Haters Propose Initiative To Regulate Where Gender Non-Conforming People Can Pee

Now that heterosexual supremacists and religious fundamentalists have realized they have lost the culture war completely on the question of marriage equality they are moving on to other issues, like "religious freedom" and protecting people who believe they have a constitutional right to deny services and public accommodations to other people due to their "sincerely held beliefs" about marriage. Oh and proposing ballot measures to require executions of homosexuals.

One of these issues the homophobic conservative right is pivoting to is about gender-nonconforming people and bathrooms. You think LGBT people are interested in the genitals of other people? We are nowhere as interested as the Pacific Justice Institute, which is so obsessed with the issue they want to have a multi-million dollar ballot campaign in the heat of a presidential campaign to discuss the politics and biology of sex and gender. What could go wrong, right?

They have filed the "Personal Privacy Protection Act" with the California Attorney General which would amend the California code to include the language:

 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person shall use facilities in accordance with their biological sex in all government buildings. 

So, yes, basically they want to make sure that only people with the "right" plumbing get to pee in the right places. Why do they care? Because they want to demonize people they do not like as predators.
This issue of gender-neutral bathrooms enrages (and befuddles) me because isn't it everyone's experience at home that all bathrooms can be used by all people of any gender? Why shouldn't that be the case in public? Why shouldn't ALL bathrooms be private? The idea of "group" bathrooms (i.e. urinals) is the atavistic notion that should be abolished, not the idea that people who and gender-nonconforming or transgender have to get the permission of the state to determine which bathroom to use in a public bathroom. That is insanity. They are convinced that sex is a binary despite all evidence to the contrary that not only is SEX not binary, neither is GENDER. However, they want to put into state law a definition of biological sex that reads:

 Biological sex means the biological condition of being male or female as determined at or near the time of birth or through medical examination or as modified by Health & Safety Code § 103425. 

But what happens if someone's sex is indeterminate (intersexuals) or someone's sex NOW is different from what their sex was determined to be "at or near the time of birth"? I guess no public bathroom for you, if the PPPA is passed by California voters.

One of the proponents of the measure named Kevin Snider is quoted in the Los Angeles Times claims that people who don't believe in the "biological reality of two sexes" are "science deniers." I would definitely put myself in the camp of many people who think there may be atleast five sexes! I think Mr. Snider needs to read up on the latest scientific research on the nature of sex and gender:

Sex can be much more complicated than it at first seems. According to the simple scenario, the presence or absence of a Y chromosome is what counts: with it, you are male, and without it, you are female. But doctors have long known that some people straddle the boundary — their sex chromosomes say one thing, but their gonads (ovaries or testes) or sexual anatomy say another. Parents of children with these kinds of conditions — known as intersex conditions, or differences or disorders of sex development (DSDs) — often face difficult decisions about whether to bring up their child as a boy or a girl. Some researchers now say that as many as 1 person in 100 has some form of DSD.

But, sure, let's have a conversation about which side is denying science and data. Spoiler alert, it is not going to be the group which thinks that sexual orientation can be changed by "therapy."

SURVEY: 16% Of Britons Report Same-Sex Sexual Contact

Joe Jervis reports on a British sex survey conducted by The Guardian newspaper. He focuses on the report that 16% of respondents said that they had had "any sexual contact with someone of the same sex" (18% of women and 15% of men) while 92% of respondents declared that they were heterosexual (4% homosexual and 4% bisexual).

Do we have any similar research being conducted here in the United States? I wonder how the numbers would be different (and the same)? The survey was conducted in July 2014 of 1052 adults in theUnited Kingdom.

Interestingly, the survey reports that among the youngest cohorts of respondents there was more same-sex sexual contact (22% among those aged 16-24 and 26% among those aged 25-34) while a whopping 21% of the youngest cohort self-declaring themselves to be homosexual or bisexual, compared to the overall percentage of 8% in the larger sample.

Go check out the survey results yourself. I thought one of the most interesting results was that 79% of all men said they were "happy with the size of [their] penis" (which is down from 86% which was the result back in 2008!).

Do you think reults would be dramatically different in the USA?

