What am I missing?

Political bloggers often do 'open blog' posts when they have a light day/vanish on holiday etc. It occurs to me, that I've never (I don't think) offered readers the chance to post ideas for what you'd like to see me talk/write about either in a blogpost, a video or Audioboo.

So here's your chance. I know there's lots of you out there but you're shy to comment. Well, please do comment on this post and tell me what you'd like to see me address. Thoughts on any features you'd like to see added to the blog are also welcome. Don't self-censor, just say what you'd like me to deal with :-) Thanks.

Living with a Sex Offender

Absolutely fascinating piece in the Guardian today from a woman who describes falling in love with, and now living with a guy who turned out to be a sex offender. There are many who will point to the author's revelation that she herself was sexually abused as a child. I also find it interesting that it's only towards the end of the piece that there appears to be an age dimension to the sex crime committed by her partner - it's very vague. Thus, given someone has chosen tow rite and publish this, there also seems unease at the situation. It's a reminder that sex offenders are human beings (shock, horror) but also that there is a lasting legacy from sex crime for the victim, the offender and also anyone who comes into contact with that individual. As this piece makes clear, to be placed on the sex offenders register is to become socially radioactive. Well worth a read, check it out here.

Sky Sports Sexism Row

I've not done an audioboo for a while so here we go, my thoughts on the sacking/resignation of Andy Gray/ Richard Keys over sexist comments.

Bareback Sex, AIDS and a Coming Cultural Crisis

There is a coming cultural crisis. Bareback sex, as I've previously commented (see for example here and here), is apparently on the increase and bareback porn companies are key players in changing the socio-cultural narrative around bareback sex, normalising and celebrating the raw or authentic act of condomless anal penetration. With that shift come new legal pressures and conflicts.

Dr David Bull - the Conservative (capital and small 'c') doctor has written the usual safe sex garbage in the new issue of GT (Gay Times). He trots out the usual lines about have fun but stay safe which sounds like your Dad giving you a lecture - and is about as effective. It could have been written any time in the last twenty years and we know that those messages have been of questionable effectiveness.

Earlier this month, the brilliant and occasionally batty, Larry Kramer rode once more into the AIDS/bareback debate. His work is incredibly powerful stuff. His speeches are a must read but he seems an increasingly loud and angry old man who people have given up listening to. Sure, they stand there, politely clap, mutter the right platitudes and then go and do the complete opposite - negotiating a complex fuck strategy that is often beyond the binary safe/unsafe categorisation. Kramer's plea's and warnings - such as "one day the HIV drugs won't work" is absurd. One day they might, but so too might lots of drugs such as anti-biotics (which do show increased cases of resistance) and then let's be honest, we're all screwed.

Set against this backdrop of well-meaning men shouting and getting no-where, enter Treasure Island Media (link NSFW). Celebrating bareback sex, defining it as an authentic 'raw' experience, bareback sex defined as sexual truth. The ongoing project, Ryan Sullivan's Island - a blog with a film that's been touring film festivals and due for release later this year - sets out to document the company 'behind the scenes', and the latest video (ep 57: HIV Boy) is apparently (the authenticity cannot be assumed) a video of TIM founder, and movie maker, Paul Morris interviewing a cute guy who is HIV positive. It's an interesting intervention from one guy living with HIV, and the comments by guys who have viewed the video are equally fascinating. I was struck that of the commercial venues that could be mentioned, Folsom Gulch was the one that they went with, how the sexual acts there took place, and how oral and anal sex are regarded by the interviewee (there's a rather sweet moment when he describes oral sex as being a nice way to say hello). This is guy HIV positive, fucking with condoms sometimes, sometimes not, conscious of his status and yet negotiating an existence in which keeping his job and getting good grades are his concerns. This is the type of guy Bull and Kramer are talking to, but the intended audience would rather listen to Morris and carry on fucking bareback.

And why not? The answer in some jurisdictions is "the law". Law that seeks to criminalise HIV transmission inevitably impacts upon bareback sex and serves to create extra force to the warnings from Bull, Kramer and Co. It also serves to undo much of the progress in encouraging people to be tested, and divides HIV campaigners. The House of Lords review into HIV transmission later this year may kick-start a wider debate in the UK about the criminal transmission of HIV. For what it's worth, I'm against such a move.

Yet, the activities of many gay men continue to scare the hell out of others in our 'community'. The Naked Sword blog (NSFW) posted a link yesterday to a post on 'How to manage a Bareback Gangbang' that had been posted on the popular bareback site of Raw Top (NSFW and which I think I've linked to before). Naked Sword blog editor Zach offered the following commentary:

'On the one hand, AIDS is not the death sentence that it once was. On the other, have fun taking pills (and enduring the side effects) for the rest of your life. On the one hand, why should taxpayers be burdened with health care costs due to irresponsible behavior? On the other, taxpayers already pay the health care costs for the obese, smokers, and drug users. And on the one hand, these are adults engaging in consensual, adult behavior of their own volition. On the other? Jesus fucking Christ'.

The commentary is typical of the view of many - it is quite simply "what the fuck?", "this doesn't compute." That's precisely the point.

That's why we're heading for a cultural crisis. A queer community is becoming increasingly disconnected, and the 'elite' in news, media, and much of academia are in the Bull/Kramer "WTF" camp, whilst an increasing number of men are in what I'd call the 'Fuck Off' camp. At some point, the nicey nice will end and a cultural war will be upon us. Don't kid yourself that the law won't be a character in that war.

The 2011 Visiting Scholar Program at the Leather Archives & Museum

Readers of this blog might be interested in details of the 2011 Visiting Scholar Program at the Leather Archives & Museum. I've was fortunate enough to visit the Chicago museum last year and this strikes me as a fantastic scheme for developing scholarship and resources in this area. Details are below:

Summary:

The Leather Archives & Museum [LA&M] announces the second annual Visiting Scholar Program for the Fall 2011 or Spring 2012 academic terms. A stipend of $1,000 to $1,500 will be awarded to one recipient scholar to conduct research using the
collections of the LA&M. The amount of the award will be dependent on the scope of the proposed project. A $500 travel allowance and up to four weeknight accommodations will also be provided to the recipient. The award is available to three types of scholars:

1) Scholars with academic appointments
2) Graduate students pursuing an MA, MFA or PhD
3) Independent scholars with an established research agenda.

The LA&M is seeking projects that may enhance the institution’s mission to disseminate information to the public about the history of the leather / fetish / BDSM community and its culture. Toward that end, we are particularly interested in proposals that may provide materials for display in its galleries, as a traveling exhibit or as an online exhibition.

