A Double Life

Interesting piece in the Guardian Magazine today by Marco Roth who will shortly publish a book entitled 'Two Scientists:  A Family Romance' (priced at £9.59 on Amazon).  The book is autobiographical, and the Guardian piece is an edited extract from the book.

When Roth's father - a scientist - died of AIDS, the story that he had become infected in the course of his scientific work (a lab accident) began to be questioned.  So too, did his fathers sexuality.  This book chronicles Roth's journey of exploration as to his fathers 'double life'.   The extract makes for interesting reading, although I'm not sure it entices the reader to go beyond what is published in the Guardian.

Check out the extract here.

BiReCon 2012: Bisexuality and Mental Health

Readers may be interested in this forthcoming event:

BiReCon 2012: Bisexuality and Mental Health 
11am - 5pm, 9 August 2012 at University of Bradford

Research suggests that bisexual people are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidality than lesbian, gay or heterosexual people. Biphobia and bisexual invisibility can mean that if bi people seek help from health professionals and therapists they are not always well supported. However it is also clear that many bisexual people experience benefits to their mental wellbeing from being bi, such as a sense of independence, self-awareness and authenticity and an ability to develop identities and relationships without restrictions. In this conference we aim to explore both mental health problems and mental wellbeing for bisexual people.

This year’s programme includes keynote speeches by Roshan das Nair, Meg Barker and Christina Richards, and papers on topics including bisexuality, nonmonogamies and therapy, eating disorders in bisexual men, and bisexuality and madness in the works of Shakespeare and Spencer.

BiReCon is a conference for anyone with an interest in contributing to, or finding out about, current work on bisexuality. The conference aims to bring together academics, professionals, activists, and the bisexual community. It is organised by BiUK (www.biuk.org) and is held every two years. This year it will take place on Thursday 9th August 2012 at Bradford University.

Doors open for registration at 9.30am. The conference will run from 11am to 5pm. For the programme and booking: http://bisexualresearch.wordpress.com/birecon/birecon-2012-2/birecon-2012-overview/ Due to high airfares to the UK during the Olympics, some international speakers have had to withdraw their papers. There is therefore still time to submit an abstract for the parallel sessions. Please have a look at the Call for Papers http://bisexualresearch.wordpress.com/birecon/birecon-2012-2/birecon-2012/ and get in touch if you would like to submit a workshop or paper. Email: birecon2012@biuk.org, Twitter: @birecon2012 

Organised by: Dr Rebecca Jones (The Open University), Helen Bowes-Catton (The Open University) and Dr Caroline Walters (University of Exeter) on behalf of BiUK www.biuk.org

Bi Visibility Day

Today marks Bi Visibility Day or International Celebrate Bisexuality Day.  As an identity, bisexuality is increasingly swamped by the label 'gay'.  To often, and I include myself in this, we use the short-cut of gay to encompass those who would not subscribe to the label.  There are a small number of events across the UK celebrating the day - details here.

Bisexuality, Social Science Research and Re-discovering the Personal

A lot of fellow academics think I have a nice time of it given I spend so much of my research exploring issues of public sex, barebacking and porn. Oh yes, it's a string of rampant antics and masturbatory machinations. Well, no it's not. Not quite. When I therefore read of scientists who spend their time attaching penises to electrodes (or electrodes to penises - I find myself pondering this sentence structure) and watching men orgasm all day, I know that it might sound more fun than it is.

Anyway, I found myself thinking of these fellow academics upon reading Mark Simpson's latest blog post in which he highlights what he calls 'those kinky penile plethysmograph fetishists at Northwestern University [who] just can’t get enough cock.'

This latest study reveals (shock, horror) that bisexual men do exist. Interestingly, Simpson doesn't welcome the report and is critical of the impact these findings will have on bisexual identity (read his post in full here).

Simpson disciple (or Simpsonista), Quiet Riot Girl (and regular commenter on this blog) supports Simpson's claims, noting that his own comments are rooted in experience rather than the 'removed' objectivity of science. I've spoken at a number of conferences and written on what I regard as a failure of modern day academia in addressing the personal. For reasons of complex ethics and established methodological norms, we can not (usually) merely talk about our own experiences even though we quietly acknowledge that they are crucial. In contrast to the 'say it all' scholarship of the 1960s and 1970s, social science research has become impersonal.

Nonetheless, this is starting to change. Tim Dean's Unlimited Intimacy is a remarkable mould breaker. Similarly, I was recently on the awards committee that bestowed the 2011 Hart-SLSA book prize to Rosie Harding's Regulating Sexuality - a book that includes a moving and powerful personal conclusion. If social science is having these difficulties, it is perhaps unsurprising that traditional science operates in a separate silo. A silo in which things can only be precisely measured, prodded and reduced to quantifiable data. Social scientists have traditionally stood as a counter-wight to this, and if anything, the comments of Simpson and QRG are a reminder that we need to re-discover the personal in our own writing.

In other news...

Couple of other minor stories. First off, as Joe McElderry pops out, actor Tom hardy runs back in. The Advocate reports that he is now suggesting remarks he made about past same-sex sexual experiences were taken out of context and he's strictly hetero. The Advocate notes there seem to be some flaws with his statement. Read more here.

