, Obama used the word “gay” a total of 272 times in the last five years, surpassing any other president. He also used “transgender” 33 times, “bisexual” 28 times and “lesbian” 88 times.

The University of Chicago reports that 2 percent of the student population opts for its Open Housing program.

BROAD Info + Editors

BROAD Info + Editors

female homosexuals.” In 2006, the term changed to describe men and women who are attracted to each other and is “preferred over homosexual.”

of Sexuality, offered ideas about the new housing plan. Washington College Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life Carl Crowe stated that the plan hasn’t received any backlash.

“Really, the community, as a whole, has embraced this as an opinion for all students, regardless of gender identity,” Crowe said.

Universities are also offering genderless bathrooms. Refuegerestroom.org records bathrooms that provide a safe environment for transgender, intersex and nonconforming individuals. It has 10 pages of gender-neutral bathrooms including Loyola University Chicago, Argo Tea Café, Caribou Coffee and O’Hare International Airport.

A gender-neutral bathroom sign at Loyola University Chicago’s Damen Student Center “We have gender-neutral bathrooms already in a couple of our residence halls, but we are planning a broader discussion on how to best offer gender-neutral bathrooms all around campus,” Crowe stated. “I suspect we’ll see it within a year.”

A gender-neutral bathroom sign at Loyola University Chicago’s Damen Student Center

The decreased usage of the word “homosexual” and the increase use of “gay” and “queer” have opened the door to gender-neutral and genderless options. Customizable gender options on Facebook, unisex bathrooms and gender-neutral student housing are just some features that have accompanied the evolution of LGBT labels.

A band marches to celebrate the annual Detroit’s Motor City Pride parade in 2013

broadside poetry in street lit style Elishah Virani

On any bad day, he makes me smile, For me, he’ll always go the extra mile.

No matter the hour, no matter the day, If I need him, he’ll always find a way.

love has no bounds

He holds me close, he holds me tight, t.

It’s us against the world, an ongoing figh But no matter what, he promises me, , That he loves me more than I will ever see say, And that in the end, no matter what they .

They can’t pull us apart, he’s here to stay Is this not love? Is this not true devotion? on?

Then why must everyone create a commoti , Simply because he is a man, and I am too And such a love is immoral, untrue. , So we sit hand in hand, hoping and praying saying, That society will finally hear what we’re

Love has no bounds, love feels no rage.

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age, That no matter the race, the gender, the

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just words? just speeches?

Leslie Feinberg, Trans Author

History, in the hands of those who have the most to gain from change, is a formidable weapon.

That’s why the colonizers and imperialists always burned and destroyed the historical accounts of those they conquered.

The search for a gay gene in a society in which gay and lesbian love is illegal and brutalized is about as ‘objective’ as a scientific study of potential differences between Jewish and Gentile brains would be if it were conducted in Germany during the rise of fascism.

Gender variance, sex change, and intersexuality appear to have existed globally throughout the history of human societies.

We need more language than just feminine/masculine, straight/gay, either/or. Men are not from Mars and women are not from Venus.

We all live on the same planet.

So how can gender expression be mandated by edict and enforced by law? Isn’t that like trying to handcuff a pool of mercury?

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Jerise Fogel

Artist: Jerise Fogel

Words from the Artist: I am a papercut and calligraphy artist living in New York City. Transgender thinking has the power to transform and renew our ideas about gender, race, and class. I try with many of my papercuts to pay homage to activists and artists who should be better known by the general public, and Zoraida is one of these. Her story, while sad and also enraging, has the potential to bring to light the violence faced by transgender women every day, to unleash activist action, and ultimately to carry forward her goals.

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Zoraida

In the (k)now Knowledge is power. Power is change. Change is good.

Sylvia Bennett

Talking out of Both Sides:

Internalized Prejudice and the LGBTQIA community

I’ll admit it, when I first saw the “Straight but not Narrow” campaign, I scoffed. Like the heterosexual community needs yet another opportunity to reconcile the apparently mind-boggling concept of LGBTQIA. Puhlease. But I claim to be an

open-minded, socially aware individual, so I held back the oncoming eye-roll and headed to the website. Under their “About” section, I stumbled upon this:

Identifying yourself as LGBTQIA does not magically absolve you of the ability to be prejudiced.

Being gay doesn’t give you a “Get out of jail free” card for being biphobic or sexist. Claiming you are an ally or saying things like “but I love the gays” doesn’t mean you aren’t still perpetuating homophobia, and certainly does not mean that you don’t deserve hella side-eye for saying things like that.

If you have to include “but I’m a feminist/lesbian/gay/ally/liberal/etc” to a comment, get out your fedora because you officially have “nice guy” syndrome. Hate is a habit, learned over the course of generations and often internalized in nuanced and subtle ways. It isn’t something that suddenly disappears, but requires constant and conscientious notice. I struggle with it every single day. And it’s in very little things, like criti-

cizing someone’s eyebrows or grumbling because ugh she would say that. But when I catch myself thinking that way, I have to stop and reevaluate.

My favorite mantra is that my opinion of someone will never be as important as their opinion of themselves, and vice versa. My conception of being LGBTQIA is not the same as anyone else’s, and that’s okay. Different is not better or worse, it is another unique facet of a diverse and ever-changing amalgamation.

The LGBTQIA community has survived a long history of hate and violence and intolerance, promoting against all odds a message of love and acceptance. As members of community, part of that history, when we criticize or make fun of others for their gender and sexuality, what mindset are we really perpetuating? What message are we sending? The burden is on us to effect change, and the only tool we have is ourselves.

If we as individuals don’t promote tolerance and broad-mindedness, then it will never come to fruition.

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I’m still trying to figure it out myself and it’s been a messy, complicated road thus far, let me tell you. So when a friend publicly out-ed me, incorrectly, inconveniently, and uncomfortably, I was a wonderful mixture of anger, hurt, shame, and confusion. So when I sat down to write for this issue, the coincidence was not lost on me. The act of understanding your gender/sexuality can be so difficult in itself, and to have a loved one or friend or anyone minimize you because of it can be crushing. Especially when they should know better.

Identifying yourself as LGBTQIA does not magically absolve you of the ability to be prejudiced. Being gay doesn’t give you a “Get out of jail free” card for being biphobic or sexist.

BROAD Info + Editors

And my Grinch heart grew three sizes. But really, there’s nothing that I don’t support in that statement, and if that is what SBNN encompasses then it’s doing better than some LGBTQIA organizations at facilitating discussion about how to respect all genders and sexual orientations.

Because for as much as that community actively promotes open-mindedness (as it should) there is an unfortunately high amount of prejudice that still exists. Because even with the increasing number of convenient labels and online tests (see http://lonerwolf.com/pansexual/) you can take to figure out your sexuality, it can be an extremely difficult process.

BROAD Info + Editors

BROAD Info + Editors

“People should simply be allowed to be the most authentic version of themselves without the risk of being made to feel that they are anything less than awesome. I am awesome. You are awesome.”

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just words? just speeches?

Audre Lorde, Pt. 1

It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences.

In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason for celebration and growth, rather than a reason for destruction.

The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.

I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified, because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves.

We’ve been taught that silence would save us, but it won’t

The failure of academic feminists to recognize difference as a crucial strength is a failure to reach beyond the first patriarchal lesson. In our world, divide and conquer must become define and empower.

words are useless

Gender Identity Part 5 Artist: Thomas Levesley, www.thomaslevesley.com

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sometimes words aren’t enough Thomas Levesley

madads busted advertising, bustling economy Truth in Advertising

Consider: Truth in Advertising is a non-profit organization that seeks to inform consumers and fact-check advertisements in order to raise awareness about deceptive advertising for the public. Yet their “The Truth’s Not Always Easy” ad represents a transgender woman in an offensive and dishonest manner, ignorant of the “truth” of being transgender.

1. How does this ad reinforce misconceptions about transgendered individuals?

2. The woman says, “You should know I’m a man…” How does this reinforce the idea that gender is equivalent to biological sex?

3. What is the effect of juxtaposing a transgender woman with scenes of deception and dishonesty?

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First Sentence:

Released: 1999

Genre:

osexuality Nonfiction, Hom Wit and Humor, Gay and Humor

“The theme song pla ys, accompanied by the usual scenes—with a few added shots of W ilma and Betty lookin g meaningfully at one another.”

otes: Notable Qwuords you’ve avoid-

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s Bett Wilma Love assart, and Scott Br ya K. Trevel n plays, n y and lesbia compiles ga cerpts ex A & Q d s an poetry, storie rtaining volume. ente to create an critiques invents and re l ve no The controon h uc re to to litics, popular cultu po as topics such y. versial LGBT m ar e th d an religion, sex

The writing may be comical, but it also deals with serious topics by approaching them in a humorous way. In “Who Cares if It’s a Choice” by Ellen Orleans, the protagonists answers many questions that are asked to the gay and lesbian community such as “Why do lesbians want to look like men?” and “Does just one homosexual experience make you lesbian or gay?” The narrator responds to these questions with exaggerated stereotypes, so absurd that readers can’t help but find the underlying meaning.

The 314-page novel is also divided into 44 short entries, creating the perfect pick-me-up for readers with busy schedules.

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Recommendations:

Wilma Loves Betty is a creative gem. Where else can you imagine Prince Charming more attracted to Cinderella’s dress than the woman herself or have The Flintstones’ Wilma and Betty choosing a dildo together? Popular culture characters such as Chandler Bing, Batman, Nancy Drew, Dorian Gray (referred to as Dorian Gay) and Xena establish their own gay and lesbian fictional realm. This is an artistic playground for writers to reinvent characters to fit their own needs and fill the missing void in hetero-normative popular culture.

. Utter those e and then “’Say it Betty on prime tim s ar ye e es th ed all cable.’” ught a oor and I bo d e th t u o d Heterosex“Then I walke God-train to e th n o et ck one-way ti st people!” pulation: mo ualityville. Po xual experiany homose ad h e av might h u “So if yo lating as they u im st n o n r ll o st ences, as du to your neare rn yourself in iatetu , ed n m ee b im r e hav d registe an r te n ce n ithin 10 gay or lesbia sent to you w e b ill w .

I.D ly. Your gay s.” working day

Middle Eastern Musings A Dive Into The Dead Sea Abeer Allan

An Angry Lesbian in the Middle East “We are judged everywhere we go,” she said to her friend. “People judge us based on the looks, they call girls with short haircuts “boya”, which is basically using the word as if it is the “female version” of the word boy. They also refer to soft men as “tant” which is offensive for men as it is meant in a way to underestimate their masculinity, and they can literally get us fired from work, or be kicked out of the house if they find out about our sexuality.”

“Now the story does not end here, does it?” he asked her with a sad look in his eyes.

“No my dear, it never does.” She tapped on his left shoulder and went on explaining, “You know, I just want to let this out, I am starting to believe that our community is being so judged that we ourselves got lost in this judgmental world and ended up judging ourselves, our community and whoever walks in or out!” She lit a cigarette and looked away with anger starting to show in her

tone. “Almost every time I try to get closer to a woman, because of my “too feminine” looks they would assume that I am straight, freak out and walk away, and wait it gets better.” she said. ”When I date a butch, I can’t introduce her to the family because of the obvious looks and we end up taking our separate ways since my family does not know.

You see my friend, here in the community almost everything is based on pure first judgment of the looks, without considering the brains, the heart, and the purity of the human being standing right in front of them, just like our society judging us.”

“Babe, I am being judged for being the soft man they don’t want to see in the society,” he said.

“And I am being adored in the community, but yet not for anything but the looks, and you are being judged for who you are “special-friends” with in front of your family, and being judged in our own community for looking the way you like to look. I know you are angry, I know you have been through so much…”

“It is not about the judgments anymore,” she interrupted him, with tears starting to fill her eyes. “Now, it is about the heartache, it is about who I am, where do I feel accepted, and to just be?!”

“You know, you make perfect sense,” she told him.

“Sometimes all we need is pure heart talk. Thank you.”

She stared at the glass of red wine in her right hand, and saw shades of her eyes reflected in the glass as if they were staring right back at her, then thought to herself “Imagine a life where lesbians are accepted, and the whole idea of being queer is no longer queer…”

The voice of her friend interrupted her.

“I was 15 when I started feeling things towards men,” he said. “I was a religious little boy, and I refused to accept those feelings. I started having dreams of being with men, and I freaked out! So I started praying more and seeing different sheikhs hoping I will be cured, but nothing worked. I tried for 3 years to “cure” myself but everything went in vain, that’s when I started realizing it was not a disease, gay is normal, gay is who I am, lesbian is who you, straight is who Layla our friend is.”

“And now thinking about it, these are just labels we are putting for what we mainly like to do in bed, and for who we like to hold hands with, which I find ridiculous!” she interrupted.

“We need to start talking more openly about it,” he continued. “This fear you and I have of coming out will be in the way of our moving on with someone special in life.”

“No, I can’t come out not because of fear but love.

There is no need to let the people who sacrificed for me the most to know about this, not because their love might change or the way they see me would, but because I worry how they will feel,” she explained to him. “Will they get a heart attack? Will they blame themselves forever? We always strive to be accepted for who we are, but how about we accept them for who they are, for the ideas they were born with? I can’t come and change that for them when they are this old. Besides, I live alone, my personal life is mine.”

“But if we say this for every case then we will never be accepted,” he said. “And that is the root of our issue. We need to change their mindset about homosexuality, about the way the LGBT community is viewed, I believe we need to start talking about it more openly and make people understand it even if we start talking about it as if we are straight and hiding our identity, then little by little we come out, we ask for our rights, because this is a social change, one that is influenced also by religion, so it won’t be easy but it has to be done, slowly.”

“Now thinking about it this way, you are right,” she realized. “Enough with the lies, the double lives we are having, the fears, the mocking and the bullying. Enough.”

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He tried again to explain. “Wherever you go, this will be found, you do not need to be homosexual to feel rejected, yet it sure has a higher probability of happening, but it is okay, you know why? It is no longer about the groups, we live in a fast-changing world, and people could fall in love over screens for God’s sake! This change made us live in a more of a materialistic world, but some people are coming back to their senses and realizing the need of the true emotions in their lives, those people will come together and that’s what you need, so again, it is no longer about the groups or the judging or the lifestyle, it is about the fulfilling satisfaction that you will receive from the special woman who will see through you.”

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When I date a butch, I can’t introduce her to the family because of the obvious looks and we end up taking our separate ways...

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“It is just too hard to grow up in a family that expects you to live the traditional “normal” way, and then you just walk away from all of it, the traditions, and the life they planned for you. You leave it all to the one place you thought was safe, and you get rejected!”

