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.

World AIDS Day Brings Third Anniversary of Website Commemorating Bay Area Losses

Launched by the World Health Organization in 1988, World AIDS Day is held annually on December 1. This year, the date coincides with the third anniversary of a unique website commemorating losses to the disease in Northern California. The site offers an online database of every obituary from the Bay Area Reporter, a weekly newspaper for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. Cosponsored by the BAR and the GLBT Historical Society, the site includes 10,344 notices published from 1979 to the present.

The obituaries database of the GLBT Historical Society and the Bay Area Reporter is free of charge. Visit http://obit.glbthistory.org.

It makes for a tremendously moving resource and historical artifact, bringing back to life the men of yesterday and their stories.

Vandals Strike Castro GLBT History Museum

I was really sad to hear about this earlier today. Shortly before 5:00 a.m. on Monday, October 29, vandals struck The GLBT History Museum in San Francisco, shattering two large plate glass windows.

Located in the Castro District, the museum is an internationally renowned institution devoted to displaying and interpreting the history of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

"We're grateful for the outpouring of support we are already receiving from people in San Francisco and around the world," said Paul Boneberg, executive director of the GLBT Historical Society, the organization that runs the museum. "That support speaks to the important role the museum plays in advancing understanding of GLBT history and culture." Boneberg stressed that none of the historical objects on display at the museum were damaged and that no theft occurred. "It's clear that this was vandalism," he said. "We don't know who smashed the windows this or why they did it."

 According to Boneberg, "When the alarm sounded at 4:50 this morning, the security firm immediately summoned the San Francisco Police Department and notified our staff, who were on the scene very quickly. In short order, the broken glass was removed and the windows were boarded over."

The GLBT History Museum is closed today (Monday, October 29) for further clean up, but will reopen Tuesday for its normal hours, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

 The total cost of the damage is not yet known, but will be minimally a few thousand dollars, Boneberg said. Donations to assist with the repairs and to support the museum can be made online at www.glbthistory.org/donate. The museum will report on the repairs via its facebook page at facebook.com/GLBTHistory

The Uncivil Division

I continue to work through Some Dance to Remember (see my previous post).  I've encountered several other passages that I want to share, but I'll limit myself to just one.  This section (page 309) is a really interesting insight on the impact of AIDS.  There's a temptation to talk of the 'gay community' (I too am guilty of sometimes using this shorthand phrase) but this section is a reminder not only of the 'otherness' of homosexuality, but then the sub-cultures within that identity and then the division of sexual practice based identity within those subcultures.  Nonetheless, in the face of a holocaust, it was their homosexuality that re-formed and bound together a community, however momentarily.

'Straight San Francisco treated the Castro like a leper colony as subtly as some has tacitly approved the gun in Dan White's hand.  Almost overnight, fewer and fewer straights dared to come to the Castro for a chic supper and a movie at the Castro theatre.  In downtown offices, straight people gathered around Xerox machines and wondered if they could still go to lunch with the amusing gay men with whom they worked.

'The uncivil tension between the Pacific Heights gays and Castro gays and Folsom gays widened momentarily.  Cocksuckes blamed the fuckers who blamed the piss drinkers who blamed the fist fuckers who blamed the scatmen; and everyone blamed the shooters and their needles.  Finally, even while the panic - and it was real panic - rose in those first months, they all knew they had no choice but to band together to save themselves, because no one else would save them.  Their history had taught them that.'

The concelebration of pure, raw, priapic manhood

At a recent book launch, I feel into conversation with somebody who asked if I was familiar with the work of Jack Fritscher.  I confessed that whilst the name sounded vaguely familiar, I wasn't.  Fritscher is an influential novelist and the founding editor-in-chief of the landmark publication, Drummer magazine.  He has been described as a queer theorist, decades before queer theory was conceived and congregated around by activists and academics in the 1990s.  His memoir-novel 'Some Dance to Remember' chronicles the years 1970 - 1982 in San Francisco, and can be downloaded for free here or if you prefer (as I did), you can purchase an old fashioned hard-copy here.  I'm hoping to finish the text by the end of the week, but I'm already incredibly moved and inspired by the text.  At times, it's a challenging read with a chaotic style that itself summons a previous age.  Yet, it's also a remarkable time-portal to a period of queer history sometimes forgotten and frequently edited.