Thanks to Sean for flagging up this next story. The BBC have reported that the High Court ruled this week to ban sex parties at a mansion. Worth a read. It seems a perfectly reasonable decision given the facts presented in this story. So long that is, as the next round of political fundraisers or other such activities held in neighbouring or nearby properties are equally banned.

The Curious Straight Girl

There's been lots written about the straight man who finds himself dabbling in a bit of sexual fun with a same sex friend but much less focus on the 'striaght girl' who experiments with her sexuality. The fabulous Lesbian web magazine Lesbilicious recently focusses on this and offers '5 reasons to give straight girls a break'. It's worth a look and can be read here.

LGBTQQI

Julie Bindel wrote a fantastic piece in the Guardian yesterday. She argued that as a lesbian she 'no longer want[s] to be lumped in with a list of folk defined by 'odd' sexual practices. She notes with some flare, the evolution of the term 'LGBTQQI' (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer, Questioning and Intersex). On a personal level I have sympathy with her although I find any of the labels troublesome which I guess makes me queer (which is a sort of paradox in itself but that's quite enough for a Sunday morning...). On a political level, as I learnt at the recent LGBT lives conference, it does make a difference to the battle for equality. Trans rights are seen as having progressed further in Scotland than England & Wales due to their inclusion in LGB activism. The 'T' seems to make a big difference.

All this follows the Stonewall awards and the nomination of Julie Bindel for an award. According to Pink News: 'Activists from transsexual, transgender and queer organisations from London, Liverpool and Manchester held a noisy protest against "Stonewall's refusal to withdraw their nomination of Julie Bindel for Journalist of the Year, a journalist know for her anti-trans opinions and writings."'. The full list of awards can be viewed here.

For the protesters, Stonewall simply doesn't reflect their interests but then it doesn't really pretend to. It is focused around lesbians, gay me and bisexuals and as I've long argued I don't think it even does that particularly well. I wish they'd start sticking their neck out on the subject of public sex and then men who engage in it (whatever label they ascribe to themselves) but because that doesn't produce the same cosy images as civil partnerships I doubt they will do.

Yet for all of that, there is a real danger that the coalition that has enabled the progress that has been made on LGBT rights comes unstuck and that wouldn't help anyone. Like Bindel I don't like being lumped into this one group but I like the alternative even less.

Public Sex in Reading

The local press in Reading are frothing at the mouth this week. According to 'Get Reading' a lay-by has become the centre for controversial public sex activity. The website reports that: 'One businessman, who pulled into the parking area to make a phone call on Tuesday, said he saw several men wander off into the woods in quick succession.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
“As I was making my call, I noticed a lot of strange men park up and go in and out of the woods.
“They were glancing around to see if anyone was going to join them.
“The next thing you know, another one showed up and followed them in there. Then another pair arrived and did the same. A short time later they would reappear one by one.
“I was only there for 15 minutes, but I lost count of the number of blokes who disappeared off into the woods. Most were in their 40s and 50s. It’s obviously a hotspot for cottaging – no doubt about it.
“Even a blind man’s dog could tell you what they were up to.”'

I fine the comment from the Police particularly of interest. The website reports that 'neighbourhood specialist officer PC Matthew Allen said: “In the past I have received reports of suspicious behaviour in this area, but as far as I’m aware no criminal offences have been reported.
“In the last public meeting for Sulham and Tidmarsh residents the issue was not raised, so I don’t believe it is a major problem.
“The area is patrolled regularly and if anyone is found to be committing an offence they may face arrest.”'

OK, so we have a re-assertion (as is commonly done) that the police will be RESPONDING to complaints rather than ANTICIPATING them. We also have the Police stating the area IS PATROLLED. Why is this the case? When are they patrolling. A serious journalist would have asked those questions rather than allow themselves to be consumed by this rabid-like moral panic. Finally the website states: 'Cottagers face a charge of gross public indecency if caught by police, but many users of the website claim the risk of getting caught is part of the thrill.'

So we have another example of journalists searching cruising and cottaging websites and then irresponsibly publishing details which can lead to hate crime and homophobic attacks. We also have journalists wrongly stating the law. Sorry to spoil the parity guys but the Sexual Offences Act 2003 repealed the gross indecency laws. Cruisers can not be charged with that offence because it does not exist. It's also worth re-stating that the 2003 Act largely legalises public sex in many situations. The scene described in this report would in my view be legal and no offences would be committed. That being the case, what on earth are the police doing spending their time and resource patrolling this area? Of course, given the increased chance of hate crime after this report they may now need to patrol the area in order to protect the men engaging in these acts.

Read the story at: http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2023179_copse_still_a_sex_haunt

Bisexual resources

For links to some great Bisexual resources and PDF files of many leaflets/smaller publications check out: http://www.biresource.org/category/publications/

Lithuania turns to s28?

A very interesting story on PinkNews about Lithuania where a law that creates a form of section 28 is before Parliament: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5444.html

The law would ban the "promotion" of gay, lesbian or bisexual relationships to children. The question of what amounts to promotion is one that English public authorities tied themselves in knots over. It's also interesting to see fixed categories of sexuality enshrined into legislation, perhaps most interestingly, bisexuality.