High Court of Australia Recognizes 3rd Sex Category (Neither Male Nor Female)

Interesting and important news out of Australia relating to LGBT people. Apparently the High Court of Australia ruled just over a month ago that a person does NOT have to be registered by the state as either male or female, but can be listed as a 3rd "non-specific" sex by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Australia Broadcasting Corporation reported the news:

A Sydney resident who fought to be legally recognised as being of non-specific sex has hailed a High Court ruling that New South Wales laws do permit the registration of a category of sex other than male or female. 

Norrie was born male but had a sex change and now does not identify as specifically male or female. 

After a four-year legal battle, Norrie has won the right to be legally recognised as being of non-specific sex. 

Norrie, who had been quietly confident of winning the case, says the historic verdict is a big win for the wider transgender community. 

"I screamed a squeal of delight. Very loudly. It's very thrilling, very exciting," Norrie said. 

"I'm overjoyed that it has happened. It's important for people to have equal rights in society and if some people are granted the right to have their sex and certain benefits that go along with that, then why shouldn't everyone have that right? 

"Why should people be left out because they're not seen as male or female? They should be recognised as whatever they are and allowed to participate in society at an equal level."

This is a great development, and following a similar ruling by the India High Court in the last month is an indication that the idea that sex and gender are not binary phenomena is starting to gain traction among the international judiciary.

One reason why this is important for LGBT people is because the primary mechanism by which gender and sex roles are maintained and regulated is through the imputation of homosexuality. One primary example of where gender registrations are directly related to the rights and responsibilities of citizens is in the context of marriage. Thus the fact that more and more countries are recognizing

the true nature of gender and sex is exciting. 

Queer Quote: Bradley Manning Says "I Am A Female"

Yesterday, Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in military prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks. Today comes word that Manning would like to be known as Chelsea Manning from now on and declared her gender identity to be female. These revelations were made in a letter read by Chelsea's lawyer to NBC's Today show.

The full text of the statement (titled "The Next Stage of My Life") is:

Subject: The Next Stage of My Life

I want to thank everybody who has supported me over the last three years. Throughout this long ordeal, your letters of support and encouragement have helped keep me strong. I am forever indebted to those who wrote to me, made a donation to my defense fund, or came to watch a portion of the trial. I would especially like to thank Courage to Resist and the Bradley Manning Support Network for their tireless efforts in raising awareness for my case and providing for my legal representation.

As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition. I also request that, starting today, you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun (except in official mail to the confinement facility). I look forward to receiving letters from supporters and having the opportunity to write back.

Thank you,

Chelsea E. Manning

As i said yesterday, anything which deconstructs the notions that sex and/or gender are binary concepts (instead of continuous spectra or distributions) is good news for the LGBT community and advances LGBT equality. Opposition to LGBT equality (and homophobia and transphobia) is almost always rooted in stereotypes and misconceptions about how males and females "should" act, so challenging those beliefs about gender supports LGBT folks.

Hat/tip to LGBT Think Progress.

Germany Legalizes 3rd Gender Option, Rejects Sex Binary

The notion that sex, along with gender, consists of more than just two categories is gathering more and more traction with the news that Germany is authorizing a third category in the sex registration of new-born babies with indeterminate sex characteristics. Such individuals are usually referred to as intersex, but there is a long, unfortunate history of the medical profession forcing parents to choose what sex they want their newborn to be identified as and conducting surgery (sometimes without their knowledge) to force them into one sex category or another.

Germany is to become the first European country to allow “undetermined” as a gender type for new-born babies when, on November 1, a recommendation by the country’s constitutional court comes into law. 

The new legislation means that babies who are born without gender-defining physical characteristics can be registered as having an “undetermined” or “unspecified” gender on their birth certificate.

The law aims to redress discrimination against intersex people, a category which includes those born with both female and male genitalia (formerly known as hermaphrodites), and those affected by medical conditions that mean their bodies do not conform to a male or female “standard”. Around 1 in 5,000 people born in Europe identify as intersex.

Although only 1 in 5000 people in Europe identify as intersex the deconstruction of the sex binary also leads to the deconstruction of the gender binary which is helpful to people who believe in broader notions of masculinity and femininity (like yours truly) and associated ideas around sexual orientation, sexuality and gender identity.