Here's one wonderful passage that I just read and want to share:

'I have no father, no brother, no son more than these men gathered here in this time, in this flesh, in tis space more auspiciously than any of us realized at first.  Never on this planet have so many men of such similar mind gathered together to fuck in the concelebration of pure, raw, priapic manhood.  If the mythic Saint Priapus has never been canonised by the Catholic Church, then he has been made a saint in  San Francisco in these halls, in the temples of our conjoined bodies, tangled in passion, slick with sweat, and glazed with seed'.

Priapus is a fertility god from Greek mythology, blessed with an exceptionally large penis.  Saint Priapus (and I had to Google this) was a North American religion founded in the 1980s (and strong in San Francisco) which worships the phallus.  Worship takes the form of a variety of sexual acts.

For me, the extract above is a passage of raw desire, evoking not only that spirt of the 70s, now constructed as 'dangerous', as a congregation of men inevitably cruising towards the vengeful iceberg of AIDS, but also of contemporary queer theory, and radical sexuality.  Amazing stuff.

RIP Jack Fertig, aka, Sister Boom Boom

Really sad to hear of the premature death of the wonderful Jack Fertig, better know as Sister Boom Boom.  The Bay Area Reporter carried a detailed obituary which can be read here.

Birthday Blog: From the Archive Pt4

February 2009 was a very special month for me.  It was the first (and thus far, only) time I managed to run a field-trip for my undergraduate students out to San Francisco.  It was also the first time I'd ever been and so it proved as much an exciting discovery for me as the students.  I've been many times since and it saddens me that we've been unable to make the journey with another cohort of students.  Ever toughened times in HE finance, and the disproportionate number of our students from working-class backgrounds make it look unlikely, but I live in hope!

You can read my series of posts on the field trip here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Archive Q&A with Gayle Rubin

The GLBT Archives have a really interesting short section in their new newsletter, featuring Gayle Rubin. A pioneer of feminist theory, queer theory and leather history, Gayle S. Rubin is a founding member of the GLBT Historical Society and an associate professor of anthropology, women's studies and comparative literature at the University of Michigan.  Her work is essential reading for my law and sexuality students and students of sexuality around the world.

The short piece asks three questions about archives:

How do archival collections like those held by the GLBT Historical Society support the production of knowledge about queer cultures? 

Without primary source material, we are "people without a history." Our knowledge tends to be mired at the level of anecdote and circulating assumptions that can't be checked against evidence. We are stuck with mythologies, some positive and some negative, whose veracity cannot be ascertained. There are so many things that one hears, things that "everyone knows," that actually turn out to be superficial, misleading or wrong. Only primary sources allow us to assess such ideas and claims. In addition, there are important stories that have been lost or buried or forgotten that can be resurrected through archival collections and oral histories.

University libraries have started developing GLBT special collections. Does that mean we no longer need community-based GLBT archives? 

 I welcome the entry of university libraries into these fields, but they have limitations. Focused topical collections often depend on some individual within the library system and do not always continue if that person leaves. In addition, university libraries may not be as comfortable about collecting certain materials or making them accessible -- for example, sexually explicit materials or those pertaining to various queer subcultures. Moreover, public institutions may be subject to political pressures. So a certain amount of redundancy is a very good thing: Having material dispersed among different kinds of institutions and in different locations makes it more likely to survive unpredictable events and unknown futures.

What can we do to ensure that community-based GLBT archives continue to grow and thrive? 

There is sometimes a lack of appreciation for what a Herculean task it is to develop and maintain institutions such as the GLBT Historical Society and its museum. They are often taken for granted, or treated as if they are as stable, well funded and well staffed as mainstream institutions. When I am in the museum or at the archives, I can only marvel at their existence and be grateful for all the work that has gone into the fact that they are here. Perhaps this is particularly poignant for me because I remember when we did not have them and I know what it has taken to get to this point. The GLBT Historical Society and The GLBT History Museum are among the most important accomplishments of the LGBT movement in San Francisco -- but they are works in progress. To continue to grow and thrive, they need volunteer energy, money to operate, and donations of research materials. At a minimum, please understand what these places are, what it takes to have them, and give them the recognition and appreciation that they so richly deserve. The Historical Society is a queer public good and a community treasure, but like all such institutions, it requires maintenance and cultivation. As I recently wrote, those who fail to secure the transmission of their histories are doomed to lose them.

