This Blog Has Moved

I’ve finally taken the plunge and moved the blog over to WordPress. In doing so, I’ve also taken the opportunity to make significant changes to the way that the blog looks, feels, and works.

When I started this blog – almost six years ago – I was using it primarily as a teaching tool to support my (then) new undergraduate Law and Sexuality course. I wanted to contextualise the module in a broader socio-legal environment. Then, I wanted to improve the blog as a teaching resource. I wanted the blog to become a ‘one stop shop’, to shave students moving from different access points (the virtual learning environment, individual sites etc). That meant providing some useful links, plus RSS feeds so that students could also see live updates of news headlines. When the excellent Pinksixty video news service was introduced, I also embedded that into my site, so that students could get a video news update, automatically updated every day. The longer the blog ran, the more data was accumulated and searchable. Finally, I wanted the blog to reveal a little of what Fiona Cownie has called ‘the private life of the Law School’, and it is perhaps revealing that my early posts relate to conferences – precisely the kind of activity that is often invisible to students.

 The explosion of social media in recent years brought a new audience to the blog, and shifted the focus away from students and more to fellow commentators, academics, lawyers, and activists. These readers are now the overwhelming majority of readers. A final category into this mix are students – both undergraduates and postgraduates – around the world studying law or sexuality-related courses. As the shift in readership has occurred, so too has a change in the way that we consume media, with people no longer needing updates all on this blog about breaking news. So, I’ve been able to adopt a much more minimal, cleaner structure for this blog. You can still subscribe to email updates (apologies to those who had done this over at Blogger, you’ll need to do it again). This is at the bottom of any page/post – you’ll see a subscription box. You can also search the blog as before, and like email updates this is accessible at the bottom of any page or post. The links section remain but I hope they are now clearer, and easier to navigate to. The personal aspect of this blog remains in terms of publications, media info etc, and these sections have been updated.

I would really welcome any feedback on the new look -I hope you like it and continue to find the blog a useful and interesting resource.

Check out the new blog pages here.

Please note that these blogger pages will no longer be updated.

Resource: Sexuality in the Margins: Creating a Space for Conversations

The Graduate Journal of Social Science published an issue entitled 'Sexuality in the Margins:  Creating a Space for Conversations'.  It's well worth checking out.  You can see the full contents below:

Editorial: Sexualities in the Margins: Creating a Space for ConversationsArpita Das, Annelies Kleinherenbrink and Ebtihal Mahadeen
GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 7-12. [PDF]

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Establishing Asexual Identity: The Essential, the Imaginary, and the CollectiveAgata Pacho

GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 13-35. [PDF]

Abstract

Pansexual Identification in Online Communities: Employing a Collaborative Queer Method to Study PansexualityAyisigi Hale Gonel

GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 36-60. [PDF]

Abstract

From the 'Polymorphous Perverse' to Intersexualization: Intersections in Cross-Cultural EthnographiesLena Eckert

GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 60-84. [PDF]

Abstract

R v Peacock: Landmark Trial Redefines Obscenity LawAlex Antoniou

GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 85-103. [PDF]

Abstract

Are We Nearly There Yet? Struggling to Understand Young People as Sexual SubjectsFreya Johnson Ross

GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 104-123. [PDF]

Abstract

The Experimental Neuro-Framing of SexualityIsabelle Dussauge

GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 124-151. [PDF]

Abstract

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Book Reviews

Michelle Hutchinson Grondin
Technologies of Sexuality, Identity and Sexual Health edited by Lenore Manderson
GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 152-155. [PDF]

Ellen Zitani
Il Gioco Delle Parti: Travestimenti e Paure Sociali Tra Otto e Novecento by Laura Schettini
GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 156-160. [PDF]

After '82: The Documentary

I found out earlier today about a new British film, due to shortly be completed. After '82 has been filmed over a period of three years and is close to completion. The film contains multiple interviews with people who were instrumental in highlighting the AIDS crisis in the UK in the 80's, people living with HIV, activists and campaigners today. Split into two halves, the first half of After 82 looks at the history behind the AIDS crisis, whilst the second half examines the situation today.Without wishing to be depressing or doom laden - After 82 has a lighter touch than you might expect from such subject matter - the film IS a wake up call that asks why is there still so much ignorance surrounding the topic and why is so little currently being done by the UK government?