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“This is all because you are unique, you being who you are is always good enough, and for those who want to judge you they actually make it easier for you to eliminate them off your close circle of friends or the special one,” he replied. “And for this particular reason, the one who will appreciate you for who you are, and will like the good and accept the bad, that will be the unique special one to remain in your life, she will be the person who will not ask you to change to fit into any community’s or society’s standards.”

ad(vance) a picutre is worth 1,000 words Oreo, Armani, Absolut

Consider: 1. Walking the fine line between exploitation and inclusion: will gay pay?

2. At what point does inclusion become detrimental to our communities?

3. Who gets to choose how the LGBTQIA community is portrayed in media?

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words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Miyuki Baker

Queer

Artist: Miyuki Baker

As a queer, multi-racial/lingual female mixed-media artist activist, I use common or discarded objects, personal anecdotes, public spaces, the internet and performance to make accessible art that brings non-mainstream identities and ideas into maximum visibility.

For the past three years, I have been on the road making art/performing, conducting independent journalism, and leading workshops in mostly queer and trans communities. From 2012-2013 I embarked on a 14-month trip around the world making zines, exploring the art making of queer communities in eight countries. I was curious to know why a certain media of artistic expression was chosen over another, and if these decisions were enhanced or altered by the social and political environments or historical traditions of a country.

As a self-published and low-budget medium, I believe zines are such a powerful way to record and share the stories and creativity of people not represented in mainstream media. My publishing “house� Queer Scribe Productions is meant to not only represent the importance of alternative media and documentation but also the need for communities to create their own visibility.

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Scribe

BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities Megha Patel

Coming out of the Closet

What’s your LGBTIQ?

Gender Expression in a Kindergarten Classroom When I was asked to contribute to this issue of BROAD magazine, my first thought was “I wish I knew then what I know now.” I was a kindergarten and first grade teacher for thirteen years and then became a substitute teacher for grades K-8.

I have now been subbing for eleven years.

One of my first years of teaching kindergarten I had a little boy who would hide in the “cubbie” every day when he came to school. It was his daily routine. He would come in the room, open the closet door, hang up his backpack, and then close himself inside the closet. I’d say, “Hi, Jeffrey!

Glad you are here! Come on out!” He would then come out and join the other kids on the carpet to being the day with our opening activities.

About ten years later, I ran into Jeffrey. He had make-up on and his nails were polished with red fingernail polish. I asked him how he was doing, and he told me that he had dropped out of school. I remember feeling so sad for Jeffrey that he had dropped out, and remembered what

a nice kid he was. Could I have done something different to help Jeffrey back in kindergarten?

Years later, I took a class called “Helping LGBT Students in the Classroom”. It truly opened my eyes. I learned so much from taking this class, and I wish I had taken it years earlier. I immediately thought of Jeffrey, who I am sure felt so different from other kids every day. I should have done more to help him back then. It was a daily occurrence in the lunch room to hear kids say, “That’s so gay” or “You’re gay” with nothing being done about it. I can only imagine how that made some students feel daily.

I realize now that children know at such a young age how they feel. Educators need to be tuned in to all children and make sure that school is a safe environment for everyone. No child should ever feel that they need to stay in the closet.

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One of my first years of teaching kindergarten I had a little boy who would hide in the “cubbie” every day when he came to school.

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message me we asked. you answered.

BROAD people

October 2014

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BROAD

ADS MAD TE QUO ER N COR

tell-a-vision visions & revisions of our culture(s) Legislative Theatre

AL L TE ON VISI

-ATELL N VISIO

EN/ SCRE Y PLA

COR E T QUO ER N

ARK M K BOO RE HE

BROAD N ATIO LIBER ERS D LEA

LTY FACU D E E F

Consider:

EER CAR L CAL

WLA ED IMAT REAN

R NTEE VOLU CES VOI

The Legislative Theatre Festival, created by AD the Theare of the Oppressed in New York City, uses “representation BRO P E C through improvisation” to raise awareness groups, including the LGBTIQ RE A about discrimination against oppressed GE M ESSA M community. The audience watches powerful plays that demonstrate instances of discrimination or violence.

NG ISITI R community members to propose legislation inThen, the audience collaborates with policy makers andVother O EDIT spired by the stories on stage.

E ID T E GO WE’V IL MA

1. What do think about this form of activism?

E 2. How effective are the arts at raising awareness about social justice ANC issues?

ADV 3. Does this type of activism simply raise awareness, ICRO or go beyond awareness to encourage action?

Link:

http://vimeo.com/93186132

M ES AGR S N SHU

D A O BR

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What’s your LGBTIQ? BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities Nell Cook

I may not be an LGBTIQ Expert An expert on the subject? Not even close. It’s only been in recent years that I even payed any attention to the subject and only because it made national headlines. So much has changed in a world I know very little about. Skimming the internet this afternoon to try to get educated was definitely eye opening and humbling. The issues and challenges that affect this diverse group are mind blowing and thought provoking. It’s like the cause for social justice for this group makes a baby step toward progress and two giant leaps backwards and it seems like it happens on a daily basis. This is just my observation while others may disagree.

What do I know? Not much on LGBTQ issues but I can learn. Thirty years ago there were no digital magazines or print magazines on the subject.

It rarely made national news or even local news for that matter.Cell phones were non-existent.

There were no TV shows with openly gay characters. Transgender definitely not. No radio stations devoted to just this group. No Facebook, no Instagram, Twitter or any other social media outlet that would have let their voices be heard.

A lot has changed. For that I am grateful. Grateful that I can surf the net and learn more about their challenges and more about their successes.

A big thank you to BROAD magazine and also for Loyola’s supporting it. It has opened my eyes to a lot of interesting and uncomfortable topics that is allowing me to open discussions surrounding these subject matters. I may not be an expert but through these different media outlets I am proud to say I am learning more which is in turn helping me to play a better role of advocate not only for those who need it but also listening to the success stories of those who advocated on their own.

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just words? just speeches?

Kate Bornstein, Trans Actor

In gender, passing is currently defined as the act of appearing in the world as a gender to which one does not belong, or as a gender to which one did not formerly belong.

Most passing is undertaken in response to the cultural imperative to be one gender or the other.

Gender implies class, and class implies inequality.

Fight rather for the deconstruction of gender-it would get to the same place much faster.

The culture itself is obsessed with gender—and true to form, the culture as a whole will be the last to find out how obsessed it really has been . . . Some people think I want a world without gender, something bland and colorless: that’s so far from how I live! I love playing with genders, and I love watching people play with all the shades and flavors that gender can come in. I just want to question what we’ve been holding on to for such an awfully long time.

Religions may dictate right and proper behavior for men and women, but no religion actually lays out what is a man and what is a woman. They assume we know, and that’s how deep this cultural assumption runs.

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We are the pyschotics, the murderers, or the criminal geniuses who populate the movies. Audiences have rarely seen the real faces of the transgendered. They don’t hear our voices, rarely read our words.

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words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Ryan Johnson

Margaret Cho Artist: Ryan Johnson

Margaret Cho herself is a leader in the forefront of equality. She is such a visionary. This is why I had to capture her in my unique style of art.

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There is . . . an extensive medical and psychological literature that treats transgender phenomena as a personal (and pathological) deviation from social norms of healthy gender expression.

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just words? just speeches?

Susan Stryker

Because they were legally men (with male genitalia in spite of their social lives as women and often in spite of having breasts and no facial hair) they would be placed in the men’s jail, where their femininity made them especially vulnerable to sexual assault, rape, and murder.

Because most people have great difficulty recognizing the humanity of another person if they cannot recognize that person’s gender, the genderchanging person can evoke in others a promordial fear of monstrosity, or loss of humanness.

Nontransgender people, after all, think of themselves as having a gender, or being a gender, and nobody asks them to defend the political correctness of their ‘choice’ in the matter.

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Secondary sex characteristics constitute perhaps the most socially significant part of morphology—taken together, they are the bodily ‘signs’ that others read to guess at our sex, attribute gender to us, and assign us to the social category they understand to be most appropriate for us.

(In)visible Negotiating Transient Visibilities Alex White

A Statement Revisited Bringing this column together entailed a lengthy series of starts and stops, as I was trying to force this into something I felt readers might feel fell squarely within the issue’s topic of LGBT-IQ. Perhaps over the course of writing this, it might fit the topic but I’ve let go of my attachment to that happening. I will go ahead and say that there is no neat answer at the end of this that ties every-

thing together and I think that is okay and, to an extent, to be expected.

A few weeks ago, I was in the middle of an interview with a doctoral candidate and towards the end of the interview I was asked if there are things that I am currently struggling with regarding my trans identity. Unlike many of the other

As a child, I would hear my mom say she was tired of having to fight so hard for the right to be soft and the positions defending that right put her in throughout her life; the penalty prescribed

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by many different people. Frankly, I think what I wanted to say when answering the interviewer’s question, is that someone might read the fact that I don’t identify as a Black woman as directly linked to a desire to be distanced from what Black women face. While that view would be incorrect, as I chose to live my life authentically, I’m aware that I can’t control the perceptions of others but I am grateful that my answer came so swiftly. It has pushed me to continue to explore and work through the various things that engendered my response; building on the foundation laid in my past.

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As I’m writing this, I remember a conversation with an older friend of mine. As we were talking, I could hear an old, unhealed wound I realized I had seen in different forms on other Black women in my life. She was expressing her frustrations at people constantly assuming she was strong, without need or desire for support. That, in actuality, she actually needed and wanted support from others and a respite from people coming for her. Blurring this conversation with other things I’ve heard from older Black women in my youth, there is a penalty exacted against Black women if they deviate from the old and deadly stereotypes of the Strong Black Woman and the Sassy Black Woman and depict a form of tenderness, particularly tenderness towards themselves.

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The experiences of the Black women in my life as well as my own when I was read as a Black woman and, to a lesser extent, the books I’ve read both in higher education and on my own, have cemented my desire for and love of an anti-kyriachal praxis that centers Black women and protects them. Perhaps it was learning about the numerous ways Black women are consistently thrown under the bus, erased from history and denied protection and care in our society that brought forth my answer to the interviewer’s question.

As we were talking, I could hear an old, unhealed wound I realized I had seen in different forms on other Black women in my life.

She was expressing her frustrations at people constantly assuming she was strong, without need or desire for support. srotidE + ofnI DAORB

questions I was asked, the answer to this one came out without a moment to think through my response: I wrestle with the fact that my trans identity would be/could be read as a betrayal to (and?) by Black women. My response gave me pause during the interview and has been a constant undercurrent to most of my thoughts since that evening. I know that my response in no way meant that I regret or wish that I could take back my decision although I am still trying on new identity words to see if they fit and that I can give to other people when/if asked. I also didn’t mean that my trans identity or trans folks in general should be labeled as betrayers or sell-outs. I want to stress that my response and the rest of this column is about me and is not representative of any group.

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Robert Mendoza

Artist: Robert Mendoza

Words from the Artist: I’ve been photographing the New York Gay Pride Parade since about 2001, and every year it seems to get a little grander and a little bolder. To feel part of a community whose members cross national, religious, political and gender boundaries yet are united by something as “simple” as love can be incredibly re-energizing. For those few hours under the hot June sun, you can, regardless of the adversities you face, celebrate with thousands of other kindred souls. You can be feathered. You can be fabulous. You can be magnificent and insurmountable... all while wrapped in a rainbow.

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Gay Pride Parade

What’s your LGBTIQ? BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities Megha Patel

Two Moms and Purple Pants “Ew!” my 4 year old cousin told me. “Two girls kissing? That’s weird!” Her statement had taken me aback. She had been sitting on the floor, playing with her Nintendo DS, while I was watching the newest episode of “The Fosters” on ABC Family. I didn’t think she had been watching, and

my initial feeling was one of fear. Was she going to go home and tell her parents about what she saw on TV while she was with me? As being one of those first-generation American-born children of Indian immigrants, I am unfortunately aware of how narrow-minded our parents can be. Their

Learning and accepting everything there is to the LGBTQ community isn’t the difficult part.

The difficult part is accepting it and then realizing how much restraint and discrimination is put against it to the point where it can affect your own daily life, whether or not you consider yourself a part of the LGBTQ community. Nobody, especially the children of today who are some of the first kids to ever grow up in a generation where gay rights are openly prominent, should have to have their opinions torn down by those who feel the need to teach discrimination.

I look at Riya and hope just this once that if she does ever face the challenge of defending LGBTQ rights, she’ll do it not to be rebellious, but to defend her best friend with the purple pants.

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The innocence of children is incredible. They see the world like tiny scientists - they make their own hypotheses, find their own evidence, and somehow come to a conclusion. Sometimes their conclusions require them to change their frames of references. Riya initially thought that two girls kissing is weird, but the moment she remembered her best friend Kylie’s moms, her frame of reference shifted. Two girls kissing isn’t weird anymore. She moved on to talking about purple pants. This is something she has learned, on her own. And as she moves on with life, she will come to learn that LGBTQ families exist and that they’re a thing and that these people live real lives much like her own. She’ll be fine with this knowledge, unless people tell her otherwise.

She will be fine unless her parents tell her she’s wrong and that she shouldn’t be friends with Kylie anymore. She’ll be fine unless she can’t watch her favorite TV show without hiding in her room as I do. She’ll be fine unless she realizes that she herself has always been gay but can’t come out to her parents because of their narrow-mindedness.

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What shocked me was what she said afterwards.

“Kylie’s moms do that too.” I tuned out the TV at this point and poked my head over the bed to see her better. I asked her who Kylie was. “My best friend.” She says. “She has purple pants.”

Yet my four year old cousin Riya is anything but rebellious, she does as she’s told. The minute her parents tell her that homosexuality is wrong – she’ll agree.

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narrow-mindedness had led them to disapprove of anything that isn’t heterosexual and I, being the rebellious child I am, to disagree with them.

Yet my four year old cousin Riya is anything but rebellious, she does as she’s told. The minute her parents tell her that homosexuality is wrong – she’ll agree.

broadside poetry in street lit style Megan Benton

New Orleans Black in the middle of spring Brass players congregating As we prepare for the second line My gown covering internal agony What’s next?

Success, failure, endless possibilities Love covering my skin Sweat drenching from my locs Grass beneath my feet I walk in violation The leaders of the elite institution said: “All women must wear black dresses to com mencement” No professor ever gave a lesson on gender expression Why must womanhood be wrapped in exp ectation?