Read more about the wonderful San Francisco museum and archive here.

A Very Special Prison Closure

Sad news for San Francisco barebackers and tourists to the city, with the news last month that the sex club Mack Folsom Prison has temporarily shut.

A notice on their website informs patrons that: 'We are moving...Sometimes bad things happen for a reason.  You may not understand or see it at the moment, but later you look at it and realise that it turned out to be a good thing.  So we hope that out bit of bad news leads us to a better Mack Folsom Prison.  On March 10th of this year we lost one of the owners by heart-attack.  Our heads were still spinning when we were notified that the landlord decided to terminate the lease.  Mack Folsom Prison's last day at the current location was May 6, 2012.  We are taking this opportunity to find a new location that we feel would be suitable for us to create a space for men as unique as Mack Folsom Prison is.  We will keep you posted here, and we're looking forward to serving the men of Mack Folsom Prison soon!  The Staff and Management'.

Sad news indeed about one of the owners.  It's easy to think 'so what' but such is the powerful history of San Francisco in terms of identity formation and particularly in the response to HIV/AIDS that the very presence of these clubs serve as a powerful monument to sexual history.  Their existence, and the banishment of saunas, the presence of a venue called Blow Buddies, the geographical positioning of these venues today - far from the tourist strewn Castro - speaks volumes about who 'we' were, who we are, and who we are becoming.

Whilst other venues fussed about whether your shower product could be still be smelt on entering the club (no, really - beware of using Original Source and then visiting Blow Buddies), Mack celebrated uninhibited, sleazy, raw, un-prentious sex.  For many the venue was a cesspool, a venue guaranteed to ensure that you leave with more than you came with.  A free gift for every customer and so forth.  Of course, officially, men subscribed to the safer-sex guidelines which the city requires but it was a venue where drug use, if not the effect of drugs were not unknown and bareback sex was in abundance.

It was a bit tatty, not huge, and the raised platform 'towers' had ladders which you always wondered whether you'd break your neck on.  Yet it's hard to under-estimate the emotional hold that such venues have on guys.

As such, like it or love it, it was a very special venue and it's closure of significance.  You might therefore think that a reopening is a certainty.  You might well be wrong.   Playspace opened last year (video tour below) which you can check out here, adding another sex club venue to the city, and is also placed in the South of Market district.



The website splash screen for Playspace instantly positions the club as a safer-sex/condom venue (which also indicates fucking in contrast to the oral focussed Blow Buddies) yet read their safer sex section and it's far from preachy:

'PLAYSPACE recognizes that sex for men comes in all shapes and forms. We encourage all our clients, patrons and friends to remember that for guys into other guys it’s important to include routine STD/HIV screening every 3-6 months. San Francisco has lots of opportunities and places for free to low cost testing, or ask your own doctor to test you during your regular visits. Many STD’s don’t have any signs or symptoms and can be missed or shared without regular screening.'

Then again, the rules inside the club (which you can see in the more atmospheric video below taken at their opening) has as rule number one 'No bareback sex'.  How far this is practised I'm not sure.  I've not seen the kind of online postings that Mack attracted but nor have I visited this venue myself to evaluate behaviour.  I would be fascinated to see how these two venues - one relatively new, one relatively recently closed, are shaping bareback behaviour in the city of San Francisco and how regulatory safer sex frameworks are playing out in reality (does anyone sense a research grant bid coming on?)



Watched it?  I'm guessing you want to see/know more about Daniel don't you?  You're a predictable lot.  Anyway,  I've also seen an Internet posting that the old Mack venue is now owned by someone else who aims to re-open a new sex club there - although that was meant to open on 1 June and it doesn't appear to have done so. Another spanner to potentially throw in the works.  How I miss San Francisco.

Check out the Mack website here.

Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots? The Event

I previously blogged on a new book, Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots? and now you can watch video of an event involving authors from the book.  It took place at the wonderful City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco and I was going to embed the video for you to make life easier but it seems the video producers don't want that so you'll need to click here for the first video, and then pick the second, third and fourth videos from the right hand side.

There was also an event at the City Library in San Francisco and that can be viewed here (you'll notice the opening is the same as City Lights) and again you'll need to pick the following bits from the right hand side.  Both events feel very 'San Francisco' and very familiar for these sort of sexuality events.  It's hard to put into words but hopefully after watching the videos, you might know a little of what I mean.