Timeline:

March 15th, 2011 applications postmarked by this date.

April 30th, 2011 notification of award

Research to be conducted between September 2011 and April 2012.
- 33% of stipend and 100% of travel allowance paid at this time

A 300 to 500 word summary of the research visit and preliminary findings, able to be published by the LA&M, to be received by the LA&M between one and three months following visit.
- 33% of stipend paid at this time

A list of publication and presentation opportunities for which work will be submitted, to be received by the LA&M not less than three months following the visit. Final stipend payment to be made upon acceptance of publication or presentation and receipt of a manuscript to be published or paper to be presented.
- 33% of stipend paid at this time.

Applications:

Note that applications will be reviewed by individuals who may not be in your field of study. Care should be taken to write in a matter that is accessible to others. A complete application package will include:

1) A current vita. Include name, mailing address, phone number, email address and institutional affiliation (if applicable).
2) Project title and one paragraph abstract
3) A 1,500 to 2,000 word double-spaced descriptive narrative of the project
a. What is the subject of the research?
b. What is the scope of the project?
c. What sources do you plan to use?
d. What is the anticipated product of your research?
e. What contribution to current historic or cultural research will this project make?
4) A separate page to address the following questions:
a. How well will the result of your project be suited for publication in peer reviewed scholarly journals, in the LA&M’s publication The Leather Times, or as source material for an exhibition (either at the LA&M or online)?
b. If this is part of a larger project, how much work have you completed to this point? What additional research will follow your visit to the LA&M?
c. How many days of onsite research at the LA&M do you anticipate will be needed for your project? This is for planning purposes only, and will not be used to judge applications.
d. How did you hear about the Visiting Scholar Program at the Leather Archives & Museum?
5) A letter of reference
A paper copy and electronic copy of the application package should be sent to:

Leather Archives & Museum
Visiting Scholar Program
6418 N Greenview Ave
Chicago, IL 60626
rick@leatherarchives.org

About the Leather Archives & Museum:

The Leather Archives & Museum is a library, museum and archives pertaining to leather and alternative sexual communities. The geographic collection scope is worldwide and includes all sexual orientations and genders. The library collection contains books, magazines, scholarly publications, films and electronic resources related to the subject matter. The museum collection contains original erotic art and artifacts from alternative sex organizations and individuals. The archival collection contains unpublished papers and records from notable activists, artists, businesses and organizations related to the subject matter. For more information about the LA&M, please visit http://www.leatherarchives.org.

Queer Space and Commercial Blues

The ebb and flow of venues and trade (in ever sense) from Manchester's Canal Street always attracts a lot of attention and is seen as a key indicator in the struggle for spatial identity, attracting considerable academic and media coverage over the years. Mancunian resident and self-styled trolley dolly, Mickie Lawson discusses the current situation on his blog. As much as I enjoy the blog, I do wonder whether the praise for Nicksy and Essential is a reflection of Mickie's desire for publicity and getting another appearance on Nicksy's show. How are other Mancs finding things on Canal Street? Post your thoughts in comments. Check out Mickie's thoughts here.

It will be interesting how the ongoing economic difficulties will affect queer commercial spaces up and down the UK, and if leads to a lasting shift in spatial identity.

Email Subscriptions

OK, this has taken me a stupidly long time to get round to adding, but I've now added an email subscription option on the top right. Just pop your email address in and you'll then (hopefully) be sent through notifications of new blog posts so you never miss a new post again. I hope you find this useful.

Damn You Phillips! You've Discovered My Mind Altering Machine!

It's turning into Daily Mail week on this blog and they are working very hard to tackle my suggestion that not everyone at the Mail is a homophobic bigot (that'll teach me). Melanie Phillips is the latest to stick a dainty metaphorical two fingers up at me.

At one point yesterday she found herself trending on Twitter and as many of you know, the silly hack waded into the sensible comments from Schools Out about the school curriculum including aspects of homosexuality.

The request from Schools Out and the comments from Sue Sanders made this clear, “All we are attempting to do is remind teachers that LGBT people are part of the population and you can include them in most of your lessons when you are thinking inclusively.” Essentially, Sanders is suggesting that if someone is studying Maths and the problem concerns a married couple called Ahmed and Sonal, why can't it include a couple in a civil partnership called Rob and Joe, rather than always a straight married couple? Why can't the questions in class and the scenarios explored in lessons reflect society as it is, rather than some 1920's vision of a white straight Britain?

We would no longer tolerate classes that only refer to characters called Johnny and Jane as that doesn't reflect the students studying in class. This is the next logical step, and is no more loony than what has occurred with race, but it is just as important.

Read the Pink News take on events here.

Phillips, who has made a career out of being offensive, doesn't just criticise the plan. She goes much much further commenting that: “And it’s all part of the ruthless campaign by the gay rights lobby to destroy the very concept of normal sexual behaviour.”

Phillips' homophobic ignorant tirade can be read in full here but it does mean going on to the Daily Mail website. I rather like the way that Phillips seem to hint at some global conspiracy among the 'gay lobby'. Could it be that she has also seen video footage of my new teaching device (shown below)?

It's Equality Stupid

There I was, typing away, writing a piece about not throwing mud, being reasonable and - truly shocking - defending the Daily Mail. Meanwhile, they were busy publishing another piece of hateful ignorant journalism. I tried, I really did. In a piece headed 'Equality Madness', the Mail on Sunday attacks equality and the fact the Government has - dun dun dun - been obeying the law in terms of the equality duties imposed upon it. It is essentially a non story. Yet, it also plays into a public psyche that still doesn't understand why these provisions exist and why these measures are a good thing. The story also cropped up on the BBC Andrew Marr show this morning and among a panel consisting of Clare Short, Peter Hitchens and Amanda Platell, nobody defended the move. Unsurprising from Hitchens and Platell who used the story as an example of political correctness gone mad, but Short's failure to explain was a major disappointment. Here are examples the Mail highlights (reproduced in full - not my language):

* Officials at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport carrying out a so-called ‘equality impact assessment’ to ensure minority groups are able to take a full part in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations next summer.

* The Department of Energy and Climate Change issuing a report last month assessing whether a range of groups, including people in civil partnerships, had been unfairly treated when it suspended its £300 million scheme to help people insulate their homes.

* Government officials undertaking a study into India’s traditional caste system and its implications for discrimination in the UK.

* The promotion of the first leadership course specifically for gay, lesbian, bisexual or transsexual National Health Service managers.

* The Department for Work and Pensions publishing a report into whether proposed changes to its scheme to help disabled people find jobs would have implications on a range of issues from religion to gender reassignment.

