Law and Sexuality

Mason Wyler and Bareback Inspiration

2012-01-26T16:01:00.000Z

HIV+ former (?) porn performer, Mason Wyler has once again caught the attention of this blog with a tweet yesterday which you can read below.

Mason has wrestled with a career that appeared to go off the rails after being diagnosed as HIV+, a desire to study in Texas, and balance university life with the life of a self-described slut. This recent tweet suggests that he is either a) conscious of a reaction but curious what his followers think, b) genuinely clueless as to what his reaction 'should' be c) pleased about this and thus sharing among his followers to contribute towards his sexual persona.

Mason has flirted with bareback porn in recent years, and there is still probably a means to make some money that way. I'd be surprised if he made the move to treasure Island Media given his previous performances which seem very much performances - rather than raunchy sex caught on camera. Nonetheless, Mason does seem to be revelling in the status as an HIV+ barebacker. If he does go back into making more porn, that continued status would mark him out as fairly unusual and at a time of Law condom laws, it would also render him a counter-cultural sexual warrior.

LA Condom Measures

2012-01-26T14:49:00.000Z

By now, many of you will be aware of the news last week from LA regarding new rules on the use of condoms in the production of porn films. I'm knocking together a piece for elsewhere so forgive me for not commenting further than my previous posts (see this and this, and also this). However, you can read more about the latest developments here on LA Weekly and also this piece from the wonderful Katherine Sansom.

“We witnessed the horrifying spectacle of several elderly men wandering around naked"

2012-01-26T14:40:00.001Z

Apologies for the lack of posts recently. Life has become increasingly busy and I'm not going to be able to blog as much over the next couple of months as I spend my time with various academic projects that are pressing. However, I'll still be blogging - just less frequently - so don't go away!

Anyhow, take a look at the photo for this story in the Hull Daily Mail and this story from the Northampton Chronicle. They are different lay-bys in different parts of England but their similarity highlights the common structure of these public sex spaces. Signposted, removed from the main road and screened from the road - even in winter - by trees and shrubs. They are also clearly designed as points to stop off on a journey to rest, or to make repairs, phone calls etc away from the busy main road.

Both locations have featured in public sex related stories in the last few days. The Northampton incident is curious in many ways. It occurred at 2pm in the afternoon on a Sunday. A time when many people will be driving about, and the light is good.

The newspaper reported that “We witnessed the horrifying spectacle of several elderly men wandering around naked.“My daughter was very upset by this.“We then saw two men having sex in a coppice, and later on, more sexual activity.“At no point did any of these men attempt to cover up.”She said another man was performing a sex act in full view of passing traffic.

'Later on' is the phrase that struck me. How long were they there? Presumably the sight of 'naked' elderly men (what do they mean by make din this context, complete nudity is unusual especially in the middle of winter?) was so shocking they went back to their car? 'Later suggests' that they ere so horrified they carried on taking the dog for a walk. Curious.

We also have the allegation that another man (obviously an unusually popular spot to have such concentration of men) was performing a sex act in full view of passing traffic. The photo accompanying the story suggests that this is unlikely unless the man was stood by the entrance and even there there are questions about visibility whence are are flying by at 60mph.

Another fascinating of the report from the complainants is the observation that “Someone had even left an obscene message on the car windscreen,” he said. I come back to the earlier question, how long were they there? Why was someone so agitated as to leave a message? What did that message say? It is clear that we are only getting half the tale but what journalist wants to truly investigate a story of this nature when the easy thing is to condemn the men involved and portray the complainants as straight forward victims. Perhaps she was, and perhaps the complaint was justified but this piece of journalism does not clearly establish that.

Finally we turn to the response from the Police who indicate that “We have long been aware that these lay-bys have been used as a gay meeting place, however, we were not aware that the area was being used beyond initial encounter.“I will brief my staff to patrol the area and deal with any offences they find.”

So once again we have the Police responding to a complaint but also admitting they were aware men used the location as part of a hook-up process. However, the Police also indicate that they have not policed the location (otherwise he wouldn't need to tell Police to now patrol the area). If ever there was a case study in the complexities of policing public sex locations it would be this.

Then we travel to Hull to another lay-by and picnic spot that has apparently been used for dogging. According to the Hull Daily Mail, Police have confronted 18 people using a family picnic spot to have sex with strangers in public. Officers vowed to tackle the problem after residents of Skirlaugh and Coniston repeatedly complained about lewd activity in three lay-bys off the A165. Since making the issue a priority less than one month ago, officers have stopped 18 people at the sites, sometimes during the day.Although they were not found to be committing any offences, all were issued with a leaflet with guidance on public sex.There have been no complaints from members of the public since police made it a priority.

So, 18 confronted and zero were seen to be committing an offence. So what were people complaining about? As ever, it is the sight of people or cars rather than actually witnessing acts - or the Police would presumably have seen something. The behaviour complained about is 'intimidating behaviour' which I find puzzling. Does this mean just sitting in a car, telling someone to "bugger off", playing with an air freshener in a suggestive manner before driving off? What on earth are they talking about?

The Police admit to using both plain clothed and uniformed police as part of the operation. Why use plain clothed police in this situation? It is an admission that if someone using the spot for public sex sees someone entering who is clearly not interested, that person or persons will not see something. By entering in plain clothes they appear 'legitimate' in the space.

Finally, we have the ultimate irony, that the local authority has cut hedges so as to make the location more visible. Yes folks, previously you would not see any sexual activity from the main road due to the presence of shrubs but now you would, thus ensuring that an offence has taken place. Truly, the barmy logic of Alice in Wonderland.

CFP: Forbidden Fruits, Forbidden Histories

2012-01-21T11:13:00.002Z

Postgraduate students and their supervisors may be interested in this call for papers:

Forbidden Fruits, Forbidden Histories.
A postgraduate conference exploring LGBT in the Arts and Humanities.
11th July 2012.
Cardiff School of European Studies, Cardiff University, UK.

Call for Papers.

“I always find it sad not to pluck the delicious flower that we shall soon be unable to pluck. For then it would be fruit…and forbidden.”

Marcel Proust to Jacques Bizet.Lycée Condorcet, 1888.

Writing a hurried response to his friend in a classroom of the Lycée Condorcet in 1888, Marcel Proust recognised that his desire for those of the same sex was a forbidden one that went against social, moral and political convention. Proust’s A la recherche du temps perdu (1913 – 27) has been widely recognised as a founding text by and for Queer Studies: whether it be the flamboyant characterisation of the Baron de Charlus or more subtle nuances visible in the narrator’s own curiosity, Proust’s explicit writings on homosexuality paved the way for a more open literary treatment of it. The beginning of the twentieth century witnessed experimentations in subject matter and slowly but surely, representations and portrayals of LGBT became more visible in European Literature and the Arts. At the same time as French authors such as Proust, Gide and Cocteau were transforming the literary canon, so too were their European neighbours, such as Thomas Mann with Tod in Venedig (1912) or Anna Elisabet Weirauch with her Der Skorpion trilogy (1919 – 31); or in Spain, Federico García Lorca with Oda a Salvador Dali (1926) and Luis Cernuda in La realidad y el deseo (1936), creating a much-needed cultural space for LGBT concerns. With the new millennium well underway, LGBT has continued to benefit from equality and diversity legislation together with an increasing and continued social acceptance.

Hosted by the Languages, Cultures and Ideologies Research Unit at Cardiff School of European Studies, the Forbidden Fruits, Forbidden Histories conference aims to highlight continuities and change within LGBT themes and motifs across a wide range of European cultural and social practices, seeking to highlight current academic research in, and facilitate discussions on the cultural presence of LGBT in Arts and Humanities research. The conference organisers warmly welcome abstracts for twenty-minute papers. Papers may focus on, but are not restricted to, Literature, Poetry, Visual Arts, Queer Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies. Topics may include histories of closeting; disguise and revelation; desire and consumption; metaphors of sexuality; sexuality legislation and the arts.

If you feel your research would complement the aims of this conference, please get in touch. An abstract of no more than 300 words should be submitted to Matt Berry (berrymj@cardiff.ac.uk) no later than February 14th 2012 for consideration by the conference’s steering committee.

Equality Delivery System Event

2012-01-15T19:03:00.002Z

This event may be of interest to some North East England based readers:

Equality Delivery System Event
Promoting equality for people in Sunderland Gateshead and South Shields

Thursday 26th January 2012
Either 9.30 am - 12.30 pm OR 1.30 – 4.30pm
MPH Training & Conference Centre Unit 2A, Stonehills Complex, Shields Road, Gateshead, NE10 0HW, Tel 0191 4952895, Fax 0191 4694862,
www.mph-conference.co.uk

We would like to ask for your views about equality in healthcare
We would like you to help us rate how well we are doing Can you help us?

To book a place, discuss any requirements, or travelling arrangements, please contact any of the following people in your area:Gateshead: Coleen Knox on 0191 4453277 or email coleen.knox@ghnt.nhs.ukSunderland: Stephanie Smith on 0191 5656256 or email… stephanie.smith@chsft.nhs.ukSouth Shields: Julie Murray on 0191 2831624 and email julie.murray@stft.nhs.uk

Public Sex Entrapment Exposed

2012-01-12T19:41:00.000Z

Extraordinary, truly extraordinary. My reaction on read a report by South Flordia Gay News (SFGN) after a year long investigation of Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office. According to SFGN, more than 600 arrests were made by Detectives Peter Lazar and his partner Vaniclov “Van” Garner, from 2005 to 2010.

SFGN reviewed more than 300 of those police reports starting with the year 2007, but PBSO acknowledged their operation began two years before that.Only a handful of the arrests – four to be exact -- were between two men; the rest of them involved an undercover detective soliciting another man for sex using tactics that one lawyer called “disgusting” while another lawyer questioned the legality of the detectives’ behaviour.

The figures are staggering, the tactics despicable. These tactics were challenged in the UK by the brilliant reforming 60s Home Secretary Roy Jenkins. My forthcoming book on public sex will reveal government memos within the home office and minutes of meetings between Jenkins and the Met Police for the first time; minutes that document his battle to stop the police using agent provocateur tactics. Although they persisted in the UK for some time, this approach is largely unknown in the UK today.

The tactics are unethical, homophobic and crime-generating. By inducing men into committing crime, the police ensure a soaring crime rate which in turn results in more policing (using these tactics) which means more 'crime', more police and so on. It is bewildering to see these tactics alive and well in the USA. Six hundred arrests in five years for this offence is mind-blowing.

Read the story in full here, and South Florida Gay News should be praised for this important investigation and report.

Mandatory Condom Usage...Again

2012-01-11T00:04:00.000Z

Confusion reigns in the midst of another twist in the battle in LA to introduce mandatory condom usage in porn shoots and studios. I've not had chance to really look into today's development but I'll try and get to the bottom of it in the next couple of days.

Read the latest on LA Weekly here.

Sensationalism in HIV Reporting

2012-01-10T23:55:00.003Z

I can't recommend this article enough. It explores a recent case in the US and the sensational reporting of an HIV transmission case. It also explores the role the County health department played in stirring up a moral panic.

Read the full story here.

Gay Panic Defence

2012-01-10T23:50:00.002Z

Interesting news from Australia where the Queensland Labor Government is responding to community concerns about the use of the so-called "gay panic defence".

It seems a little unclear as to whether the announced review is a PR exercise or will result in real change. Read the full story here.

Making a Fist of It: The Law and Obscenity

2012-01-09T08:00:00.001Z

I've had an article published on the Freedom in a Puritan Age webzine in which I offer my take on the recent Obscenity Trial. I gathered a few background/analysis pieces together in this previous blog post.

Check my new article out here.

Journal Alert: Feminist Legal Studies

2012-01-09T08:00:00.000Z

Readers may be interested to know that Feminist Legal Studies, Volume 19 Number 3 has now been published and it includes a book review that I've written. The full contents can be viewed below:

“Unpalatable Messages”? Feminist Analysis of United Kingdom Legislative Discourse on Stalking 1996–1997
Helen Reece

Sexuality and Succession Law: Beyond Formal Equality
Daniel Monk

Review Essay
Radical Legal Theory Today, or How to Make Foucault and Law Disappear Completely
Nick Piška

Book Review
Roundtable on Eve Darian-Smith, Religion, Race, Rights: Landmarks in the History of Modern Anglo-American Law
Jonathan Goldberg-Hiller, Renisa Mawani, Didi Herman, Denise Ferreira da Silva & Eve Darian-Smith

Book Review Barbara Babcock: Woman Lawyer: The Trials of Clara Foltz
Rosemary Auchmuty

Book Review Didi Herman: An Unfortunate Coincidence: Jews, Jewishness and English Law
Anastasia Vakulenko

Book Review Jackie Jones, Anna Grear, Rachel Anne Fenton and Kim Stevenson (eds.): Gender, Sexualites and Law
Chris Ashford

We Go Dogging

2012-01-08T20:59:00.000Z

Thanks to Ian for flagging up this brilliant video from Fascinating Aida entitled 'Dogging'. Enjoy!

Here are the lyrics:

My husband came home friday with a brand new motor car.He told me I could drive, it I said Brian you're a star.We drove down to the boozer for a vodka and a fag then of course we had celebrate the purchase with a shag.
We go dogging,We go dogging,We're a treat for any passers by out jogging.We do it 'cos we've found that when people crowd around it is somehow more profound when we're dogging.
(Spoken)Oh now well some of the older members of the audience my have a little bit of difficulty with this one.I just say hang on in there and think the meaning will shine through.Bill how are you doing.Anyhow if you are still a little bit in the dark at the end.Just ask a young person or emm...Google.Just don't take your computer for repair immediately afterwards.
(Sung)Well we drove down to the far end of the car park back of Asda.A threesome was hard at it in a sporty little Mazda.It made it more exciting as they pressed against the glass.And when Brian got his torch out you could see right up her arse!
They were dogging,They were dogging,Believe me they were more than merely snogging.But though her cheek were parted she spoilt it when she farted and we wanted to get started on OUR dogging.
(Spoken)Now how are the older members doing now.Not finding it too impenetrable?Those of a sensitive disposition, leave now...
(Sung)Well we rushed back too our car 'cos we were randy as two goats.But being late november we had on our duffle coats.We should have stripped off first before getting back inside.'cos disrobing in a smart car isn't easy have YOU tried?
We were doggingWe were doggingIn the struggle poor old brian tore his frogging.Our Apparel was misguided 'cos when our heads collided Brian's manhood then subsided, but thats dogging.
Well I admit this was a setback but i wasn't beaten yet. 'cos i'm really very handy with my man's beef bayonet.I quickly had his flagpole up responding to my touch.And next thing I was upside down and staring at the clutch.
We were dogging,We were dogging,Oh the heat was on to stop the windows fogging.Thank god for plastic sheeting well one must protect the seating.'Cos the fabric takes a beating when your dogging.
Well by now a crowd had gathered it was cheering fit to burst.An Bri was close to peaking though he likes me to come first.My legs were out the sunroof as I really hit my stride.Then Brian promptly stopped and cried "The Rozzers are outside!".
We were dogging,We were dogging,We were so alarmed our arteries were clogging.But we took it on chin when the coppers with a grin said:"Can anyone join in with your dogging?
Well as you can imagine Bri and I were thrilled to bits.I love to feel a coppers truncheon in between my tits.My ecstasy was mounting I was feeling so alive,When who should wander by but a bloke from channel 5.
He likes doggingHE likes doggingHe signed us for a series he was flogging.So watch out for Bri and me and the odd Celebrity,We were shagging on TV likely dogging.
Oh we'll be doggingWe'll be doggingOh think of all the limelight we'll be hogging,Well the credits show my hand massaging Brian's gland,The Presenter's Russell Brand, lovely dogging!

Positive to Positive

2012-01-08T20:41:00.000Z

If you're tested for HIV, you'll know your status and by knowing if you are HIV positive, you can change your sex life to protect others. In short; know it, bag it. So goes the logical of many contemporary safe sex programmes.

It's for this reason that a report out from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is all the more explosive. Fifty percent of new HIV infections in Lancaster County are caused by persons who already know they have the disease, according to Ken Culton, a nurse consultant with the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the breakdown of how male and females become infected varies, Kirchner said.Eighty-five percent of women with HIV acquired it via heterosexual sex with an infected partner, and 15 percent from IV drug use.

Men having sex with other men accounts for 74 percent of males with HIV infection, heterosexual sex for 14 percent, IV drug use for 8 percent, and the rest from a combination or unknown reasons. Around 21 percent of the estimated 1.2 million HIV-infected persons in the U.S. still aren't aware they have the disease.

Let's also not forget the economics of HIV/AIDS. The report also includes the statistic that avoiding just one HIV infection saves an estimated $365,000 in medical care.

Whilst even this reports indicates that the continued public health focus for HIV/AIDS workers in this part of the US will be upon testing those who don't know they are positive/their status, it also hints at the growing issue coming down the track.

That is to say those who know they are HIV positive, who have sex with someone else who knows they re HIV positive and transmit that infection. This is to say nothing of those who think they might be HIV positive, or don't really care whether they are HIV positive and have unprotected sex with someone else who thinks someone might be positive but isn't sure or who doesn't care whether they are HIV positive. Lawyers will focus on questions of consent, intention and recklessness but social behaviour is seemingly evolving at a much faster pace than both health and legal strategies.

Read the full story here.

Child-on-Child Sex Abuse

2012-01-08T20:19:00.002Z

ABC News features a fascinating AP report on the subject of child-on-child sex abuse. It's quite a detailed story with some fascinating academic and research insights, highlighting the complexities of this issue. Whilst society arguably has a clear idea of the 'pedophile' and 'child abuser', cases of child-on-child abuse disrupt these pre-conceptions, and challenge that totemic concept: childhood innocence.

Read the full story here.

Heterosexuality, Public Places and Policing

2012-01-07T14:28:00.001Z

Readers may be interested that a chapter I've written on 'dogging' will be published in a collection entitled 'Policing Sex' later this year. The book can be pre-ordered via Amazon (And other stores), and the full contents of the book can be viewed on the Routledge website.