The Dogg Goes Walkies

Damon Dogg - formerly of Treasure Island Media (NSFW) - revealed on Twitter at the start of the year that he had left TIM and was branching out into new projects.  He indicated in responses to followers that he had done so 'very willingly' but also that he couldn't talk about why he left and there was never (as far as I can see) an "I'm off" style tweet.  In January, his Flickr stream featured a name page photograph of 'Damon Dogg, Factory Videos' from XBIZLA so we kinda knew where he had moved to.

In fact, I hadn't noticed anything else reporting his departure.  TIM's blog continued to make reference to Dogg as part of promotion for Manfuck Manifesto, the TIM tattoo challenge and the SD/STW promo in New Orleans in February.  None of these posts indicated that he was still part of the company, but nor did they suggest otherwise.  He was clearly part of the TIM narrative.  He has been a high profile figure in front of and behind the camera and his tattoo (see right) will continue to see him as a TIM figure.  It will be interesting to see if it remains, and what the tatt will continue to mean for this particularly notoriously dirty Dogg.

Yesterday, AVN reported on the move and formally indicated he had joined Factory Video Productions (NSFW) following  GP Times reporting the story on Thursday. 

Factory is where Dogg worked previously and even once Damon had made his name with TIM via his 'Damon Blows America' series, Factory included him as part of a compilation of scenes from those past performers who had moved on to be porn 'stars' (not a term TIM would ever use).  Consequently, you can see a young (and much more innocent looking) Dogg in 'First Cum' (NSFW) released by Factory.  So arguably, he's now back where it all began.

The news story (which reads very much like a verbatim press release) states that  Factory Videos is happy to welcome the return of two infamously creative directors. The first, Leif Gobo is apparently a veteran of nearly 20 years of adult video production with companies that span the range of gay porn. Gobo has directed for many big studios, including Falcon and Raging Stallion among many more.

'The notorious Damon Dogg, formerly of Treasure Island Media, began his career in porn with Factory Videos back in 2001. Damon Dogg has since been influential in the direction of reality based gonzo style bareback porn. Plowing down boundaries and previously “untouchable” topics in documenting sleazy man sex, today, Dogg is working with Factory Video producing his new studio Damon Dogg’s Cum Factory. Dogg is also joining the company's travelling production team to assist in finding the sleaziest men in the US.'

Interestingly his notoriety - or rather that associated with TIM - is what helps to add value to his appointment for the company.  Finally, we are told that Factory Videos based in San Francisco, currently has 10 full time employees on staff. Factory has been continuing to grow steadily since starting in 1998. It has a collection of over 350 DVDs, eight commerce web sites and an affiliate program, Dickbank.com.

What could they possibly mean by these 'untouchable' topics?  Dogg's BarebackRT profile (a sort of bareback Gaydar for those not familiar with the site) - which is linked from his current blog - clearly states that he is HIV positive and given he is (as also indicated on his blog) a versatile bottom.  Scenes from his new films, already posted on his blog, indicate that there will be fucking aplenty.  These scenes will clearly position Factory alongside TIM as a company openly producing 'positive' porn.  This is interesting in itself but given the recent LA condom measure law and attempts to extend it across California, it adds to the seeding of bareback and high-profile poz porn bareback studios in the State at a very time when some in the porn industry must be hoping they'll be quiet.

Gay men barebacking on camera is enough to get law-makers in a tizz it seems.  Men barebacking on camera who are HIV positive may just finish some of those law-makers off.   Defibrillators on stand-by!

A number of recently high profile TIM characters have been silent in recent times - Gehno, Ryan Sullivan and of course, Dawson all spring to mind.  Whilst TIM appears to increasingly 'introduce' characters it doesn't quite say goodbye to the same figures (and the above trio may still be working for TIM - certainly RS was the last time I asked but I think Gehno is gone and Dawson 'retired').  On the one hand, you might ask, well why?  Why bother continuing to tell their story, or explain their departure when they re no longer on the pay-roll?

Well, given the way these figures are defined as individuals, there is an understandable desire among fans for knowledge about 'what happened next', and in the case of someone like Dogg, he will always be TIM wherever he is.  I don't know, it's one aspect of the whole porn industry that I sort of understand why it's done, but at same time, I don't quite understand.  Take football (soccer to my American friends), players are celebrated when they join a club, but well-loved players and managers are still respected and celebrated long after moving to other clubs.  Dogg is one of those iconic players at TIM, and as such he'll long be remembered in the same breath as TIM whether he continues to work for them or not.  The fans seem to get that, but I'm not sure TIM - along with the rest of the industry - get that.