So I wear black Black button, slacks and loafers All designed for male Partially following directions But why must I be directed by gender I’ve always fallen somewhere in between Restroom doors swinging off of filthy hing es With signs dangling Reading male or female There is no third entrance The world gender phobic I gender fucked

boi

Piss runs down my leg in disbelief Who knew that dumping waste could be so complicated?

I was taught to act like a lady Institutionalized to be feminine Somewhere in between learning to put on lip gloss I fell in love with masculinity Hiding my body from the hyper sexual fant asies of men twice my age Joe boxers painting against these curvy hips Like graffiti paints a glow on cold brick in Los Angeles I hid myself behind graphic tees that said : “Fuck you pay me”

Pay me attention It takes a lot courage to be vulnerable Walking in violence

(born obviously incredible).

Megan identifies as a black, lesbian, boi e educator who is passionate Megan is a social justice and racial justic for students to dialogue space king about providing a thought provo diverse identities. and lex comp their of about the intersections ’s LBGT Campus Resource Megan is the Assistant Director and UCLA and performing poetry, ng writi Center. Megan’s specialties include tives. Megan has a narra ral cultu ring explo community building and ersity and a MA in Clinical BA in Communications from Dillard Univ es from Antioch University Psychology with emphasis in LGBTQ studi ng, cooking and beach writi ss, fitne s of Los Angeles. Megan enjoy et.com. hepo tionst .emo www age days. Visit her webp

Wear that Bowtie with pride Folded into perspective subordinate Difference is not taught but learned to be In elementary school Perspective felt meaningless und Abnormality fractured faces on the playgro lk Potential was written on the wall with cha I was a masterpiece easily erased Blood covering skin Knuckles tearing my beauty Feet folding and stomping my insides out Bullied for being a he she man out of me I guess they thought they could beat the Who am I safe to be?

Resiliency made me a success I am BOI B-O-I Beaten outwardly and internally Difference holds so much potential Boi Born obviously incredible Especially when you wear it pretty

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Men afraid of losing privilege Women afraid of difference Dapper, clean cut Locs twisted to the scalp Tappers, line of precision See I make masculinity look pretty We make masculinity look pretty Me&MyBois Brown Boi Theta Boi Queer Boi Boi B-O-I Born obviously incredible

message me we asked. you answered.

BROAD people

BROAD October 2014

Yes, people are people.

Yes to bisexual, no to transgender

Yes, because personality is what counts!

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Would you date a bisexual or transgender person?

No to transgender. I want to understand it but just don’t.

Yes. Love is not exclusive.

I don’t think I could date a bisexual person out of fear of them discovering they don’t like my gender and aren’t attracted to me after all.

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Of course!

Liberation Leaders Illuminating Then & Now, Inspiring Forever Tona Brown, Trans Violinist

Importance to Social Justice: n that It is in her willingness to be visible and outspoke major in ence pres Brown makes the largest impact. Her own performance venues and her openness about her African identity provide a role model for transgender and ted in esen rrepr American musicians who are vastly unde ce at the classical music world. Her June 2014 performan egie Carnegie Hall was named, “From Stonewall to Carn mucom QIA Hall,” an homage to the struggles of the LGBT , “This is nity from 1969 to today. Her debut album is titled poscom rican Ame an Who I Am,” and it pays tribute to Afric ts. talen ers and spirituals that inspire her own musical goals, In encouraging transgender youth to achieve their is to not alBrown states, “My advice for transgender youth worthy of low others to make you believe that you are not you how tell achieving whatever dreams you have. I can’t would not many people had no problems telling me that I succeed being ‘out’, as a transgender artist.”

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Inspi Brow res: n ser ves a nons mu an crimi sicians w inspiratio natio ho fa n for n c crow m d-fun when fol e margina usicians lowin ded h plifyi and l i zatio ng ho g e w ha r way to C their drea n or dissupp rd or m a achie t of other work, det rnegie Ha s. She l e v p l , exem r e e m her op in Sun, “ You c goals. Sh le can ena ation, and a b e t choo ses to n’t tell me once told le a perso he n I can’ rema t gend to h e Ba t in ou er, an tspok do somet ltimore d dis hing crim en o obsta ination, d n issues o .” She e cles a f nd cr spite num race, itics. erous

ad(vance) a picutre is worth 1,000 words Stonewall Series

Consider: Stonewall: Ending Homophobia in the Workplace 1. How effective is this ad campaign at addressing homophobia in the workplace?

2. What is its message?

3. What would you add or change about it, if anything?

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World of Women Measuring the Strength of Women in Pounds & Kilos Elishah Virani

Filipino Perspective

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Me: Alberto, what sexuality do you identify with?

Alberto: You mean, at home or with my friends?

Haha. I am bisexual.

Me: But your family doesn’t know this?

Alberto: No Me: Are they not accepting of the LGBTQ community?

Alberto: It’s kind of a double standard. They’d be okay with it if someone else came out, they’d support them. But I’m pretty sure that if I came out, they’d be more upset than supportive.

Me: Does that have anything to do with your culture?

Alberto: Very much so, actually. My family is very traditional and religious as well. They believe in the traditional male-female relationship and household.

They had never seen male-male or female-female relationships back in their village in the Philippines, so they aren’t very accustomed to it.

Me: So, would you say that most older-generation Filipinos are the same way?

Alberto: Some more than others. I think that the families that have spent more time in the United States or anywhere that there is a larger LGBTQ community are more likely to be accepting, whereas people that have spent more time in the Philippines are less likely to accept different sexualities.

Me: You said that your parents would be more accepting if it were someone else instead of you. Why is that?

Alberto: They’re always worried about what other people will say. I know that they would take their relatives and friends’ opinions into consideration before making a decision and that is the biggest influence. They don’t want people talking about them or their family. If people weren’t a factor, I know for a fact that they would be okay with me being bisexual.

It’s kind of a double standard. They’d be okay with it if someone else came out, they’d support them. But I’m pretty sure that if I came out, they’d be more upset than supportive.

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Me: Do you think Filipinos have come a long way in their beliefs about homosexuality and bisexuality?

Alberto: Yes. I feel like a lot of Filipinos have really started opening their mind to the idea, not just in the US, but in the Philippines as well. In fact, there have been a lot of new organizations in support of LGBTQ, a lot of them established by universities.

There was also a gay rights parade, and they had a lot of support.

Me: Keeping that in mind, do you think that in 5 years, you could hypothetically go to the Philippines and come out?

Alberto: Absolutely. I think Filipinos are becoming very open-minded and although I don’t feel ready now, I’m sure that in a few years we’ll have progressed more and I’ll feel more comfortable talking about my sexuality with other Filipinos.

A lot of older-generation people are starting to wrap their heads around the idea of different sexualities, not only in the Philippines, but in countries all over the world including Africa, India, and more.

Although they aren’t completely accepting, they are making progress, one step at a time.

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As LGBTQ awareness spreads across the world, some people and countries are affected by it differently than others. One such example is that of the Philippines. My friend Alberto Aquino was kind enough to answer some questions about his sexuality in terms of his Filipino heritage.

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screen/play film review, justice take The Fosters

Released: June 2013

Major Cast:

Teri Polo, Sherri Saum

Where to Find: Netflix, Television

Review and Description:

For all the Netflix junkies and tv show bingers, I highly encourage you to add one more show to your “well-deserved” addiction. The Fosters is a TV show that captures the essence of Critical Race Theory, a statement of commitment to uphold the multiple intersections of identities when examining, analyzing and confronting oppressions in all forms. In this show each character is carefully crafted to portray the experience of so many people you may know or identify with.

The storyline of this show follows two mothers working together to raise 5 beautiful teenagers, who are each going through their individual struggles and achievements with in their identity development. Since 5 of the main characters are young adults, you will catch a myriad of lessons that remind us to think about how far we’ve come along in our development process as individuals.

This show brings many themes to the surface, found in interracial relationships, foster youth, LGBT parenting, microagressions, healthy relationships, the educational system and many others. I love when television goes beyond entertainment and adds key elements of substance. Given that youth and adults make up the audience viewing this show it allows viewers to have thought provoking reflections and conversations.

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The Fosters, gets an “A” for effort and “A” for execution!

Kaleidescope Shifting Perspectives on Our Modern World Sabrina Minhas

The Bones of our City Chicago in the latter half of the 20th century contained layers of nuanced contradictions. The city was giddy from the post-war economic boom. Financial wealth was abundant and intertwined with political power and influence. American culture became synonymous with consumerism because mass production and capitalistic values were more accessible to the middle class. This prosperity, however, had an alarming underbelly. The government was entrenched in corruption. Marginalized communities were denied opportunities to increase their wealth and experienced declines in their quality of life, widening the gap between the middle and lower classes.

Racial and ethnic gang violence intensified. Mob culture spread violence, drug trafficking and corruption throughout the city.

This was the framework in which a complex, underground, and oppressed queer culture existed.

The Windup Lounge was a gay bar located on 669 North State Street. Several members of the mob had financial shares in the bar, tying it to the organized crime in Chicago. The community, however, viewed the bar as a place for queer individuals to meet, mingle and be themselves without scrutiny. The security provided by the Windup Lounge was stripped away by a Chicago political drama.

Martin H. Kennelly was elected mayor in 1947. He was a self-made millionaire with an ambiguous sexuality, resulting in his reputation as an unusual politician.

Kennelly was determined to eliminate the corruption on Chicago politics. His efforts included questioning police captains about their personal assets. Captain Thomas Harrison earned $5,200, but possessed $100,000 worth of assets. Harrison sensed his vulnerability under Kennelly.

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Power dynamics and common perceptions of morality play a major role in the issue. We believed it was moral to discriminate based on race at one point in history. The queer community was blatantly criminalized in the 20th century. The truth is that those in power and the popular culture of the time determine what is accepted by society, but that does not mean what is accepted is always right.

The powerful can determine who is a criminal, and what information can be used to target them. The collection of massive amounts of private data can become discriminatory and oppressive when individuals who dissent or are marginalized are targeted. Maybe today you have nothing to hide, but tomorrow you will be rejected by society.

The Windup Lounge raid seems detached from modern society, but the truth is that the privacy for the LGBTQIA community remains vital. It is indicative of the continued intolerance in our culture. There is currently no federal law that consistently protect all LGBTQIA persons from discrimination at work. The loss of privacy for an LGBTQIA person could result in harassment, discrimination and termination from their position. There are still individuals who depend on privacy for their livelihood and acceptance in society in our modern society.

We need to change our culture to one in which diverse identities are truly accepted. Privacy should be protected to give us space to be human and free from society, but not needed to prevent discrimination. The solution is to create a culture that is fundamentally inclusive and compassionate, but that may have to begin with changes in our laws. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act protects employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It has been passed by the Senate, but requires continued support to become a law.

A vigilant community must advocate for the protection of privacy too. It is time to change laws simultaneously with culture so our city has better stories to tell in the future.

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We all have parts of our lives that we choose to keep private for our own comfort and security, even if there are no formal repercussions for the facts. Most people are uncomfortable when asked to give their passwords or personal information to the public. Societal repercussions are not necessarily inflicted because an individual does something wrong. Greenwald gives the example of someone calling a suicide hotline or needing a medical procedure. Individuals in those situations have not committed a crime, but want to avoid judgment and stigmas.

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The world was stunned by these revelations, but some argued that innocent individuals had nothing to fear. Innocence, however, is not an excuse to eliminate privacy.

Glen Greenwald argues that privacy is fundamental to human exploration of self away from society’s pressures and scrutiny. Behavior changes when individuals believe they are being watched.

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The privacy of the LGBTQIA community was not talked about during the NSA revelations in 2013, but the leaks had important implications for all citizens. The first NSA revelation was leaked on June 5, 2013. Edward Snowden was a contractor for the NSA who was disturbed by the massive amount of personal data collected by the government, the violations of privacy committed by the NSA, and the lack of oversight to keep the organization accountable. It was revealed that the government collected massive amounts of data that could be pieced together to provide a comprehensive picture of an individual’s life. The NSA could request to target a specific individual.

An internal review board would grant the request, often without the slightest resistance. The targeted individuals could be anyone from suspected terrorists to activists.

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669 North State Street is just a condominium complex located on a beautiful city street. The tumultuous night has faded away, but privacy for the LGBTQIA community remains a contested issue.

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The Windup Lounge was raided on January 9, 1949. The police swarmed inside, infiltrating one of the few places queer individuals could express and explore their sexuality in safety. There were 40 men and women who were let go at the scene, but 91 were transported to the police station. Their names were released and identities recorded. Their privacy was eradicated in one night. The loss of privacy effectively ruined these lives, eliminating opportunities and removing any chance of these individuals being reintegrated into a profoundly ignorant and intolerant society.

There is currently no federal law that consistently protects all LGBTQIA persons from discrimination at work.

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He began a campaign to prosecute queer individuals in the hopes of strengthening his image and status. Harrison demonized gay men, calling them maladjusted and dangerous degenerates. His cruel words only reflected the climate of mainstream American society.

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just words? just speeches?

RuPaul Charles

Everytime I bat a last it’s a political statement.

We’re all born naked and the rest is drag.

Remember, this country was founded by a bunch of men wearing wigs.

It’s a sort of piss-take on culture, because a drag queen is a clown - a parody of our society. It’s a sarcastic spoof on culture, which allows us to laugh at ourselves - but in a way that is inclusive of everyone.

Whatever you proclaim as your identity here in the material realm is also your drag.

You can call me he, you can call me she, just as long as you call me, baby.

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Felix d’Eon

We Blaze Away Felix d’Eon is enraptured by various art-historical styles, such as Edwardian fashion and children’s book illustration, golden-era American comics and Japanese Edo printmaking. D’Eon treats vintage illustrative styles as a rhetorical strategy, using their language of romance, economic power, and aesthetic sensibility as a tool with which to tell stories of historically oppressed and marginalized queer communities. By painting images of queer love, seduction, sex, and romance, the gay subject is stripped of its taboo nature. For unlike artists such as Tom of Finland, whose work is a celebration of the outlaw status of queer sexuality, d’Eon’s work seeks to normalize the marginal, and place the heretofore taboo subject at the center, through the use of the rhetorical styles of the historically empowered and mainstream.