Stepping Back From Criminalising HIV?

2012-01-07T13:41:00.001Z

Fascinating story coming out of Davenport, Iowa concerning an HIV transmission case. It's reported that a man arrested for transmitting HIV was due to see his felony trial start Monday in Davenport, but prosecutors are backing off taking the case to court. Instead they hope to draw up a contract with the defendant, where he will pledge not to spread HIV, and reveal names of past sexual partners so they can be notified of the potential exposure. For the man he infected, this seems like he is getting a "free pass"and hits out in the video below:

Obscenity on Trial

2012-01-07T13:11:00.002Z

The landmark obscenity trial, R v Peacock concluded on Friday (see my previous post on the trial here) with a unanimous acquittal. I've finished putting a piece together this morning which I hope will be publish don a webzine in the next few days (I'll post a link once it's up). In the meantime, there are a number of excellent pieces that are already on the web:

BBC News: Not guilty verdict in DVD obscenity trial

The Guardian, Obscenity trial: the law is not suitable for a digital age

New Statesman, Obscenity Victory

New Statesman, It's time to abolish the obscenity law

The Guardian, Michael Peacock's acquittal is a victory for sexual freedom

Pink News, Not guilty verdict in gay escort’s obscenity trial

Readers may also find interesting a couple of videos below of the defendant, Michael Peacock in which he talks about his life. They were conducted by the Erotic Awards finalist, escort and porn performer, Drake Blaize.

The Voracious Escort Habits of Lawyers

2012-01-06T08:00:00.000Z

The Orlando Sentinel - surely the reading choice of ever Brit - carried a rather wonderful piece this week concerning Scott Rothstein who is embroiled in a little local legal difficulty following a spot of fraud which led to his imprsonment and the downfall of his law firm.

Apparently, the Fort Lauderdale law firm maintained a condo across the street where he and his law partners would have sex with prostitutes/sex workers and then come back to work. Rothstein is reported as saying:

"There were probably times when we spent $50,000, $60,000 a month on escorts," Rothstein said. "It just depends. When there were political things in town, more. Big functions, conventions, more. People in town to entertain, more money. But it was a lot of money just for the law partners that were using escorts. Some of them had fairly voracious escort habits."

All of which got me thinking, how many other law firms do this? Not on the same scale of course, or anything as obvious as arranging escorts in this manner in a local commercial harem, but putting people in the room with people who may be escorts as part of providing 'a good entertainment mix' for example. None of which is to condemn, but I am curious as to the extent it can be found among the bigger city based firms in particular.

Just as high street solicitors must deal with those arrested for dealing with cocaine, and city solicitors must sometimes find a new dealer, it is a world that is not unknown to have some legal tightrope walking. Drugs is a known cultural reality for some of our city-based elite in the course of commercial networking. What of sex work?

Chris Ashford on Cottaging

2012-01-05T10:43:00.002Z

I've previously mentioned that last year I took part in an interview for a documentary film project entitled The Strange Decline of the English Cottage -you can read more about that project here and join their Facebook page here.

I'm hoping it will get finished at some point this year as it's an amazing project but given it's a hobby project for the director and those involved, it's seems to be taking a while.

Anyway, you can see some edited highlights of my day filming. Unfortunately for me, my hair suggests I have been dragged through a hedge before filming, I have no neck and my accent goes on something of a gripping journey. All of which should give you some sadistic pleasure in watching, if the fascinating content on this aspect of public sex - specifically sex in public toilets - does not enthral you. Enjoy!

LA Bareback Ban Campaign Launches

2012-01-05T08:00:00.001Z

The battle over mandatory condom usage in LA (see my previous post here) has taken another step, as the Joe.My.God blog explains. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has launched a petition drive for a ballot measure that would require condom usage in all porn produced in Los Angeles County. The AHF must collect 200,000 signatures by June 5th in order for the item to appear on the November ballot in Los Angeles County. This is an additional ballot measure to that which city officials have already gone to court over in a bid to block.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation called on Los Angeles County officials to mandate that adult films follow the same health department permit process required of bathhouses, sex clubs, and tattoo and message parlours. Under the county initiative, adult film producers would file health permits and pay a fee set by the health department that would pay for inspections and enforcement. If passed, the measure would allow the county to collect a $1,000 fine from adult film producers who do not have a valid health permit. In addition, the county could use nurses to provide spot checks on film sets.

Read more on this latest proposed measure here and in the LA Times here. This is shaping up to be a key socio-legal battle of 2012.

Why Does Hollywood Hate 'Gay' Sex?

2012-01-05T08:00:00.000Z

Absolutely fascinating piece in the Daily Beast about whether Hollywood is terrified of gay sex. The piece argues that 'as Hollywood portrays it, the homosexual man is, astonishingly, sexless.'

Read the article in full here.

Raw Desire, Depicting Bareback Sex and Calling Out Hypocrisy

2012-01-04T21:01:00.001Z

Long standing readers of this blog will know that I regularly rail against the bareback hypocrisy. Whether it's celebrities such as Dustan Lance Black being exposed in a sex film engaging in bareback sex whilst telling others to always practise safe sex; porn 'stars' such as Chris Porter talking of his condom only stance, only to be revealed as having tried out for the notorious bareback company, Treasure Island Media - he claimed not to know they were a bareback company even though a video recording of his screen set suggests otherwise; or indeed safe sex advocates spending their day using charity or public funding to extol the virtues of 'safer-sex' whilst loving and engaging in bareback sex in private at night. All highlight the hypocrisy which further erodes the safer sex message.

Yet now the porn blog, The Sword (owned by Naked Sword but with its own voice), seems to also be getting in the hypocrisy naming and shaming act. It may be my imagination but since the start of the new year, the blog seems to have become much more on the ball in highlighting this issue.

We started gently at the end of last year with an interview with the performer, Connor, from Corbin Fisher, performing in one of their new bareback titles (further evidence of the way the porn market - and sexual reality- is moving) (NSFW story link here)

The Sword said: 'There has been a lot of controversy over the “condomless” scenes from Corbin Fisher. Talk about the testing process and why you feel comfortable performing without the use of condoms.'

C: Our testing process is second to none. I can say for myself, since I’ve been a consistently active performer for over four years now, that I have been tested every 30 days of my life for the last four years. We are tested for basically everything, and the company also regularly has us visit and consult with a doctor prior to shoots. We also always get tested a few days before each shoot to rule out any possibilities. I’d imagine the most sterile, controlled environment anyone my age could have sex in would be our sets because of the strict testing.

TS: So is it fair to say that you prefer going bareback?

C: Put it this way…personally, I don’t like watching any porn with condoms. It just doesn’t do it for me, and I watch a lot of porn! The way I see it, porn is here for fantasy, and to let your hair down and see exactly what you want to see. So, if the danger of contracting a disease has been ruled out to the greatest possible extent, why are we worrying about it? I think I can speak for a lot of people when I say, if I could choose it all the time, porn would be sans condoms.

So, this is a sort of 'managed' shift in position. All fine and dandy. Companies that previously resisted bareback now embrace it on economic grounds. Performers now talk of their desire for bareback but is this just marketing, or a revelation of authentic desire?

On 1 January, they celebrate a new bareback scene from Sean Cody - also now amazingly embracing bareback. They wrote (NSFW story link here):

'I guess if you’re gonna do something, you might as well go balls to the wall and do it all. Sean Cody’s first bareback scene last week was nothing compared to this one, a three-way in which everyone (Dennis, Calvin, Jordan) fucks each other, Dennis gets double penetrated and then creampied, and everyone swallows cum. Happy new year!I’m glad that Sean Cody dropped the stupid euphemism (“unwrapped”) and is calling this exactly what it is: A bareback three-way starring three of the site’s best models. Unfortunately, that awful, hypocritical disclaimer still plays at the beginning'

Here's that disclaimer:

Although - like the Corbin Fisher interview - there is an emphasis on testing they put the second part in which amounts to a 'don't try this at home' kind of warning.

Next up, The Sword goes on the attack with Cody Cummings and a bareback video of him with a woman (which they post here - NSFW). They bitchily comment:

'For the company that has staked its reputation on keeping its performers STD free and the company that famously fired Mason Wyler after he contracted HIV, this is a wild and sexy change of pace! Of course, you can’t blame them for allowing one teensy weensy moment of barebacking to slip in when it’s hot as this, and especially when it’s starring gay porn icon Cody Cummings. Because if anyone should be allowed to skirt the rules, it’s our king, Cody. Plus, there’s the aforementioned fact that Cody is having straight bareback sex, with a woman, and everyone knows that it’s always safer to bareback when it’s with a girl.The Sword salutes Next Door Studios for giving their #1 star Cody Cummings the freedom to perform as he chooses—raw and unprotected. Fingers crossed that he doesn’t catch anything!'

Wow, it's a change of pace for Corbin Fisher, and - I think - a change of pace for Naked Sword too as they start to highlight these changes and continued hypocrisies.

As the 'gay' studios embrace bareback sex, it also creates a headache for long-standing bare backs studios such as Treasure Island Media. They are featured in the new issue of Desert Knight News (see here - safe link) talking about their 'vision'/'mission' and this is increasingly important rather than simply defining themselves as bareback. It's nothing new - and the message is one familiar to those who know the company well but they are now clearly putting it out there in a bid to define their niche more closely. They do not, for example, 'make porn', they don't 'direct guys' (although some scenes suggest this does come in - especially from Liam Cole) but the Morris pure ideology is one of providing a natural habitat in which men can play and be observed. The arousal comes in witnessing raw 'authentic' desire on display. No hypocrisy from these guys but we'll see who The Sword goes for next...

Revised 21.33 4/1/12

Obscenity Trial Continues

2012-01-04T19:35:00.000Z

The #ObscenityTrial involving the issue of fisting (among others) goes into day three tomorrow (read my previous post on the trial here). If you're not already doing so, be sure to follow on twitter the excellent activist and scholar, @lexingtondymock. I'd also suggest following the journalist @NichiHodgson. Both have been providing fascinating coverage through their live tweets from the courtroom. Many of the exchanges today would be comical, were they not so serious. I'll blog a comment on the trial once it's over - as I'm sure will many others.

Spate of New Legal protections in California

2012-01-04T07:30:00.003Z

I previously blogged on the introduction of the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful Education Act in California but KPBS notes it's just one of a range of new laws that are coming into force in California and potentially transforming the lives of LGBT citizens. These include:

California Gay Bullying Law or "Seth's Law," named after 13-year-old Seth Walsh, from central California, who killed himself in 2010 after years of bullying. The law forces schools to address bullying through mandatory policies.

The "Gay Divorce Law," which allows a gay couple married in California, but living in a state that won't grant them a divorce, the right to divorce in California.

The LGBT Equality and Equal Access to Higher Education Law, which is an anti-harassment law that applies to state universities and colleges.

The Transgender Non-Discrimination Law. It protects transgender Californians from discrimination with regard to employment, education and housing.

Exciting times. Read more here.

Spain's first 'gay' retirement home

2012-01-04T07:30:00.002Z

I have no fear of death but I am absolutely terrified of becoming old and infirm. The prospect of losing my independence and finding myself in a care home horrifies me. With a bit of luck I'll keel over dead with a heart-attack before it comes to that. The only thing that scares me more than that is to be stuck in a home surrounded by people who identify as 'straight'. Even now, in our transformed legal world, there is a strange assumption that old people are heterosexual. Old people - we wrongly assume - do not have sex, they revert to a sexless state and thus become re-defined as heterosexual. For many, going into a home means going back into the closet.

There does seem some hope for men (why only men?) in Spain who identify as gay. The Guardian reported yesterday that a group of elderly Spanish gay men are rebelling against the homophobia of their generation by setting up what will be the country's first gay and lesbian retirement home.

The retirement home would cost €1,000 (£834) a month to live in, he said – much lower than the average Madrid price of €1,400.It will have 30 staff to look after the 230 residents in the 120 apartments and studios in the complex, with some set aside for people who are HIV positive.

Whilst the issue of care has been back on the UK political agenda already this year, the focus - as ever - is on cost and not on the nature of provision. Hopefully as the year progresses, the issue of LGBT elders will begin to be addressed more forcefully.

Read the full story here.

Meanwhile, the Houston Chronicle reports a growing need for - and growing development of - low-income housing for GLBTQ seniors in the USA. Philadelphia developers have secured a site for a gay-friendly, low-income housing project in Philadelphia. Housing developments cannot discriminate in favor of gay seniors, but a facility known to be gay-friendly and marketed as such will be appealing to gay seniors. You can read more on that story here on the Nonprofit Law Prof Blog.

Definitive guide to costs of gender re-assignment

2012-01-04T07:30:00.001Z

Here's a really wonderful resource for all those interested in transitioning. Jane Fae has released a definitive guide to the costs of gender re-assignment in the UK. This is published in part as a response to a growing spate of news stories that get these costs (very) wrong - often by quite significant multiples, and was compiled in consultation with some of the leading clinical experts in the UK on these issues.

She notes on her blog that for the vast majority of MtF trans people seeking treatment, who do not undergo surgery, the overall cost to the NHS is unlikely to exceed £1,000 over the person’s lifetime.For those who do go on to seek surgery, the cost to the NHS is likely to be around £2,500 in respect of hormone and endocrine intervention and around a further £11,000 for the surgery (both figures aggregated over a twenty year period).The corresponding figures for FtM transition are £15,000 and £50,000, due to the generally more complex nature of procedure involved. However, the typical figure for the latter group is likely to be much closer to £20,000.

You can read more on Jane's blog and download the full report directly from there.

Schools OUT Conference

2012-01-04T07:30:00.000Z

Readers with an interest in education may be interested in this event - particularly if you are a school teacher.As always the Schools OUT Conference will be held on the first Saturday of February 2012. It is entitled: Educating OUT Prejudice through the LGBT Lens. Featuring the Classroom, The Rainbow Project and presenters and speakers from the other protected characteristics, the Conference will be rich in resources and ideas for practitioners in the classroom and stakeholders in education.

To register call the Drill Hall box office: 020 7307 5060

Fees
Until Jan 26 2012 Student or Unemployed £10, Retired £15 Individual £40 Organisation £50
After Jan 26, 2012 Student or unemployed £15 Retired £20 Individual £50 Organisation £60

EDUCATING OUT PREJUDICE THROUGH THE LGBT LENS

Celebrating our new website the Classroom Gender Intelligence, Mermaids and GIRES will explore how to challenge the concept of binary gender Disability History Month will explore challenging disability HMI/Ofsted will explore how we can use the curriculum to celebrate diversity Workshops will explore the lesson plans on the website and there will be an opportunity to view the Rainbow Project films and hear from young people how they are working on the issues ...plus the usual chance to network and Schools out AGM vote in the new committee

More information here.

Fisting in the Courtroom

2012-01-03T08:40:00.001Z

Myles Jackman, a solicitor with Hodge Jones & Allen LLP reports that the firm will be representing the defendant in an important case to be heard at Southwark Crown Court. It's not often that a key case takes place in a lower court, but this case could help to clarify the law on obscenity.

The defendant in the case, Michael Peacock, is charged on indictment with numerous offences under the Obscene Publications Act for distributing supposedly obscene DVDs. The films in question feature: 'gay' fisting (the insertion of five fingers of the fist into the rectum of another male); urolagnia (in this case men urinating in their clothes, onto each others’ bodies and drinking it); and BDSM (in this case hard whipping, the insertion of needles, urethral sounds and electrical “torture”).

Myles further explores this issues on his blog with specific reference to the CPS guidelines on obscenity (which my students will recall we looked at in the online workshop on pornography and obscenity before the winter vacation).

The case should also provide another perspective on what constitutes 'extreme pornography' under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. An important case and I wish the defendant well. It will be interesting to see if the jury feels it is indeed helpful to criminalise these kind of images and what the contemporary boundaries of obscenity are.

Read the full post from Myles here.

Post revised 9.52, 3 Jan 2011.

Child Sex Offender Disclosure (CSOD) Scheme in Operation

2012-01-03T07:30:00.001Z

It's easy to forget about a story once it's dropped out of the headlines. The introduction of 'Sarah's Law' (like Megan's Law in the USA) enables parents to seek disclosures on whether their new partner has a record of sex offending. The theory is to make homes safer for children.

One regional newspaper highlighted this week that 53 people in Lancashire made applications about someone their child has close contact with under the Child Sex Offender Disclosure (CSOD) scheme since it came into force on April 1. The information was provided under the Freedom of Information Act and it will be interesting to see whether they are representative of the national uptake, and whether over say three years, the figures reflect an initial 'surge' of demand or an ongoing level of demand for information.

What it does show is that the scheme is up and running and potentially making an impact on hundreds of families around the country.

Read the full story here.

ACLU Liberty Watch 2012

2012-01-03T07:30:00.000Z

US Presidential politics notches up a gear later today as the Iowa caucus takes place and Republican's take the first key step towards selecting their can date for the Presidential race in November.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports the timely issuing by the American Civil Liberties Union of Liberty Watch 2012, its report card for presidential candidates on issues like surveillance, torture, gay rights and immigration. No one gets an A, including President Obama.

The survey 'report card' can be viewed here. As the race goes on Obama will have to position is campaign in the centre but he also needs to provide a reason for Democrats to vote for him other than "have you seen the scary Republican candidate?". His report card is a reminder of just how disappointing he has been as a President - great at campaigning, poor at governing - but there will no doubt be much lobbying going on behind the scenes to push him further down the reforming road.

Inclusive Education: SB 48

2012-01-03T06:00:00.001Z

The start of 2012 saw a historic education change come into force in the US state of California. The Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful Education Act – also known as Senate Bill 48 – requires that LGBTs' historical contributions be taught in schools.