The decrease in the salience of the idea that sex and gender are binaries is a key indicator that people are thinking more broadly about these categories which should lead to advancements for LGBT people as well. So, it' somewhat surprising to see that this advancement would happen in Germany which is one of the few large European countries which does not currently recognize marriage equality explicitly.

Male Escort Listings By U.S. City

Which city do you think has more male escorts than others? Not surprisingly, it seems pretty closely correlated with population and wealth. According to a long and well-researched (well-hung?) article at Buzzfeed, the Top 5 are Manhattan, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and Washington, DC. The article goes onto discuss how the new world of social media and geo-location apps has impacted the business of male prostitution.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

EEOC Rules Gender Identity Covered Under Title VII

Wow! In a huge win for LGBT people, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued an official decision that transgender individuals are protected from gender identity discrimination under federal law.

Chris Geidner of Metro Weekly has the exclusive report (and his usual excellent analysis):

An employer who discriminates against an employee or applicant on the basis of the person's gender identity is violating the prohibition on sex discrimination contained in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to an opinion issued on April 20 by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The opinion, experts say, could dramatically alter the legal landscape for transgender workers across the nation. 

[...] 

The EEOC decision, issued without objection by the five-member, bipartisan commission, will apply to all EEOC enforcement and litigation activities at the commission and in its 53 field offices throughout the country. It also will be binding on all federal agencies and departments.
In the decision, the EEOC states, ''[T]he Commission hereby clarifies that claims of discrimination based on transgender status, also referred to as claims of discrimination based on gender identity, are cognizable under Title VII's sex discrimination prohibition ....'' 

[...] 

''When an employer discriminates against someone because the person is transgender, the employer has engaged in disparate treatment related to the sex of the victim,'' the decision states. ''This is true regardless of whether an employer discriminates against an employee because the individual has expressed his or her gender in a non-stereotypical fashion, because the employer is uncomfortable with the fact that the person has transitioned or is in the process of transitioning from one gender to another, or because the employer simply does not like that the person is identifying as a transgender person.''

I strongly encourage you to read the entirety of Chris' article, which also summarizes the state of current Supreme Court precedent , along with federal law in this area and includes commentary from transgender legal experts.

This is really a momentous decision that will have a real impact on the lives of transgender people throughout the country and (again) demonstrates the importance of Presidential appointments to federal commissions. The EEOC is a 5-member body, one of whose members is the openly lesbian "mother" of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Chai Fledblum.

Elections have consequences!

Shock! UTAH Gov Vetoes Anti-Sex Education Bill

Well, this is a surprise. The Mormon Republican governor of Utah Gary Hebert refused to go along with his homophobic, theocratic and Republican-dominated legislature to ban sex education or any mention of homosexuality in Utah schools.

Instead Gov. Hebert vetoed HB 363, as reported by Reuters:

In vetoing the measure, dubbed HB 363, Herbert said that as a parent and grandparent he considered proper sex education in public schools an important component to the moral education youngsters receive at home.

"If HB 363 were to become law, parents would no longer have the option the overwhelming majority is currently choosing for their children. I am unwilling to conclude that the state knows better than Utah's parents as to what is best for their children," he said.

"In order for parents to take on more responsibility, they need more information, more involvement, and more choice—not less. I cannot sign a bill that deprives parents of their choice," he added.

Supporters of the bill argued that sex education was best left up to parents.

When even the Republican Governor of Utah won't go along with your know-nothing policy agenda, don't you think perhaps you may have gone too far?

Apparently not. Here is what the Salt Lake Tribune attributed to HB 363 proponents (read it and puke!):

"It never entered our minds that the governor who told us he was conservative would veto such an appropriate piece of legislation," she said. "By vetoing this bill, he just sent the message that Utah’s stamp of approval [is] on teaching children how to have sex, teaching contraception and saying this is the safest way to have sex." 

Sen. Margaret Dayton, co-sponsor of the bill, said she was disappointed the governor hadn’t contacted her to discuss his concerns and said teaching children about contraception is comparable to telling kids not to do drugs, then showing them how to "mainline" heroin.