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Artist: Felix d’Eon

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Felix d’Eon

In the Dragon’s Lair Artist: Felix d’Eon

Felix d’Eon is enraptured by various art-historical styles, such as Edwardian fashion and children’s book illustration, golden-era American comics and Japanese Edo printmaking. D’Eon treats vintage illustrative styles as a rhetorical strategy, using their language of romance, economic power, and aesthetic sensibility as a tool with which to tell stories of historically oppressed and marginalized queer communities. By painting images of queer love, seduction, sex, and romance, the gay subject is stripped of its taboo nature. For unlike artists such as Tom of Finland, whose work is a celebration of the outlaw status of queer sexuality, d’Eon’s work seeks to normalize the marginal, and place the heretofore taboo subject at the center, through the use of the rhetorical styles of the historically empowered and mainstream.

WLA (Re)Animated Reimagine and Relive our Pasts “The Lavender Woman”

“The Lavender Woman” was a newspaper section featured in The Feminist Voice until it began its own newspaper in 1972. In this particular issue, published in 1971, a woman writes to the Lavender Woman to explain her frustration with the Women’s Liberation Movement in Chicago and its focus on white, straight, middle-class females.

The Lavender Woman was produced by members of the Gay Women’s Caucus who “feel there is a desperate need among Lesbians for a forum to express their views, to raise their consciousness as Lesbians and Feminists, and to organize themselves politically.” This document can be found in the WLA Archives in the “Connie Kiosse Papers” collection.

WLA Mission Statement:

Established in 1994, the Women and Leadership Archives (WLA) collects, preserves, and makes available materials of enduring value to researchers studying women’s contributions to society.

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Consider:

Angry Atheist Angry. Godless. Opinionated.

Mario Mason

How I Became an Atheist

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I’ve tried to come out to my Mum but each time I try just seems to be the wrong time. I mean I don’t care much for religion so it’s surprising that in the past coming out to friends was essentially me ending our friendship. The general consensus as far as reasons is to preserve their own faith they need to sever ties with me because I was basically the antichrist or the anti-whatever-religion-you-follow.

Even more comical than these people though, are the people who associate atheism with Satanism.

I’m just like…I don’t believe in Satan either sooooo how can I praise him?

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The responses I would get were never complete answers ever. The only time I did get a full answer was in response to “Where is God?” to which my Mom replied, God is a guy in the sky. She seemed to be pleased with this answer because I shut up and accepted the reality. Fast forward a couple months to when I was age 10, I was going to Curacao to visit so I was going on my first plane ride.

Most children would be super pumped at the idea of riding a plane for the first time but me?

Nope, I was more excited to see God, I mean I’ve been praising him blindly for such a long time so I definitely had some questions for this Guy in the sky. Lo and behold we leave the ground and I’m frantically looking around, “I don’t see him!

Where is he.” I truly believe this marked the end of my childhood. After this instance I felt shattered, much like a child is when they find out the tooth fairy and Santa Clause isn’t real. I went through a period of rationalization and logic which led me to the conclusion that ‘God is Dead!’ For me anyway.

This is how I became atheist at 10 years old.

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So much of my childhood was spent in Jamaica, which is a predominantly Christian state and by predominantly Christian I mean you were either Christian or you were shunned and in some cases executed. Anyway I’m getting off track. Growing up in Jamaica coupled with my love for learning, I went to Sunday School every week, attended choir practice 2x a week and basically read the bible for fun. I was all about God and everything that had to do with him. Mostly out of fear of damnation but that is another story for another day. So at around age 7 or 8 I started to ask questions, like, “Where is God?” and “If there is a God why do bad things happen?”

So much of my childhood was spent in Jamaica, which is a predominantly Christian state and by predominantly Christian I mean you were either Christian or you were shunned and in some cases executed.

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In honor of October being national coming out month and to also give a little taste of what our next issue will be like, I will be discussing the moment I realized my atheism.

WLA (Re)Animated Reimagine and Relive our Pasts “8th Day Center for Justice”

Consider:

This document is a response to the Vatican instruction for education and homosexuality. The 2005 statement questions the Vatican’s stance on gay pastors, the Church’s view of homosexuality as “emotional immaturity” and blaming the gay community for the sexual abuse of children. The 8th Day Center for Justice believes the Church gave no evidence for these claims and states, “Our sisters and brothers who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender live each day in a society and culture that judges their sexuality, rejects their family units and denies them access to basic civil liberties.” The organization also advocates for equality in the Church and insists upon a community of acceptance and respect. The documents can be found in the WLA Archives in the collection “8th Day Center for Justice Records.”

WLA Mission Statement:

Established in 1994, the Women and Leadership Archives (WLA) collects, preserves, and makes available materials of enduring value to researchers studying women’s contributions to society.

message me we asked. you answered.

BROAD people

October 2014

Can be learned, which is unfortunate to have sexuality predetermined Innate; we are who we are.

Innate but who cares, everyone is equal.

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Do you think sexuality is learned or innate?

Determined by nature and nurture together.

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Innate but wavering. Every now and then straight girls may want to kiss a girl or grab a boob or whatever and vice-versa.

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Learned-it is what our parents show us.

What’s your LGBTIQ? BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities A. J. De Gala

Nurture/ Nature The lights were dim within the fancy Las Islas restaurant, the premier restaurant of Rizal Grove. Rizal Grove was a residential suburb of Rizal City, a city in the Philippines. Constructed to give a Parisian feel, it contained elegant silk drapes, polished floors, and stylish tables with oaken chairs, crystal chandeliers, and a tenpiece band playing smooth jazz.

Though the architecture screamed elite, the customers of the restaurant were a motley assortment: one table was filled with jocks coming off of a successful basketball game; another held a group of old ladies in their best Sunday clothes; and yet another featured two young women, dressed casually, but nicely. One of the women had midnight black hair, which fell down one side of her body like a flowing river that reflected the shine of the dimmed lights. The other had short, brown hair that was as wavy as her partner’s was straight.

They were both beautiful- not excessively so, but with little makeup their natural beauty shone through and set them slightly apart from most their age.

The two women were enjoying themselves immensely, as anyone in the restaurant could tell. They sat across from each other, and observers could see that a laugh or smile would escape both of their faces every few seconds. Whether it was a joke or a funny face one of them made, there seemed to be nothing that could ruin their moods that evening. They proceeded through their dinner sharing a plate of spaghetti and feeding each other spoonfuls of ice cream during desert. Though they may have drawn a few glances here and there, they were determined to let nothing ruin their date. It wasn’t often they were open in anonymity, and in anonymity lay the opportunity for boldness- boldness that was otherwise hidden in the closet.

After the food had been taken away, and as they waited for the bill to be handed to them, they stared into each other’s eyes. On their faces were looks of pure affection, on their mouths blissful smiles. For a time it seemed as though neither one of them could speak, merely content to stare at the vision of their girlfriend. However, the woman with the midnight black hair broke the silence between them as she said, with a hint of nervousness, “Sara?”

“Yeah Lexi?” the brown haired girl responded. All eyes seemed to be trained on the two of them- though in truth it was the opposite- and all breaths seemed to be held as everyone, especially Sara, awaited what Alexandra would say next.

Alexandra seemed to struggle with her words. She ran them over her head, one phrase after another, trying to find the right fit. “You see… It’s… um… You know…”

Chuckling nervously, Sara said, “Um, Lexi? Just spit it out.”

She struggled for a moment more, but after taking a deep breath, a steely conviction arrested her gut. With firm determination chanting her on, she gave a warm smile and whispered, in a voice only lovers could hear, “I love you.”

Sara was slightly shocked at the three words Alexandra had just uttered. However, pure joy swelled within her as, with a smile as warm, she whispered in a voice only lovers could hear, “I love you too.”

The two gazed at each other, oblivious to the world

The following day, Alexandra and Sara sat on a wooden bench, tense as their eyes darted this way and that.

They were still rattled from the events of the night before, and though they wanted to see, embrace, and simply be with their beloved, they were also afraid that the voices would return- or worse, that they would attack.

As they furtively held hands and looked for any signs of trouble, they saw a young man from their past. He had semi-spiky jet-black hair, and as he approached, he raised a hand in greeting and addressed them genially, saying, “Lexi! Sara! Long time no see!

“John, is that really you?” Alexandra asked, taking in Wolfe’s appearance. Dressed in a simple white t-shirt, black jacket, and dark navy jeans, it made the fashionista within her vomit.

“Jeez, how long has it been?” Sara added, shocked by the change she saw in him.

“A couple of years,” Wolfe answered. “Not since summer after 8th grade, anyway.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Time’s treated you well,” Sara said.

She meant her compliment as well, as she compared the boy she was once a classmate of with the man who stood in front of her. Forgiving the acne that marked his face, he had on a different aura than what they had

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previously seen- one that was more mature and hardened. In fact, his body told three different ages: in his eyes were a five year old’s who couldn’t stop smiling; in his face was a seventeen year old who was ready to see the world; and in his body and composure was a mature detective, calm and intellectual while hiding a secret fury, a hidden animal. Yes, this wasn’t “Little Johnny” of Rizal Elementary School- this was the teenager known as “Wolfe”, the detective prodigy of Rizal Academy, and by extension, of Rizal City. Though just a teenager, this was the detective who was beginning to make a name for himself, stopping the elusive thief known as “Shadow” and solving the puzzling Kamatayan Mystery.

“Sara’s got a point, John,” Alexandra remarked. “The ladies must be fawning over you at Rizal Academy.”

“It’s not like that all,” Wolfe answered. “I’m not actually all that popular when it comes to that kind of attention.

Besides, there’s…” Switching the subject, he said, “And what about you two? Time’s been kind to you both as well.”

“Yeah, I guess it has been,” Alexandra sighed.

Sara was about to add on a comment when Wolfe, suddenly serious, bluntly interjected, “Something’s bothering you two, right?”

The comment caught both girls off guard. “What do you mean?” asked Alexandra.

“Simply what I said,” Wolfe responded. “Tense shoulders; darting eyes; heels dug into the ground, prepared

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-X-

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After leaving the restaurant, they began to make their way towards one of their homes. However, as they passed down a particular side alley, voices unattached to human bodies screeched from all around them: “FREAKS!” Unsettled, Alexandra and Sara clung to each other for support, and ran through the suddenly long alley, trying to break free from the darkness and the voices. When at last they had emerged onto the street, hands gripping each other tightly as their hearts raced like cheetahs, they looked behind them and saw absolutely no one in the alley. Frightened, they continued on their way, wary of any demons hiding in the dark

“FREAKS!” Unsettled, Alexandra and Sara clung to each other for support, and ran through the suddenly long alley, trying to break free from the darkness and the voices.

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outside of their enchanted bubble, until the bubble itself popped with the arrival of their bill. They quickly paid their bill, gave a generous tip, and promptly left the table. No sooner had they done so when the chandelier above them came crashing to the ground, startling all within the restaurant. While the restaurant personnel tried to figure out what was going on, the patrons of Las Islas stared at the wreckage of the chandelier, its crystals having spilled and flown everywhere. None were more disturbed than the couple, who thanked God and their lucky stars that they had narrowly avoided the chandelier.

for a strong takeoff. All that on a calm and soothing day? Nah, something’s bothering you both. Don’t lieI’ll be able to tell on your faces. What’s bugging both of you?”

Sara and Alexandra exchanged glances, trying to decide whether to bother their friend with their predicamentand what exactly to tell him, should they do so. Though they were hesitant, knowing his reputation and, more importantly, his personality, they decided to trust in him to help them. They quickly informed him of the events of the previous night, and gave him the name of a mutual cover ex-boyfriend- someone they decided over the phone was a likely culprit behind those events.

Alexandra and Sara had been dating for a long timethroughout most of their high school lives, in fact.

However, in order to protect the truth about their sexualities and their relationship, they had to resort to maintaining “cover boyfriends”. Though they felt no love for those young men- and, indeed, they broke up amicably with them when they felt the men were beginning to feel serious- there was none that truly bothered them. None, except José Enriquez, a polarizing Filipino whom, aside from “dating” both Alexandra and Sara, came the closest to discovering the truth when he decided to barge in on them one night during a sleepover at Alexandra’s home. They had been affectionate with each other, cuddling and kissing each other, and in retrospect, Alexandra feared that they had been a bit too careless and José had seen something.

Thus, being the one José was dating at the time, she broke up with him, and now she and Sara believed that, angry at having been used, he was out for revenge.

Though they didn’t convey the reason for their suspicion to their friend, they did give him a description of their suspect. He accepted the case, assured them that he would immediately begin his investigation, and bade them farewell as he walked away.

“Do you think we should’ve told him what was really up, Sara?” Alexandra asked once Wolfe was gone.

“He’s a detective, Lexi,” Sara replied. “He’ll get to the bottom of this anyway, whether we told him the whole truth or not.”

“I guess you’re right.” Alexandra gave her girlfriend a quick peck to the cheek, and the two began walking away as well, hand in hand and smiling in relief at finally having an ally.

-X“Where’s John?” Sara asked, holding Alexandra’s hand and gripping it tightly from fear. Only one night removed from when they first felt unsafe, they had

returned to the alley where the voices first besieged them.

“I don’t know, Sara,” Alexandra replied. Fear was creeping up on her as well- though why, she did not know.

“But he hasn’t let anyone down before, right? Let’s just trust that-” Suddenly, a loud barrage of voices assaulted them from both sides. “Freaks! Homos!” the chorus yelled. The girls were frightened, and their first instinct was to run; however, when Wolfe had texted them earlier to return to the alley, he had also instructed them not to move until he told them to run. They didn’t know why, but they trusted their friend enough to follow his instructions. The chorus kept their assault, though as intimidated as the girls were, they nevertheless stood their ground. After a few minutes more the assault ceased, and the girls breathed a sigh of relief. That is, until they saw a man with a hood and trench coat approach from the direction of the restaurant.

Though he was an intimidating presence himself, the attention of the girls was drawn to what he held in his hand: a steel baseball bat, no doubt brought as a weapon. He advanced on them, and their courage began to fail them. They were preparing themselves to run when Wolfe himself appeared at the mouth of the alley, speaking out from behind the man and stopping his advance. The man tried to shoo Wolfe away, but Wolfe stood his ground and, infuriated, the man started swinging the bat at him. Alexandra and Sara watched on in fear as their friend engaged the man in combat. They gasped when the man hit Wolfe’s shin with the bat, and gasped again when finally Wolfe was victorious.

Wolfe limped over to Alexandra and Sara, who were still clutching each other, part in fear and part in awe at the fight that had just concluded. “Well! That was an interesting case! Th-” “Why are you defending those freaks?” the man asked.

Moving himself in position so that he could look Wolfe squarely in the eye, he asked again, while trembling with rage, “Why did you help them? What they are… it’s wrong. It’s not natural. It’s not right! They’re homos!

Freaks!”