According to the Bay Area Reporter, the new law was authored by gay state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in July. It's set to take effect next week, but Tina Jung, spokeswoman for the California Department of Education, said the state Board of Education couldn't review new curriculum until 2015.

Essentially the argument is that because the state is bust financially, that's the earliest they can look at this with new textbooks rolling out between 2017 and 2019. This - you might think- falls outside of the statute but assuming that the Board of Education does not adopt new textbooks/instructional materials they are not in breach of the statute (although they re skating on thin ice). There's no such wiggle room in the phraseology of other sections and it's clear that Californian schools and their teachers cannot discriminate their activities on the basis of sexuality (and other characteristics such as race).

One of the tensions which the California Department of Education seems to be hoping people won't notice is that: 'Instruction in social sciences shall include the earlyhistory of California and a study of the role and contributions ofboth men and women, Native Americans, African Americans, MexicanAmericans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, European Americans,lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans, persons withdisabilities, and members of other ethnic and cultural groups, to theeconomic, political, and social development of California and theUnited States of America, with particular emphasis on portraying therole of these groups in contemporary society.'

That seems pretty clear to me, and I'm a bit confused how that can be done without new instructional material (and arguably textbooks). I'm no US attorney but surely a state lacking finance does not negate legal responsibilities? I'd be curious for input from US readers.

Of course, the measure was argued against (ironically) on the grounds of cost by Republicans and they also opposed the 'indoctrination' of their children with radical notions such as not discriminating against someone because of their race, sexuality or gender (see the campaign ad on the right). In truth, despite the pitching of this measure (by both sides) it's actually quite gentle and sensible legal measure, but the real challenge comes in how it is now implemented. A legal challenge on implementation from the left would be a gift to Republicans in an election year, enabling them to point to tax dollars being diverted from something uncontroversial (e.g. roads) to something that is (i.e evil homo indoctrination). Other than Democrats, whatever happens, the real losers are potentially the kids who risk being failed by their political leaders and who might not get the education they deserve - and should now legally expect.

A potential solution would be for charities, campaign organisations and worthy individuals to stump up for new textbooks now. Tell the people the bill Ms Jung, and let's get raising the money. There's a lot of wealthy homosexuals in California - this would surely be a good use of some of their money.

The full story can be read on the Bay Area Reporter here.

Journal Alert: Sprinkle

2012-01-03T06:00:00.000Z

Readers may be interested to learn that volume 4 of Sprinkle: A journal of sexual diversity studies is now available.

It's freely available and can be accessed here: http://freireproject.org/content/2011-sprinkle-vol-4-published-ready-read-share

Sprinkle is a peer-reviewed undergraduate Sexual Diversity Studies journal originally conceived in 2007. This guest edited volume showcases a number of interesting articles on topics such as queering the Quinceanera (The Rule of the Role), a critical analysis of Madonna’s Vogue (Redux as Redefinition), a piece on Judy Garland, as well as an article on “Femme-ism”.

Table of Contents

4 Guest Editorial
Andrew Anastasia and Mel Freitag

6 Growing Sprinkle: Notes on expanding an undergraduate student journal
Elizabeth J. Meyer

I am, therefore I resist: Identity as activism

9 Identity Politics and/or Queer Theory
Allison Brinkhorst

16 Femmeism: A Jersey Girl Manifesto
Cyree Johnson

23 The Rule of the Role
Kelly Kuerzi

And it all falls down: Queering schools and communities

29 Teachers as Mediators of Social Construction: Heteronormativity
Emily Ritenberg

36 Impacts of Gay-Straight Alliances and Considerations for their Members
Cory Dawson

47 The Dispersal of Queer Populations: Gentrification and Community Formation
Kathryn Van Meyl

“Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore”: Cultural studies

60 The Redux as Redefinition
Justin Raphael Roykovich

73 Flawed by popular design
Kelly Kuerzi

80 Understanding “Friends of Dorothy”: Gay men and Judy Garland reverence
Scott Leydon

90 Acknowledgements
Elizabeth J. Meyer

A Lexicon of Public Sex: Help Wanted

2012-01-02T18:47:00.000Z

The next three months of my life will be dominated by finishing off my horrendously delayed first monograph, Public Sex and the Law: Silent Desire. It's an academic text but I hope it finds a wider readership and to that end, I'll be including a 'glossary' at the end of the book which will include public sex terms, general terms associated with sexuality and theory. I'd appreciate any suggestions on what you think I should include in the list - perhaps a term that you struggled with as a student, or someone newly exploring these issues, perhaps something you're still unsure about.

All suggestions much appreciated, either as a comment on here, or via twitter/email. Thanks in advance!

Condoms and the Porn Industry

2012-01-02T15:42:00.002Z

It didn't take long! I wrote yesterday in my first post of the year about bareback sex further developing as a regulatory and legal issue in 2012 - in porn and beyond. The Los Angeles Times reports today that City Atty. Carmen Trutanich has gone to court to block a proposed Los Angeles city initiative requiring performers in adult films to use condoms on the set. His motivations make sense — he believes that the ballot measure, even if adopted, would infringe on state regulatory power and would be struck down in court; he wants to save the city from the needless expense of conducting a special election, and perhaps the additional cost of defending a purportedly unenforceable new ordinance.

The paper continues its longstanding approach of a hardline approach on the use of condoms in porn and uses their editorial to suggests that Trutanich 'back off' and allows the measure to go forward to the electorate. It goes on to argue that:

'...sometimes cities must take the lead, even in workplace safety regulation, because Sacramento may lack the will or interest to protect workers. Los Angeles banned smoking in restaurants and bars to protect not merely the comfort of patrons but the health and safety of staff who otherwise were inhaling carcinogens each day. The move pressed the state to finally catch up.'

So, just like smoking in public, we should insist on condoms in public too is the logic. I was opposed to smoking bans and I'm opposed to mandatory condom use, but it's clear this issue isn't going away fast. Just like the smoking ban, what achieved prominence in LA and California could soon spread globally and transform the terms of the debate in a relatively short period of time. Bareback studios will be eagerly watching developments in California.

Read the full story/editorial here.

USA HIV Status Laws

2012-01-02T06:00:00.003Z

WNYC (Iowa public radio) has produced a fascinating little item on HIV status disclosure in the USA, and it's available as a recording here. Failing to disclose positive HIV status to sexual partners is a crime in more than 30 states. In Iowa, it can carry a 25-year jail term.

The phone-in comment about whether using a condom is or is not a 'deal-breaker' is bang on the money, as health and policy changes have led to a major social change and a growing acceptance among men having sex with other men that condoms don't matter -let alone those who openly seek out bareback encounters.

The comments also - at least for me - re-enforce the message that criminalisation just doesn't work, and as one of the commentator highlights, it can have unpleasant and un-intended outcomes such as blackmail whilst these voices remind us that behind the words about HIV and law are people, leading real and complex lives.

Curious to also here the comments about ignorance and the impact that has on testing in the USA. It's important to contrast that with the development of criminal law in England and Wales which has focussed instead on the idea of recklessness which arguably does not allow a kind of ignorance defence to be deployed.

It's well worth a listen.

Homosexuality and Constitutional Law

2012-01-02T06:00:00.002Z

Simeon CR McIntosh, former Dean & Prof of JurisprudenceFaculty of Law, University of the West Indies has produced a fascinating piece on the constitutional debate in the West Indies about repealing their laws criminalising homosexuality. He concludes that 'I re-echo my agreement with Prime Minister Stuart, that he should not repeal the law criminalising homosexuality on the directive of the British or US government. Rather, he should repeal the law because it is the just thing to do.'

It's fascinating to see the arguments from a jurisdiction in which law and the politics of religion are seemingly inseparable and constitutional law is deployed to defend traditional constructions of homosexuality as evil and thus behaviour that ought to be criminalised.

The full piece is well worth a read and can be viewed here.

New Hampshire Turns Back From Same-Sex Marriage Repeal?

2012-01-02T06:00:00.001Z

Law makers will be among those returning to work this week. In New Hampshire, the issue of same-sex marriage will be back firmly on the policy agenda - even though the bill to repeal the state’s gay marriage law is not among the hundreds of bills House members will have to act on this month.

It's a sign of the debate in many parts of the USA that the argument in New Hampshire is not about the introduction about same-sex marriage but whether it should be repealed. This is a battle that just won't go away.

A new poll done will be released Wednesday at a legislative breakfast sponsored by the Republican (pro repeal) Standing up for New Hampshire Families. The results of the poll of 712 likely New Hampshire voters show an overwhelming majority of Democrats and solid majority of independent voters believe strongly the law should remain in effect. Unsurprisingly, New Hampshire voters want elected officials to focus on jobs and the economy, taxes and spending, and education, with little interest in the social issues such as gay marriage and abortion.

Read more here.

New Year Gong for Reforming New Zealander

2012-01-02T06:00:00.000Z

One New Year gong we can surely agree is merited goes to Fran Wilde who has been made a Companion of the NZ Order of Merit. The New Zealander, and former Labour MP led the passing of the Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986, essentially de-criminalising homosexuality in New Zealand. Read more here.

Media Info

2012-01-01T14:46:00.002Z

I've added a new tab at the top which is aimed for journalists and media types looking for a bit more guidance on what I can/cannot do. I hope it's useful :-)

Fifth Anniversary

2012-01-01T10:50:00.003Z

The traditional fifth anniversary gift is wood, and alas I'm not sure I can give you wood whilst not putting this blog behind an adult warning page. Why am I contemplating such things? Well, July 2012 will be the fifth birthday of this blog. We - you and I - will have been together five years. Given I wasn't sure the blog would last the month back in 2007, this seems rather remarkable.

I want to mark it in some way (apparently London are having some sporting jamboree) and I'd like to hear your ideas and suggestions on how I should mark the occasion. Add comments, tweet or email your thoughts over the next month or so and I shall tray and incorporate as many as possible. Get your thinking caps on!

Regrets, I've Had a Few: Chris Porter Leaves Raging Stallion

2012-01-01T10:42:00.001Z

The mesmerising gay porn star, Chris Porter, has left the building. Well, he's left Raging Stallion and has taken the opportunity to post a bit of a moan/sounding off on his blog. One of the often udner-discussed issues around porn is the control that studios exert over those they have contracted. Criticism is few and far between as I noted in this post about a spot of bother at the British studio, BlakeMason last year. Instead performers tend to either have the occasional social media explosion (which then vanishes/is forgotten) or wait until they leave a studio to explode. There can then be a tit-for-tat exchange which seemingly does nobody any good. All the while, the original question of control and censorship is forgotten.

Of course, this silence can only operate when porn viewers, fans, bloggers, journalists and so on also refuse to raise the question, reporting this stories but rarely asking the fundamental tough questions about how studios 'own' their models, and sometimes appear to enforce a code of censorship which seems ironic in an industry which surely exists to challenge censorship in all forms.

Porter also rages that Next Door Studios is a company that 'deserves to be destroyed'. Strong stuff. He also takes the opportunity to potentially libel another porn performer so we can be fairly sure that we've not heard the last about this episode. Read the full post here.

Flag Politics

2012-01-01T10:29:00.002Z

Another blog to 'flag up' to you, is the often controversial, always interesting blog, Petrelis Files. Michael Petrelis is based in San Francisco and often posts on community/Castro politics and issues facing residents/issues that concern him. A long standing issue is that of flag politics in the Castro, specifically the huge flag pole that faces new arrivals in the Castro. Petrelis is arguing that the local community should have control over the flag rather than having to go through city officials. I think he has a point and I'm surprised this isn't the default position in a city like San Francisco.

Of more interest for those who study the politics of queer space is the quote from a city official that “The bottom line is a lot of it is tourists. They want to see that flag up.” So a space - Harvey Milk Plaza - becomes less about a community hero and more about tourists. It is quite possible that if I was a tourist I might feel disappointed that I was unable to take the typical photo of a huge rainbow flag wafting in the breeze because it had been changed for a leather event, or a bear event (or...some other event!) and I might be puzzled to see the flag at half mast when someone I've never heard of, someone who has not touched my life has passed. Yet here's the thing, I'm a tourist. I don't live there. It's not my community, I'm a guest and city planners that put tourists before their own citizens have frankly lost the plot.

It may well be that city officials have good reasons to resist more direct community control but they don't yet seem capable of voicing such a rationale. Check out the full story on Petrelis Files.

Cleveland Leather Awareness Weekend

2012-01-01T10:16:00.003Z

WolvesPervs blog carries a fascinating piece about Cleveland Leather Awareness Weekend (CLAW), an event I - and I suspect many others - are not familiar with. He explains that: 'CLAW is a non-profit convention held in, as the name would suggest, Cleveland (Ohio, USA) every year for the past ten years, the 2012 event is the eleventh. CLAW 10 attracted over 1,250 people from 34 US States and Canada - it's not very well known outside the US Leather scene, hence I suspect the interest and curiosity in my attending.'

Interesting, he also explains it int elation to better known events such as International Mr Leather, Folsom, and the leather scene in the UK. It's a compelling piece and although you'll have to go through the blogger 'adult warning', the page I'm sending you to (should) have nothing scary/naughty so you should be safe clicking through.

An Australian sex worker speaks out ....

2012-01-01T10:11:00.002Z

The terrific blog 'Laura's Diary' carries a guest post from Ari Reid, who is the Vice-President of Scarlet Alliance, Australian Sex Workers Association. She advances a concise but clear case for decriminalisation of sex work/prostitution in South Australia. Well worth a read.

Happy New Year: I'm Ready For My Close-Up

2012-01-01T08:30:00.000Z

Happy New Year! As the hangovers clear we no doubt begin those new healthy lifestyles, stock up on fruit and veg, and buy those gym memberships. I've been struck by the number of people on twitter (it perhaps reflects who I follow) who are aiming for 'more' or 'better' sex in 2012. Well, why not?

Of course, at a time when our economy continues to ever more resemble the shape of that noble fruit, the pear, income is also a factor. So, what about porn?

Whilst various studios have something vague on their site or a simple email, my source of continued fascination - Treasure Island Media (TIM) - the San Francisco based bareback porn company has a more detailed application section.

TIM have slightly different forms dependent upon whether you are in North America, the UK/Europe or the rest of the world. The US and 'the rest of the world' both have an online form and the UK/Europe one is a bit more 'open' with a series of questions and instructions on how to proceed.

It requires applicant to 'Put one of the FOLLOWING CATEGORIES in the subject line of your e-mail' and then helpfully asks you to categorise yourself:
SOLO / NEWBIE( You haven't done porn before. Do you love to jack off and get watched? Do you use toys when you whack off? )
SELFSUCK( You suck your own dick and swallow your own load. )
COCKSUCKING TOP / BOTTOM( You live to swallow loads. Or you live to shoot your loads down the throat of a hungry man. You spend half your life at the local gloryhole. )
FUCKING TOP / BOTTOM( You live to get fucked raw by men. Or you live to shoot a load deep inside a hot willing ass. )
GANGBANG BOTTOM( Fuck Yeah ! )
TOTAL WHORE( "You name it, Paul, and I'll do it." )
MUSCLE GOD( You love being admired and worshiped for your incredible body. )
PHALLIC GOD( You have the biggest cock of anyone you know — and you want to show it off. )SPECIAL PROPOSAL(You don't fit any of these categories, but you have a particularly fucked-up idea for a video. )

Applicant are also asked to:

• Tell us your age and location.
• Include a description of what you love to do sexually. Be as accurate and honest as possible.
• Attach pics of yourself — front and back nudes, with face and a hard-on. Include dates the pics were taken.We'll take it from there !

So there you go. In the US, more info about HIVSTDs and even if you take Viagra is requested up front, along with if you're willing to engage in bareback sex with those of a different HIV status to your own. Applicants are not asked to define themselves in the same way as in Europe. The initial questions consist of (I've sometimes used square brackets to add info for clarification):

*Your First & Last name:
*e-mail address:
*Main Phone Number (area code first): Be discreet? yes no
*Street Address:
*City:
*State/Province:
*Postal Code:
*Country:
*date of birth (mm/dd/year):
Cock Size: Cut/Uncut:
Height (in feet & inches):
Weight (in pounds):
Hair Color/Style:
Eye Color:
Body Type: I identify as: [race categories]
* HIV Status:
* Last Test Date (if neg):
* Hepatitis:
* Last Test Date (if neg):
* Do you have anycurrent health problemsor STDs?:
* Are you taking anyprescription medication?: * Do you use recreational drugs?:(indicate type and frequency)
Which male enhancers do you use?: [eg Viagra]

Next, you're asked to complete a sexual preference grid. Against a series of sexual preferences yoga re asked to select 'top', 'bottom', 'versatile' or 'none for me'. I love the 'none for me category' - it sounds oddly cute. The sexual preferences consist of: fucking, sucking, piss play, nipple play, felting, fist fucking, rimming, S&M.

Then, 'overall I'd consider myself: [top etc]' which I think is the closest this form gets to the European style 'describe yourself' by category.

Then we have open boxes:

What type of person do you go for?
What turns you off in a partner?
Tell us about one of your fantasies:

What sex toys do you use?
Cock Rings Dildos Butt Plugs/ Beads	Bondage Eqp. Slings Nipple Clamps	Cock Pumps Electro-Stim Catheters/ Sounds
Other:

Then, do you perform bareback sex - yes or no are the options.

Are you comfortable engaging in sex acts with partners who may have a different HIV status than yourself?
Anal:	yes no
Oral:	yes no

We then have the final set of open style questions:
What is your availability ?
*Stage Names/ Aliases:(Federal regulations require you to list all names you have ever used.)
*Prior PornModeling or Escort Work:
Is there anything else you'd like to tell us?
How did you hear about us?

The full form can be viewed here.

Growing economic pressures will no doubt lead many to consider pornography in 2012, whether in the form of a studio such as TIM or at the opposite end, masturbating on camera for a few dollars on cam4 or getting a small payment via Paypal to perform on Skype. Sex work and pornography combining in a technological web of sex and economics.