Dogg also blogs (NSFW) about his new projects (and various other bits and bobs) here (curiously, Dogg's previous blog has been deleted)

Flag Politics

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.

Legal Spaces, Queer Spaces: The Castro

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

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.  

Sex Tourism

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?

GLBT Historical Society News

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.

2011/12 Academic Year: Welcome

This post is directly aimed at University of Sunderland Law and Sexuality students who are visiting this blog for the first time.  Workshops for the module kick off at 9am (sorry!) on Wednesday 5 October in RV309.  In the meantime, the following should give you a little bit more of an idea about the module.

STRUCTURE

As you will perhaps recall from the options fair, the module, like most modules at level 3 is taught over three hour workshops once a fortnight.  Following student feedback, I've introduced some questions to prepare before workshops this year.  However, these are very much a starting point to direct your research and improve discussions.  You need to be actively seeking out academics and non-academic sources to increase your knowledge - and this will mean looking beyond the traditional limits of Heinonline, Lexis and Westlaw.  Don't panic - I'll be providing lots of practical guidance in the first workshop and on an ongoing basis.   It’s hard work but will hopefully be fun and enlightening.

FIELD TRIPS

In workshops I’ll outline core material, but the emphasis will be on debate and discussion. Sometimes we’ll be doing group or interactive activities, and at other times we’ll be looking at video and other multimedia. Along with these ‘classroom’ based activities, we’ll be getting out into the ‘real world’ through a number of field trips that enable us to consider the literature you’ll be encountering in the places that they were produced. Within the first few weeks we’ll meet up in Newcastle and take a quick queer space walkabout. A few weeks later, there will be an opportunity to head over to Manchester for a similar, but extended field trip.  This year, the Manchester Trip will take place on 7/8 November (put the dates in your diary).  We'll pay for the coach down and you'll need to pay your hotel room.  I'll need to know who is coming in our first workshop on the 5th so I can book the coach! 

During the first day we have a walkabout through Canal Street and a further area, north of Piccadilly. We’ll also take a general walk through the city so pack comfortable shoes! In the evening, there will be an opportunity to socialise and reflect on the day. You can then do your own thing or I can take small groups for a look at Canal Street by night.  There will be other activities which I'll organise once I know numbers.  Last year we visited LGF for a briefing on their work and also visited the City Hall to hear about Manchester's historic and current policy approaches to LGBT issues.

In February next year (during/around reading week - w/c 20 Feb 2012), there will be a chance to head over to San Francisco for a life-changing visit. More details will be given in the first workshop including a price. We head over for about a week and take a look at variety of LGBTQ linked events and activities, as well as giving you an opportunity to explore this amazing city. I'll need to need numbers fairly soon (we typically need around 10 students for the trip to be viable) so if you need to talk to parents/family, start sounding them out now.

ASSESSMENT

The assessment is two individual 2,500 word essays. One completed in each semester. The essays will seek to link multiple topics together and apply theory (feminism, queer, postmodernism) to a specific ‘issue’ so there is no ‘magic’ workshop to attend that will give you all the answers. It’s more a sort of jigsaw that emerges, so attendance at workshops and full participation will, as I’m sure you realise by now, enable you to achieve the results you want and deserve.

SOCIAL MEDIA/NETWORKS

You’re reading the blog so you’re already well ahead. This blog will provide longer reflections on developments, pictures, video and additional support to the course. There are also extensive links to additional sources of information down the right hand side.  These are organised by broad subject area.  I've included NSFW (not safe for work) links this year which link to explicit/sometimes pornographic material.  You are not required in any way to access these links, but they do provide an additional dimension to your studies.  In order to comply with university IT regulations, you are asked to access these off-site.

The search bar on right enables you to search the blog archive for specific material – and the blog is now in its fourth year so there’s lots of info on here. The large Pink Sixty window at the top right updates automatically with 60 second daily LGBT news bulletins Mon-Fri and on Saturday a summary of the week is available.  There's also a facility below that to enter your email address and receive email alerts of new blog posts.  If you enter your email address you will receive a confirmation email  -you need to click the link in that email to confirm your subscription.  On SunSpace you’ll find all the PowerPoint Slides, interactive exercises and further info and videos. You’ll also see links to Twitter, Facebook, Audioboo and this blog. Twitter consists of links to interesting news stories, quick thoughts and so on. If you’re on Twitter, why not follow me? New blog posts will also be automatically fed to twitter.  It's not a strictly academic/professional account so you'll also get my random thoughts - it's not mandatory but it is another tool to access information and interact with me.