There are some short exerts on their website, and it's a timely British companion to the extraordinary US documentary, How to Survive a Plague. 

Skeggy Dogging: The Final Chapter?

Back in January I blogged about the Skegness dogging controversy.  Well, I'm sure you've been desperately awaiting news on how things panned out.  What's really interesting in the most recent report, is that the Police seem to have stepped away from the issue.  Instead, we have some gentrification measures - the cutting back of shrubbery - and a new Friends group has been set up.  Curiously, it states that it's hoped a Treasurer position will be created, which means they don't seem to have a third member who can be Treasurer.   So, it's two men wandering around sand dunes throughout the year looking out for sex just in case there are men wandering around the dunes all times of the year looking out for sex.  

Dogging as Bad Character

The Philpott case continues to rumble on and without getting into the details at this stage, it does strike me as interesting that dogging has featured throughout the case as a way of establishing 'bad character'. The latest aspect is - as the Sun reports today - that the man (who is accused of killing 6 of his 17 children in a fire) took his wife dogging as a way to cope with the deaths.  I'll explore these themes further when the trial is concluded, but I thought it worth noting the bad character aspect now.  I'm not aware of another case using dogging activity in this way.

Let's Talk About Bareback

Apologies for the lack of posts recently.  I'd like to say I'll be back posting regularly, but until I get back on track with various writing commitments, I'm afraid I will probably continue to be a little sporadic with my posting.  Let's begin then with a topic that continues to fascinate me, and which I regard as a key issue concerning contemporary gay identity, and the regulation of identity, bareback sex.

I finally for around to watching the How to Survive a Plague documentary.  I'd been really excited about watching it and found it a very emotionally draining documentary.   That said, I think it would have been a little shorter, and it did seem at times to lack the energy that was suggested in the trailer.  The "plague" moment from Kramer - which seems to dramatic in the trailer - actually sent a shiver down my spine when shown in context.  The descent into chaos, argument, and division will be familiar to anyone involved in gay politics and campaigning. Kramer's eruption, and genuine passion - shown in that context - is all the more powerful and underlines the importance of that unifying voice.  The documentary also helped to clarify in my mind the role of TAG in relation to Act Up!  A post on the Petrelis Files blog in recent days reveals how TAG continue to be a controversial group, and this documentary again helps younger gay men like myself to understand those historical tensions.

The documentary also left me wondering whether in the long run, it was worth it.  The trials that people pushed for, didn't work, and the documentary seemed to suggest that actually we would have got to the same destination whether there had been any intervention by the LGBT community or not.  Potentially incendiary stuff.   On a personal level, the documentary persuaded me to order a HIV home testing kit.   If it does nothing else, but inspire many viewers to do that, I suspect the film-makers will be pleased.

A really interesting post on BuzzFeed also caught my attention.  It's a blog by Kyle Bella who wonders why it's so hard to talk about bareback sex.  After all, we know more and more men who have sex with men, are having that sex without condoms.  Bareback is - I would argue - already normative in gay pornography, and will - if it isn't already - become normative in sexual practice.  We also see HIV rates continuing to rise, creating ever more socio-legal pressure for responses, health-policy responses such as we've seen in LA regarding pornography, and also specific campaigns such as that currently being waged against bareback company Treasure Island Media (albeit a particularly botched effort).

The puzzlement of Bella is - I suspect - shared by some, but I think most people know the reasons.  The trouble is the reasons are inconvenient, both politically and in policy terms.   If for example, we accept that bareback sex feels better - that it is a much more sensory engaging experience, then the arguments of safer sex campaigners over recent years will be seen as being less than completely honest.  It is also an emotionally different experience, and this again is not truly engaged with by many campaigners.

Our continued socio-legal pre-occupation with bareback sex, also furthers any fetishisation of bareback sex, whilst - and I can't emphasis this enough - the failure of large sections of 'our' community to be dropping dead from bareback sex, or popping up on a Friday night in a club looking like hell, dying from AIDS makes any 'HIV is a bad thing' message difficult to deliver.  Not that anyone has been trying to.  Recent years have seen campaigns focus on testing, and HIV campaigners seem more focused on discrimination than health needs (all of which fuels silence about being positive, or knowing if one is positive).