The economics and market of pornography mean that many of those getting involved in pornography for the first time in 2012, or re-joining will be doing so via bareback studios or bareback films. In doing so, there is inevitably a greater risk to their health and just as 2011 saw - in the US at least - attempts to tackle bareback porn, similar doomed ventures are no doubt likely to come forward in 2012.

There is the wider question of bareback sex and HIV transmission. The law in the area continues to gradually develop, and for many jurisdictions the law is developing along a criminalisation route. It will be interesting to see how that develops further in 2012 and whether there will be any impact upon the growing number of men using social media to share their love of bareback sex, and to connect with similar minded guys - for example through the bareback brotherhood network. Bareback sites such as BarebackRT (NSFW) also continue to grow suggesting something quite significant is happening within gay culture. Perhaps we'll understand this phenomenon a little more in the months that follow.

Most Influential LGBT Twitter Users of 2011

2011-12-31T14:58:00.000Z

Pink News revealed earlier today that Stephen Fry has been named the most influential LGBT Twitter user in PinkNews.co.uk’s 2011 list.

In early December, PinkNews.co.uk sought nominations for the users LGBT readers listened to the most. These nominations were then run through the PeerIndex social media ranking system to draw up a list of the top 50 LGBT Tweeters. PeerIndex measures how authoritative and interesting other people think a Twitter user is, as well as what topics and categories drive that interest, rather than focusing only on the number of followers each user has.

Of immense shock to me, is my own inclusion in the list - at 26th. No word yet on how Russell Tovey feels about sharing the 26th spot. The list in full can be viewed here. I am absolutely delighted, and would like to thank those who nominated me, and those who follow me, RT my thoughts and interact with me on everything from legal change to Strictly Come Dancing. Here's to a wonderful 2012!

Truth, Crime and the Hunt for Paedophiles

2011-12-31T14:49:00.000Z

The Times carries a fascinating piece today revealing that lie detector tests are being used to help to decide whether to charge suspected criminals for the first time in British policing history. The Times makes clear elsewhere that whilst the tests are 'reliable', they are not 'perfect'. Check out the Independent take on the story if you don't have access to The Times.

A pilot was conducted by Herefordshire Police who tested 25 'low level' sex offenders. According to The Times, 'many were exposed as being a higher risk to children than originally thought. A further 12-month trial has been approved to begin in April.'

A separate piece provides detailed exploration of the pilot through a case analysis of 'Michael'. He was arrested on suspicion of loitering outside a school and following pupils in his car. Acts which - the Police would surely argue - suggest the intention to commit an offence with those children. A predator stalking his prey. Michael denied the allegations but he did admit that he had accessed indecent images over two years and had used search engines to look for young girls. However, he insisted he had no physical sexual interest in children.

Michael was, it seems, making a distinction between 'desire' and action, between possessing a fantasy and acting upon it. Law traditionally focuses upon action rather than desire in sexual offences but paedophilia is something of a peculiarity for English criminal law. For example, the law accepts a sixteen year old can have sex with a forty-nine year old. Socially, it might be looked upon with disdain but it is legally tolerated. However, if that 49yo takes a photograph on his phone or a makes a video of the encounter for subsequent sexual succour he has (thanks to the Coroners and Justice Act 2009) become a paedophile. Ta-dah! In the curious scenario, the 'desire' is condemned more than the actual consensual act. Go figure.

In the case of Michael, Detectives found 'low-level' images in his bedroom but a search of his computer and other storage media did not turn up anything on top of admissions that Michael, 56, had already made. So, the Police strapped him to a polygraph in a bid to obtain further answers. Arguably, the investigation would have ended there without the polygraph - although it's not entirely clear. Michael disclosed for the first time that he had communicated with children online for a sexual purpose. He said that he had seen young girls on webcam sites, and had asked them to perform sexual acts while he watched. Michael issued denials to a series of questions including whether he had engaged in physical sexual contact with children and whether he had tried to arrange a meeting with someone younger for a sexual purpose. He also denied taking any images of children for a sexual purpose or distributing indecent images of children.The polygraph detected strong deception in his answers to all of those questions. Consequently, Michael was deemed to be a higher risk than first thought and the investigation into his activities was prioritised. He was removed from the polygraph testing trial as it is for low-level offenders only.

What does this mean? Michael's been deemed a higher risk in the absence of evidence and 'risk' is not an offence per se (although presumably from the material they found, they had enough to charge him anyway). What subsequently happened to Michael is unknown insofar as it is not explained in the piece.

There is an assumption that having been regarded as a 'higher risk', he will - at the very least - be monitored more closely than he might otherwise be, but quite where that mandate comes from legally is questionable. Even if one sets that aside, there is an assumption that resources for these support mechanisms are adequate when we know they're not. Voluntary groups are few and far between as the general public are far more likely to dip their hand in their pocket to support another charity rescuing cuddly animals in a far away land than providing support mechanisms to support paedophiles in their community. Vital groups such as Circles UK need more support, but volunteers are unlikely to be able to 'admit' to being involved to many employers for fear of raising eyebrows and questions about their own motivations. It is impressive and encouraging that they do indeed attract volunteers enabling their vital work to continue.

So, we assume - wrongly - that Michael might now get further 'support' or 'monitoring' dependent upon your linguistic spin.

The broader point is, as I touched upon above, the issue of desire. An attraction to children is a social and legal taboo. Within gay culture, an attraction towards youth - and attributes we associate with it - smooth hairless bodies, androgynous bodies, smooth faces, boyish smiles, and 'fun' personalities come together in the twink identity. A label celebrated within gay culture and pornography, and an identity to be found in many a gay club and bar this evening as towns and cities celebrate NYE. Desiring these figures is acceptable. Even the more muscular twink can be a symbol of acceptable attraction. The diver Tom Daley is unusual in being a child that many gay men could openly admit to finding sexually arousing and not feel condemned as a paedophile. A fascinating development in itself.

Upon turning 16, even more men appeared to admit to a 'long-standing' attraction - which suggests attraction whilst still a child. At 17, those fantasying men -assuming Daley is mutually attracted - could now have legal sex with Daley. However, should Daley be photographed in less than his famously figure hugging trunks, his photographer would be in a spot of bother. Expect a greater outpouring of Daley adoration during the Olympics next year (Daley will have just turned 18 so nude shots will be OK should he have a trunk malfunction at the Olympics).

In the case of Michael, it is this reluctant admittance of desire that seems to have landed him deeper in the crapola than he might have otherwise found himself. The argument about child pornography is that it is a 'record' of a child being abused and thus to share that image is to create a market and encourage further abuse of children. Thus if you wish to stop the market, you should stop the images. You are therefore vicariously abusing a child.

Yet what of pseudo-photographs or cartoons? Bits of multiple images joined together to create a new sexual image, or using a computer or animation technology to create a pornographic image? Legally, this too is treated in the same way as a photograph. Why? The market argument is phony in these circumstances. It is instead about the policing of desire. From mental desire, to looking at an image is a step, a step to re-enforcing a mental pathway of desire. Neurons making the connection between images of youth and sexual arousal. The forging of these pathways of desire is of itself a social concern within our society.

However, our criminalisation of such desire - nobody is being harmed - is on the basis that desire is an indicator of potential future risk. It's like suggesting that viewing a knife-block in Argos denotes you as a future knife armed murderer.

The continued introduction of these polygraphs therefore is about a significant extension in the policing of desire. Our society can not regard paedophiles as anything other than universally bad - despite our occasional admittance of widespread youthful desire, as in the case of Tom Daley - and thus the criminalisation of this desire is a logical extension that can not be argued without raised eyebrows and agendas questioned. If a government proposed the mandatory badge wearing by convicted paedophiles would it be opposed? If gas chambers for paedophiles were advocated, would they be opposed?

These are of course emotive and extreme examples but they serve to highlight the dangers of the road we are on. In criminalising desire we make black and white assumptions about our own desires; are we really that sure of our own purity?

Farewell 2011

2011-12-22T13:08:00.000Z

It's that time of the year when I sign off for 2011, with this, my 400th post of 2011. In keeping with the festive spirit I offer some videos to entertain - and in the case of one even alert you to the importance of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (oh yes). One of my favourite shows is the BBC series Mongrels - the second series of which sadly same to and end this week - and so I include a couple of musical songs from their first series to fill you with festive cheer and merriment.

What A Difference A Day Makes...

Everybody Loves a Lesbian...

If neither of those are your thing, here's something a little more 'kinky' and clearly seasonal.

If you're still not happy, or simply prefer attractive men in skimpy underwear, here are seasons greetings from aussieBum.

Whatever your religion, belief or cultural view, I hope that those of you who do have a break these next few weeks re-charge your batteries, have fun with your snow balls and enjoy the seasonal stuffing. See you all in 2012!

A Legal Year in Review

2011-12-22T12:43:00.002Z

With the festive season upon us, and the year coming to a close it is perhaps inevitable to look back on the last twelve months. The big story has been partnership rights and marriage rights as the Coalition Government looked to focus the social policy agenda on 'families' in the wake of austerity at home, a global economic crisis and riots on the streets. The UK took steps towards same-sex marriage and this time next year it should be on the statute book. We'll then know what that means for civil partnerships and the ongoing legal action from the Equal Love Campaign. As I argued in the Huffington Post earlier in the year, this shift is in line with conservative thinking and presents some interesting questions for conservatives in the States. Yesterday saw the sixth anniversary for civil partnerships but we still don't know if those who are in civil partnerships today, will be this time next year and whether other people will have access to those rights. More than 46,000 civil partnerships have been held since the December 2005, with 18,049 of those taking place in the first year. How this area pans out in English law will be a key issue of law and sexuality in 2012.

In the US, as Obama sinks in opinions polls -and looks to an election in 2012 that he looks set to win not because of his skills at governing but because the GOP candidates look unelectable, his law and sexuality policy win has been the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Although signed this time last year, it's now been in force and is changing lives. NBC's Nightly News included a great feature last night on life in the armed forces post DADT. I've pasted it in below. The long term implications of the repeal will be to contribute to a cultural change in America enabling further progressive measures to pass. The problematic question for Obama is 'what now?' as US lobbying groups inevitably sharpen their political knives over the issue of same-sex marriage and the Perry case continues to progress (with the reassuringly legal pace of a snail) through the US courts.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Sexuality, Culture, and Society, 16th Summer Institute

2011-12-20T17:01:00.003Z

Readers (with the cash!) might be interested in this event.

Sexuality, Culture, and Society (July 1 - 26, 2012) www.gsss.uva.nl/sis

The 16th Summer Institute is open to students with a focused interest insexuality research or advocacy, including MA and PhD students andprofessionals from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) engaged insexuality, HIV, or sexual health programmes and interventions. The openatmosphere and small scale of Amsterdam is experienced by both western andnon-western students as a refreshing stimulant for active discussion ofsexuality and culture.

GayStarNews Launches

2011-12-20T15:06:00.000Z

GSN is a new gay (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) news, entertainment and lifestyle website. They say they have full-time and freelance journalists working for us around the globe (London, New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, Shanghai) and will soon be offering 24-hour coverage for the first time in the gay media market.

It's headed up by Tris Reid-Smith and Scott Nunn. Reid-Smith was previously editor of Gay Times and the Pink Paper whilst Nunn was previously a photographer with the MP Group which owns GT and the Pink Paper.

Gay Star News is in open ‘beta testing’ and getting good comments already. They are keen to hear feedback on the beta site and you can do that by emailing: feedback@gaystarnews.com.

They are also looking for tip-offs about stories and features you think they should cover. Email: news@gaystarnews.com.

Contact them about advertising, sponsorship or affiliate opportunities by emailing scottn@gaystarnews.com.

Follow them on Facebook and on Twitter @gaystarnews. You can find full contact details and telephone numbers so you can stay in touch with us on our site at: www.gaystarnews.com/content/contact.

Fill Her Up: Trent Arsenault and the Curious Case of the Sperm Donor

2011-12-20T14:44:00.000Z

Many many moons ago I had a massive row with an ex during our student days. To raise a bit of money he decided that him and his (straight) mate would start providing sperm to the local clinic. I hated the idea of him giving it away and mini 'A's' walking around the place. I considered myself the sole benefactor of his erm, well sperm. How many of you just cringed? Sorry about that, but the point is it's regarded by many as a precious and symbolic fluid.

Anyhow, Trent Arsenault (I swear I didn't make that name up) in the USA has been busy whizzing his jizz to anyone who wants it for free. Talk about Santa emptying his sack.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Arsenault's been a sperm donor for five years, offering his semen to women he meets on the Internet for free.But his baby-making days may be numbered.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has told him to stop giving away his sperm - or face a $100,000 fine or up to a year in prison - on the grounds that he's ignoring federal regulations that require blood tests every time a person donates any kind of body tissue or fluid. He's allowed to keep providing sperm while his case is pending.

So get it while you can. You can read the full story here.

It's a fascinating story given the way we freely exchange bodily fluids, and specifically Sperm in a non-regulated way. Thing of all that fellatio, we don't have the Environment Agency ensuring that it meets food safeties tankards do we? I'm assuming a penis would fail owing to faulty plumbing and the sperm ejector being shared with the urine ejector. Yet, in certain artificial contexts, the law does become involved.

Here, because a man is 'giving away' his sperm in this way, the FDA would feels the need to be involved. If on the other hand, he was feeling less generous and was more interested in just having lots of unprotected sex, knocking up half of California, he'd be exempt. It's going to make for an absolutely fascinating case.

Overexposed and Policing Public Sex

2011-12-20T13:22:00.002Z

I was alerted to these stories via David Downs on Google+. Two police forces in the US recently appear to have swung into more public sex operations. I'm sure there are more incidents out there but these are the ones reported recently. It's a reminder that around the world, public sex venues continue to be assaulted by law enforcement agencies. In England and Wales, some Police forces try and balance public complaints against their other priorities and diversity missions, but whether in the UK or USA, law enforcement officials still seem to spend an amazing amount of time criminalising consenting individuals who really aren't harming anyone.

First up, Westchester County Police who released the names and photographs of sixteen men. A disgraceful breach of their privacy and ensuring devastation to the lives of these men. The Police were unrepentant, stating: “We are going public with Operation Overexposed in the hope that it will be a further deterrent. If you come to Saxon Woods Park for this purpose, you will be arrested and your name will be released to the media.”

The men were aged from 37 to 75. Quite the threat this 75 year old and his dick represents to the good folk of Westchester County alludes me but there we go. Read more on that here.

Next up, we cross to Lee County Sherrif's Office and the news that on December 16, 2011, members of the Lee County Sheriff's Office Narcotics/Vice Unit conducted an undercover operation at 18021 John Morris Road (Bunche Beach), due to receiving complaints of men participating in acts of lewdness in public. During the two hour operation, three men approached undercover male detectives at separate times and engaged in conversations indicating they were looking for sexual activity. During the course of these conversations, all three men exposed themselves further indicating they wished to participate in sex acts.

Three men were named and charged. You can read more on that incident here. The three men on this occasion were aged 81, 73 and 62. Personally, I'm rather in awe of an 81 year old still horny enough to go cruising, but society apparently expects 81 year olds to sell Werther's Originals and sip their food through a straw while rotting in some hell hole care home. The pensioner as a sexualised being challenges so many of our societal norms, and that he does so in a cruising context seems to blow our minds. Yet, why not have an OAP cruising or dogging outing? It's got to be beat yet another trip to Blackpool.

Of particular interest in the Lee County incident was the use of agent provocateur tactics - something English police forces claim to no longer use. The exposure it seems follows a conversation and it seems reasonable to assume that had the undercover police officer rejected the initial attempts at conversation, no exposure would have occurred. These were not men wandering around a beach with their penises flapping in the breeze.

Ahh I hear you say, they were responding to complaints. Yes they were, and as I said above, the Police do have a tricky hand to play when it comes to public sex but these complaints are often vague: men wondering on a beach 'looking suspicious', men spending overly long in a public toilet or men regularly seen visiting a location by someone who works there. It is rare to hear of a complaint that someone witnessed an actual sexual act.

Whatever your view on these Police operations, these reports evidence - once again - that Police forces continue to spend time and energy on policing public sex and that men - despite a changed legal landscape - continue to engage in it. We can't go on like this.

HIV is Not a Crime

2011-12-20T12:57:00.001Z

Here's a wonderful little video (lasting 8mins) by Sean Strub documenting the issue of HIV criminalisation in the US. Well worth a watch.

Some People Are Gay...in Prison?

2011-12-20T12:45:00.000Z

Feltham Young Offenders Institute appears to be in some hot water according to Pink News. They report that Prison staff at the Feltham Young Offenders Institute refused official recommendations to display positive images of gay and bisexual relationships to inmates, according to a report released today.

They don't include a link to the full report but it can be viewed here. The report seems more positive on equalities than the picture painted by the Pink News Story. Of greater concern for me was that young people didn't always have access to free telephone calls to their legal representatives but they did have relevant legal books in the library. Seriously folks? That's adequate for the demography likely to be needing advice? (let alone a breach of legal rights).

Anyhow, the fact prison officers resisted the display of the posters is disheartening but I suspect it came from a culture in which such posters -it was specifically the Stonewall posters - might have led to increased bullying etc. Feltham does, the report indicates, have issues with gangs to the extent of riots and in that environment the prison officers might think the Stonewall posters are inappropriate - for a host of reasons. It doesn't necessarily indicate homophobia on their part. I'd rather the posters were up, but this seems an area that the Inspectorate should have probed more, and groups such as the Howard League for Penal Reform should be less quick to condemn (as they do in the Pink News piece).

The report points to positive treatment of one trans inmate, stating:

'A transgender young person who arrived during the inspection was interviewed on the day of his arrival by the liaison officer to assess and address his needs. He was placed on a unit with a higher than average staffing level to address his support needs. Staff told us that they had previously put in place a programme of support for transgender young people, including the opportunity to wear suitable clothing for their preferred gender.'