Wolfe returned the man’s gaze. “Freaks? All I see are two people in love. There’s nothing weird or freaky about that. Justice is blind: cold, hard, and unbiased. They did nothing wrong. You, on the other hand, almost killed them once already. Now get out of here before I report you to the police.”

Turning to his friends, Wolfe said, “Walk with me so that I can wrap this case up.” The three of them left the

“You don’t seem shocked at all that-” “That you and Lexi are lesbians, and that you’re in love with each other?” Wolfe commented. “No, I’m not.”

“Does it just not bother you, or have you known for some time now?” Alexandra asked.

“Both, though particularly I’ve known for some time now. Honestly, I was wondering if it was ever gonna happen.”

“Wait, what do you mean by that?” Sara questioned.

“Well, I could see it as early as 8th grade,” Wolfe explained. “Then there were the few subsequent times during the summer after that year when we hung out.

There was when I spotted you two at Rizal Grove Park, and finally when I reviewed the security tapes at Las Islas. The looks you two gave each other? Those are looks of pure love.”

“How do you know that?” Alexandra followed up.

“Because I love someone. An amazing woman. With all my heart and soul. And that’s how I know.” Wolfe walked away from them, raising a hand in farewell.

Crickets sung in the evening air as Alexandra and Sara continued to walk. They looked up at the starry night sky and pondered everything that Wolfe had related to them.

Alexandra was the first to break the silence of their thoughts. “I feel kind of bad for him now, despite everything.”

“Yeah,” Sara agreed. “Knowing how he was brought up… he didn’t naturally hate- he was taught to hate.

And look at what happened to him because of it.”

“Do you think there’s hope for him?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he’ll change. Maybe he won’t.

That’s up to him, I guess.”

They were silent once more. Though the silence grew, they didn’t mind it- they needed the silence to think.

After a while, they set their thoughts aside and finally breathed a sigh of relief for the conclusion of the case.

For the moment, they felt safe; however, as long as they had to hide who they truly were, they knew they would have to stay on alert. But for the moment, it didn’t matter. For the moment, they were safe. And in that moment, they were happy.

A/N: Hello there! I’m A. J. De Gala. I truly hope you’ve enjoyed this short story. I write for the enjoyment of those who read my stories, so if I’ve given you an enjoyable or thought-provoking narrative with this, then I thank you. As a little note, this story is an adaptation of an earlier story I’ve written, though in truth it’s more of a companion story than an adaptation, really. I’m primarily a mystery writer, so if you would like to read the original story this is based on (and I highly recommend it), go to the website Fictionpress.com and look for the short story “Blind” by the author “Animaester.of.the.Islands”. There you can follow my detective, John “Wolfe” San Miguel, tackle the mystery part of this story. You can also follow some of my other short stories there, if you so wish. Once again, I thank you for reading “Nurture/Nature” (read “Nurture over Nature”). -A. J. De Gala

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Before he could leave, however, Sara said, “Wait, one more thing.” She had been curious as to how Wolfe had defended who they truly were, especially when neither she nor Alexandra ever told him the truth of their sexuality and their relationship.

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However, in order to protect the truth about their sexualities and their relationship, they had to resort to maintaining “cover boyfriends”.

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As they walked away from the alley, Wolfe told tem of his investigation and relayed the information he knew about the culprit and his circumstances- of how, as a child, the culprit was taught to hate homosexuals.

When he had concluded, he said that he would be taking his leave- he still had a report to file to the police about the case; more importantly, he had a very important date in a few minutes’ time.

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alley as the man remained to ponder Wolfe’s words.

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Keri Cichy

True Colors Artist: Keri Cichy, www.etsy.com/shop/kcoriginalart

Words from the Artist: The inspiration for the painting came from one sentence: Sexuality is as individual as a fingerprint. We all fall on the spectrum of gay, straight, bisexual, asexual, and anything in between; often times a mixture. Sexuality should not be labeled or contained. We are free to express ourselves and have whatever connections fit the unique “us.” Love should always be the greatest aim.

message me we asked. you answered.

BROAD people

October 2014

As long as they are happy I am happy Be cool with it

Yay, no grandchildren!

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If one of your children is LGBT, how will you respond?

Tell them I knew all along

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They are defined by so much more than that!

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Give a giant hug!

Inside R Out? White? Male? Feminist? YES. J. Curtis Main

My abusive Ex, Making amends?

If an ex who treated you really badly, who excluded you and belittled you and thought the worst of you, came back into your life without an apology, but with some basic respect shown, what would you do? You would most likely scoff, right? Perhaps you would get angry. Maybe old, difficult feelings and memories would arise and it would bring you down. It’s doubtful, though, that you would be immmediately, purely happy and content. The past is still there.

Let’s say that ex’s name is Omarikah. And Omarikah, after years and years of you two fighting, after years have passed where you have moved on, suddenly extends a hand and says, “welcome back,” I am mostly here for you now.”

One more thing- you have made peace with the way Omarikah treated you. You managed to find new ways of being happy. You sought and fostered new friends and family. Even though you

Which is a good thing, right? Unfortunately, it’s a mixed blessing, I am finding out as more LGBTIQ inclusion is realized. Why? What ever could be difficult, for example, to finally see the family you one day want to have depicted on primetime ABC family?

From the time I can first remember, around 5 years old, until I was off on my own, around my late teens, LGBTIQ was BAD. I heard it from my parents (more than anyone), major religions, teachers, television, and just about every nook and cranny of my culture, family, friends, and country. By age 5, I knew, deeply, that queer was wrong. I learned to equate it to hell, ugliness, disease, perversion, evil, and so many other terrible things.

For years I would carry this shame. It was a heav guilt and burden, not being able to be normal, knowing that if any one were to ever know, I could not only lose them, but they could turn on me.

Yet I’m lucky I came out of it. Around 14 or 15 years old, I had an epiphany. I could continue to

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hate this queer part of myself, or I could, against most of society’s wishes, learn to love myself as I was meant to be.

However, that act of self love and acceptance came at a steep price: I had to “break up” with most of America. I had to say enough is enough.

Yes, I can love and be loved. Yes, I am completely okay as queer. Yes, I can seek a long, serious relationship and have kids (in many different ways, as I so choose). Yes, I can be all these things. But I cannot be American.

At this point, in my teens, I decided that I would have to venture on my own to seek my happiness, much to the disappointment of most of America. I went to my prom with a man, my friend Cory, and I went to his prom, and we were the “firsts” to do so. We were oddities.

There are so many life aspirations we are taught from our country, culture, and family, and even if queer, we may still want them. I still want a lifelong partner. I still want to be a parent. I still want to be successful in my career(s). I very much want to love my family and friends and be loved by them in return. But I was told, most of my life, I could not be if I were queer. One or the other.

So herein lies the dilemna. I found other ways of being queer and fulfilled. I sought and made friends and family that allowed me to live a full, and queer, life. I put distance between myself and so very many American ways that told me

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And what has my ex, America, done in the past 10-15 years? Very quickly become a better and better place for LGBTIQ folks. All of the many advances in the past two decades are incredible, surprising, and game changers. But if I look back to my formative years, I really had little idea I would be seeing so much positive change.

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This is an analogy for how so many LGBTIQ people relate to America. First, before coming out, there is often love, friendship, fondness, and loyolty to one’s countries, cultures, and people. But for most of the world, and increasingly more so the further we go back in time, coming out involves “breaking up” with so many things one might need, want, and love regarding their homeland. The immense pain, stress, hatred, and exclusion most LGBTIQ people must go through hopefully leads to finding alternate ways of being happy, loved, included, and realized. It’s like a relationship.

However, that act of self love and acceptance came at a steep price: I had to “break up” with most of America. I had to say enough is enough. srotidE + ofnI DAORB

were deeply in love and intertwined with Omarikah, you managed to find peace. Indeed, you are pretty damned happy.

There are many more moments of bipolar treatment from America, my on and off again relationship. When famous folks come out and they are lauded, I am happy but confused. When LGBTIQ characters appear in media, sports, and television, I celebrate but then wonder. When work and family ask, nicely, about my queer life, and even show up, with hesitation I enjoy it.

I don’t trust this LGBTIQ-friendlier America.

That is not the America I knew for so long. Like so many LGBTIQ people, I was mistreated, excluded, denied, harmed, hurt, and in general, abused... and still am. So now that my abuser is holding out their arms and proclaiming, “I’m proud of you! Come enjoy what I can offer and have been offering so many others!” I rightfully am paranoid. I get excited. I enjoy it. I move in closer to my ex, America, thinking we might be good again.

Then, the past is still there.

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And, too, one day, so quick I really could not believe it, ABC Family, owned by Disney, portrays the same sex parenting, mixed race family I always thought I would have, through adoption.

There it was, The Fosters, beeming at me with stories of LGBTIQ struggles on the big screen, on the primetime, in the “American Family” time. I was shocked. I inhaled The Fosters... like a drug.

I took it in so fast that all of a sudden it was gone, and I needed to be “high” again on my queerness being accepted. But of course, there are no other shows like it!

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I cried. I cried for many reasons. Ultimately, though, I cried for the betrayal I felt for so long.

I cried for so much of the pain and disappointment I lived through because I was told no, my love was not real, supported, nor legal. Then, one day, like a shitty ex showing up uninvited, North Carolina allows same sex marriage.

So now that my abuser is holding out their arms and proclaiming, “I’m proud of you!

Come enjoy what I can offer and have been offering so many others!” I rightfully am paranoid. srotidE + ofnI DAORB

queer was BAD. And just last week, my Methodist Minister brother was the only one to text me the “good” news: my home state of North Carolina just made same sex marriage legal.

words are useless

Babushkas in Love Artist: Judy Innes

Words from the Arist: Babushkas in Love’ is one of many ‘In Love’ illustrations in my collection. I felt the need to comment on the current removal of LGBT rights in Russia as it appalls me. I choose these cute, iconic dolls to represent the LGBT community as I ask the question, how can anyone’s LOVE be wrong?

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sometimes words aren’t enough Judy Innes

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tell-a-vision

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visions & revisions of our culture(s) SNL: Transphobia

TELL-AVISION

SCREEN/ PLAY

BOOKMA RK HERE

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QUOTE C ORNER

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Consider:

LIBERATIO N LEADERS

CAREER CALL

WLA REANIMA TED

VOLUNTEE R VOICES

1. What stereotypes about transgender women are shown in this clip? What is the effect?

2. How does this add portray estrogen replacement therapy?

BROADSID VISITING E 3. What cultural impact does this form of media have? How does it influenceEDmainstream dialogue about transITOR MESSAGE ME gender or queer identities?

4. Saturday Night Live’s “fake commercials” are often satirical portrayals of real, mainstream television ads. How MICRliberate could SNL use their platform to create “fake commercials” that the LGBTIQ community?

O AGRES SHUNS

ADVANC

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Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V_aPllOcXg

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WE’VE GO T MAIL

Nobody’s going to save you. No one’s going to cut you down, cut the thorns thick around you. No one’s going to storm the castle walls nor kiss awake your birth, climb down your hair, nor mount you onto the white steed. There is no one who will feed the yearning.

Face it. You will have to do, do it yourself.

To survive the Borderlands you must live sin fronteras be a crossroads.

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just words? just speeches?

Gloria Anzaldúa

I change myself, I change the world.

When I became a lesbian I looked back at my life and realized that all along I had had these signals that I was one of them too. So, when I became a political lesbian that I thought I had chosen, had I really chosen it or had I been one all along but repressed it?

Why am I compelled to write?...

Because the world I create in the writing compensates for what the real world does not give me. By writing I put order in the world, give it a handle so I can grasp it.

For the lesbian of color, the ultimate rebellion she can make against her native culture is through her sexual behavior. She goes against two moral prohibitions: sexuality and homosexuality. click for contents

I am an act of kneading, of uniting and joining that not only has produced both a creature of darkness and a creature of light, but also a creature that questions the definitions of light and dark and gives them new meanings.

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HEaRt The beating, beating, beating, of this cerebral female heart.

X. Cathexis

Break Free The short film “Break Free,” starring Ruby Rose, changed the way I will think about identity, forever. In those five short minutes I realized why a world of 7 billion people feels so empty, so alien, and so wrong. Why so many bad things happen in this world. Why I found it difficult my entire life to make friends. Why I went through cycles of anger and depression at the average people who surrounded me every day. Because I saw what is happening to Ruby at the beginning of the film was happening to myself and all the people around me. I saw the pain but I didn’t understand that it, the pain is unnatural – having to fit yourself into a box for others is unnatural – having to suppress who you are is unnatural – hating yourself for not being like everyone else is unnatural - defending your existence to yourself and to others is unnatural – living your life with only half the fervor because you are someone besides yourself is unnatural. In those five short minutes I realized why a world of 7 billion people feels so empty, so alien, and so wrong…because we don’t live as ourselves and we’re not letting others be themselves.

There are people who have figured it out. People who identify as transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, queer, intersex…they’ve figured it out. People who are Musilm, Jewish, Buddhist, Atheist, Hindu, Wiccan… they’ve often figured it out too. Myself, a heterosexual, white, female of privilege…I’m just starting to figure it out. Starting to realize that there’s this box, this expectation that everyone should be white, heterosexual, identify as male or female, Christian, and living the American dream. The box is even narrower as it

excludes people with tattoos, piercings, colorful hair, revealing clothing, restricting clothing, mental illness, ableness, or a certain body mass index. For the last twenty years of my life society has been stuffing this box over my head like someone trying to kidnap who I really am.

I decide I don’t care about gossiping or school dances?

The box is shoved over my body.

I become noticeably depressed?

The box is shoved over my body.

I become religious?

The box is lifted!

I become anorexic?

The box is lifted!

I want a tattoo?

The box is shoved over my body.

I want colorful hair?

The box is shoved over my body.

I decide I’m atheist?

The box is shoved over my body.

I don’t understand how anyone who watches “Break Free” and sees how much stronger and more powerful and alive Ruby is at the end, how they cannot support that. How they cannot step out of the box enough to save their transgender son’s life, to save a Palestinian girl’s life, to save the ableist stranger’s life.

Can you imagine what a world without boxes would

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be like? How alive, and happy, and peaceful it would be? What if we accepted and encouraged people to be who they truly are, no judgment or persecution, so that those people could spend their energies on improving the world and thriving – not surviving in a skin they can’t shed. How much more potential would we unleash? How much more beautifully human and diverse would the world look?

If you haven’t already, I hope you will watch “Break Free” and think of Ruby every time you feel the box closing in. I hope you will realize that whoever YOU are is awesome and THAT person is so powerful, and real, and has all the capabilities to be happy. I hope you’ll have the courage to ask, like Ruby does, “Who the fuck are you to care??” no matter what you identify as.