Yes, a state senator did just compare teaching about contraception to promoting drug addiction. I really have no words in response. How can one engage in meaningful dialogue or debate with a raving lunatic? I bet she thinks mentioning homosexuality makes kids gay. But then again, she probably didn't have any sex education and wants to make sure that Utah produces more, ignorant, homophobic adults who share her views!

All I can say to the kids of Utah, "It Gets Better" (when you leave Utah)!

GRAPHIC: Yes, Sex Discrimination Still Exists

The Economix blog at the New York Times examined college majors and their impact on the persistent wage gap between men and women (women get paid on average 81 cents for every dollar a man makes). Interestingly, the only major where women were paid (1%!) more than men for the same exact degree was Information Technology. In Mathematics, males were paid 3% more than women ($53,200 versus $51,900) in their median starting salaries.

In their article this interesting image (shown above) depicts how the gender gap in wages persisted even through various levels of education. Notice how the light blue (male) bar graphs are always aslightly longer than the pink  (female) bars for every single category. Note also that as one gets more education one's median salary also goes way up.

Of course, if you ask people "Does discrimination against women still exist?" I think most Americans would say "No."

It's precisely because graphs like the above still exist that I am proud to call myself a feminist (which basically means: women and men should be treated equally and fairly; the wild proposition that gender and sex are not valid means for discriminating or differentiating humans).

Eye Candy: Talvin DeMachio (reprise)

Talvin DeMachio is a pretty hot guy who has been featured Eye Candy earlier this year (February 21, 2010). I think it's about time we saw some more of him, don't you? Enjoy!

LGBT Rights Debated at United Nations

The following joint statement has been circulated about the debate at the United Nations today about the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in the broader international human rights framework.

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL, 16th Session
22 March, 2010

NGO JOINT STATEMENT ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION,
GENDER IDENTITY & HUMAN RIGHTS

Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network; International Service for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, COC Netherlands, International Commission of Jurists, Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany LSVD, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights – RFSL, Solidaritas Perempuan (Women's Solidarity for Human Right),  Human Rights First, ILGA-Europe (European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association), Shirkat Gah- Women's Resource Centre, Center for Women's Global Leadership, Human Rights Council of Australia, Corporacion Humanas, LBL Denmark, International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID), International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, OMCT.

Madame Vice-President, I am pleased to speak to issues of sexual orientation, gender identity and human rights, on behalf of 119 NGOs (21 ECOSOC-accredited) from over 60 countries (see attached list), and more than 300+ participants from 23 countries who endorsed the Joint Statement during the Asia Pacific Outgames Conference last week.

We welcome the statement on violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, delivered by Colombia on behalf of a broad grouping of 83 States from all UN regions. We also welcome the comments from the delegate from Nigeria, on behalf of the African Group that “laws that criminalize sexual orientation should be expunged.”
 
We commend the large core group of states advancing this initiative and we are particularly encouraged by the measurable increase in cross-regional support for these issues in recent years. It is hard to imagine that any State committed to human rights could disagree with the principle that States have a collective responsibility to end human rights violations against all those who are marginalized.

Numerous Special Procedures and Treaty Bodies have documented or commented on violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, including use of the death penalty, killings, torture, criminal sanctions, police harassment, rape, beatings, and disappearances.[1]  We urge all Special Procedures, treaty bodies and other stakeholders to continue to integrate these important issues across all of their mandates.

As UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon stated in this room in January of this year:[2]

“I understand that sexual orientation and gender identity raise sensitive cultural issues. But cultural practice can not justify any violation of human rights...(W)hen our fellow humans are persecuted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, we must speak out…(H)uman rights are human rights everywhere, for everyone.”

And as High Commissioner stated to the Council during this session:[3]

“We are not trying to create new or special rights. We are simply trying to address the challenges that prevent millions of people from enjoying the same human rights as their fellow human beings just because they happen to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.”

In closing, Madame Vice-President, we would like to reiterate that the Council cannot simply refuse to address or discuss human rights violations against any individuals, without violating its own mandate, as provided in GA resolution 60/251. We look forward to future dialogue within this Council, with the support of those States which did not yet feel able to join the statement, but which share the concern of the international community at these systemic human rights abuses.