On sexualities, the report concludes that:

'Some impressive work had been undertaken to support gay and bisexual young people and to raise awareness of issues among young people and staff.'

Hardly condemnation. The report and the Pink News story point to the presence of a group - PRIDE - as a positive sign but many years of report writing made me question thesis action. The report writes (and this bit is repeated in the Pink News report):

'A support group for gay young people, PRIDE, had been established which met whenever there were young people who wanted to attend it. All young people were told about it on induction, which provided an opportunity for young people to offer information about their sexual orientation if they wished.'

So, how often has it met? How many people attend? What do they do? How useful did people find it. As currently phrased, this sounds like something that exists on paper but not in practical reality.

Read the full Pink news story here.

Treasure Island Media Loses the Plot? UPDATED 28/12/11

2011-12-20T11:31:00.000Z

I continue to be fascinated and inspired by the San Francisco based porn company Treasure Island Media but their latest move has me stumped. In contrast to their usual antics, it's lazy, un-original and lacks authenticity.

Their New York based pornographer, Max Sohl, posted on his blog yesterday a short post and a video lasting just under six minutes. He wrote:

'sometimes we work on scenes that are deleted from a video in the final stages before the movie comes out and they go into the TIM abyss never to be heard from again. until now.here’s some free porn from the cutting room floor.at one time this little scene was an entrée act to UP THE GUT, but we killed it (for reasons that hopefully will be obvious).merry fucking christmas.'

Up the Gut - which the scene is taken from - was released earlier this year and is a very Sohl film - if such a thing can exist - in that it contains scenes that have a lot of energy and expressions of 'raw' desire. It's this depiction of men, almost lost in their 'true' desire that - for me - seems to characterise his work. Part of the whole ethos of the company is to present men in their 'natural' state, an authentic sexual experience which features bareback sex. A porn nature reserve if you will.

At the start of the year TIM tried to ratchet up the controversy stakes, declaring 2011 the year of living positively, and announcing porn featuring openly HIV positive performers. That strand - which I thought would become more high profile - seems to have fizzled out and now we have this sorry clip.

It features a man walking into an apartment, a man awaiting, dressed in a thong, positioned on his bed, arse in air. A scene documented on many an anonymous 'cumdumspter' blog. So far, so scripted - and slightly un-TIM. Then we get -shock - a man penetrating the guy with a condom. No conversation takes place indicating that he would wear a condom, and the bottom does not feel the guys dick to see if he is wearing a condom (as might often happen - and is common in dark sex clubs where people might be conscious of such things). Soon after, the guy slips the condom off and continues to fuck bareback. Eventually he says he is going to cum, and asks where he should cum, the other guy says, if you're still wearing the condom, in his arse. He comes, and leaves. No relaxed authentic exchanges at the end of the scene, just a fake departure. I also think it typical for the bottom to feel back, to check that a condom was used.

The whole scene is typical of the mainstream porn fakery which TIM normally stays clear of. Although TIM has shot previous scenes using condom - they've used it to indicate a trade off -where ultimately the penetrators/tops couldn't resist fucking bareback and remove the condoms (thus enhancing the erotic context - and in line with the true desire discourse of TIM films). Here, we don't even have that, we have someone apparently getting fucked unknowingly bareback - filmed by a bareback porn company. This sort of 'OMG, you did what?' scene has been common in straight porn for years, such as in the Don't Cum Inside Me series. We don't have the outrage bit (often cringe in straight porn) but otherwise it's straight out of the old straight porn book. Yawn.

Of course, the twist - and the video was subsequently sent out to TIM fans via email - is the heading for the video: 'Stealth Breeding', deliberately evoking HIV 'stealthing'. This the practice whereby an HIV+ partner deliberately seeks to transmit HIV to another through deception. It's a far more straight forward scenario than say the issues around recklessness in English law and is the one area that even defenders of barebacking - such as myself - say "hang on folks". A tiny minority defend the practice (which I find abhorrent) and even indicate they engage in it. Sohl is desperately trying to play into that controversy but in a year that TIM failed to really shake things up with an HIV+ series, it seems desperate.

Like watching your Dad dance at a disco, this is just plain wrong. This isn't about being bad boys, it's being bad at being bad boys. So sure, the scene was cut. Not because it was shocking and controversial but because it didn't deserve to be in a TIM film. You can view the NSFW video for yourself here.

*UPDATE* The latest 'Island' email update from TIM features a link to Max's blog and a response he made to these comments (in an indirect sort of way) on 21 December. He also tweeted it to me but put a space between the '@' and 'lawandsexuality' so I never saw it in my mentions (and hence have only noticed it now). Anyhow...Max seems to have gone on a whole Silence of the Lambs thing which I don't really get. A screenshot of the video is captioned 'he feels for the condom at 1.30 Chris' so I'm guessing that's aimed that me. I re-watched and yes he does touch the condom at the point and maybe he was feeling it, but it looked as if what he was actually doing was pushing the dick in and thus in the course of that felt the condom - so whether he intentionally sought to feel for a condom or not remains a moot point (at least for me). However, lawyerly hair-splitting aside, he did obviously know at that point that the guy was wearing a condom - and my original point was he might not (so that's me told). The comments from TIM fans seems to match my own impression about the 'fakery' and TIM must have - in some way - agreed that the scene wasn't up to snuff because they cut it. The key points about 'steal thing' and controversy remain unaddressed but it's likely that TIM have something up their sleeve for the new year.

Read Max's response in full here (NSFW).

Lesbian couple file lawsuit against Hawaii hotel

2011-12-20T10:43:00.002Z

A fascinating story has emerged from Hawaii. According to the Pink Paper, a couple from Los Angeles have filed a lawsuit against a bed and breakfast in Hawaii, claiming they were refused a room because they were lesbians.

The story has parallels with the B&B controversies in this country which saw the Equality Act goods and services provisions tested legally, politically and socially. It's interesting to see a similar sort of testing in another part of the world, indicating the process that such laws perhaps inevitably, must go through.

Check out the full story here.

NWT Canada Finance Minister accused of trans bullying

2011-12-20T10:38:00.000Z

Jane Fae reports a fascinating incident on her blog. She notes that the Finance Minister of Canada’s Northwest Territory, Michael Miltenberger has been reported to the Human Rights Commission. Why you might ask...Well, he is apparently accused of discriminating against a woman in Fort Smith, NWT, during a visit by the Governor General to Aurora College campus on 9 December because she is transgender.

Read the full story/details on Jane's blog here.

Gender & Law at Durham (GLAD) Conversation 2012: with Finn Mackay

2011-12-20T10:26:00.001Z

I went along to this excellent annual event for the first time last year to hear Stephen Whittle. Gender and Law at Durham (GLAD) have announced this week that the 2011/12 speaker will be the award-winning feminist activist Finn Mackay.

Finn is the Founder of the London Feminist Network and the revived Reclaim the Night London, Co-Founder of the Feminist Coalition against Prostitution, and Individual Winner of the 2010 Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize for Outstanding Work on Women and Violence.

The event will take place on Tuesday 7th February 2012, in the Joachim Room, St Hild & Bede College, Durham University, from 3.30 to 5.30pm. Places are free but limited. To book, please contact law.events@dur.ac.uk. The event will be followed by an informal drinks reception.

Finn has also agreed to hold an informal workshop for feminist activists from 2pm. The workshop is an opportunity to learn more from Finn about organising feminist groups, events and campaigns. If you’re interested in attending the workshop, please clearly state this when booking your place.If you have any questions about the event, contact Dr Erika Rackley at erika.rackley@dur.ac.uk. More information about GLAD and the 2012 GLAD Conversation can be found on their website.

I would encourage Sunderland Law and Sexuality students to attend the main 3.30pm talk if possible. GLAD have also provided a link to a video of Finn which you can watch below:

I've previously seen Finn in action the other year in a BBC series on women and feminism. She's an inspirational figure in many ways, a passionate and tireless advocate but I'm confident I will become increasingly agitated during her speech. Her feminism, it seems to me, owes much to Andrea Dworkin and Catherine MacKinnon and continues to be popularised by the journalist Julie Bindel. For me, and many feminists her thinking although well-intentioned is out-dated. Anyway, I hope to attend and maybe she'll shift my thinking. Whether she does or doesn't, her brand of feminism is reaching out to growing numbers of women through events such as Reclaim the Night and in turn, defining feminism for a new generation. She can't be ignored.

Public Research Project: F.B.I. Surveillance of Homosexuals and Gay Groups

2011-12-20T10:09:00.003Z

Here's a US based research project which readers might be interested in getting involved with.

F.B.I. Surveillance of Homosexuals and Gay GroupsOutHistory.org, the website on LGBT history, is asking the public to help document the evidence of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s surveillance of homosexuals, alleged homosexuals, and gay groups around the nation.

The website encourages the community’s participation in the recovery of LGBT history. It offers a public forum for logged on users to add to existing entries and create new articles.Historian Jonathan Ned Katz, co-director of OutHistory, initiated the survey after seeing the film J. Edgar. “After viewing that speculative interpretation of J. Edgar Hoover’s life I was eager to know what evidence exists of the rumors about his sexual proclivities. I wanted to learn what was actually documented about the F.B.I.’s spying on homosexuals, alleged homosexuals, and homosexual rights groups.”

“After surveying some of what’s published about the FBI’s surveillance of homosexuality, I put notes about it on OutHistory.org,” says Katz. “But I soon realized that the numbers of persons spied on, and the quantity of spying incidents is much greater than I could research by myself.

To initiate this public research project, Katz created an OutHistory page titled the “F.B.I. and Homosexuality”. This introduces the subject, and provides links to (1) a bibliography of relevant articles and books, (2) a chronology of events, and (3) a list of persons and groups investigated. All of these are open to public additions. Katz asks the public to add data to these entries.OutHistory’s introduction to this survey may be viewed at:http://www.outhistory.org/wiki/F.B.I._and_Homosexuality:_A_History

Homonormativity and the New Legal Citizenship: Viva Oppression?

2011-12-15T19:12:00.001Z

Yesterday I presented an internal seminar on some of my ongoing work. I published an article early this Autumn in Durham Law Review 'setting the theoretical scene' and plan on some further work coming out in the next couple of years (such is the speed of academic publishing) that develops my ideas around (homo)normativity.

The work is part of a series of Brown Bag seminars organised by the Law and Society research Cluster at the University, which I lead and organise. You can check out the slides from my brief talk below and you can download the full article here.

Homonormative brown bag

View more presentations from Chris Ashford.

You can view the full Law and Society seminar programme for 2011-12 below.

Law and society brown bag 2011 12

View more documents from Chris Ashford

Legal Spaces, Queer Spaces: The Castro

2011-12-13T16:17:00.000Z

Law is a vital ingredient in the construction of space, notably that space which has been defined as 'queer'. Whether in the form of Manchester's Canal Street or San Francisco's Castro, these 'communities' within a community, these villages', or 'ghettos' are a product of changing laws, offering a space defined by identity - and offering a place of inclusion whislt also excluding a class of citizen not deemed 'desirable'. Often their mere existence is a result of legal oppression elsewhere yet increasingly these spaces fall under the gaze of city officials seeking to 'clean up' a space. So it is interesting to see the way that legal powers are being applied with zeal by District 8 Supervisor Scott Weiner (a surprising number of US politicians with that name - by which I mean more than one) as he launches further proposed powers.

The Bay Area Reporter notes that smoking and camping would be banned and set hours for sitting on movable benches and chairs would be imposed at the Castro's two street plazas under new rules proposed by Weiner. The restrictions would apply to Jane Warner Plaza on 17th Street near Market and across the street at Harvey Milk Plaza above the Castro Muni station. The ordinance would specify that Jane Warner Plaza, the city's first Pavement to Parks project, falls under the rules that apply to the city's public parks.Wiener introduced the proposed rules on November 15 at the request of the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District, which oversees maintenance of the outdoor areas. The Board of Supervisors is expected to begin holding hearings on them in early 2012.

These are similar spaces to those you might see in New York - bits of the road/street that have been re-designated 'plazas' with chairs/tables/planted trees/palms and other street furniture. I rather like them, and in the Castro they've always seemed busy spaces, and important social 'hubs'.

A legal technicality means that the plazas are still classed as 'street's, and so this change puts them on the same legal footing as parks. So whilst street signs are up saying 'no smoking' (I confess, I never noticed them), they are not enforceable. Leaving aside this remorseless attack on smoking (which in itself drives me crazy), the measures also mean that sitting on chairs or benches that are not permanent structures in either plaza would only be allowed between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m (which seems nuts). Sleeping would also be banned in both plazas any hour of the day which is not about ensuring that Castro citizens remain conscious in public at all times (elf and safety gone mad someone shouts), oh no, it's about ensuring that there is a reason so shift on those nasty homeless people. "you can't sleep there", "who says?" can now be responded with some Americanisation of "it's the law innit".

The measures are not without opposition; queer activist Tommi Avicolli Mecca (for it is he) called the latest planned restrictions "more anti-homeless bigotry from Wiener and the folks at the CBD", he added:"Harvey Milk Plaza has always been a symbol of the freedom of the Castro, it's the place where Milk got up on a soap box and expressed his opinion about things," wrote Avicolli Mecca in an email, referring to the gay former city supervisor and Castro merchant the plaza honors. "Gay men have always stood and talked or congregated at any hours of the day and night in the plaza ... Now Wiener and the CBD want to impose restrictions on the plaza, such as no sitting on the benches after 9 p.m., that are intended only to stop a certain group of people from sitting or using the plaza."

BAR noted that Mecca predicted that the police would use the seating restrictions to harass homeless people and underage queer youth who hang out at the plazas at night."Forty years ago, this is the kind of legislation that was often used to restrict the use of public space by gay men. Now it's used against the homeless or those perceived as homeless," wrote Avicolli Mecca. "As we used to say in ACT UP, 'Shame, shame, shame!'" Mecca is probably right and this is yet another curious development in the use of queer space, following Weiner's previous attack on nudists in the area (towels now need to be put down on furniture before you sit on them). Yes, you can still be nude in the Castro, but no bare bum on the furniture thank you. I think people should put towels down, but I don't like laws that say such a thing - it seems rather heavy handed. You can read more on that here (check out the fab photo too).

This comes amidst controversial and saddening reports of changes at the iconic Castro Theatre - reinforcing the message I keep privately getting from folks that live in the Castro - it's an area increasingly less 'gay' and an area in economic trouble. Weiner's legal reforms could (unintentionally) be part of this narrative of 'normalising' the Castro and reducing gay inhabitants to no more than performing monkeys for the tourists. It's a perfect example of the importance of understanding the social, historical, political and theoretical context in which law operates and the passionate feelings it can generate when its force is felt.

Recruiting Mormons

2011-12-13T15:30:00.001Z

I offer this rather wonderful post on the Petrelis Files blog without further comment, except to say read it, it's very amusing and a little bit brilliant. Check it out here.

Mr Gay UK: Samuel Kneen

2011-12-13T15:19:00.002Z

We have a winner! Samuel Kneen (22) was awarded the title of Mr Gay UK after months of gruelling competition on Saturday.

The contest returned after a three year gap, a return explained by organisers as 'due to popular demand and the extension of social-networking opportunities, giving a new edge this year - the online vote.'

People could vote via the website www.mrgayuk.co.uk, Facebook or Twitter for the guy they felt has the 'cutest face, hottest bod or nicest bum' (none of that high-minded nonsense here). The top five were then invited to the Grand Final, held at Club Mission in Leeds on Saturday 10 December, where Samuel was crowned the winner by the three judges, including Hollyoaks’ Kieran Richardson.

The prizes this year include a professional photo-shoot on location in Morocco, the opportunity to enter Mr. Gay Europe and £2000 in cash so it's pretty good going. Well done Samuel (although frankly I was surprised the runner up, Charlie Drummond - who was a previous contestant in 2007 and was also in the Big Brother House in 2009 - didn't win). I guess Drummond was desperate for some extra time on his 15mins of fame but the judges thought it fair someone else had a go in the spotlight.

The competition is a curious anachronism in the modern homonormative world -showing gay men as (gasp of air) horny creatures who are looking for the 'cutest face, hottest box or nicest bum' (and presumably those with bulges that resemble an anaconda in a jocks trap). Presumably winners will have to adopt to our new socio-legal times, and thus I await photos of Kneen with his new partner (via a Civil Partnership) and their adopted first child (or if they have money, surrogate child - currently reserved for posho gays). The continued presence of this gratuitous 'old gay' contest is political in a way I suspect it does not intend, but how long before legal freedoms prevent such public ogling? How much longer can homosexual men admit to being sexually aroused by men?

It can surely only be a matter of time before we hear about the soul-destroying nature of this competition, how degrading it is for the men, and the those who watch. So chaps, ogle while you can, and I shall permit myself to comment that red does rather suit him. Next year we may be restricted to commenting upon his home-cooking and intellectual prowess. I really must try and be less cynical in 2012...

Out & Proud Corporate Counsel Award Reception

2011-12-12T19:36:00.001Z

US based readers might be interested in this event:

Out & Proud Corporate Counsel Award Reception
Thursday, February 2, 2012 | 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
The Terrace Club25 West 51st Street
New York, New York

The Out & Proud Corporate Counsel Award Receptions give LGBT legal professionals and their straight allies the opportunity to honor distinguished colleagues who have worked hard to increase LGBT diversity awareness in the corporate office and in the community. These receptions provide a business casual environment for LGBT counsel of all levels of the corporate sphere to gather and network toward the betterment of diversity in the legal profession.

This is a ticketed event. All corporate counsel receive complimentary tickets courtesy of the LGBT Bar. Click here to RSVP.For sponsorship opportunities and general admission tickets, please contact Kelly Simon at (202) 637-7661 or Kelly@LGBTbar.org.