Then we have direct attempts to silence debates around bareback. This has taken the form of attempts to snuff out companies like Treasure Island Media (which I would suggest reflect back the reality of our sexual play) and, as this Queerty story revealed last month, Facebook banning a page about bareback (after it hit 20,000 likes).

Can we all honestly state whether we engage in bareback sex, and why?  I don't think our culture currently allows for that.  If we can't even be honest about our own behaviours, we are not going to get to grips with this subject.

Roles: A Gender and Sexuality Forum

Roles: A Gender and Sexuality Forum

Third Annual Gender and Sexuality Conference
University of Birmingham,
10th May 2013

Key Note Speaker: Dr. Nadine Muller

This one-day interdisciplinary conference offers postgraduates the opportunity to present their research in a friendly and supportive environment. We invite applications for twenty-minute papers from researchers working within the fields of gender and sexuality studies.

Suggestions for presentations may address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

- social policy, government legislation, and matters of the law
- cultural products: film / music / art / TV / literature
- media, representation, and social images
- sexuality, otherness, erotic practice
- the body: subject, object, identity
- theory, methodology, practice
- feminism and postfeminism: representation and invisibility
- queer and trans*: changing images of femininity and masculinity

Please send an abstract, including a short bio, of no more than 300 words to g.roles@hotmail.com by 10th March 2013.

Roles is an interdisciplinary research forum hosted by researchers at the University of Birmingham for the purpose of fostering discussion and debate. We hold regular seminars as well as our annual conference, and can be followed online: T: @groles, F:
/roles-a-gender-and-sexuality-forum, W: groles.wordpress.com, E:
g.roles@hotmail.com.

New Blog Resource

York academic Paul Johnson has taken the plunge and started a blog called 'ECHR Sexual Orientation Blog'.  Well worth a look! 

Your Mother Liked It Bareback

Mark S King has written an absolutely brilliant piece on bareback sex.  You can check it out here.  He responds to some of the recent stories about bareback sex and contextualises it in a medical and cultural framework.  I can't recommend it enough.

Postal HIV Testing Kits

The previous oral test

Pink News carries an intriguing piece this evening.  They report that the Terrence Higgins Trust and the Health Protection Agency are co-launching a pilot project that will allow gay and bisexual men to access HIV home sampling kits by post.

Read the full story here.

It follows other trials via the post - and I think this is a very welcome move.  However, my puzzlement comes as I don't see how it is compatible with the HIV Testing Kits and Services Regulations 1992.  You can read those regulations here.  I've long thought that the regulations need revising to allow home testing - and I'm sure that the HPA and THT are aware of the regs.   I must be missing something, but how have they therefore got around the regulations now?

New Radio Show: Being LGBT

SparkFM, the Sunderland University radio station, has launched a new show, 'Being LGBT'.  The station has deservedly won a stack of awards, and this latest show marks a new project for the extremely talented Sam Willey.  It's every Wednesday at 2pm (and you may hear a familiar voice in the near future) , and you can catch it on listen again if you missed it.

This week:

Kieron Brady former Sunderland football player, now equality expert with CICI speaks about homophobia in the game.

Lindsay England from the Just a Ball Game? initiative says more needs to be done to tackle homophobia in football.

Megan Worthing-Davies from Football V Homophobia chats to us live about the campaign and her involvement with the Justin Campaign.

Lewis Moody, former England Rugby international speaks out, calling for more open LGBT people in Sport.

Gentoo and the Tyne and Wear Fire Service talk to us about being a North East employer included in the Stonewall Top 100 of LGB friendly employers.

Check it out here.

Gray's Inn Seminar: Criminals or Victims?

Readers may be interested in this forthcoming event

CRIMINALS OR VICTIMS?
A Necessary Guide to the Non-Criminalisation of Victims of Human Trafficking

Panel
Peter Carter QC
18 Red Lion Court

Parosha Chandran
1 Pump Court

Pam Bowen
Head of Trafficking Policy, CPS

An expert seminar aiming to bridge gaps in knowledge concerning the criminalisation of victims of trafficking.