* Kent Police issuing fresh equality guidance earlier this month, to comply with the Act, saying that transsexual staff are protected as soon as they start to dress, behave or live ‘in the gender they identify with’.

You can read the full Mail story here.

This isn't a debate between right and left, it's a debate between right and wrong. Ensuring that all citizens have equal access to services is the right thing to do. It's not loony left, it's the mark of a decent society. That educated and thoughtful journalists continue to fail to understand sexuality, gender, disability, and race is truly terrifying. The only thing more scary, is the failure of other members of the press to stand up, explain and defend these legal measures.

BBC Four Justice Season

For some reason, any adverts for this seem to have passed me by but BBC Four begins a season on 'Justice - A Citizen's Guide' tonight. Details and a full line-up of the shows that make up the season can be viewed here.

Easy on the Mud

The easiest thing in the world to do is to throw out allegations, to make sweeping assumptions, to throw mud. The publication by the Daily Mail of a cartoon this week by their cartoonist in residence, Mac, plays into a narrative of the Daily Mail as a hateful newspaper. Certainly, the Daily Mail has a history of publishing articles that many - including myself - have viewed as homophobic. It's tone is one of bewilderment at the modern society the paper finds itself read within but it would be wrong to assume that every cartoon, that every article, every journalist at the Mail is somehow homophobic and a spreader of a hate. Easy, certainly, but wrong.

Following the B&B legal case this week, the Daily Mail satirised the incident in the cartoon pictured above. The caption beneath reads: “Isn’t that romantic, George, dear? Mr and Mr Smith would like the bridal suite.”

The Mac cartoon that has got the cyberworld talking, and led to this comment piece on Pink News, that suggests the hoteliers are respectable and civilised, and having to 'take in' burly gay men with Nazi tattoos. It is not an assertion that all gay men are burly skin-head Fascists. It does suggest two worlds colliding, which they did in the B&B case. It's also worthwhile checking out this piece from the Guardian which further explores the role of religion.

This is a couple - middle aged, conservative in appearance, running a clearly labelled 'Christian Hotel' and calmly dealing with a gay couple that are clearly anathema to them. Crucially, they are accepting the couple.

For me, the Nazi tattoo is significant, but not denoting gay Nazis - but rather to denote the 'Fascism' of law; the intolerance of law, and the assertion of monolithic truth and state power over the individual.

The logical conclusion of this argument is to advocate the freedom to hate and that's the problem with this position. What of those whoa re racist? Ageist? Where ought the line to be drawn and at what point should the law be an intervening force?

Civil Partnerships, Marriage and Discrimination

Most of you will have heard the news yesterday about the victory in the B&B discrimination case. As Pink News reported, Martin Hall and Steven Preddy, who are civil partners, sued devout Christians Peter and Hazelmary Bull for sexual orientation discrimination, after being being refused a double room at their B&B. The case was supported by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, but the Judge in the case quashed the reports (which I confess I thought were true) that the couple had gone to the hotel originally at the behest of Stonewall to test the law in this area.

The hotel owners, Peter and Hazel Bull, are devout Christians who do not allow couples who are not married to share double rooms because they do not believe in sex before marriage. Mr and Mrs Bull maintained that their refusal to accommodate civil partners in a double room was not to do with sexual orientation but 'everything to do with sex'. The owners said the restriction applied equally to heterosexual couples who are not married.

The case was therefore not as simple as this being a Christian couple who don't like gay people, it was, do we need to treat a Civil Partnership the same as a marriage for the purposes of the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007? The answer from this case was a clear yes.

The Guardian has an interview with the winning couple below.

There is of course another dimension to this case, the Christian couple and the impact this will have had upon them. They consider themselves good decent people. They try to live their life as good citizens. I have little doubt that this case would have been devastating to them. Each day feeling like a week. It's easy to forget in the instant knee-jerk world of cyberspace and journalism that they are human beings but we should resist that easy route. They have honestly held beliefs, and they tried to warn people of their approach to unmarried straight couples and gay couples on their website. Yet, they lost. The law in this area is fairly straightforward and legally, it is quite right they lost. Morally, we do not accept the signs - so common in the 1950's - that B&B's would place: 'No Blacks, No Irish'. It is morally right that we reject discrimination based on homophobia. The trouble with this is what about religion? It remains the elephant in the room that law-makers, lawyers and policy-makers dodge around making pragmatic and - typically English - messy law.

If a moral argument about homophobia can assert itself in the provision of goods and services, why not the provision of marriage services? Why should the provision of marriage services by Churches be limited to straight people? If a Civil Partnership is the equivalent of a straight marriage, surely Civil Partners can - and must - therefore be allowed to marry in Churches. No? One to ponder. The current law represents a compromise between the religious and those who reject homophobia (I am not suggesting all religious people are homophobic), and the question no-one seems willing to really debate is where that line should be drawn, and why it is currently drawn in totally different places on different issues of policy and law.

Finally, let's ease off the B&B owners. They can now get on with their lives. Let's focus the criticism where it is needed - a law that is discriminatory and muddled.

Angry Birds

Suzanne Moore has a piece in the Guardian today in which she laments the passing of some of the great feminists and provides something of a 'call to arms' for feminists: 'God, how I miss those troublesome women like Andrea Dworkin and Shulamith Firestone. They may have been as batty as hell but they had passion. And balls. They were properly furious at the horrible things men do to women. Who in their right mind, male or female, isn't?'

Whilst Andrea Dworkin was never the type of person I would have found total agreement with, I admire anyone who passionately argues for their beliefs and doesn't give in the first sign of prejudice and resistance. Moore's central argument about the tension within feminism is an interesting one. There remains little public commentary on the tensions within this theoretical framework -and an all too casual application of the label 'feminist' to cover a group of people with many opposing beliefs. Moore describes this tension in the following terms:

'It is as though feminism had to sex itself up to keep itself interesting. We are not hairy man-haters who bang on about domestic violence and abuse. We are fascinating women interested in fashion, relationships and true intimacy. OK, so we have a few little problems like having it all turning into doing it all, and finding a nice guy to do any of it with at all, but look on the bright side! We have got a few more female MPs, our girls are doing well at school and isn't life grand?'

The full piece is well worth reading, and you can do that here.

Durham Gender and Sexuality Network Event - Stephen Whittle

Readers might be interested in this forthcoming event - I'm hoping to make it myself.