Studying Sexuality

2011-12-12T18:46:00.003Z

There have been a couple of really interesting blogs on conferences on the theme of sexuality - and their strengths and weaknesses. QRG writes about a recent 'Pornified' conference. There are some interesting observations but it is limited by the fact QRG didn't actually attend. There are difficulties in interpreting these things - perspectives and gender would have been slightly tweaked by my presence - I was invited to speak at one of these conferences but I've forgotten which - but I couldn't get funding to attend. I suspect the same was true for a few others so it doesn't take much to skew these things. Nonetheless, some interesting comments.

Of greater interest, and perhaps value is a post by Jane Fae on a sexology conference (which I'd also hoped to attend but once again, I find myself in a funding black hole). Fae makes some really interesting observations about disciplines coming together - but this is in part a growing agenda from the funding bodies so it's not entirely 'organic'. Nonetheless, some fascinating broad perspectives about what is going on in the academic discussion and exploration of sexuality.

HIV in Europe: The Criminalisation of HIV and Stigma

2011-12-12T18:37:00.001Z

Here's a brilliant little video taken from the HIV in Europe Conference a couple of years ago. It includes Matthew Weait who many of my students will currently be reading in preparation for their assignments, giving you a bit more of an idea about his research and how the man behind those words you're reading looks and sounds. Some really interesting insights into his conceptions of 'good' vs 'bad' law. The HIV in Europe initiative is directed by an independent group of experts which has come together to work for optimal testing and earlier care for HIV in Europe. The group will be meeting again next year in Copenhagen - details here.

Queer Pedagogy: Queering Our Teaching, Queering our Learning

2011-12-12T18:25:00.002Z

This looks brilliant! A free online course on queer pedagogy throughPeer-To-Peer University (P2PU) has kicked off this week.Although they are in the first week, they are looking for a few more participants.Details @ http://www.p2pu.org/en/groups/queer-pedagogy

If you've got the time, it looks a terrific opportunity.

Heterosexuality Study

2011-12-12T18:21:00.003Z

An undergraduate Psychology student at the University of the West of England, Bristol, Emma Smith [Emma15.Smith@uwe.ac.uk] is doing qualitative research on experiences of being heterosexual, and the meanings heterosexuality holds for people. Emma is looking for people aged 18 and older and who self-identify as heterosexual to complete a short online qualitative survey. To complete Emma's survey click on/cut and paste the following link: http://uwepsych.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_0iAagnhvT6nBrzS

HIV criminalisation and law reform in Nordic countries

2011-12-12T18:19:00.000Z

The wonderful Prof Matthew Weait at Birkbeck has announced plans to undertake an important new research study in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden next Spring. He will be exploring the ways in which HIV activists and others have sought to reform criminal law concerning HIV transmission and exposure in the region.

Full details have been published on Edwin Bernard's Criminal HIV Transmission blog and can be read here. Matthew is looking for participants to take part in his research so if you are based in that part of the world, and can help out, I'd encourage you to give him a shout.

Follow Friday: Politically LGBT

2011-12-10T15:15:00.001Z

Yes, hopelessly late with my special Follow Friday mention as per. This week it goes to a couple of figures. The first mention goes to Adrian Trett who is Chair of LGBT Liberal Democrats among his various roles. Follow him @Juvelad

My second mention goes to Matthew Sephton who is Chair of LGBTory - the Conservative LGBT group. Follow him @MatthewSephton

Together, they represent an opportunity to influence and shape LGBT thinking within the parties of the UK coalition government, plus they also offer insights into the kind of thinking that will inform decisions in five or ten years time. Well worth a follow.

Hot Air American Style: International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons

2011-12-10T14:36:00.001Z

Hillary Clinton is a busy woman and so I can only imagine the US Secretary of State was a) too busy to pre-read a speech she delivered this week in Geneva and b) the victim of her staff having a little fun. Along with the White House she announced a commitment by America to the 'human rights' of LGBT people around the world - and a commitment to promote human rights issues in this area. She also announced a new Global Equality Fund with $3 million in the kitty - and the hope other countries would chip in (the world is after all flush with cash). For America, the $3 million figure is interesting - presumably Obama and Hillary had a root around the backs of official sofas for some small change, but the wider issue is of course America lecturing the world on LGBT rights - I mean really?

So, the question about whether Hilary actually knew what she was saying (surely she'd correct it or ask "hang on guys, this is for real?"was taken up by the media. Via the wonders of open government, the teleconference briefing on the story was published on the US State Department website. You can read it here. One member of the media asked if Hilary had actually written the speech. This was the punchy and clear response from officials:

Well, she has a terrific amount of input into all of her speeches, but this is a speech that is very much crafted in her voice and with her guidance and her intentions in mind. I mean, she knew when she was going to give the speech. She knew that, as she said in the speech, that it is a topic that is still sensitive for some, and she wanted to be aware of that, sensitive to that, respectful of that. As she said in the speech, she wanted to give people a chance to raise what they were concerned about, afraid about, et cetera. And yet it’s something on which she also said in her speech over time – over the course of her life, her own sensitivities and convictions have deepened.And so I think, as I said at the outset, the speech was – because of her guidance and because of the work that she did on the speech, she worked through multiple drafts and makes edits and captures exactly what kind of tone she wants and writes out paragraphs longhand, et cetera. And I think in doing that, she really – she very purposefully made it both firmly principled and also unimpeachably respectful. And I think in that respect, it reflects her broader vision and her leadership in this area.

Hmm! The full speech can be viewed here and watched below:

It is of course to be welcomed that America broadly takes this approach but perhaps their speech and political efforts should be focused inwardly as well as externally. Moreover, careful reading of the speech will reveal an administration balancing freedom of religion with sexuality and a focus upon ensuring LGBT people are not criminalised,a rested and physically injured. It avoids the tough questions of same-sex marriage, employment protections, goods and services rights, adoption and fertility rights, medical access for those seeking to transition and so on.

This failure -and that's what it is - enables countries such as Nigeria to dismiss these calls, and the whole speech to amount to nothing more than vacuous remarks.

The US administration also issued a Presidential Memorandum - quite literally a note from the boss to government agencies. That memo applied to the Departments of State, the Treasury, Defense, Justice, Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Export-Import Bank, the United States Trade Representative, and such other agencies as the President may designate.

It made a series of specific directions to agencies, requiring them to:

• Combat the criminalization of LGBT status or conduct abroad.
• Protect vulnerable LGBT refugees and asylum seekers.
• Leverage foreign assistance to protect human rights and advance nondiscrimination.
• Ensure swift and meaningful U.S. responses to human rights abuses of LGBT persons abroad.
• Engage International Organizations in the fight against LGBT discrimination.
• Report on progress.

The memorandum is worth reading in full which you can do here, and although it received less attention in the media, it is equally vacuous. America, this isn't good enough.

#pinkpeople11

2011-12-10T14:02:00.001Z

Jane Fae has written a brilliant post on the new list being drawn up by Pink News of 'the most influential [LGBT] twitter users'. Jane like myself, did a couple of shout-outs to followers last night effectively saying 'vote for me'. I'd got in on the act moments earlier. Jane raises some really interesting points about the nature of these lists - and what exactly it is that your twitter account denotes.

I would rather shamelessly like to be on the list but compared to the excellent @JaneFae or @parisLees and @Benjamincohen - I am looking slightly less buoyant in my chances than the Titanic post iceberg incident.

Nonetheless, if you would like to nominate me (and frankly, why wouldn't you?) you just need to tweet '@lawandsexuality #pinkpeople11' and voting closes at 5pm on 16 December. Full details here.

Jane raises some really interesting thoughts in her post about our twitter identities. Followers will perhaps be relieved that my Strictly Come Dancing #scd tweets will come to an end next week with the final. Others will perhaps be disappointed. As I've used twitter more, I've relaxed more about how I use it. I do blow off steam, I do share the good moments and the bad. I do post deeply academic stuff, I share information about the work of others and I promote my own research. I also talk the occasional (or often) bit of drivel, I also talk about television, music, films and rather boring details of my life. Why? Well this is me. I'm not (hopefully) just some dull academic tweeting about some marvellous and important law and sexuality story because let's be honest, that would be helpful but dull. Alas, topless photographs of me are likely to deter followers rather than bring them in, and so being open, frank and willing to engage in debate are the values and characteristics that I can offer as an academic and a member of the twitterverse.

I'm not why anyone follows me, but I do know that the amazing conversations I have with people who stumble upon through these different strands of interest make up a richness to my role as a public academic, and as a member (subject to confirmation) of the human race.

CFP: Reconsidering Coming and Being ‘Out’? Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Research in the 21st Century

2011-12-10T13:48:00.001Z

Hoping to attend this conference myself. One held a few years ago in Newcastle was brilliant:

A one-day conference for academics, researchers and activists conducting research on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans issues and / or lives.18th May 2012, 10.30am – 4.30pmLondon South Bank UniversityIt has been 3 years since we gathered at Northumbria University for the „Becoming or Unbecoming‟ LGB and T research conference in November 2008. That conference was the second of its kind following “Lesbian and Gay Lives in Focus” conference in London in December 2000.

The 2012 Conference seeks to bring together academics, researchers and activists from across the country to look at the state of LGB and T research, to chart a way forward and to bridge the gap between academia and activism. It follows a commitment from UCU Congress 2010 to support such a conference every three years in order to promote L, G, B and T studies.Papers are sought in nine broad areas or categories and should address key issues within one of these areas/categories. The issues/topic identified in each category is not an exhaustive list and we encourage you to identify an issue/topic if it does not appear in your chosen category of discussion.

Education and DevelopmentPapers in this area can cover

LGB and / or T issues in schools, colleges and universities, including as a workplace
visibility in the curriculum
working with the teachers
learning and development for LGB and / or T people throughout life

Health, Wellbeing and SportHealth issues affect many LGB and T people and papers can address a wide range of health issues including

age;
HIV, AIDS and other sexual health matters;
psychological dimensions of health,
LGB and / or T people as carers – both professional and within families and friendship networks; wellbeing including fitness and spiritual health;
workplace wellbeing;
LGB and / or T in sport.

Heritage and ActionIt is important to understand where we have been and how heritage informs activism;

histories of activism;
heritage and memory projects;
lobbying efforts and campaigns.

Households, Families and RelationshipsPapers can address all aspects of domestic life with a focus on

experiences of caring from LGB and / or T households;
impact of diverse households on society;
how LGB and / or T people lived in households historically;
the diversity of relationships;
alternative family models;
LGB and / or T parenting including fostering and adoption.

Homo and Trans phobia:Here we wish for papers to

explore homo and / or trans phobias both in and out of the work place;
language issues;
attitudes;
challenging vs. preventing;
conceptualisation of homo and / or trans phobia and
exploring what if anything, homo and / or trans phobia has done for us
international comparisons and projects

Identity:Identity is a wide area and papers can address

both psychological and non-psychological perspectives;
in-depth identification from the perspective of the individual;
gender diasporas

LGB and T People:Papers should explore who are we?

people in the mainstream;
people on the margins;
people on the margins of the mainstream;
anthropological and sociological perspectives that includes a focus on equality groups age; disability; faith; gender; race ).
being counted – data collection and demographics

Policy and LawOver the years leading up to the Equality Act 2010 equality and anti discrimination

legislation shaped activism and experience
historical and international perspectives
hierarchies
emergence of rights and the implications for LGB and / or T people
crime, deviance, disorder, liberation and / or normality?

TheoryThis area seeks to highlight new ways of thinking and theorising;

rethinking and reconceptualising coming and being out and LGB and T experiences more generally; relationships between activism, socio-economics, queer and other identity related theories.

Proposals (of no more than 500 words) should be sent by e mail to the conference co-ordinators (Antoine Rogers and Seth Atkin)e mail: arac@london.comMore information including application form for the conference will be sent out at a later date.Deadline for Proposals is:4pm Wednesday 29th February

Call for Papers – GJSS Special Edition on Sexuality in Focus

2011-12-10T13:42:00.001Z

Readers may be interested in this journal CFP - a brilliant opportunity for postgraduate students/early career academics.

The Graduate Journal of Social Sciences (GJSS) invites papers for its December 2012 special edition on Sexuality in Focus. This issue is inspired by the Network of Interdisciplinary Women’s Studies in Europe (NOISE) 2011 Summer School, which was hosted by the University of Utrecht (the Netherlands). This year’s theme was ‘The Miraculous (dis)appearing Act of Sexuality: Mapping the Study of Sexuality in Europe, 1960-2010’. Central to this summer school was the exploration of what has appeared in discourses of sexualities and what has been missing. The special issue aims to further explore this complex and multifaceted subject.

We invite scholarly contributions from postgraduate students, early career academics and activists engaged in LGBT, sexuality, feminist, queer, women’s and gender studies or related areas, to submit their work for consideration. Although NOISE summer school participants are strongly encouraged to submit their papers, we also welcome contributions from people outside of the NOISE network. Thus, we welcome contributions that offer important insights into debates surrounding sexuality. These include, but are not limited to, the following themes:

- Sexualities in the making: discussions of the epistemological, methodological, and thematic issues central to the interdisciplinary and intersectional study of sexuality in Europe and beyond; (historical) analyses of heterosexual, gay, lesbian, asexual, bisexual, queer and transsexual discourses or movements.

- Deconstructing sexualities: papers exploring the notion of (sexual) identity; the engagement with biological essentialism / determinism, social constructivism and newer insights in this debate.

- Sexual politics: sexuality and (post)colonialism; sexuality and the formation of the nation state; multiculturalism and homonationalism; sexuality and family politics; state censorship. In this strand we also invite papers which seek to bridge the gap between academic feminisms and feminist activisms.

- Reflexivity and intersectionality: how can we adopt a more intersectional approach to our work on sexuality? We invite papers exploring the ontological and epistemological relationship between the researcher and the subject of study in the field of sexuality. This strand also explicitly invites papers which explore the intersections of race, class, nationality, religion and other social categories, with gender and sexuality.

- Stigma and marginalization: we invite papers focusing on sexual practices or bodily aesthetics from an affirmative perspective. Papers might address BDSM; pornography; physical disabilities and sexuality; fatness and sexuality; or the sexual practices of other stigmatized groups.

A sixth strand is aimed at extending the debate on sexualities beyond the European / Western context. A selection of papers presented at the Arab Women, Media and Sexuality conference (University of York, May 2012) shall be included in a special section of this edition. Papers exploring the following themes are welcomed: representations of Arab women’s sexuality in Western and / or Arabic media; approaches to sexuality in Arabic media; Arab women’s perception of their sexuality vis-à-vis the media. The deadline for this section will be separate from the general deadline and will be announced.

For more information, please contact Ebtihal Mahadeen: im544@york.ac.uk.Submissions: Completed papers should be submitted by January 30th 2012. Papers should be 6000-8000 words. Please include an abstract (max 300 words), short author biography (max 150 words) along with three to five keywords.Papers submitted to the GJSS undergo an initial selection by the guest editors and then go through a double-blind peer review process. The special issue will be published in December 2012.Submissions must be accompanied by the GJSS article submission form. Detailed submission guidelines and formatting instructions can be found on the GJSS website: http://www.gjss.org/index.php?/gjss.org-submission-of-articles.html.Please submit your article to GJSSspecialed@gmail.com. Any enquiries regarding this special edition may also be directed to this email address.

CFP Sexualities Section of the American Sociological Association

2011-12-10T13:41:00.001Z

Readers may be interested in this Call for Papers:

The Sexualities Section of the American Sociological Association invitesyou to be a part of the first national mini-conference on sexualitiesstudies in sociology. This two-day (August 15-16) conference will precedethe 2012 Annual Meeting of the ASA in Denver, Colorado.

Crossing Boundaries, Workshopping Sexualities will bring together scholarsworking in the field of sexuality studies for an intensive two days ofworkshops, geared towards mapping and advancing the field, while buildingcommunity and collective knowledge. To celebrate the vibrant life of theSexualities Section, the conference also will include keynote panels byeminent sexualities scholars who will discuss the past, present, and futurestate of the field of sexualities research within sociology.  Thisconference aims to unite junior and senior scholars working in relatedareas in an effort to share theoretical and methodological advances, createintellectual networks, and promote rich collaborations within the field ofsexualities studies.More information:http://www.crossing-boundaries.org/

Sex Tourism

2011-12-02T07:30:00.000Z

The 'sex tourism' has come to hold an immensely negative con nation, typically suggesting some Gary Glitter-esque holiday abusing children. In reality, many people engage in 'sex tourism', visiting locations for new sexual experiences whether that means an international city such as Berlin or London, a salesman arranging rendezvous with other men in his hotel room, or a trucker having fun in their cab. The Into the Abyss blog posted a nice little post about their kinky adventures on a recent visit to San Francisco, reminding us of the joy that these venues can offer, and promoting the question, as to why these experiences can't always be replicated back at home?

CFP: Bodies of Law / Law and the Body

2011-12-02T07:00:00.000Z

Readers of this blog may be interested in the following Call for Papers, organised by the excellent Katie Cruz at Nottingham:

Bodies of Law / Law and the Body

An interdisciplinary conference for postgraduate and early-career academics in the area of law, gender and sexuality (see the PECANS network).

Friday 30 March 2012School of Law, University of Westminster, London

UK CALL FOR PAPERS

This one-day conference seeks to bring together postgraduate and early-career scholars from across the UK and beyond to explore the general theme of ‘law and the body’. This event will investigate the different dimensions of how the ‘body’ as a governed entity is represented, regulated, and normalised within the legal order, while encouraging debate about law’s relationship to wider social structures and knowledges.Law mediates various power structures and is interwoven with numerous other knowledges that participate in the construction, normalization and regulation of bodies, such as medicine, social media, religion and the nation-state. Numerous feminist legal scholars have commented on law’s intimate relationship to, for example, medical discourses, arguing that the shape of legal power has changed to more regulatory and disciplinary forms. Inevitably law’s relationship to bodies/states of embodiment alters as it takes on these increasingly pervasive roles. One might conclude that the notion of a space where the law will not intervene is a liberal fantasy, out of step with the reality of law’s operations. How, then, should law be evaluated and/or harnessed?