I hope you’ll have the courage to stand with yourself first, and then with others. I hope you will break free.

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This is what I don’t understand. That when we have gotten to a point where, even people completely ignorant of the box, live their life almost admitting that the point is just to be numb enough, comfortable enough, deluded enough with material things, glamorous distractions, and meaningless success to survive --- why if we’re at that point, we don’t break free.

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It’s almost 2015 and people are still dying for being who they are. LGBTQI folks are dying from heterosexual indifference to HIV, LGBTQI homelessness, and battery just in the U.S. Muslims and Jews are killing each other because they don’t agree with how the other chooses to live their lives. Latino families and children are dying at the border or back in their home countries because we do not accept who they are. People with depression and eating disorders are taking their lives because no one accepts them for who they are or they can’t live in a world where this intolerance for people of the same blood, and bones, and love, and hopes, and human struggle rules everything. This box that has somehow come to tell us that one way of living is right and the others are wrong is killing us outright or by sucking the spark from the lives we do manage to lead.

It’s making us shells of the same body that just exist.

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And while I cannot claim to know anything about the struggles LGBTQI folks face on a daily basis or the harassment other minority communities face, I like to think that I’ve experienced the box enough in my own way. I like to think that my experience of the box has made me the tough, brave, but caring individual I am today. I like to think that, for folks who experience the suffocation of the box enough, they’re actually the lucky ones. The lucky ones who can ‘break free’ and live like Ruby does. Oscar Wilde is known for saying “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all” and I can’t help but wonder if his wisdom comes from the fact that he died as a poor beggar for being gay in 1900.

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just words? just speeches?

Audre Lorde, Pt. 2

Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.

When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.

Every woman I have ever loved has left her print upon me, where I loved some invaluable piece of myself apart from me — so different that I had to stretch and grow in order to recognize her.

Every woman has a right to define her own desires, make her own choices.

When we begin to live from within outward, in touch with the power of the erotic within ourselves, and allowing that power to inform and illuminate our actions upon the world around us, then we begin to be responsible to ourselves in the deepest sense.

The strongest lesson I can teach my son is the same lesson I teach my daughter: how to be who he wishes to be for himself.

If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive.

You cannot, you cannot use someone else’s fire. You can only use your own. And in order to do that, you must first be willing to believe that you have it.

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Bronwyn Lundberg

Artist Bronwyn Lundberg, www.yomeryl.com:

As the follow up to LLS, I wanted to acknowledge some of the men who have used their talents to uplift rather than suppress.

Again, I chose familiar gay icons to help people connect emotionally to the purpose of the painting. I chose NPH to play Adam because he generally represents the right balance of strength and sensitivity. I’d like to think that society is ready to redefine what it means to “Be a Man,” since clearly, the overarching ideology has gotten our delicate world into quite a pickle. No pun intended.

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The Creation of Neil

Traitor I can go both ways Paige Gardner

To Be or Not To Be: The Bisexual Dilemma I find pride in sharing my narrative as a Bisexual woman of color, an identity normally overlooked, outcasted, and I’d even go as far as to say invisible. I hope that all readers who engage with this month’s issue find love, support, pride, and inspiration the way I have in reviewing the content we decided to share with you all this month.

As a queer woman of color, I am no stranger to microagressions and mild-but-frequent forms of harassment. I get it from every direction on a daily basis as it relates to my identities from family, friends, coworkers, and strangers. And trust me, this article is in no way a catalyst for me to take the gold medal in the oppression Olympics because I am certain that there are plenty of other queer women and queer women of color who are snapping along with me.

Half of the time, I’m perceived as hetero, having to deal with men attempting to woo me with their meaningless, borderline offensive, sometimes over-the-top distasteful pick-up lines. I often find myself telling men, I have a boyfriend if I’m being followed or unwantedly pursued. Then in queer spaces I’m seen as a lesbian and I find it quite

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As a student affairs practitioner, I have to name that there is privilege that lies at the base of this identity; the ability to pass as straight and receive the comforting affirmations when I’m seen with the opposite sex. I own this part of my identity and work hard to correct others when they make a blanketed statement that assumes I’m heterosexual. I’m always honest about my bisexuality with women and encourage them to honor their preferences of who they want to date and have meaningful, intimate relationships with. However, I tend to grapple with this privilege because of my subordinate identity as a woman. Each time that I share my sexual identity with men, I run the risk of being hypersexualized and delegitimized as a woman, which is shown through sudden aggressive behaviors or minimizing humor. In contrast, each time that I share my sexual identity with women I am at risk being or feeling outcasted and not welcomed.

I love being bisexual, but sometimes out of pure exhaustion, I ask myself: “Is bisexuality real?” I find it hard not to internalize all of the messages I receive about sexual orientation; I’m indecisive, I have to be more into one sex over the other, just being a lesbian would make my family more comfortable. Then I have to remember that I live in a country that finds comfort in putting people in boxes. We all are guilty of judging others, putting people in categories and assigning thoughts to them. If there is anything I know about my life’s purpose, I know that it’s not to make people feel comfortable. During these moments of doubt, I remind myself that being Bisexual is beautiful and that I should, unapologetically, own my identity.

I want to empower both women and men who second-guess their bisexual identity. There are challenges and privileges that come with the territory, but remember that you are unique and beautiful in all aspects of your identities!

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Family perceptions get more fun because to my family I’m just a lesbian. According to my dating record I’m 4 in1, with women taking the lead.

There’s this myth or expectation that if I date a woman, the next relationship should be with a man, creating this alternating effect. Or the lingering question is, which sex am I most attracted to, woman or man? My answer is always this: “I have no preferences. I love everything about men and women equally.” I remember having to explain my relationship status to my mom like this, it’s just like when you’re in a relationship and you still do a little window-shopping! You still find yourself attracted to others; however, you’re still

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awkward to start a conversation with, “Hi my name is Paige and I’m Bi”. We all know that’s not how normal conversations go. There is this quiet fear of Lesbians not being comfortable with my identity - at least from my experience and those I have “come out” to about how I truly identify.

So often it comes down to concerns about competing with those of the same sex and opposite sex and my love interests being concerned about my loyalty and ability to maintain monogamous relationships. I find myself having to go through my relationship history and prove that I can be a good girlfriend. This becomes stressful because I feel that I have to come out to my significant other in every relationship I enter, not to mention, that I have to justify my sexuality too every time.

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I love being bisexual, but sometimes out of pure exhaustion, I ask myself: “Is bisexuality real?” I find it hard not to internalize all of the messages I receive about sexual orientation...

maintaining your current relationship. The same goes for Bisexual individuals. My attractions don’t entail that I act on them. This is another form of justification and having to prove my goodness as a woman in a legitimate relationship. Although I speak about this experience in a humorous way, it is also the hardest part of my reality - constantly wanting the people closest to me to fully accept me without question. It’s a constant battle staying true to myself and not compromising my bisexuality for the comfort of others.

madads busted advertising, bustling economy Nike’s Hyperdunk Campaign

Consider: 1. What sort of masculinity do these Nike ads portray?

2. How can they be perceived as homophobic?

3. How do ads like these perpetuate homophobia in athletics?

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Status Quo Combustion La masculus Versus La femina Lubna Baig

L versus G: In 2006, the movie, High School Musical came out.

It was a musical. About the average American high school. Which means guy is a jock , guy likes a nerdy chem club girl, guy wanna ask her out, he is told to stick to the status quo. And yes they had songs and

STICK, STICK, STICK, STICK TO THE STATUS QUO dances - guys dancing around trees trying to woo their girls, girl crooning (more like screaming/wailing) as if she is a widowed opera singer nursing her broken heart because – can you believe it? - the guy decided to “stick to the status quo!”

To sum it up, it’s like what Dr. Ian Malcom and Dr. Ellie Sattler – actors in the movie Jurassic Park – say; “God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs.

God creates man. Man destroys god. Man creates dinosaurs. Dinosaurs eat man. And…Woman inherits the Earth.”

There you go they have summed it up. But, just when you thought men and women were warming

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up to each other, here come the gays….

In 2012, I was dating a guy who was a well – known jock in my high school. He was a wrestler and also on the basketball team and went to Northern Illinois University on a wrestling scholarship but there was one bad thing about him. He had an ego, the size of a T-Rex. So I just quipped, “it’s not you it’s me” and got as fast I could out of our apartment.

Next, I started dating a guy who looked into the mirror more than I did (Metrosexual much?!). And so; as I was nursing my broken heart with my best friend Janie and ben and jerry’s dark chocolate ice cream, she suggested we go to a gay bar and then a lesbian bar, just for laughs to take my mind off my dismal dating life. So we went. That night I realized, there is not only an ocean between the jocks and the nerds, men and women, but also between gays and lesbians. There is a status quo combustion between the L and G folks as well…

I have come across many LGBT people in my life, some of them are my close friends. But in those gay and lesbian bars, I saw the great divide. Gay bars had just gay men and the lesbian bar was in a separate room. It’s like the separate men and women bathrooms only that in these rooms they had tequila and vodka flowing all night. I mean lesbians and gays identify themselves as being from the same community but I don’t see them socializing together. It was like the gay bars were screaming; “this is boys-only turf.” This was so obvious from the strange looks that the gay men gave us when we went to “their” bars. Now if we are doing the whole boys only/ girls only room thing, there isn’t much

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Don’t even get me started on men versus women.

Because when it comes to men and women, it’s a fight to the finish. It’s a mad race to the survival of the fittest. There’s a fight over who wears the pants in the family, who loads the dishwasher, who gets to be the president (Palin versus Obama), who is from Mars and who is from Venus. It’s a fight to the finish.

It’s a fight of the statuses.

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I can’t believe for the life of me how we even came to this. In the 21st century, teaching our kids that if you chose to be all bookish and nerdish then be with people who are bookish and nerdish, don’t even dream about throwing hoops in a basket or hanging out with people who throw hoops in the basket because that is not your place, not your status. The caste system that was the custom/practice of third world countries during pre – renaissance is alive and well not only in the high pitched notes of the teenagers in the HSM movie but also in real life.

There you go they have summed it up.

But, just when you thought men and women were warming up to each other, here come the gays…. srotidE + ofnI DAORB

High School Musical started my 3 year crush borderlining on obsession with Zac Efron. I didn’t like the movie. But, I loved Zac Efron and one of the movie’s songs tentatively titled as “Stick to the Status Quo.” The song is so realistic in nature. It really brings to light how society divides up people. The age old caste system existed in third world countries such as India and Pakistan where farmers were supposed to stick with fellow farmers, servants with fellow servants, landlords with fellow landlords, and the President with fellow cabinet ministers. Cut to the 21st century in a superpower known as the United States of America and teenagers are crooning in a movie; No no noooo Stick to the stuff you know If you wanna be cool Follow one simple rule Don’t mess with the flow (REALLY??)

No no Stick to the Status Quo

difference between gay – lesbian / men-women fight for the status quo, is there?

It’s not only about the separate gay/lesbian bars, some of my gay guy friends actually tell me that being gay is totally different from being a lesbian.

Though they are same-sex lovers; apparently, the experiences and challenges that they go through are different. When a guy has a crush on another guy and dates that guy, what he feels is apparently different from what a girl feels for another girl. Now this is confusing for me. I know what it is like to be in love. The butterfly feelings that I had for my ex-boyfriend, I am sure he felt the same way when we were “in love.” More to the point, now if gays and lesbians are same sex lovers, how is it that there “experiences/feelings” are different? Coming out of the closet is hard. When you are a guy and you realize you like guys, you feel confused, embarrassed, ashamed, and helpless. A lesbian goes through the same thing when she first realizes she likes girls.

So, I don’t understand why gay guys tend to go all “well we are gay MEN, we are different from lesbian WOMEN!” Now that I think about it, I realize it’s the gay men who actually started the trend of same – sex relationships. Gay men were the first to carve a niche for themselves. Some very fine examples are fashion designers Marc Jacobs, Dolce and Gabbana, Gianni Versace, Alexander McQueen etc…. Lesbian women came much later. Model Gia Carangi was a famous supermodel and had many lesbian liaisons; one of them with her make-up artist Sandy Linter. Ellen Degeneres is another famous lesbian who is much loved worldwide. But they came after Versace, Dolce and Gabbana. It seems to me, whether gay or not, it’s the men who rule the roost FIRST. Women then follow suit to one up on them. The phrase “behind every successful man is a woman” seems to be pointing to this. Even lesbians are actually BEHIND gay men as they carve a niche for themselves.

Men really do seem to have it easy. The gay men started the trend of “being gay.” So, if a guy comes out as gay, he has more support and has all the encouragement needed to survive in this world because “that Versace dude was gay too”. Lesbian women do seem to have a harder time seeing how even the famous ones came out much later and

succeeded/survived by a hair’s breadth. Lesbian or not, women are still expected to stick to the status quo. Even the gays have proved that...

words are useless

Gender Identity Part 2 Artist: Thomas Levesley, www.thomaslevesley.com

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sometimes words aren’t enough Thomas Levesley

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Keir McCoy

Gender is a Construct Artist: Keir McCoy

Words from the Artist: This is one piece in an ongoing project which started early in my own transition from female to male. In collaboration with a friend, I began exploring themes of gender identity, expression, and gate-keeping by the medical community around trans* bodies. Later, as in the case of this piece, I incorporated illustrations sourced from anatomy books and consciously altered the lines to fit inside and outside of the bodies, pointing to the often inaccurate understanding of trans* bodies (particularly within medical community), the complexity of gender expression, and the myth that one transition plan will work for all bodies. My aim with this piece, and the project as a whole, is to elicit a reaction in viewers by combining unexpected elements--for instance, typically “masculine” traits such as hairy legs and typically “feminine” articles such as high heels--so they may think more consciously about how those words can be contested and embodied in gender expression.

It takes no compromise to give people their rights...it takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political deal to give people freedom. It takes no survey to remove repression.”

All men are created equal. Now matter how hard they try, they can never erase those words. That is what America is about.

“

just words? just speeches?

Harvey Milk

Hope is never silent.

All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential.

The only thing they have to look forward to is hope. And you have to give them hope. Hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a better place to come to if the pressures at home are too great.

Hope that all will be all right. Without hope, not only gays, but the blacks, the seniors, the handicapped, the us’es, the us’es will give up.