A GLAD CONVERSATION
With PROFESSOR STEPHEN WHITTLE OBE
Vice-President, Press for Change

Tuesday 8th February 2011
3.15-4.45pm
followed by drinks and nibbles

Joachim Room, Hild Bede College, Durham University

Places are free but limited; to reserve a place, please e-mail law.events@dur.ac.uk. For more information about the event, please e-mail Neil Cobb.

The flyer for this event can be downloaded here.

Gender and Law at Durham (GLAD) supports, develops and enhances research and teaching in the broad field of Law & Gender, primarily in Durham Law School, but also across Durham University as a whole.

A DURHAM GENDER AND SEXUALITY NETWORK EVENT

Hate, America, and a Dose of Steve Bell

I remain silent on the Tuscon story until more is known but this cartoon by Steve Bell in today's Guardian caught my attention.

Stonewall Top Employers

Stonewall published its annual 'Top 100 Employers' yesterday. A list of the great and good - and presumably, the people that gay men and women should hope to work for. As I say every year, I think the methodology is terribly flawed but the list should nonetheless be welcomed. It does throw the light on the issue of LGB (Not T -it's Stonewall) employment and that has to be a good thing. Some of those in the list, I know have moved beyond the ticking of boxes, and represent real efforts to address the LGB agenda. Gentoo - the North East based housing group comes a very well deserved 11th. A terrific group that have done much to transform not only housing but their policies towards LGB customers and employees. A number of the big law firms also feature, Simmons & Simmons coming highest at 19th. Hampshire Constabulary come an impressive 4th and the main news story is that the Home Office comes in first. Universities do terribly - just four make it, with the University of Salford taking the top spot at 60.

Read the full list here.

A Word on Gabrielle Giffords and the Tucson Incident

Like everyone else, I was upset to hear the news coming out of Arizona yesterday. If this is an incident motivated by right-wing, anti-gay hate, it will indeed be worthy of analysis by this blog and others like it. As it is, we don't know the motivation and so, perhaps rather than jump on the partisan bandwagon, we should wait and see what exactly happened.

Portas on Sexuality

Today, the Guardian carries a fabulous interview with the kick-ass Business guru Mary Portas. The memorable bit of the interview for me was her observation about Homebase. Oh I hear you Mary. However, the more important aspect for the purpose of this blog are her comments about her sexual identity. Portas is in a Civil Partnership - having previously being married to a man. She is regularly held up as a lesbian icon but she challenges these fixed labels in her interview with a rather brilliant quote:

"Errrr . . . when you look at female sexuality it's very different. Lots of women have been in love with men and then women and vice versa, it's just not so defined and I couldn't explain it in black and white. Have I loved men? Yes. Have I loved more than one woman? No. But did I know that I'd had crushes on men and women in the past? Yes. So it was never like, oooh! But was I happy in my heterosexual relationships? Yes. That's the way it just happened. I certainly wasn't a suppressed lesbian thinking, 'God, I can't wait to get out of this marriage', cos that would be just awful, awful, awful. No, my ex-husband and I know what we had, and it was great, some of the best years of my life, really some of the best. We just grew apart, and that happens. And I happened to fall in love with a woman."

Read the original Guardian story here and see Pink News' take on the story here.

Pride Radio

I've previously given a big shout out to the wonderful Manchester based queer radio station, Gaydio. If you've not tuned in, check them out here. I've also recently re-discovered a North East based queer radio station - Pride Radio. It's very good and they are trying to get a FM license to broadcast all year round rather than just in the run up to Pride. Please go on their website (wherever you are in the world), and give them a little listen. Check them out here.

GLBT History Museum Opening

Following my previous post on the wonderful GLBT Radio archive, I wanted to share details of another exciting devlopment.

The GLBT History Museum is set to open in San Francisco later this month. A project of the GLBT Historical Society, an archives and research center established in 1985, the new museum will be the first of its kind in the United States. The formal grand opening is set for Jan. 13, 2011 but it's already had a 'soft opening' so if you're in town, you should be able to check it out already.

Paul Boneberg, executive director of the Historical Society, has commented in a press release detailing the launch that: "The GLBT History Museum is in the heart of the Castro, a neighborhood visited not only by locals, but also by tens of thousands of tourists every year who come in search of queer culture. At our museum, they'll discover treasures from our archives that recount the diverse and fascinating stories of our lives. We have gone all out to create a museum as rich, diverse and surprising as the GLBT community itself. Whether they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or straight, visitors are sure to be moved, enlightened and entertained."

Located at 4127 18th St., the museum includes 1,600 square feet of gallery and program space built to the specifications of the Historical Society, with custom fixtures, lighting and multimedia installations reflecting professional standards. Funding has come from Levi's, the City of San Francisco, Castro district merchants, and numerous other sponsors and individual donors.

The museum will feature two debut exhibitions: In the main gallery, "Our Vast Queer Past: Celebrating GLBT History," curated by historians Gerard Koskovich, Don Romesberg and Amy Sueyoshi; and in the front gallery, "Great Collections of the GLBT Historical Society Archives."

The grand opening of The GLBT History Museum will take place on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m and will be open to the public and free.

Regular hours for The GLBT History Museum will be Wednesdays through Saturdays, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Sundays, noon to 5:00 p.m. Admission: $5.00; free for members. For more information, call 415-621-1107 or visit www.glbthistory.org.

My one reservation about the museum was that it would pull more 'straights' into the Castro and thus change the community into a bit of a zoo (I give you Manchester's Canal Street as Exhibit A). I was chatting over dinner to some friends who live in the Castro when I was last over and work on the museum had begun. Their view was that the Castro was suffering economically, and anything that kept the community afloat financially was to be welcomed. It will be interesting to see if they feel the same down the line. I have a feeling they will simply because of how the community has ownership over the museum and the general vibe of the place. I can see it supporting the Different Light Bookstore for example and further contribute to cafe and bar trade (although they all seem terribly busy when I visit - oh how I adore the homemade chicken vegetable soup at Cafe Flore)

I was lucky enough to visit the smaller temporary museum in the Castro with some of my students back in January 2009. That museum was small but wonderful. This new permanent museum looks fantastic and I'm sure will be a terrific addition to the Castro, San Francisco and to GLBT History. Unlike so many museum's, what was different about this museum was who was in the museum. Yes, there were tourists but there people for whom the museum contained fragments of their lives. Their contribution to the exhibition through the silent presence, or more often, through their willingness to chat and share stories made it a remarkable experience. One volunteer who had just popped in ended up chatting to my students and through the power of his story moved many of my small group to tears. It's easy to look at the photos on the Flickr channel and view this as a building with exciting objects. It's much more than that, it's a museum of lives. Please go along and support it if you can. I'll be checking it out in May.