Within this context, some of the questions we hope to address are:Does law privilege certain bodies/states of embodiment? If so, what are some of the ways that these privileged bodies can be detected in law and resisted?Should legal scholars continue to appeal to (or return to) fixed understandings of bodies, such as the ‘female’ body?How do bio-technologies affect and transform the relationship between body and law, especially within the processes of neoliberal governance and consumerism?In what ways are marginalised groups affected by the interaction of law and body within the discourses of (in)equality and difference?What has the advent of post-human and object-oriented thought meant for feminist conceptions of ‘the body’?Can we conceive of law without ‘the body’?

We invite papers addressing these and other related questions for inclusion in the conference program. Abstracts of no more than 200 words should be sent to Katie Cruz at llxkc4@nottingham.ac.uk by Friday 6 January 2012. Successful participants will be notified no later than mid-February.

We regret that we cannot guarantee participants funding for travel however there may be some small subsidies available. We will advertise any opportunities as they arise. Finally, papers presented at the conference will be considered for publication in a special issue of feminists@law, a peer-reviewed, online, open access journal of feminist legal scholarship. For more information about the journal, please visit http://journals.kent.ac.uk/index.php/feministsatlaw/index.

Follow Friday

2011-12-02T06:30:00.000Z

Another double whammy Follow Friday as I was useless last week. Hopefully now back on track for a few weeks. First up is the wonderful @ThePansyProject and their wonderful website which you can view here. The Pansy Project is an art/community project by Paul Harfleet.

Paul plants pansies at the site of homophobic abuse, he finds the nearest source of soil to where the incident occurred and generally without civic permission plants one unmarked pansy. The flower is then photographed in it's location and posted on his website, the image is entitled after the abuse. It's simple, touching and really quite wonderful. Of course, in an ideal world Paul would have to halt his project because these sort of homophobic attacks had come to an end.

My second mention goes to the lovely chap who kindly designed the logo which still features at the top of this page, my old twitter logo and the logo which can still be found on my module Facebook page. @gigoslurp is simply a lovely friendly kind sort, and you should follow for the simple reason that you can.

PhD Project Request

2011-12-02T06:00:00.000Z

Readers may be able to help this doctoral student based at the University of Manchester:

Everyone has a story What’s yours?

Do you recall forming relationships with people you love, and for many decades being denied legal recognition for your relationship because you are in a relationship with a person of the same-sex. Do you recall how you felt when Civil partnership was introduced and learnt that you could now gain legal protections and rights for your relationship by having a civil partnership. At some point you decided to have a civil partnership for your relationship.

Were you aged 35-60 when you had a civil partnership? Would you be willing to share your story with a lesbian researcher about your life before and after civil partnership?Guaranteed anonymity and confidentiality!

For more details about the project contact:
Em Temple-Malt
Mobile: 07543 464 338
Email: Emmajane.temple-Malt@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

Apple's Siri, Abortion, and the Feminist Backlash

2011-12-01T18:30:00.000Z

Bridget Crawford on Feminist Law Professors has posted a fascinating couple of posts on the growing issue of Siri's 'anti-chocie politics'. Siri, as many of you will know, is the talking assistant included with Apple's new iPhone 4S.

The commentary stems from a piece on the site 'The Raw Story' in which Siri was revealed to be helpful with many things, but not when it comes to obtaining an abortion. According to the piece, ask the Siri, the new iPhone 4 assistant, where to get an abortion, and, if you happen to be in Washington, D.C., she won’t direct you to the Planned Parenthood on 16th St, NW. Instead, she’ll suggest you pay a visit to the 1st Choice Women’s Health Center, an anti-abortion Crisis Pregnancy Center (CPC) in Landsdowne, Virginia, or Human Life Services, a CPC in York, Pennsylvania. Ask Google the same question, and you’ll get ads for no less than 7 metro-area abortion clinics, 2 CPCs and a nationwide abortion referral service.Ask in New York City, and Siri will tell you “I didn’t find any abortion clinics.”

The piece notes that Siri can help with the following questions (a game everyone plays when they first receive their iPhone 4S):

1. Viagra.
2. Hospitals to go to if you’ve had an erection lasting for more than 5 hours.
3. Places you might be able to score marijuana.
4. Where to dump a body: in Brooklyn, it recommends a smelting plant in New Jersey.
5. The meaning of life: Siri will alternately quote from Douglas Adams (42) or Monty Python’s “The Meaning Of Life.”
6. What to do if a hamster is caught in your rectum: in D.C., she’ll direct you to Charming Cherries Escort Service.
7. Asked how to obtain a free blow job in D.C., she’ll direct you to the same escort service. (We doubt that they are free.)
8. If you’d like to see a naked woman in Brooklyn, Siri will suggest a variety of Manhattan-based strip clubs.
9. If you’re in Queens and seeking breast implants, she’ll recommend 4 local plastic surgeons.
10. But if you ask Siri about vaginoplasty, she’ll scold you about your language.

The piece also includes a note from another reader who asked Siri why it was anti-abortion, to which the answer came: "I just am, Kristen." Read that piece in full here.

There's now an online petition to Apple stating: 'Apple: Stop promoting anti-choice extremists. If a user asks for family planning services, they should be directed to a group that offers full services, like Planned Parenthood--not to a hard-right clinic with an extremist agenda.'

You can sign the petition here.

However, in the last hour Apple have responded to this concern, releasing a statement which according to Mashable states: “These are not intentional omissions meant to offend anyone. It simply means that as we bring Siri from beta to a final product, we find places where we can do better and we will in the coming weeks.”

So that's OK then. Abortion comes to Siri soon. Plus, there's those distracting Apple TV rumours to keep you thinking happy Apple thoughts (said the man the typing this on an iMac).

Beware the Pedobear!

2011-12-01T13:42:00.001Z

Pedobear, Pedobear, does whatever a Pedobear does...as Homer Simpson didn't quite sing.

Some of you might remember a Brass Eye Paedophile special from a few years back in which they satirised the way the media and politicians were treating the subject of paedophilia. Readers in the UK can watch that episode via 4OD (check it out here). Even Chris Morris and Brass Eye couldn't make up a story that appears on the Huffington Post today surrounding the latest twist in the 'Pedobear' saga.

This is a cartoon bear originally intended as a joke on paedophiles, acting as a (strangely cute) representation of a paedophile. However, the image apparently then became re-owned by paedophiles as a symbol of pride. However - and you couldn't make this up - the New Mexico Attorney General's Office is now investigating following a surge in sightings of bear depictions on vehicles. They apparently fear - don't laugh at the back - that this may suggest an increase in sex offender behaviour in the Albuquerque area. Fascinating and bonkers in equal measure. Check out the full story here. The HuffPo piece helpfully points out that 'It is not illegal for people to display the Pedobear image in public.' Well if it was, there would be an amazing first amendment case to bring. It could finish poor Justice Scalia off!

The piece also explains that 'Some people may be displaying them as a joke, but the attorney general's office said they are taking the bear images seriously and are trying to get the word out.' Look out for them in Halfords!

Links and Resources

2011-12-01T12:49:00.001Z

I've been through all my links sections, deleting broken links, changing some descriptions and adding a couple of new sites. If you think there's a blog, magazine, resource or website that I should be linking to but I don't at present, please let me know via a comment on here, through twitter or by email. Thanks in advance.

Angels in America on Sky Atlantic

2011-12-01T11:47:00.001Z

Excellent news for British Sky subscribers. The wonderful HBO adaptation of Tony Kushner's play, Angels in America is to be broadcast on the Sky Atlantic channel from Monday 12 December.

At the age of around 13 or 14 I visited Manchester Contact Theatre on a school trip. My childhood had been a game of two halves, an idyllic first few years followed by varying degrees of misery until I left for sixth form and probably the five happiest years of my life. An unhappy and bullied child, the visit to Contact theatre was a moment when I was suddenly surrounded by people that seemed to 'get me', and who I could relate to. When I look back, they probably saw the scared gay kid and reached out.

We had a look around, messed around, created a structure that had to survive a wind machine (as you do) and someone who was part of the studio talked to me about Angels in America. To this day, I don't know why, I can't even remember the gender of the person. I just know it happened. I picked up flyers on my way out and put myself on their mailing list. Theatre seemed an exciting world of possibility and something that was alien to my working class background. It seems silly now, but flyers for Beautiful Thing and Angels in America excited me, and drew me in - and were a powerful connection to a complex sexual identity at a time before the Internet meant you could reach out to millions via your phone.

So, this play has always been special to me on a personal level. When I finally read the play (it's actually two plays) and watched the HBO production, it blew me away. Music to make your spine tingle, actors whose performances affect you like never before and a script that will touch your soul. The epic power of the play, the wondrous use of language, it's utterly brilliant. The play is now commonly used in schools, particularly in the USA to examine issues of sexuality and HIV, and it many ways it has less power than when HBO first adapted the play for television but it remains potent.

That said, whenever I've used scenes from the mini-series, or play extracts with my students studying human rights law or law and sexuality, there has always been at least one person who is so moved, so touched as to go out and buy the DVD set. At least one who is so touched, so excited by this visual feast that they have to come and talk to me about, have to share their thoughts and responses. It gets under your skin. So, if you've not yet seen it, please do. If you like it, read the play as there are some sections not in the series, but other than that, the series is true to the original script. I won't spell out the full story, as I think it's best to approach the series with a fairly blank canvas, but it is set in an 80s America with the Reagan presidency in the background; AIDS is in full swing and a famous US lawyer - Roy Cohn - appears in a semi-fictionalsied form in this production (played by Al Pacino). Check out the original HBO trailer below.

Project Bolo

2011-12-01T10:24:00.001Z

I want to share a truly moving and important project with you. The India-based Project Bolo is an LGBT oral history project, but given it operates in a country that regards homosexuality as a taboo - and whose recent attempts at decriminalisation are still stuck in the courts -means that the people who appear in these film are incredibly courageous. The Project describes itself in the following terms:

''Project Bolo' records and documents individual profilesof LGBT persons who have, in their own way, stood up for what they believed in and challenged norms andstereotypes loaded on them by the society. They are also persons who have made a significant mark in their own professional areas of work, be it literature, filmmaking, law, activism, healthcare, journalism,IT, media, etc.Through these recorded interviews, 'Project Bolo' hopesto serve as an inspiration to the LGBT community and offer real-life role models.

This multi-generationaloral history project, 'Project Bolo', hopes to serve as aninspiration to the LGBT community and reconstruct theunique history and progress of the Indian LGBT movement from the early 40s to the present day.Project Bolo in its first phase Vol 1, carried out during2010-2011, recorded and documented oral histories of 20 LGBT persons in four cities - Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi and Lucknow : Aditya Bandopadhyay, Ashok Row Kavi, Betu Singh, Bindumadhav Khire, Dalip Daswani, Gauri Sawant, Geeta Khumana, Giti Thadani, Hoshang Merchant, Jehangir Jani, Lachi, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, Manvendra Singh Gohil, Nisha,Parmesh Shahani, R Raj Rao, Ruth Vanita, Saleem Kidwai, Shivananda Khan, Sunil Gupta.Project Bolo is produced by The Humsafar Trust inassociation with Solaris Pictures and supported by UNDP (India).'

The project has a wonderful website with transcripts and videos of the individuals who took part in phase one of the project. Check it out here. The ever brilliant Indian gay magazine, Gaylaxy also includes a piece looking at the project in their latest issue which you can view or download here. There's also a rather brilliant piece about gay students coming out on college campuses. Moving stuff.

Decriminalising Sex Work

2011-12-01T10:14:00.001Z

Another terrific little piece that I meant to link to but didn't get around to is an article by Jane Fae about a curious ACPO document and a potential move towards decriminalising sex work. We are of course a long way from that but the Police seem more open minded. As with their review of public sex, they usually are. It's the media and politicians who whip up a frenzy that usually cause the Police to step back from what they know will work and produce the best and fairest outcomes. Check out the article here.

World AIDS Day

2011-12-01T09:27:00.001Z

The first day of December marks the global event of World AIDS Day. A brief moment when the LGBT community in particularly remember the lives that have been lost, condole the families of those gone and pay tribute to the survivors.

It's also a time of important fund-raising which can truly make a difference to people's lives. It is of course, also time of platitudes, of talking of safe-sex whilst engaging in bareback, of telling a younger generation "do as I say, not what I do". For wider society, it's one of those rare moments when the 'gay community' make it through into the mainstream media, and are once again associated with disease. Too often it seems to me, these campaigns are led by an LGBTQ community in a western context whilst heterosexuals are broadly seen to focus upon the 'otherness' of HIV/AIDS in Africa.

It's also fascinating to see how publications and the world consider this issue. The US magazine, Ambiente has a piece from Maria T Mejia in which she focuses on people who are still dying and the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS. The British Attitude magazine looks at the Isle of Man which will be using World AIDS Day as the first LGBT event on the island - homosexuality being decriminalised in 1992. HIV and AIDS is not just an LGBT issue but once again we see the LGBT community taking the lead - on an island that doesn't even know their own HIV/AIDS stats. The US Bay Times argues that statistics matter less A(though they cite stats) and it is the individual lives behind those stats which matter. The musician, Sir Elton John, who has done so much to raise funds for HIV/AIDS will be in sunny Sydney to light the sail of the Sydney Opera House red - a wonderful image that you might see in your newspapers tomorrow. These images can be important in getting an 'old story' such as HIV/AIDS in the media unless you have a new 'angle'. Events within the Gay villages and ghettos around the world will also focus their efforts on raising the profile of world AIDS Day. The London based events magazine, Boyz, highlights the XXL 'Safe and Sleazy' session - also serving as a reminder that when we say LGBTQ, we typically mean gay men targeted for these sort of events.

In fact, take a look at the US based lesbian Curve magazine for example and there's no mention of World AIDS Day at all that I can see. The same is true for the British magazine Diva. To be fair, it's also absent from the website of some gay male publications such as Gay Times. The Manchester based outnorthest has a big focus on the local campaign to 'know your status' which probably represents where HIV health policy thinking has gone more recently, and is significant for placing less emphasis on prevention (not that any campaign would accept such a claim). This can be contrasted with the San Francisco based Bay Area Reporter which argues that prevention was the big theme of 2011.

POZ magazine has a fascinating floor speech from the Democrat House Representative Jim Himes, linking to this CSPAN page, suggesting you listen from 8.53 when he goes on to argue that we can end AIDS this generation. Queer UK gives a focus to the launch of a new support centre in Suffolk for the Terrence Higgins Trust - Britain's largest HIV and sexual health charity. The Australian Star Observer reported that the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAPWA) has used World AIDS Day to call for Australia to commit to adopting new technology to fight HIV transmission, with the goal of eliminating transmission and new diagnoses before the end of the decade. The Advocate uses the event to focus on homophobia, arguing that as long as homophobia exists, AIDS won't die.

Finally, Canada's Xtra! magazine takes a historical approach to World AIDS Day with a video of the US activist Cleve Jones (famously characterised in the film, Milk) and how he originally came up with the idea of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Well worth a watch.

Does Your Banana Measure Up?

2011-11-30T20:12:00.001Z

Good news for those of you visiting Tapai shortly if you happen to have a 7.1 inch or above penis (18cm for metric types); a Tapai male only sauna is offering free entry (oo err) to those with slightly larger 'assets'. Although it's not explicit, one assumes that the penis should be your own and attached. Hurrah!

This is in itself a mildly interesting development, but it's earned a place on my blog because of an animation illustrating the story. Brit political types might remember the animated cartoons produced by appledaily during the election campaign depicting Gordon Brown in a range of funny escapades? Newsnight even hired them to do one on 'Bigotgate' (watch it again here). Rather wonderfully, apple daily.com.hk have produced a video for the sauna story intercut with footage from the actual sauna. Yes, I am very easily amused. Check it out below:

Mr Gay UK 2011 Finalists Announced

2011-11-30T19:55:00.001Z

The Mr Gay UK Finalists have been announced, and despite my earlier pleas, I can exclusively reveal that I have once more been passed over as a judge. On the plus side this means I can play the 'which one is likely to be a human cannibal?' game which I'm sure many other contest followers are engaged in (puzzled readers should see this).

The Pink Paper reveals that the finalists are Charlie Drummond (Bristol), Samuel Kneen (Cardiff), Greg Lumley (Middlesbrough), Nik Chapman (Newcastle) and Leeds' John Wheeldon (see above). Frankly, it's a tough old contest! The annual competition offers the chance for someone from each region of the United Kingdom to win a professional photo shoot in Morocco, £2000 in cash and a chance enter Mr Gay Europe.

The winner will be announced on Saturday 10 December at the Mission nightclub in Leeds. Good luck guys! You can read my previous thoughts on the contest from back in September here.

GLBT Historical Society News

2011-11-30T19:44:00.001Z

Brilliant news from the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco. They report that thanks to a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission - an agency of the U.S. National Archives - the GLBT Historical Society is busy surveying its more than 600 manuscript collections. Titled Hidden from History: Accessing the GLBT Past, the initiative also will involve processing half of the society's backlog of archival collections so the materials will be ready for use by curators, researchers, filmmakers, students and other patrons.

I've had first hand experience of using the superb archive. It's an asset for sexuality researchers across the globe and this latest funding means there is potentially even more wonderful material that will now be available to researchers and enhance our collective understanding of sexualities and our lived experiences.

Moralising Teaching: Beware the Evil Porn Performer

2011-11-30T19:15:00.001Z

Fox News Boston carries a truly depressing story concerning an exposé in which a teacher is revealed to have previously worked as a porn performer in three films. Fox named two of the films but said they couldn't reveal the name of the third as they claimed the 'title is not fit to reveal in a family news outlet.' They do reveal the titles 'Just Gone Gay 8' and 'Fetish World' (it's actually Fetish World 1). The mysterious title that's apparently too shocking is 'Ass Fucked by a DILF 2'.