If you’d rather add me on Facebook, where blog posts will also be fed, feel free to add me, but there is a dedicated module page of Facebook.   Finally, Audioboo which are simply short audio posts will be used from time to time, usually embedded into the blog or linked via Twitter. Group assessment feedback will be provided by Audioboo along with other thoughts, and reflections. You can subscribe to my Audioboo in iTunes so they will automatically be downloaded to your ITunes account. Just click the audioboo link in Sunspace or above. This may seem like a bewildering array of different technologies and platforms – use whatever works best for you. 

WHAT COULD I BE DOING BEOFRE WORKSHOPS START?

If you’re one of the eager beavers, you can take a look at the course texts - detailed in the module guide on SunSpace and all available as e-books through the library. They will probably seem hard going the first time you take a look, but don’t worry, it will come together as the course progresses. You may also want to take a look at the work of Judith Butler, Eve Sedgwick and Michel Foucault. You may find introductory guides to these authors ideas useful and more accessible.

You’ll also see an earlier blog post gives some guidance on films and TV to take a look at. In addition, you can also spend some time searching through this blog. There’s lots of video and some documentaries available on here. There’s also lots of links to sites that will be useful for your study. Take some time to familiarise yourself with them and explore! You’ll also be using ATHENS databases you might not have used before. As well as LexisNexis and Westlaw, you’ll find databases such as Sage, Ebsco and Emerald of use as you progress through he module. Log into http://www.athens.ac.uk/ and have a play. Use the time now to explore – there’s probably a lot more literature available to you than you ever imagined. You’ll have less time to explore when the module is in full swing and assessment deadlines are on the horizon. Try and take some time to head over to the Murray Library at City Campus. There are useful journals and lots of sociology/sexuality/theory books on the top floor. Have a browse and if something looks/sounds interesting, take a closer look.

I’m really looking forward to exploring the subject of law and sexuality with you and I’ll see you all real soon. Chris

A Folsom History

As San Francisco raises the blue and white flags of leather pride, and the city prepares for the Folsom Fair, the Bay Area Reporter carries a brilliant piece on the history of the event and its cultural significance.  Well worth a read - check it out in full here.

Banned! TIM and the Folsom Street Fair (Here We Go Again)

Here we go again...this weekend sees the Folsom Street Fair take place in San Francisco and with it, we see Treasure Island Media bane done again.  Their ban has proven a marketing triumph for the bareback porn company who have used the ban as the basis for boosting their profile the last few years.  As I've commented before, the ban allows the company to present themselves as 'outsiders', 'rebels', and cultural renegades.

In a Bay Area Reporter article covering the 2011 TIM strategy, the Fair says TIM are not banned for being a bareback company which does confuse me.  I was convinced that they referred to bareback sex in an original letter issued when TIM were first banned.  I can't find a press release/copy of that letter on the web anymore so maybe it was my imagination.  If anyone can find these docs, please post.  Similarly, I can't access the exhibitor application form and guidelines anymore on the Fair site so I have no idea whether they make reference to bareback - can anyone clarify?

Was it always just about public sex as the Fair seem to be suggesting (not even nudity - which their website FAQs make clear is acceptable)?  Help me out folks...

You can read the full BAR article here.

Perry, Prop 8 and "Social Progress"

There's been much written about the Perry case - the California case that was successful in finding that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional. Proposition 8 was passed back in 2008 through a kind of public petition and defined marriage as between a man and woman. This meant that California's marriage laws were suddenly prohibited and marriages came to a stop. The Perry case has been an attempt to rule that such a measure was unconstitutional. If you earch this blog, you'll find various posts about related events, videos of the trial re-constructed and more.

Today, the Bay Area Reporter (the San Francisco based gay weekly free newspaper) carries an interview with Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier, the lesbian couple at the centre of the case. It's a really interesting insight into the impact the case has had on their lives. Read it in full here.

The case is currently before a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and is expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court by late 2012 or early 2013.