There's An App For That

Ahhh Apple, beautiful things for beautiful people. Shame about the whole anti-sex/censorship thing but oooo, they look so pretty.

Typing this on my iMac, no doubt checking visit stats later in bed on my Macbook Pro (I'm mildly obsessive) and tweeting about it on my iPhone, I'm hardly in a position to criticise Apple (I'm waiting for the iPad2 before giving in on that front too). In fact, Apple has a host of fantastic apps for all those interested in law and sexuality. The launch of Apple's new OS later this year will mean that Mac's also have access to App's rendering them ubiquitous for many users of technology.

So, what App's are worth downloading from the point of view of law and sexuality? The bad news is that Apps seem more pitched at a male audience than a female or trans audience. One App that's a relative newcomer but fantastically useful is the Pink News App, you can keep up to date with all the latest LGB news stories. Although written largely from a UK perspective, it does cover lots of international stories. It's a smooth, fast app which any law and sexuality student with an iPhone/iPad should download. It's also free!

The main UK lesbian and gay magazines can also be downloaded for £1.79 a pop. Attitude, Diva, and GT (Gay Times) are all available for a fraction of their hard-copy price but this is probably one for iPad users only.

Perhaps the best known App from a sexuality point of view is Grindr - popularised by Stephen Fry in one memorable episode of Top Gear. The location specific 'dating' (quick fuck) website makes for a brightening addition to lectures and workshops. It's also free, if mildly creepy.

Gaydar and Manhunt got in on the location specific concept but the Gaydar app is horrendously slow and you need a separate subscription (or enhanced subscription) to get member level access, even if you are a member of the Gaydar website. Such is the continued popularity of Gaydar (see Sharif Mowlabocus's wonderful book published last year by Ashgate on 'Gaydar Culture'), it will be downloaded many times, but to be honest, if it wasn't the Gaydar brand, few would bother. Manhunt is also slow but does give you more access to services. The trouble is Manhunt hasn't taken of fin the UK to the same degree as in the US and other aprts of the world, so that local guy could be many miles away. Both apps are free.

Other gay sites are making apps available such as the fetish site Recon (also free) and more are likely to appear.

For those curious about cottaging/tearooms and want to know more about correct toilet etiquette, I recommend two fabulous free apps. The first is called 'Urinal Game' and is an App version of a computer programme that has been doing the rounds for many many years now. It's simple, funny and quite educational - particularly for female viewers. The sharper, more complex 'Urinal Test' is a more modern addition and one I recommend to students during the public sex part of the course. Both App's are also free!

Let me take this opportunity for a shameless appeal, should anyone want to create an app of my blog for free, that would be lovely (and rather unlikely).

Please do feel free to add your own suggestions for App's I've missed off in comments below.

What's in a Name?

Well everything and nothing it seems. Jane Fae continues her fight against the confused faff that seems to be involved in changing your name and the legal confusion that is wrapped up in it. Changing your name can be a significant moment in transitioning but this is an issue that goes beyond the trans community. Jane has provided not only an update, but a really helpful practical guide on going about changing your name and overcoming some of the obstacles you might face.

Check it out here.

Summer Institute on Sexuality, Culture, and Society

Reader might be interested in the announcement that he 15th Summer Institute on Sexuality, Culture, and Society will be held at the Graduate School of Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam from July 4 to July 28, 2011.

This highly specialised programme is for advanced students, primarily PhD and MA students in the socio-cultural sciences and professionals working for NGO's. The scientific directors are Prof. Diane di Mauro and Prof. Niko Besnier.

This year, Rebecca Jordan-Young and Elizabeth Bernstein will join the faculty.

Other modules include Young Sexualities, taught by Deevia Bhana and the HIV/AIDS Epidemic Contextualized, taught by Graeme Reid. One module (which include site visits) focuses on the Netherlands.

An integral part of the institute is Seminar in Proposal Development for selected students, led by Diane di Mauro.

After receiving your application, the admission committee will make a decision based on your academic background, your commitment to this field of study, and a letter of reference.

Fees:

Tuition fees for non-credit students are €2300 and for students who receive credit are €2700. Fees are to be paid in full before the beginning of classes. The fee includes lunch on class days.

The fees do not include housing and travel to and from Amsterdam. However, student apartments are available at approximately €550 for one month.

An application form is available on the Institute’s website.

The application deadline is April 15, 2011. The application fee of €50 will be waived if your application is received before March 1, 2011.
Scholarships

Students from 60 selected countries may apply for the Nuffic Fellowship Programme.
If your university is a member of the Universitas 21 network then you may be eligible for a partial scholarship of €500.

Read more here.

The Rise of Lesbian Porn

OK, I'm cheating slightly. The Daily Beast reported this story last month but January's quiet and I never have enough lesbian stories so here we are. The newspaper site included an interview with former lawyer, now pornographer (what is it with us legal folks and sex?), Jincey Lumpkin. She runs the site Juicy Pink Box which you can view here (NSFW) and it includes what I regard as a very tame trailer on the front page.

The site describes itself in typically glowing terms:

'Juicy Pink Box isn't your Daddy's porn company. Envisioned, founded and maintained by a woman, this is real lesbian sex captured in full cinematic luster.

We produce original pornographic film series that are available exclusively on JuicyPinkBox.com. Each series is centered around a general concept. The episodes relate to the concept but can also stand alone as erotic vignettes.

We collaborate with artists and visionaries to achieve a high standard of quality. Maintaining an elevated aesthetic is central to our work. We do not script dialog; all the reactions in the films are natural. We are inspired by classic cinema, iconic photographers and progressive fashion trends.

Our work has been honored by screenings around the world, including Berlin's Porn Film Festival 2009, Cheries-Cheries LGBT Film Festival 2009 in Paris, and Cinekink 2010 in New York City. The site was a 2010 Feminist Porn Awards nominee.'

The company explicitly seeks to contrast itself with the more hardcore 'dyke' porn produced in San Francisco - think for instance of the fabulous queer performer James Darling who answered some of my students porn questions in this blog post.

That I find the front page trailer tame, dull even is a good thing. I'm not the target audience. The films are written, cast, and shot for a lesbian audience turned-off by so-called dyke porn and tired of male ideas about what makes good girl-on-girl action. The report came in the wake of a recent survey by a leading lesbian networking site in Europe which showed more than 70 percent of gay women would buy more porn if it were targeted to a lesbian audience.

Read the full interview and article here.

First US Trans Trial Judge

Terrific exciting legal news came out of California this week as Victoria Kolakowsk became the first trans person to be sworn in as a trial judge in the US. A great historical moment. Read more about it here.