The man - whose alleged to be the porn performer 'Hytch Cawke' (not one the best names) - claimed to have no idea what Fox were on about. All of this is a story for Fox because the man is now a school teacher as they revealed in this piece. The school seems fine, noting the high standard of references received in the course of recruiting him. They seem to be standing by their man but the state Department of Education is investigating so we'll see how long that lasts. Fox also confronted parents who seemed shocked. One provided the quote Fox were looking for when they answered whether the news worried them: “Very much so. Especially since he's teaching our children. Everyday. It does bother me a lot,” the parent replied.

Why silly parent, why? You child is probably a result of you engaging in a spot of bonking with your other half, and they seem to cope with living in the same house as you despite your ignorant views. You may still even get up to some shameful heterosexual activity when your child is merely feet away in the home. Is it that your sex teacher is revealed to have a sex life that disturbs you? That he's gay, or simply that he was apparently good enough at sex to be paid as a porn performer in three films? Would you rather the teaching profession was limited to unattractive people who are bad at sex? I'd such celibate member soy the clergy but that's generally not worked so well. It's also striking to hear a parent praise the teacher, reporting how popular he is as a coach and teacher with students. This is a guy who's apparently brilliant at his job and his previous work as a porn performer had not - until Fox stuck their nose in - impacted on that performance.

This sort of silly story seeks to explore the 'morality' of teaching, suggesting some sort of non-sexual purity which I genuinely find puzzling. Nor is it restricted to the US, for we've seen similar stories in the UK. Yet whilst I say it's silly, it is in fact devastating to this guy and similar teachers who find themselves 'exposed' in this way. It's nothing short of a disgrace that journalists have carried on in this way, throwing lives and careers to the wind. We also see towards the end of the clip that the reporting journalist admonishes teachers who also post pictures of themselves drinking alcohol on line. This is the mentality of these moralising nuts. Words fail me.

Read the story here, and check out the related video below:

Public high school teacher starred in porno movies released last year: MyFoxBOSTON.com

HIV 'Victim' Speaks

2011-11-30T19:12:00.001Z

I meant to post this story a couple of weeks ago. The Guardian published a moving piece from 'Susan', a woman whose boyfriend was sent to prison for infecting her with HIV. Whilst lawyers in this area traditionally focus upon the policy and health implications or the doctrinal legal issues, it is rare that we hear from the parties at the centre of these difficult cases. Read Susan's story here.

It's time...to share

2011-11-30T16:47:00.001Z

There's been quite a bit of blog and twitter buzz surrounding a new campaign ad for same-sex marriage in Australia. On a personal level, I didn't find myself too excited by the advert but then again, I live in a country with a comparatively high level of so called 'gay rights'. The advert is carefully designed to promote commitment, and stray away from the legal rights debates elsewhere. Nor will you see protesting, pink triangles and rainbow flags. It's about promoting the 'normality' of same-sex relationships. Those of you who read my HuffPo piece last week will see the anger that questioning this argument can evoke within the self-styled gay community where those rights do not presently exist. Indeed - and I've said this before - it's a product of my privileged position that I can now criticise/analyse these issues.

The advert comes in the week that the Nigerian Senate used law to criminalise same-sex marriage and those who attempt to enter into it. Homosexuality is already punishable with 14 years imprisonment but in a clear recognition that they don't currently lock-up all Nigerian homosexuals, this new law punishes those who try to enter into marriage with 14 years imprisonment and 10 years for witnesses. Meanwhile, Russia continues to debate a new law which would - it is argued - prevent gay rights activists from assembling, protesting and discussing gay rights issues. The Russian government intervened today to express puzzlement at the global criticism of these proposals - arguing that discrimination laws are in place. It seems, in an eerie echo of the UK's very own Section 28 (now repealed) the law is designed to prevent the 'promotion' of homosexuality. A law, which we know from Section 28, has wide implications in reality. Is it 'to promote' homosexuality to say that homosexuality isn't bad, that there should be same-sex marriage? Services protection? Employment protection? Where is the line drawn?

From the privileged position of the UK, I found myself wondering if there's more we should be doing. The British government has already said it won't send aid to countries such as Nigeria which reject rights for homosexuals (although where the line is drawn remains unclear). More generally, we're pretty good at interfering in other countries - sometimes with diplomacy, sometimes as we still see today, with jets, bombs and drones.

Concomitantly, campaign adverts are often about saying, let's change and this is why we should do so. Rarely do they celebrate the complex reality of life after legal reform. Here's a challenge for the UK - let's interfere. Let's show the world the modern lived experiences of gay men, women and those who reject such labels. Let's spend some of the international aid budget (which is currently funding the BBC world service among other things) on a low-cost advert that shows that the sky doesn't fall in when gay rights are introduced. Let's show that's it's more complicated than the happy-clappy images of the Australian advert, but that life is complex, and still works well. Yes, it's time; it's time to share our story.

Bareback Lover Graces GT: Meet Mason Wyler

2011-11-30T15:12:00.001Z

Hurrah, another excuse for a gratuitous picture of Mason Wyler. Regular blog readers will know I've long found Mason a fascinating figure in the gay porn world (who is coincidentally as hot as a hot curry with extra hot hot stuff on a hot day). He was said to be a fan of bareback sex, then he was diagnosed as HIV positive, and came out as positive and also celebrated his sluttyness and fondness of bareback sex. He also confirmed post being diagnosed as HIV+ that he still (dun. dun. dun) enjoyed bareback sex.

For many gay and sexuality activists, it would have been less offensive to have literally crapped in their ears (I'm excluding Scat enthusiasts for the purposes of this discussion). Mason's career appeared to take something of a nose-dive with his exclusive porn contract being cancelled. His career, people thought, was already in decline and HIV was the final bug in the coffin. Mason himself declared his career over, and despite a brief 'come back' appearing in a bareback film (yes, he's positive) declared it to be a one-off. Nonetheless, his continued web profile suggests someone still looking for a porn career. He's also completing degree studies in Texas (destroying the old adage 'cute but stupid') so he packs a lot in (as it were).

Pour into this my ongoing criticism of mainstream 'gay' media for ignoring the nuances of bareback sex, and you'll see why I was pleasantly surprised to see Mason Wyler gracing the pages of the new January issue of GT (Gay Times) magazine.

John Marrs deserves credit for a piece which dispassionately explores the issues (although it's stillv try cautious). The subheading for the piece declared: 'Being diagnosed HIV+ once meant the abrupt end of a career in gay porn but not any longer. More and more studios are now willing to use actors with the virus - as long as it's kept quiet'. The suggestion is that had Mason kept his mouth shut (in a non cock gobbling way) then he would have been OK. Because the world knows he's HIV+, he's finished as far as a career in porn is concerned...or is he? Moreover, the article acknowledges that US bareback studio Hot Desert Knights does use openly HIV+ performers. So too does fellow US bareback studio, Treasure Island Media (TIM), but these porn bad boys puzzlingly go unmentioned in the piece. Whether that's GT or Wyler not wanting an a article in which he's linked to Treasure Island Media and their brand of proud barebacking is a question unanswered but very much in my mind. Unlike Hot Desert Knights bareback offerings, TIM's porn is also available from Prowler - see here.

The one large pull-out quote in the piece suggests an article of traditional GT style: 'It's a disease you can't blame anybody else but yourself for getting. Being a gay man, and one who has bareback sex on a regular basis, I guess it was inevitable'. Although the quote is from Mason, Wyler also indicates that whilst he still has bareback sex, it's only with HIV+ folks (really Mason? Do you ask for evidence?) but he is aware of the risks, saying: "I only hook up with people who are HIV+ but I still don't use condoms...there are doctors who say that's dangerous because of different strains of HIV but there are other that don't agree. I know there are more risks of getting other diseases or STIs."

Mason further supports his poz only guy policy (or, I would suggest, guys who say they are poz) through praise for bareback: "Anyway, if they re HIV negative, I'm turned off. I associate negative people with using condoms and as horrible as that sounds, I still don't like using them if I'm the bottom - which is 99 per cent of the time. In my mind and my body I can tell the difference between condoms and bareback." Yes folks, he can tell the difference. This one of those great statements that so many know from their own sexual experiences to be true but is one of the un-utterables of the bareback debate.

Unusually, the article doesn't follow that 'admission' up with a moralising paragraph, bitchy one line or scary stat/link to death etc. In fact, the piece notes a survey of 100 gay porn stars by The Sword website which discovered 30% were either HIV+ or didn't know their status and the article neither suggests this is a good or bad thing.

So, we have some media coverage for Mason in the UK (who would only want this for cash and/or a boost to his porn career - it doesn't count for degree credit I'm guessing), but more importantly this is - I think - the first time that a 'mainstream' gay magazine like GT has adopted a neutral approach on the issue of bareback sex - allowing someone to effectively say they'd rather be HIV positive than have to use condoms because you can tell the difference - and continues to engage in bareback sex whilst HIV+.

The willingness of companies such as Millivres Prowler (the company behind GT and Diva magazines along with the popular Prowler stores) to sell bareback DVDs/material whilst condemning it has long smacked of hypocrisy but this more open and honest article suggests a move towards a more open and honest debate about bareback sex and the apparently inseparable issue of HIV transmission and policy. That GT put this in an issue sent to subscribers in the week of World AIDS Day makes it all the more staggering. Well done GT, but I fear I'll be among the few cheering this development.

Now for something completely different...

2011-11-29T13:56:00.001Z

For those of you who might be interested in the other research/policy work I get up to, you may be interested in this piece which quotes me and talks about legal apprenticeships. British academics focused on REF Impact statements will understand why these things are helpful at the moment!

Check out the article to be published in the new issue of Lawyer 2B here.

Family Finance

2011-11-29T13:27:00.001Z

Earlier today British Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered his Autumn Statement - a sort of mini-budget/update on how the economy is doing. I'm struck at these moments by the emphasis politicians give at these moment by 'families'. It was particularly striking in George Osborne's speech today. It goes to the heart of how a political class views society at any given time. Osborne's speech makes it clear that this society is comprised of businesses and families. There are no individuals.

This is significant if through choice, or outside forces you find yourself single, or without children. When society seeks to dis-incentivise and punish these choices, it enforces a heteronormative view of the family that fetishes a model of parents (more than one, fewer than three) and children (knock yourself out, but after one, we reward you less).

Osborne was particularly impressive for how the family crow-barred it's way into this statement.

According to Osborne, the plans of the Government have thus far ensured that: 'low interest rates are passed on to families and businesses.' He added that 'at every opportunity [the Government are] helping families with the cost of living.' We will not take this risk with the solvency of the British economy and the security of British families.

On homes...

The Chancellor stated:

'The Government can use the low interest rates we’ve secured to help young families too, who want to buy a home but can’t afford the very large deposits that banks are now demanding.We will use mortgage indemnities to help 100,000 such families buy newly built homes.Families in social housing will be able to buy their own homes at a discount of up to 50%. And we will use the receipts to build, for every home purchased, a new additional affordable home.So new homes for families that need them.New home ownership for families who aspire to it.'

Can individuals not aspire for such things? Of course, individuals get the benefit of this message but it is striking that the government is not interested in promoting it in those terms.

On water bills...

The Chancellor stated:

'And for families across that region facing the highest water charges in Britain, the Government will cut the household bills of all South West Water customers by £50 a year.'

So, if it was just individuals he wouldn't bother? If you have children, that necessitates specific water 'relief'? Other cynics might note that this also targets the affluent Tory South West but I shall resist going there...

On superfast broadband....

The Chancellor stated:

'The Government is funding plans to bring superfast broadband to 90% of homes and businesses across the country, and extend mobile phone coverage to 99% of families.'

Really? Are we to see mobile phones handed out at birth? Baby hats and cell phones for all?

Council tax... 

The Chancellor stated:

'I have already offered councils the resources for another year’s freeze in the Council Tax.That will help millions of families.

It also helps single occupancy households but I guess we matter less.

Fuel prices...

The Chancellor stated:

'But millions more use their cars to go to work, and pick up the children from school.Families will save £144 on filling up the average family car by the end of next year.'

How much will I save? I don't have to do those school runs so I suppose I'm laughing already in the eyes of the Government. Here towards the end of a speech we have the vision made clear. Work and family. Work and family. A very Conservative message.

What would I say instead? Well how about 'households', 'citizens' and 'Brits' (if you want to throw in a bit of informality).

Read the statement in full here.

After Equality

2011-11-24T09:59:00.001Z

Apologies for the shameless plugging but you might be interested in a piece I've had posted at the Huffington Post. It was written a month ago and other writers - Suzanne Moore and Mark Simpson for example - have since tackled the same issue but this does try to knit together the debate on both sides of the Atlantic and ever brings my own unique approach (*cough*) to the subject of where now for equality law. Check it out here. Do please also feel free to post a comment on the original post.

Occupy My Throat...

2011-11-22T19:39:00.001Z

I've noticed in recent weeks that my twitter followers divide between those who wholly support the occupy movement and those who want the grubby layabouts swept aside. There does seem truth in the presence of a significant affluent liberal minority (i.e rich people spending all day moaning about how terrible it is to be rich) which does rather spoil things. All of which harks back to Nixonian cries of "damn Hippies" but I digress. How, I hear you wonder can I link this mass protest movement with the subject of law and sexuality? Well, there have been major clashes with the police seeking to remove them - principally it seems because they are redefining space - whether that be in Oakland California, Wall Street, New York or St Paul's London. In much the same way as the queer space of the ghetto or the cruising and dogging site can raise questions as to the way space is regulated and controlled, so too does this movement. The ownership and purpose of space is at the heart of this movement - is it for the 'masses', or corporate aims, can the two be divorced and so on.

It was with particular interest that a new stone was thrown into this petrifying pool of politics. It emerged last week that the US porn company DirtyBoyVideo had used the whole plot line of the occupy movement as a backdrop for a quick porn flick film din one of the Occupy Oakland tents (if only the Daily Mail had caught that on camera). Rumours are unconfirmed about a cheeky little video of a Saif al-Islam and an LSE PhD supervisor.

So, we can see some of the (safe) images below but I do find it interesting that here we have a space that is re-defined, re-owned, and then another group re-own the space, layering with additional sexual purpose. The video is called 'Occupy My Throat'. Well, quite.

You can read a little more on LeFag here but NakedSword added another brilliant angle to this story (some NSFW images at the side of the linked page), when they reported that the company sent out an open appeal to Brandon Watts -whose bloodied face at the Occupy Wall Street protests became a key image. Here's the letter they sent:

Dear Mr. Watts,We are vocal supporters of Occupy Wall Street and the statement it makes. Your energy, commitment and drive have directly contributed to the success of the Occupation movement. As I watched the police drag you away in handcuffs, your face covered in blood, I could only think, “Wow, he’s hot!” Later, I learned you were among the first to pitch a tent in Zuccotti Park, making the movement a literal occupation. The NY Daily News reports you even lost your virginity in that park. Congratulations! Dirty Boy Video has long encouraged young men like yourself to pitch tents in parks. I offer you the opportunity to perform on our website, an opportunity to express yourself and your politics freely and without censor. Working together we can create a sexy, fun platform that inspires you, be that with other actors, actresses or both. Whether you choose to work with us or not, I salute your dedication and your courage.

Sincerely,

Andy FairPresidentDirtyBoyVideo.com

Nope, you couldn't make it up, and here's the bloody Brandon Watts...

Follow Friday Double Whammy

2011-11-22T19:15:00.001Z

Life has been hectic and then I've been a little ill, so the blog has been neglected. Whenever I say I'll blog more, it inevitably results in fewer posts. Anyhow, you might have seen a couple of lovely mentions on David Allen Green's blog on The Lawyer. You can check them out here and here. Proof that I sometimes talk about things other than sex can also been seen in this week's Solicitors Journal. You can read the article (and see a smiley PR photo of me if you dare) here. All of which brings me to my special Follow Friday mentions. I've shockingly missed two weeks, so here's a double whammy of fabulous follow fridays.

First off, the NSFW account linked with the Men of Color blog. This US based feed talks about porn, sex and gay culture and is always entertaining. You can follow @MOCBlogger here.

If explicit images and naughtiness are not your cup of tea, I also recommend the wonderful @gaydio tweet feed. This is linked to the Manchester based Gaydio radio station which is a wonderful LGBT radios ration you can get listening to right now via their website.

Gender, Sexuality and Law, SLSA 2012: Call for Papers

2011-11-15T09:46:00.001Z

Academic readers may be interested in this call for papers, which I am once again organising:

Gender, Sexuality and Law Stream, Socio-Legal Studies Association Annual Conference, De Montfort University, Leicester, April 3-5 2012

The stream seeks to draw together socio-legal scholarship from across the globe, featuring scholars from a range of disciplines relating to the broad theme of gender, sexuality and law.

Past papers have considered sexuality and education law, queer theory, same-sex marriage, gender and parenthood, trans identities, sex work, domestic violence, public sex, sexuality and the media, religion and sexuality, international comparisons, and theories of gender but papers pertaining to any area of gender, sexuality and law will be considered.

Previous years have also featured screenings from new film-makers (Susan Potter’s An Ordinary Person in 2009 and Ileana Pietbruno’s Girlfriend Experience in 2010). The stream is keen to maintain a space for film in 2012.In recent years the Gender, Sexuality and Law Stream has filled up very quickly and a number of would-be presenters were sadly unable to be accommodated within the stream. Early submission is therefore suggested and aids with conference planning.

Submission of abstracts must be made by Word document e-mail attachment to: slsa2012@dmu.ac.uk

Abstracts must be no longer than 300 words and must include your title, name and institutional affiliation and your email address for correspondence.

Please state clearly in the subject section of your e-mail that you are submitting an abstract for the SLSA Conference 2012.The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 16th January 2012. Abstracts submitted by this deadline will receive a decision to enable early registration by 31st January 2012.

You can also contact me to informally discuss your proposal at chris.ashford@sunderland.ac.uk

More information can be found on the conference website here.