Principally for Judges, Barristers and Students with an interest in criminal law and public law, the seminar seeks to raise awareness of how to identify possible victims of trafficking and how to protect the legal rights of such persons

 Monday 4th February 2013 Gray’s Inn Hall 6.15pm – 8.15pm

The cost is £10 for students to attend the seminar and drinks afterwards. Everyone must register in advance for the event.  For mor einfo, and the registration form, contact cpd@graysinn.org.uk

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill

Unless you've been living on the moon, you'll probably already know that the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill -which will introduce same-sex marriage into English law - was published last week, along with a set of guidance notes.  You can download both documents and monitor the progress of the Bill here.

I published my take on the Bill on Pink News.  You can check out that article here.  The comments also make for very interesting reading.

Nude Norms: The Curious Case of the Castro

One aspect to my role at the University is to lead research for the law team.  It's often the case that beyond teaching, students rarely see what we do.  I've been keen to change that by introducing student research internships, in which students apply to work with academics on small discrete research activities, and in the course of which students get to see how we spend their not insignificant fees.

Anyway, I worked on a little project with a student intern last year, kicking around some ideas for a potential project, which ultimately led to this little piece which appeared on the Freedom in a Puritan Age webzine earlier this week.

It examines the controversial nudity ban in San Francisco.  Take a look at what I hope will be the first of many publications for my wonderful student intern, Sara Mohammadzadeh.

Being Gay in Public Life

The Daily Politics had Stonewall head honcho, Ben Summerskill, as their guest today.  It acted as a reason for the programme to explore  being gay in contemporary public life.  The whole show is available via the BBC iPlayer, but the relevant clip can be viewed here.

Gender, Sex and Power: Seminar Series

The wonderful Rob Clucas at the University of Hull has organised what looks like a really interesting seminar series.  it's called Gender, Sex and Power and the details can be seen below:

Chemical Castration and the Quest for 'Normalcy'

The Guardian magazine carried a rather interesting feature by Decca Aitkenhead yesterday, exploring the issue of chemical castration among sex offenders.  All those interviewed were men  -although they weren't all paedophiles.  It's fairly balanced and explores the issues surrounding chemical castration.  Rather like the piece, I don't have any firm conclusions as to the appropriate course of action in this area.  I do however think it's important to start by asking the 'right' question.

The Governor of Whatton does seem to be on the right tracks when she says:  "We're trying to stop the people we lock up from doing this again.  That's the key thing for me.  The majority of them will get out and will possibly be living next door to you or me.'

The logic of this position is therefore not 'what is the best form of retribution', but what dow e need to do, to ensure this individual is less likely to re-offend given they will be once again in our communities.    I'm not sure what the answer is, but that's surely the right question.

Check out the full piece here.

The Changing Landscape of Marriage and Divorce

South-West England based law firm, Stephens Scown Solicitors, have apparently been digging around the research stats and identified emerging trends relating to marriage and divorce.  It's the usual marketing wheeze to build profile, but the stats they've pulled out and the rather cool infographic they've produced are well worth a look.

Their findings show: 

•  32% of marriages last between 6 to 10 years. 
• The beginning of WW2 sparked a 20% increase in marriages - When soldiers returned home divorce rates almost doubled. 
• 1.8 million couples contemplate divorcing during Christmas. 
• 75% of New Year divorces are initiated by women. 

I'm curious how many people 'contemplate' murder over the Christmas people too.  They have put together a creative infographic to showcase their findings which you can see below:

MAP - Male Action Project: Initial Results

The Cyrenians - a Newcastle based homelessness charity (with from what I can work out, Catholic roots) recently published some interesting research on male sex work.

 From May to November 2011 The Cyrenians carried out a scoping exercise and some exploratory work to consider the nature and extent of male sex work in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In April 2012 funds were secured to support a 12 month project 'MAP' (Male Action Project) to further develop the evidence-base regarding the needs of 'survival' male sex workers; and to undertake a programme of campaigning activities to stimulate and facilitate policy change at local, regional and national levels.

The initial needs analysis can be downloaded here.

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade are gathering written evidence through the form of a questionnaire which can be accessed through their website: www.appgprostitution.org The deadline for submissions is Monday 4th February at 4pm.

This is part of an inquiry to assess the current UK legal settlement surrounding prostitution, and to identify how legislation to tackle demand could safeguard those in danger of sexual exploitation and abuse.