Brighton Pride Needs Overhaul?

One of the regular criticisms to come out of the queer movement is to target pride events. Too often commercial enterprises, far removed from their roots and 'core community', they are increasingly criticised from within the LGBTQ community rather than from outside it. The comments reported in Pink News yesterday from a former Brighton Pride Chair will therefore come of little surprise to many. David Harvey ran Brighton pride between 2003 and 2006 and has now suggested it's become too straight and needs an overhaul.

Read the full story here.

Extreme Pornography Update

I was going to write a quick note on this but the ever brilliant Heresy Corner has beaten me to it, and done a terrific job. Yey for the fabulous Feona Attwood and my lovely colleague over in the media school, Clarissa Smith, who gave expert testimony in one of the cases discussed.

Read the blog post here.

A Spot of Bikini Bottom Bother

Oh dear readers, I have a confession to make. I am a bit of a Spongebob Squarepants fan (as luck would have it I'm wearing a pair of my newly acquired Spongebob Squarepants socks as I type). Poor Spongey has got into some terrible scrapes off screen in recent years - not least with questions about his sexuality. Now, as the Guardian highlights this morning, he's in a spot of bother with a line of merchandise, shown below. The Bikini Bottom Groom and Go is obviously in reference to Bikini Bottom, the place where lovable Spongebob lives. Unfortunately, for the uninitiated, it suggests that 3 year olds are about to embark on some waxing of their nether regions. As I blogged yesterday, some feminists are worrying about porn but maybe it's Spongebob that's lead young girls on to the path towards Veet.

In all seriousness, I think people need to get a grip (if you'll pardon the phrase). This is potentially a 'toy' that will socialise children into 'adult modes' of behaviour - but as the picture suggests, this is pitched at the face - and men. In any case, I suspect that more middle aged gay men bought this as an amusing gift than parents trying to socialise their daughters into shaving their crotch.

CFP: Equality and Justice LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex) Rights in the XXI Century

2-13 May 2011, Florence, Italy

Equality and Justice is the two-day international conference closing the Equal Jus Project (www.equal-jus.eu), an 18-month Fundamental Rights and Citizenship action co-funded by the European Union. The project builds on the common European legal heritage for developing an informal and open network among all actors involved in promoting, guaranteeing and enforcing
LGBT rights with the purpose of sharing knowledge and expertise.

The conference will address fundamental rights and anti-discrimination law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity. The focus will be on the European legal system (at the regional, national, EU and Council of Europe levels) and on relevant international and comparative law. Prominent speakers will address the audience during plenary sessions, while presentations and discussions on specific topics will take place in parallel symposiums.

Submission of abstracts: until 24 January 2011
Registration deadline: 27 April 2011

Full conference announcement here.

Interrogating (In)Equality Conference

Readers might be interested in this interdisciplinary conference which is aimed at postgraduate & early career scholars in the broad area of law, gender and sexuality. My only criticism of the event is that funding should be open to new academics who do not have a PhD; many law academics still don't have a PhD but forge successful careers and could make a contribution to this event. I can think of a number of early-career academics who could make a terrific contribution and get a lot out of this event but don't meet that requirement. Ahh well, I am increasingly in a minority with my views. Anyway rant over...

The event will take place on Monday 25 & Tuesday 26 July 2011 and will be hosted by the Centre for Feminist Legal Studies, at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Call for Papers

Much law, gender and sexuality research deals with issues of equality: arguing for legal and social equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer people; interrogating the gendered dimensions of exploitation, violence or crime; and understanding experiences of regulation and subjugation are all major dimensions of research in gender, sexuality and law. But what do we mean when we talk of 'inequality'? The aim of this postgraduate and early career scholars’ conference is to discuss themes and questions such as:

• How do intersections of gender, sexuality, race, religion, disability and class work to confound,
support, challenge, frustrate or reinforce experiences of (in)equality?
• Does the fight for equality mean fighting for ‘inclusion’?
• Is there a relationship between equality in law and social justice in practice?
• How do people experience and/or challenge inequality inside and outside the law?
• Do legal spaces accommodate people’s experiences of difference and equality?
• In the centenary year of International Women’s Day, are “women’s issues” still politically urgent?
• Can academic research that champions equality for some result in silencing the causes of others?

We aim to provide a supportive and friendly environment for early career scholars to present their work, meet fellow researchers and benefit from interdisciplinary exchange. If you would like to present a paper, please send a title and abstract (max. 250 words) to Stacy Douglas (S.M.Douglas@kent.ac.uk) by Friday 7 January 2011.

Suggestions and submissions are also welcomed for round-table discussions and complete panels. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to email.

The workshop will also include practical sessions for postgraduate students and early career academics including:

• Building international collaboration
• Thinking about academic jobs
• Publishing gender, sexuality and law research

Funding

A limited amount of funding is available to support scholars from the UK to travel to the workshop. A financial contribution towards travel and accommodation costs will be made to early career scholars (postgraduate research students and academics up to 5 years post-PhD) based in any UK institution and working on law, gender and sexuality. Funding will be offered on the basis of the applicant's financial status, wealth of the home institution, availability of other sources of support, and any other relevant factors. Successful applicants will be expected to present a paper and complete a post-conference report. To apply please send a letter stating your case for support, a copy of your proposed conference abstract along with an up-to-date CV to Donatella Alessandrini (d.alessandrini@kent.ac.uk) by Friday, 7 January 2011.

Visit the website at:
http://clgs-pecans.org.uk/news/675/pecans-international-workshop-2011

Critical Sexology Launches 'UP North' Seminar

Brilliant news - Critical Sexology is launching a new 'Up North' seminar later this month which makes attending their events a lot more attractive for people like me stuck in the Arctic North!

Critical Sexology is a free interdisciplinary seminar series for psychologists, psychotherapists, medical doctors, literary and cultural studies scholars, philosophers, artists, activists, lawyers and historians with a critical interest in the construction and management of gender and sexuality in the medical, discursive and cultural spheres. See www.criticalsexology.org.uk for further details of our past events.

The first 'Up North' seminar will focus on relationships and will take place at Manchester Metropolitan University, 2-6pm, on 23rd September 2011. The following event will be based at Huddersfield University in 2012.

Assuming I don't have any clashes (which at present I don't), I'll be in Manchester for the seminar in September and I hope to see some of you there.

Please pass this message on to groups, colleagues, students, and others who you know in this area who might be interested in attending.