[1] International Commission of Jurists: http://www.icj.org/IMG/UN_references_on_SOGI.pdf.
[2] Remarks by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on 25th January 2011, during a special sitting of the UN Human Rights Council:
http://www.arc-international.net/global-advocacy/generalassembly/un-sg-statement-to-hrc-on-sogi-issues-.htm
[3] Interactive Dialogue with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, Item 3, 16th session of the HRC.

The Obama Administration strongly supported the statement and inclusion of LGBT rights into the United Nations' purview.

Celebrity Friday: Caster Semenya

Caster Semenya is back in the news because the International Association of Athletics Federations has finally resolved her case and decided that the gender non-conforming (and rumored intersexed) athletic track star can compete in women's events in the future.

Annual Update on Sexual Orientation Law Fri Feb 19 at UCLA

Friday February 19th at UCLA Law School, the Williams Institute will hold its 9th Annual Update on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy. Entitled "Sexuality and Gender Law: Assessing the Field, Envisioning the Future," the day-long event will feature appearances by some of the most prominent LGBT legal minds in the country, such as (just to name a few that I am looking forward to meeting and seeing again) NYU Law Professor Kenji Yohsino, University of Chicago Law Professor Mary Anne Case, Columbia Law Professor (and former Vice-Dean) Katherine Franke, American University Law Professor Nancy Polikoff, Obama appointee to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chai Feldblum, Georgetown Law Professor (and blogger!) Nan Hunter, and Yale Law Professor Bill Eskridge.

There'll be a whole lotta "mad professahs" in the house!

Here's the schedule at a glance (see full schedule here):

Friday, February 19

9:00-10:20am – The Difference a Field Makes: The Impact of Sexuality and Gender Law Scholarship on the Law and Legal Scholarship

10:40-12:00pm – Theories Behind Multidimensional Advocacy

1:00-2:30pm – The Impact Sexuality and Gender Law and Policy Scholarship on LGBT Rights

3:00-4:30pm – Intersectionality

5:00-6:30pm – Final Round, 6th Annual Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Moot Court Competition

6:30-8:30pm – Annual Gala Reception and Awards Ceremony: Honoring Richard Taylor and Announcing Williams Institute National Moot Court Winners
*Click here for tickets.

Saturday, February 20

9:00-10:15am – Sexuality in a Global Culture

10:30-11:45pm – The Many Meanings of Gender

12:00-1:00pm – Next Steps: The Future of Sexuality and Gender Law and Scholarship

Just a few weeks ago I was a guest judge in the early rounds of the 6th Annual National Moot Court Competition on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law. It is a very interesting case which pits religious freedom under the first amendment against equal protection interests based on gender identity in a hypothetical in which national health care has become law but includes a rider which allows a "conscience clause" allowing doctor's to not treat transgender people.

Exemption Protecting Religious Freedoms of Medical Personnel:
No physician, nurse, or other medical personnel shall be required under this or
any other law of the United States to provide hormone therapy, surgery, or any
other medical care to transgender patients that is related to their transgender
status, gender identity, or gender expression if the provision of such care violates
the sincerely held religious beliefs of the physician, nurse, or other medical
personnel requested to provide such service. This provision shall not apply in
situations in which the transgender person’s medical condition is life threatening.

This year's Moot Court problem allows students to go into the details of the Lemon test in Supreme Court jurisprudence for improper governmental establishment of religion as well as the parameters of equal protection analysis involving suspect classes and the evolving nature of rational basis review.

The finals will be judged this year by two sitting members of State Supreme Courts: Justice Carol A. Beier (Kansas Supreme Court) and Justice Joette Katz (Connecticut Supreme Court) and is always a highlight of the entire day.

Utah Governor Doesn't Understand Basic Civil Rights

The new Governor of Utah Gary Hebert doesn't even realize how offensive he is being (or maybe he does and just doesn't care?) with the following statements:

In his most definitive comments yet on gay rights, Herbert told reporters he doesn't believe sexual orientation should be a protected class in the way that race, gender and religion are. "We don't have to have a rule for everybody to do the right thing. We ought to just do the right thing because it's the right thing to do and we don't have to have a law that punishes us if we don't," Herbert said in his first monthly KUED news conference.