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Burst down those closet doors once and for all, and stand up and start to fight.

quote corner

What’s your LGBTIQ? BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities JD

Good news bad news As I was planning out this article, it dawned on me that this is a classic case of the “good news, bad news” situation. For the sake of convention, I’ll start with the bad news. One of my favorite high school teachers just lost her job. BW** is pregnant with her and her wife’s first child, and for the sake of discretion, requested maternity leave. As BW was employed at a Catholic high school, the administration was averse to granting this leave, claiming that having a child in the “non-Catholic way” was not a decision the school, its religious affiliation, or the morality clause of faculty contracts supported. As a result, the administration offered BW the option to resign, the severance that came with resignation including both a health care package and a confidentiality agreement. BW did not pursue this option. Instead, her position was terminated.

It is an appalling truth that, in 33 states, it is legal to terminate someone’s position of employment on the grounds of sexual orientation. BW’s state is in fact on that list. BW, however, was not terminated on accounts of sexual orientation. Instead, it seems to be that BW was terminated on the grounds that she became pregnant in a non-Catholic manner, and subsequently violated her morality clause. To compound the current fog around the position of the school’s administration, the school has yet to make an official statement as to why BW’s position was terminated. Additionally, BW has been nothing but discreet about her personal life during her career. As a former student,

I can attest that she never mentioned her wife (or then fiancée), her sexuality, or any related topic.

Such conversation between students and teachers never arose in any situation. In the classroom, BW was not divulging her personal information, nor was she promoting a “non-Catholic lifestyle.” She was teaching, and doing an amazing job of it.

As promised, this disappointing dark cloud has its own silver lining. The good news is that, almost instantaneously, the students and alumnae both of BW and of the school flocked to social media to defend their widely-loved teacher. Tweets were sent out, Facebook statuses were posted and shared, and everyone was eager to show their support for BW, and their disappointment with the decisions made by their alma mater. Those who have posted shared their experiences as well as expressed a desire to see dramatic change in the school’s message. The students currently enrolled at this high school have even planned to dress in rainbow clothing on their first non-uniform dress day in support of BW. These are some excerpts from posts on various social media platforms.

This is only a small cross-section of the outpouring of support for BW and her family. It has been truly remarkable and heartwarming to see the students and alumnae unite in such solidarity. It can only be described as beautiful.

It is important to remember that the protest is not aimed at legality or lack thereof: the school’s

What is the largest catalyst for the movement in support of BW is the widely-held belief that the school’s actions are, in the eyes of many, morally wrong. Many have voiced the opinion that the treatment of BW goes against the roots of Catholicism: love and acceptance. The school’s course of action directly discriminates against the LGBT community, by not providing LGBT faculty the

same benefits (like maternity leave) of which heterosexual faculty members can freely take advantage. While these actions may be legal on the accounts of contract clauses and a lack of both federal and state protective legislation, that does not justify the apparent deviation from the school’s mission of supporting young women in their journey to becoming loving, accepting people who celebrate diversity.

I don’t know how this situation will end. It is my most sincere hope that the faculty of this school will realize that they are doing their students an extreme disservice in making this decision. Not only are they depriving the student body of an outstanding teacher, but they are further alienating LGBT students and allies in the environment of the school, pushing alumnae away from supporting the institution, and perpetuating and attempting to justify discrimination with the moniker of morality. I hope that they will change their stance from intolerance to acceptance. I hope this article inspires readers to better understand the current state of LGBTQI affairs, and that even in our modern, evolving society, discrimination still lurks, and it is possible to dismantle it through the power of love.

In the meantime, congratulations on starting your family BW. I know you’ll be an amazing mother.

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contracts do include a morality clause that can lead to termination if it has been violated. Because this high school is Catholic-affiliated, they are allowed to have such clauses in contracts, and there are repercussions if such a clause is not followed, in the way that there would be for any other clause in contracts. The questions pertain more to the hypocrisy on the part of the administration. It is clear that the school wanted to avoid any public displays of a life that does not adhere to a Catholic perspective. Had the school granted BW’s request for a maternity leave, however, such a “display” would not have taken place to begin with. Additionally, BW is at a situational disadvantage: it is impossible to hide a pregnancy. It would be easier, however, for coworkers to hide the fact that they have been divorced and remarried, something that also goes against the Catholic teaching.

Supporters of Marian’s position assert that should such situations be made public at the school, those faculty members should also be terminated. It is clear, however, that the capabilities for discretion are much greater in such scenarios.

QUOTE CORNER

tell-a-vision

MADADS

visions & revisions of our culture(s) Lauren Banka

TELL-AVISION

SCREEN/ PLAY

BOOKMA RK HERE

TELL-AVISION

QUOTE C ORNER

BROAD FACULTY FEED

BROAD RECAP

BROADSID

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LIBERATIO N LEADERS

CAREER CALL

VISITING EDITOR

Consider:

WLA REANIMA TED

VOLUNTEE R VOICES

MESSAGE

ME

MICRO AGRES How does this poem reflect – or not reflect – your own experiences with aspects ADVANC of your identity or relationships?

SHUNS E WE’VE GO T MAIL

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Yr7w87d1t0

BROAD

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Thom

Rupaul’s Drag Race Winner’s Collection I won’t say I’ve been a fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race since the start. I’m not. My husband introduced me to the series, via Netflix, just this summer. What followed was four weeks of binge-watching one of the funniest, most glamorous and insanely camp shows I had ever seen. I fell in love and knew I had to include these queens in my art.

I’ve wanted to riff on Warhol’s style for a while, and after reading this article at Dazed (http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/ article/17856/1/andy-warhols-queens) this seemed like the perfect project to do that. Warhol loved celebrity and was intimately interested in representations of gender and sexuality, often inviting drag queens to his Factory to be included in his work.

Using his striking pop art style to encapsulate the colour and eccentricity of Drag Race seemed the perfect tribute to both him and to the brave queens who take part in the show.

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Artist: Thom at Indyd Print Shop

What’s your LGBTIQ? BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities Adam Mogilevsky

Oppression from Societal Views of Masculinity Upon Homosexual Males Masculinity has been seen by traditions and cultures as a specific behavior in which a male must be emotionless and have emphasis upon aspects of the body and fitness. Men are pushed into a social stereotype just like women are. They are told how to act, when to cry, and when to be tough from a very young age. These traits are not only presented to them by their parents, but by movies, music and government of the past and present. “For many straight men, homosexuality is a direct threat to their identities” (O’Neill 5). Homosexuality in modern society has been considered unmanly and even so seen as a behavior solemnly feminine. William Pollack’s “Inside the World of Boys: Behind the Mask of Masculinity” discusses the social conditioning society has represented to males especially on the behavior they exemplify. When men do not illustrate a certain behavior individuals place stereotypes on their sexual identities due to a lack of following norms that society has unfairly placed on men. Within my essay I will prove social conditioning, behavior expectancy, stereotypes and media have manipulated societal views burdened homosexual males and their individual sexual identities.

Heterosexual and Homosexual stereotypes have played a huge role in America over the years. People view homosexuality as men that act unmanly and have feminine characteristics. Society has oppressed the way homosexual men are viewed either through media or zeitgeist. Even within literature homosexual men are seen as females claimed by Brown, “The passive homosexual male….the males

invert psychologically perceives himself as a female, and according to his looks to the “opposite” sex for sexual gratification.”(Brown 615, 618). The psychological information provided to people everywhere has formed biases and anger toward masculinity.

Thus, the information creates marginalized definitions of sexual identities of homosexual males. Although masculinity has affected the personification of homosexual masculine behavior, it also creates a judgment toward over all behavior and the way people commit social injustices toward them.

Norms that men have to act hetero-normative have oppressed the natural progression in the way men should act. Carol Lynn Martin, the author of “A Developmental Perspective” claims: “people often are faced with the situation of having to make a decision about someone based on very limited information…Information that is readily used is the person’s sex... in the last ten years or so a number of researchers have become interested in how adults and children use information about a person’s sex and about their gender-related interests to make inferences about their sexuality” (Martin 55-57).

Individuals do not necessarily meet someone and their entire personality. They judge them at first before even getting to know them. If a man were to act outside the norm, Sanctions are pressed on to them by ridicule or even physical violence.

Men have this problem due to the social construction. Homosexual males feel they would be deceiving the morals and values bestowed upon them

when they were young. Pollack claims:

Although masculinity has affected the personification of homosexual masculine behavior, it also creates a judgment toward overall behavior and the way people commit social injustices toward them. do. Males on the other hand feel that it would not be masculine to sleep together or change, because they might be made fun of or even worse, it is contagious. In the future I feel the social construction needs to be modified. Men need to be taught that it is okay to show emotion and that whatever their sexuality is does not matter. Men would be a lot stronger if they could all come to terms with their feelings and be open and honest about themselves and their bodies. Males should be able to look in the mirror at themselves and not feel “gay” or not masculine, just as a female cannot to say that males should change their whole personality or standards; I just feel that they should not conform to society a little better than they do. Women are strong, but still loving. Men should learn from the environment around them. To be more masculine they should learn to cope with their sexuality, and not be afraid to cry. Masculinity does not mean without feeling, it means being strong and coming to terms with who you really are.

Within the category masculinity and the influence of media is the love for all things sports. This love is especially apparent in childhood and adolescence.

Boys are expected to like football, baseball, basketball, mixed martial arts, and rough and tumble play. Girls are expected to play with dolls, easy-bake

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Social Conditioning is not necessarily tackling men in a mental way but in a psychical way as well.

Originally, the male body was shown as your stereotypical tan, muscular, and rugged kind of guy.

Such stars as Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone, and Arnold Schwartzenagger portrayed this stereotypical male in the stereotypical masculine settings in movies such as Rambo, Die Hard, The Terminator, and Indiana Jones. Now our typical male vision is being swept away from these old realms and pushed in a new direction. With movies like “The Full Monty”, “Boogie Nights”, and “The Pillow Book”, have stripped the male body and exposed not it’s masculinity, but it’s vulnerability. In the movie “Philadelphia” a gay man is being defended because he was fired from his job unjustly. This is a big step for our movie society to make being “gay” is not something that is talked about. The movies are becoming bolder, making the today’s generation start to understand it is okay to be whatever you want to be.

Even though the male body is now making more of a dramatic appearance in movies and magazines today, the stereotypical male will always be prominent. Males are truly independent and confident enough to let go and feel as comfortable as females

BROAD Info + Editors

BROAD Info + Editors

When struggling with the challenges of masculinity or having the challenge of personal internal problem, boys have a tendency to have to look elsewhere for support from either online components or even peers. The majority of parents in our society have brought their children up believing that a boy is to grow up and act masculine due to their upbringing and that there is no deviation from this norm.

Since social conditioning has been placed upon them, they must constantly try to show themselves as a strong masculine man. “Masculinity as a gender construction in virtually every society must be constantly defended”(Culbertson 4). As men grow through adolescence they must always defend the way they act or speak due to the constant judgments based upon them from their family or peers. This is not because they are more powerful, they have just always been taught that they are the stronger gender.

BROAD Info + Editors

BROAD Info + Editors

“A boys need to be silent and then his subsequent readiness to share what he is feeling is what will call the timed silence syndrome. It’s the boy who usually needs to set the clock himself and to determines how much we learn to become sensitive to each boys unique timing we become better to how he copes with emotions and make it more possible for him to be honest about the feelings behind the mask” (859 Pollack).

ovens, and more imagination based play. If a boy is seen doing any of the activities that are normally seen of a stereotypical girl, that boy would receive a sanction by society. Boys who participate in feminine activities and also enjoy said activities are forced to conform to society’s perspective on what they should and should not play. Within societal gender roles many believe that a predictor of a person’s sexuality would indicate their interest toward sports or play. Bern indicates that: “Childhood gender conformity or nonconformity was not only the strongest but the only significant childhood predictor of later sexual orientation for both men and women.

The effects are large and significant. For example, Compared with heterosexual men, gay men were significantly less likely to have enjoyed boys activities ( e.g. baseball and football ) during childhood, more likely to have enjoyed girl’s activities (e.g. hopscotch, playing house, and jacks), and less likely to rate themselves as having been masculine.” (Bern 3)

In childhood growth, curriculum within schools forces children to go to gym. These gym classes do not accommodate to females. The games are all contact sports none of which stress flexibility and the mind. Schools need to offer co-ed classes that let boys and girls choose which classes they would be interested in participating in. These classes would integrate all types of men and women and cater to those who do not enjoy contact sports.

During childhood and adolescence, sports are an area that is stressed upon when becoming the stereotypical man. Yet not all men are the stereotypical man and thus judging homosexual males and claiming they are not men for not playing any sort of physical sport is an abomination. Although sports play a huge issue on stereotyping, music also has a cultural impact as sport does if not more.

Music artists that are said to be of the homosexual orientation have always been subjected to a pre conceived notion on the type of behavior they illustrate along with the music they produce. These musicians are judged from our media groups and convince individuals on their views. Homosexual musicians are seen very differently than regular artists. When society views homosexual musicians they are not masculine nor are they singing about anything that relates to masculinity. People see regular artists as the music portrays them while homosexual artists are seen through a prism of stereotypes. Some homosexual artists choose to hide their homosexuality to avoid social stigmas linked with their sexuality. Regular artists who are perceived as masculine do not have to worry about hiding their sexuality because being heterosexual in

today’s society is accepted and is in the norm. But homosexual artists have to resort to making atypical music that does not comprise their sexuality. Lance Bass, a former member of the boy band NSYNC, hid his sexuality from others in the fear that his music career would be tarnished from a world that is not ready to see a homosexual singer. Also Ricky Martin a famous Latin pop sensation hid his homosexual tendencies and portrayed his sexuality in the opposite way where he womanized females. Lesbian actions from certain artists such as Madonna, Brittney, and Christina are seen as a more ordinary sexual standard than Usher, Kayne West and Justin Beiber. Artist’s behaviors and the music they make have been criticized by many, while these judgments are taking place magazines also sexualize homosexual men and mess around with masculinity.

Magazine corporations have sexualized homosexuals and masculinity for years. In magazines featuring new fashions men are dressed up in outfits and forced to wear makeup to make them pop out to an audience. Masculinity is perceived in magazines by colognes and brand names where the man is playing sports or participating in acts of illicit fornication involving the opposite sex. If you look at a body fragrance spray advertisement the man is always doing something with contact sports. Whereas if you look at Marc Jacobs cologne advertisement the man is always wearing makeup or is half naked glistening in sweat, water, or rain. Marketers always change the way men need to be seen and the ads are severely judged by the individuals who disagree with homosexuality and applaud hetero- normative behavior. These behaviors that are illustrated through magazine advertisements show individuals that if you aren’t demonstrating your strength and ability to endure than you are not a heterosexual.