Mad For Foucault: Interview With Lynne Huffer

Ben Myers and Desiree Rowe, Assistant professors at the University of South Carolina, Upstate, have a fabulous website: The Critical Lede which they describe as 'Your resource for keeping plugged in to the qualitative communication research community'. They've produced a series of podcasts and their latest is an interview with Lynne Huffer, author of Mad for Foucault, published by Columbia University Press and already sat happily on the shelf beside me. It's well worth a listen.

You can listen to the interview here.

Fuck Everything and Become a Pirate?

@1Pene on Twitter posted the below poster earlier, pitched at Treasure Island Media...the latest take on the whole 'Keep Calm and Carry On' phenomenon. Is this the first porn one?


I can see this catching on. T-shirts and posters anyone?

Sexuality and Discrimination Stories Needed for ECHR Legal Action

Readers may be interested in, and able to help this appeal for people to come forward issued by the Consenting Adult Action Network (CAAN). I'm a member of the network and support their work. If you can help them, I hope you will.

Do you have experience of being discriminated against or abused due to your consensual adult sexuality (or sexual interests)? Do you have experience of being afraid because of your sexuality (or interests), please tell us that too (for example if you believe the only reason you haven't met discrimination is because you keep your interests secret, or have lied about them)? Please talk to CAAN!

PLEASE SHARE THIS REQUEST WIDELY You can use this public web link to tweet or share it: http://consentingadultactionnet.spaces.live.com/

As part of Consenting Adult Action Network's ongoing discussions with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, one fair point was raised - we do not have properly documented evidence of instances of human rights abuse and discrimination against consenting adults on the basis of interest or private practice of BDSM/fetish and other interests which are not already under the law illegal to discriminate on the basis of, such as swingers, poly people, and so on.

EHRC want evidence of people being denied human rights afforded to others. So CAAN is putting together an initial handbook about discrimination and human rights abuse faced by people with an 'alternative' sexuality,who are not already acknowledged under laws which protect 'orientation' (ie the gender of our partners). We need your evidence.

There are several areas where we feel that such discrimination is worth documenting:

- in your personal life: friends, relatives and colleagues simply dismissing you as a “perve”, or being afraid to come out, or worse, attacks against you because of your interests;

- in your work life: being warned that your private sex life may be conduct that brings your company into disrepute, or being sacked because of your sexuality or interests;

- in your legal relationships: the threat of your private sex life being introduced into divorce proceedings, or losing contact with children because of it.

- you may have experiences in other areas, please still submit your story.

WE NEED YOUR STORIES ABOUT DISCRIMINATION AND MARGINALISED CONSENSUAL ADULT SEXUALITY / INTERESTS

Please give as much information as possible. We've created a structure below in case this is helpful to some people, but really we just want your stories as you give them, so don't feel you need to use the below structure. Please feel free to write as much or as little as you like.

YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION WILL NOT BE SHARED WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION, BUT PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THE ANONYMOUS STORIES ARE FOR PUBLICATION

1. Contact details (email address or other). If you really don't wish to be contacted we will respect that, but may not be able to use your story if you cannot verify certain things which may arise in followup.*

2. Who are you

a. name (if you wish to give it)

b. pseudonym

c. role, if relevant (eg Freda Bloggs, primary school teacher)?

3. Who has discriminated against you or denied your human rights on the grounds of your sexuality and sexual interests? Or who do you fear will do so?

4. Describe the discrimination or abuse you have experienced, or that you fear you will experience.

5. Where did this happen, or where do you fear it will happen? If it has or could occur in more than one location, please let us know. eg in the workplace, and at a work social event).

6. When did it happen, or do you think it will happen? If it happened more than once, please state for each incident.

7. Why do you think it happened? what things have made this discrimination possible, what is the cause?

8. What details may we use? Let us know what details maybe used and what not. eg your name, name of employer, etc.

*You do not have to give contact details or real names,but it may be helpful.

WHERE TO SEND IT

Please send your response to info@caan.org.uk

Background reading:

i. Our proposal to the EHRC - just to be clear, we have not proposed that BDSM be recognised as an orientation, we have asked that EHRC support us to fight for all consenting adults to have sexual rights and equality, whatever their interests:

A Case for Sexual Rights: CAAN - The Case for Sexual Rights

ii. CAAN have sent three letters to EHRC and had three replies, if you wish to see these letters, please contact us asking for this at info@caan.org.uk

iii. CAAN's website is here: www.caan.org.uk

iiii. CAAN's statement of principles:

"We believe in the right of consenting adults to make their own sexual choices, in respect of what they do, see and enjoy alone or with other consenting adults, unhindered and unfettered by government."

"We believe that it is not the business of government to intrude into the sex lives of consenting adults."

No Veet? No Way! Porn and Distorted Sexual Desire

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Infantilist Confessions

The excellent blog Taboo Terminal carried a piece yesterday on infantilism, a fetish which the blogger notes remains one of the largest and least talked about fetishes. He also includes an interview/quotes from 25 year old John (pictured right-I think). He wears diapers, sucks on a pacifier, and in the right situation, supports others by acting as a care taker. The blog also links to another guy, a 22 year old engineer out of Seattle known online as Pamperchu who has a YouTube channel which you can view here. The truth is, this is a fetish I have greeted in the past with some degree of quizical amusement - associating it with weird guys. Watching the videos of Pamperchu, you realise this is just a really nice guy who has a fetish. As such, this is probably one of the most difficult fetishes to 'come out' with - leather and rubber being almost mainstream by comparison.

John is quoted as saying:

'Misinformation is the cause of a lot of hate in the world, so it doesn’t surprise me that many don’t like infantilism. Certainly, there’s are few creepy bad apples on our side of the fence, but if you take the time, you will find some very trustworthy people and some great friends.

I’m not exactly too sure where it all began, but I do remember when I started wearing them on a regular bases. When I was in my early teens, I started going to church in them under my cloths. They had a nursery there that had tons of diapers. A cute boy and I would sneak into the nursery room while everyone was at dinner and put each other in diapers. After that, I was hooked.'

Sex and Regulation Seminar

Readers may be interested in this seminar on sex and regulation at the British Academy, London (http://www.britac.ac.uk/contact/map.cfm), on February 1, 2011, between 2 and 5 pm.

The seminar is organized by the AHRC funded Onscenity research network.

The seminar will focus on the regulation of sex in relation to three key areas: media, labour, and the internet.

The event has a terrific speaker line-up, featuring:

Laura Agustin, author of Sex at the Margins: Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry (2007);

Yaman Akdeniz, author of Internet Child Pornography and the Law (2008); and

Martin Barker, author of The Video Nasties (1984), Ill Effects: The Media-Violence Debate (2001), and The Crash Controversy (2001).

The seminar is introduced and chaired by Julian Petley, author of Censoring the Word (2007) and Censorship: A Beginner’s Guide (2009).

If you would like to attend, please let Prof Feona Attwood know by January 20, 2011. Her email is: f.attwood@shu.ac.uk

Oooo Give Us a Kiss!

I spotted this in the Guardian education section over breakfast and thought "I'll blog on that later". Since then, the whole blogosphere seems to have picked up on this story and I am therefore a little late to the party. Just in case you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm talking about the 'Research Notes' story in today's Guardian which considers the question: 'Why are more and more straight men locking lips in public – and does it mean the end of homophobia?'

Are they? I'm clearly hanging around the wrong places was my first thought. My second was how might I entice Michael Socha into such an exercise? The story begins by providing the background: When two students asked Eric Anderson, a sociology lecturer at Bath University's department of education, if he had heard of the game "gay chicken", he shook his head. "I had no clue what it was," he says. "So they showed me." The students – both men – went in to kiss each other.

This does not happen in my classes, but I may add it to the syllabus next year. He interviewed 145 students, a mixture of men studying sports-related subjects and every third man who left the library on a particular day, from two different universities, plus other male students from a sixth-form college. The results of his survey showed 89% of the polled men saying they were happy to kiss another man on the lips through friendship. And almost 40% added that they had engaged in "sustained kissing, initially for shock value, but now just for 'a laugh'."

According to the Guardian, Anderson is now moving his research on to cuddling. "Last week, I was talking to my second-year students about two straight men cuddling; they laughed, 'what's the big deal about that'," he says. "I polled them, and found that 14/15 said they had spooned another man, in bed, sleeping all night long. Gone are the days in which men would rather sleep on the floor or head to toe; not only do they share beds and cuddle, but they are not homosexualised for this."

Heaven knows what will happen if he ever spots a guy getting a blow job. Read the full story here.

Sex Work Review Calls Grow

I'm grateful to Stephen Paterson for making me aware of this, Lord Norton (Philip Norton, baron of Louth), the Conservative peer and academic has spoken out in support of reviewing the law on prostitution following an earlier call by ACPO. It's still got a long way to gain real momentum but if figures from all parts of the political spectrum follow these calls, it may gain the momentum it needs. Read the full comments by Norton here.

Uganda, Homophobia and a Privacy Victory

One of the great fronts in the battle for gay rights is Africa. It's therefore cheering to see this report in the Guardian today on a positive legal outcome in Uganda. The case concerned the printing of addresses and photographs of some of the 100 people it named as "Uganda's top homos" in a small circulation newspaper started by journalism graduates from Makerere University in Kampala The court found that the report violated their constitutional rights to privacy and safety and awarded the three plaintiffs in whose names the case was launched just over £400 each in damages. Although the newspaper goes by the name 'Rolling Stone', the US magazine was quick to distance itself from the Ugandan publication, branding the paper 'an imposter'.

Good news and a positive outcome but let's not get carried away. That this was started by a university newspaper should surely be a source of concern? A new generation of education Ugandans will be beginning their working lives in politics, law, and other state roles with a clear background in homophobia. A battle has been won, but the war has barely begun.

Balance, LGBTQ Stories and Comparative Perspectives

The Canadian news site Xtra! featured a piece yesterday commenting on the Elton John story but unlike everything else I've read (and left me with an overwhelming sense of 'meh'), the Canadian news site draws parallels between the recent BBC controversy surrounding the inclusion of the homophobic Christian campaigner Stephen Green in a news slot discussing the John baby story on the basis of 'balance', and the inclusion of a similarly fundamentalist Christian in queer stories in the Canadian media. It's well worth reading, which you can do here.

Balance is a funny old thing. A case in point is the Fox News channel which regularly uses the slogan "Fair and Balanced;" a statement that regularly draws sniggers from most commentators. Of course, if you've spent your life viewing CNN as the leftist devil and desperate for a channel that reflects your right wing views, you're going to view that channel as 'fair', and even 'balanced'. They are subjective positions hiding behind a false conception of 'objectivity'.

For the BBC, a network that prides itself on 'objectivity', accusations of bias are familiar and necessarily denied. However, I can't remember watching a story about a race attack in which someone said "the nigger had it coming", or a story about a straight female celebrity giving birth to a child and then crossing to some 'commentator' who describes the celebrity as a "disgraceful slut" (at least, not on BBC news). It is for that reason that so many of us get so annoyed to see the homophobes popping up to comment on these stories. Pink News has been particularly effective in taking on the BBC appearance by Green and should be commended for their activism.

Gay Radio Archive

I adore the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco. They've begun the immense task of uploading their audio/visual archives and making them available digitally. They've uploaded two archives and made them freely available thus far and they are a wonderful resource for students, researchers and anyone interested in GLBT history.

The first of these, GLBT Radio on KSAN-FM San Francisco, consists of the Randy Alfred Collection which features 250 hours of talk shows spanning 1973 to 1984, with an emphasis on politics. San Francisco journalist Randy Alfred hosted The Gay Life on KSAN-FM from 1979 to 1984. In addition to studio interviews with community leaders, politicians, social scientists, civil-rights lawyers, authors, musicians and artists, The Gay Life also presented political meetings, government hearings, annual Pride celebrations and other events of the lesbian and gay community. This collection of studio masters encompasses the run of the series, plus several other KSAN shows from 1973, 1977 and 1978.

The second archive is Gay Radio from KPFA Berkeley. A pioneer effort in gay broadcasting, Fruit Punch debuted in 1973 on KPFA Berkeley. Kevin Burke was a late '70s producer in the collective who focused on cultural work and theater arts. He preserved not only his own programs, but many other Fruit Punch shows and production elements as well.

Thus, if you're interested in the history of bathhouses (as I am) you can search for that term and find some really fascinating recordings. Listening to a discussion about HIV/AIDS and the bathhouses in 1984 from the perspective of 2011 is remarkable - in some respects, the debates and arguments are so familiar, so contemporary and yet, the voices that defend bathhouses have been largely silenced. These voices from the past talking about responding to a crisis in their community, a crisis the nature and extent of which is still emerging, is deeply moving and fascinating. Oodles of other topics are there to listen to - there's also a great discussion of the 'new' film Cruising, and I found myself clapping the comments of Daniel Curzon in his critique of the film but then I also loved hearing Pat Califia (speaking two months before I was born). Her remark about 'marching like lemons' still rings true. Wonderful stuff but depressing that too often we lack these fierce angry voices today.

Check out both archives here.