Having artistic photography and makeup on will give people the impress that person or ad is going for an audience that is not heterosexual.

Society attacks homosexual males by targeting the view of masculinity on homosexuality. This is done through various media outlets such as movies, music, and magazines. But it is also done through the stereotypes that have been implemented amongst society through connections with heterosexuality and certain activities, emotions, and actions.

Through continuous teaching of equality, tolerance, and diversification, people will eventually understand that everyone is different in their own special way and that no homosexual is any different than any heterosexual in masculinity or any other aspect of life.

message me we asked. you answered.

BROAD people

BROAD October 2014

BROAD Info + Editors

A LOT. My sister, my best friend, my boss, nearly all my friends, and hopefully, someday, my partner!

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Basically everyone I know. Oh yeah we’re close ;)

BROAD Info + Editors

I have 2 aunts and 2 uncles and I’m very close with them.

QUOTE CORNER

tell-a-vision

MADADS

visions & revisions of our culture(s) Shit People Say to Asexuals

TELL-AVISION

SCREEN/ PLAY

BOOKMA RK HERE

TELL-AVISION

QUOTE C ORNER

BROAD FACULTY FEED

BROAD RECAP

Consider:

BROADSID

E

LIBERATIO N LEADERS

CAREER CALL

VISITING EDITOR

1. Have you ever heard or said any of these comments?

2. Which comments stood out to you?

MICRO 3. Where do these stereotypes, negative comments, and assumptions come from?

AGRES 4. How can we work to change the conversation around asexuality?

ADVA SHU NS

NCE

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBabpK_nvs0

BROAD

WLA REANIMA TED

VOLUNTEE R VOICES

MESSAGE

ME

WE’VE GO T MAIL

broadside poetry in street lit style Meagan Cook

Tiger Lily

Tiger Lily lays on her pillow the only flower with freckles and her father thinks it’s beautiful Tiger Lily grows in her palm as she learns that fantasy and fiction make it a little easier to relate Tiger Lily sits on her table in a vase by itself the last surviving flower from a bouquet not meant for her Tiger Lily is etched into her hip with the venus symbol reaching down.

The artist is not a feminist he rests his hands on her he says ‘I’m sure you’ve had boyfriends before.’ he pauses ‘or whatever your preference.’

Tiger Lily was meant to be powerful but now it is a reminder of everything she is and everything she’s not.

Tiger Lily will stay there forever hidden by T-shirts and tankinis it will be there for her entire life until she is ready for it to show.

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Tiger Lily breaks through the surface of her skin finally visible but still easily concealed.

Liberation Leaders Illuminating Then & Now, Inspiring Forever Sally Gross, Intersex South African

Inspires: hts activists entor for human rig m a as ed rv se lly out her Sa spoke publicly ab e Sh . ld or w e th iews, around ex issues in interv rs te in d an y tit en intersex id a major tes. She was also speeches, and deba Palestinian rights in the Israelian m hu r fo te ca ist in advo anti-apartheid activ or aj m a as w d an conflict tersex Netrding to the OII In South Africa. Acco ath, “The to Sally after her de n tio ca di de k’s or tion, w came her congrega be ity un m m co ex and inters e out her vocation, liv to d ue in nt co where she le she loved rrounded by peop su as w e sh re he w right to the end.”

Importance Bio:

intersex rights and n a m u h n ex a South Afric tor of Inters c a e s ir a d w d ss n a ro r e 53.

Sally G st 22nd, 19 s the found u a g w u d A n n a o , x te advoca yn. She orn interse Sally was b named Selw but . d a n ic a fr th A ir b th Sou ale at ll her life, ssified as m gularities” a e rr ars “i l a u She was cla x e was 40 ye ing se v sh a r h e f d o n u re ” a x was aw “interse partheid ally labeled er her anti-a ft rm a fo 7 t 7 o 9 n 1 s a in iversity. w a t Oxford Un South Afric a d e e fl re y g ll e a d S s ican r’ old. the Domin ed a maste in rn jo a e to d n d a e , id gdec activism formally dia iritual and s a sp w ly y p ll e a e S , d -classiShe was age of 40 tion to be re est. At the si ri n p a a tr s a to r e d e 39 and id Ord the ages of ex and dec n rs e te e in tw s e a b d mined nose ave the Do e transition le h S to . d le e a rc m fo fied as fe passed in , Sally was hism. Sally r transition e d h d r u e B ft to A . d 42 rne . and later tu ruary 2014 ican Order y awa in Feb

to Social Just

ice:

Sally Gross w as instrumen tal in obtaining the fi rst legal men ti on of the intersex com munity in na tional law, as South Afric a included in tersex under “sex” in th e nation’s anti -discrimination law in 2000. She als o helped to draft legis lation on the promotion of equality an d the alterati on of sex descriptors.

She participa ted in the first Internati onal Intersex Forum and was activ e on a variety o f online advocacy gro ups.

Watch Sally discuss Intersex Sou th Africa:

https://www .youtube.com /watch?v=Xe8ngRLiUH0

words are useless

Coming Out Artist: Lorraine Inzalaco, www.inzalaco-lesbianart.com

I record the beautiful gifts of loving women and being loved by women. Positive “out” images are celebrations of my experiences.

“Coming Out” depicts leaping from the ‘personal’ into public realities to find our tender, powerful voices as lesbians and queers.

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sometimes words aren’t enough Lorraine Inzalaco

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Bronwyn Lundberg

The Lesbian Last Supper Artist: Bronwyn Lundberg, www.yomeryl.com

Words from the Artist: I love to incorporate current issues and figureheads into recognizable works of art history. It helps inspire a discussion about what’s happening in the NOW instead of fixating on the past. The women featured here have been able transcend their typical role in society to accomplish incredible things. The fact that they are lesbians drives the point home that men aren’t there to dominate the discussion.

ADS MAD TE QUO ER N COR

tell-a-vision visions & revisions of our culture(s) 20/20 Intersex Interview

AL L TE ON VISI

-ATELL N VISIO

EN/ SCRE Y PLA

COR E T QUO ER N

ARK M K BOO RE HE

BROAD N ATIO LIBER ERS D LEA

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AD BRO P C RE A

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ING VISIT R O T EDI

ADS BRO

1. How does this interview portray intersex individuals?

E 2. How is it different from other discourse on intersex identities?

ANC ADV 3. Who is included? Who is excluded?

ICRO

Link:

E

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M ES AGR S N SHU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv1yk2Va9qc

MES

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D A O BR

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Consider:

WLA ED IMAT REAN

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Bronwyn Lundberg

Ornacia Pride

Artist: Artist: Bronwyn Lundberg, www.yomeryl.com

When the Drag Queen Vivacious made her appearance on RuPaul’s Drag Race (Season 6), she wore an unforgettable headpiece called Ornacia. Within my friend group, we were so taken with the word that we began referring to anything ornamental and fabulous as “Ornacia”. Even “Good M’ornacia!” has replaced our morning greeting, so you get the picture. By the time RuPaul tweeted “Be yourself, unless you can be Ornacia” I knew I wanted to draw RuPaul as the Ornacia Peacock Queen. Why not? I love to make art that comes from a source of appreciation and humor.

What’s your LGBTIQ? BROAD Voice, BROAD Communities Anonymous

This is not a “Coming Out” story.

This is a story of realization.

High school continued. Tensions rose with the phrase ‘bisexual’. I fought with my dad about if it was even a real thing. And then he asked, “Why are you getting so offended? Are you bisexual?” And then tears. So many tears. Tears turned to surprised looks turned to quiet phone calls turned to pointed questions once I walked through the door. And outing. My mom, whom my dad made the phone call to, outted me to my sister. “Did you know your sister is bisexual?” Right out of nowhere, in the car, where I couldn’t escape. The only weapon I had was a sassy comment, “Thanks for outing me. That was super rude.” And then I put my headphones back in. As if listening to Drake would kill the sob rising up in my throat. I know my sister didn’t mind what I was, if anything. I could tell her I wanted to marry a mushroom and she’d be all for it. I wasn’t ready. I hadn’t even figured out if I actually liked one or another or both. If I

didn’t even know, how could I explain to other people?

I was seventeen then. And now, at almost nineteen, I can really say that yeah, both is where my heart has settled. But I haven’t gotten anywhere with it. The topic is dropped with my family, no one actually cares. But I care. I just want to know where I stand, in my own heart.

Because girls are beautiful creatures that are soft and magnificent. And boys are strong and warm and they usually smell good and have jawlines that one could cut things with. So why should I choose? I’ve realized that I don’t have to. So I won’t.

Some would call it bisexual. I usually just go with queer.

Or not saying anything at all. I’ve realized that I don’t owe anyone an explanation. So I don’t give them anymore. That’s the most powerful realization you can get.

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My parents always told me that they would love me no matter who I loved. They told me that changing my pronouns in my poetry wasn’t necessary, because they love me all the same. But that wasn’t who I was worried about. I wasn’t worried about my friends either. As a part of the LGBTQ etc community, I have friends of all identities. I was worried about myself. Was I ready to take on this completely new identity? Did my identity even have to change??? Could I still be the exactly the same, but with this new ‘label’ tossed in? I didn’t know.

So ignoring it seemed, like most other things at fifteen, like the best option.

broadside poetry in street lit style Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi

My history is a story of long-suffering.

I suffered anguish, attack, and condemnation.

My story is a tale of survival.

It tells that I survived.

woman

From one era to anotherFrom one generation to anotherFrom a decade to anotherAnd you are born to see my persecution.

Your history is not sincere.

Your story is false.

All politeness is mere cruelty.

All respect is only hypocrisy.

Your blood-stained index finger Indicates me as a weaker sex; Your lip service pays tribute to my sexuality.

You regard me as a sex object.

I asked many questions.

But all remained unanswered.

When I talk of feminism, you nauseate.

When I speak of equality, you show your muscle.

You are rational; I am emotional.

When I demand for my rights, you say it’s wrong.

You think-you are strong and I am beautiful.

But these beauty contests & compliments won’t end my suffering.

I am not tired of suffering.

I am also not frightened.

My past witnessed my sitting idly.

But it is not the end.

I I I I

will not stop questioning. will not prefer sleeping. will always raise my voice. am still alive.

Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi is an assistant professor of linguistics in the School of Langu ages and Literature at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, India. His research interests inclu de language documentation, writing descripti ve grammars, and the preservation of rare and endangered languages in South Asia. He has contributed articles to many English journals.

His most recent books are A Grammar of Hadoti (Lincom Europa Academic Publicati ons, 2012) and A Grammar of Bhadarwahi (Linc om Europa Academic Publications, 2013 ), and A Grammar of Dogri is forthcoming.

poet bio

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As a poet, he has published around fifty poems in different anthologies worldwide.

Until recently, his poem “Mother� has included as a prologue toMotherhood and War: Inter national Perspectives (Eds.), Palgrave Macmillan Press. 2014.

Creat

words are useless sometimes words aren’t enough Bolstridge

Artist: Bolstridge

Red equal signs swarmed Facebook in support of marriage equality and the end of Proposition 8 and Defense of Marriage Act in 2013. True Blood fans, Sesame Street lovers and even Grumpy Cat advocates changed their profile pictures, inevitably striking up conversation and controversy in the online community.

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tive Online Activism

BROAD Info + Editors

BROAD Info + Editors

Contributor Guidelines How to be BROAD BROAD Team

principles: i) Feminist Consciousness:

(a) recognizes all voices and experiences as important, and not in a hierarchical form. (b) takes responsibility for the self and does not assume false objectivity. (c) is not absolutist or detached, but rather, is more inclusive and sensitive to others.

ii) Accessibility:

(a) means utilizing accessible language, theory, knowledge, and structure in your writing. (b) maintains a connection with your diverse audience by not using unfamiliar/obscure words, overly long sentences, or abstraction. (c) does not assume a specific audience, for example, white 20-year-old college students.

iii) Jesuit Social Justice Education & Effort:

(a) promotes justice in openhanded and generous ways to ensure freedom of inquiry, the pursuit of truth and care for others. (b) is made possible through value-based leadership that ensures a consistent focus on personal integrity, ethical behavior, and the appropriate balance between justice and fairness. (c) focuses on global awareness by demonstrating an understanding that the world’s people and societies are interrelated and interdependent.

expectations & specifics: • You may request to identify yourself by name, alias, or as “anonymous” for publication in the digest. For reasons of accountability, the staff must know who you are, first and last name plus email address.

• We promote accountability of our contributors, and prefer your real name and your preferred title (i.e., Maruka Hernandez, CTA Operations Director, 34 years old, mother of 4; or J. Curtis Main, Loyola graduate student in WSGS, white, 27 years old), but understand, in terms of safety, privacy, and controversy, if you desire limitations. We are happy to publish imagery of you along with your submission, at our discretion.

• We gladly accept submission of varying length- from a quick comment to several pages. Comments may be reserved for a special “feedback” section. In order to process and include a submission for a particular issue, please send your submission at least two days prior to the desired publication date.

• Please include a short statement of context when submitting imagery, audio, and video.

• We appreciate various styles of scholarship; the best work reveals thoughtfulness, insight, and fresh perspectives.

• Such submissions should be clear, concise, and impactful. We aim to be socially conscious and inclusive of various cultures, identities, opinions, and lifestyles.

• As a product of the support and resources of Loyola University and its Women Studies and Gender Studies department, all contributors must be respectful of the origin of the magazine; this can be accomplished in part by ensuring that each article is part of an open discourse rather than an exclusive manifesto.

• All articles must have some clear connection to the mission of the magazine. It may be helpful to provide a sentence or two describing how your article fits into the magazine as a whole.

• The writing must be the original work of the author and may be personal, theoretical, or a combination of the two. When quoting or using the ideas of others, it must be properly quoted and annotated. Please fact-check your work and double-check any quotes, allusions and references. When referencing members of Loyola and the surrounding community, an effort should be made to allow each person to review the section of the article that involves them to allow for fairness and accuracy.

• Gratuitous use of expletives and other inflammatory or degrading words and imagery may be censored if it does not fit with the overall message of the article or magazine. We do not wish to edit content, but if we feel we must insist on changes other than fixing typos and grammar, we will do so with the intent that it does not compromise the author’s original message. If no compromise can be made, the editor reserves the right not to publish an article.

• All articles are assumed to be the opinion of the contributor and not necessarily a reflection of the views of Loyola University Chicago.

We very much look forward to your submissions and your contribution to our overall mission.

Please send your submissions with a title and short bio to Broad People through broad.luc@gmail.com.