In Utah, it is legal to fire someone for being gay or transgender. The gay rights advocacy group Equality Utah has been trying to change state law for several years but has always been rebuffed by the Republican-controlled Legislature. Last year, the group got Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman's support for extending some rights to gay people, although none of the bills it backed became law.

But, wait, there's more!

Herbert stopped short of condemning Salt Lake City's proposed anti-discrimination ordinance during his first appearance on the governor's monthly news conference on KUED Ch. 7, but said a fair-housing and employment law for the state's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community would unnecessarily create a new "protected class."

"Where do you stop? That's the problem going down that slippery road. Pretty soon we're going to have a special law for blue-eyed blondes," Herbert said, adding "we get bogged down sometimes with the minutiae of things that government has really no role to be involved in."

The very first follow up question should be whether Governor Hebert supports the current classes protected against employment discrimination under state and federal law in Utah, which are age, race, religion, sex, national origin, color and disability (by virtue of state and federal law) and pregnancy, childbirth or pregnancy-related condition (Utah law only. An esteemed reader wrote in to make sure I made it clear that discrimination on the basis of pregnancy is illegal under federal law as well, but I do believe that Utah's statute goes even further in prohibiting discrimination in this area than under federal law).

If he does not support those laws, then he should be called out for the anti-historical bigot he appears to be. If he does support those laws, but doesn't see any need to expand them to cover sexual orientation and gender identity, he should be educated as to the vast amount of discrimination which openly LGBT workers face all over the United States (and I expect, in Utah) unlike the mythical history of discrimination against blue-eyed blondes the Governor seems so worried about.

And isn't it shocking that it is a wealthy white male who is making these statements of how unnecessary llegal protections for minorities are. Color me surprised. Not.

Delhi Court Strikes Decriminalizes Gay Sex

Tens of millions of gay men in India are no longer presumed to be criminals.

IN A major relief to the gay and homosexual community, the Delhi High Court on Thursday (July2), said that consensual sex between two adults is legal and cannot be punished.

The verdict of the Delhi High court also decriminalised homosexuality by striking down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The court, however, made it clear that Section 377 was applicable in cases of Sodomy.

A bench of chief justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S Muralidhar, said that Section 377 of IPC needed amendment as otherwise it would violate Article 21 of the Indian constitution.

Section 377 states that homosexuality and 'unnatural sex' is a criminal act.

The decision of the Delhi High Court will now make it easier for the Union government to come out clear on Section 377. The government had given hints that it was not opposed to amending the law but had to take into account religious sentiments of different sections of the society.

The ruling came out just a few days after the second ever gay pride parade was held in New Delhi on Sunday. Congratulations!

India High Court Ruling On Sodomy Law Tomorrow

Intrepid gay reporter Rex Wockner is reporting that the New Delhi High Court will issue a ruling on the fate of India's sodomy law at 10:30am Thursday July 2nd, local time.

Keep your fingers crossed. As Rex puts it, "India is the world second-most-populous nation: 17.22% of all humans live there. That's 1,165,760,000 people. You should care about them and this."

Agreed.

Gay Boys Have Bigger Penises Than Straights?!

In light of gay marriages beginning on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times summarizes the scientific research that indicates which characteristics of humans seem to vary with sexual orientation in an article entitled "What does gay look like? Science keeps trying to figure that out." These are known as "sexual orientation correlates."

A brief summary of the research is:

These scientists are searching for innate traits that might not appear to be related to sexual orientation or even to standard clichés. So measuring a subject's shoe size is permissible; asking about ownership of Barbra Streisand albums would be cheating. Some inborn traits might be expected if homosexuality is -- as most scientists believe -- rooted in biology, and they might provide clues about the biological origins of sexual orientation.

[...]

Big brothers. Study after study -- including one of 87,000 British men published last year -- has found that gay men have more older brothers than straight men do. Only big brothers count. Lesbians don't show such patterns.

The numbers: Each older brother will increase a man's chances of being gay by 33%, says Ray Blanchard of the University of Toronto, an expert on the "big-brother effect." That's not as dramatic as it might sound. A man's chance of being gay is pretty low to begin with -- perhaps as low as 2% (lowered from 10% by researchers in the early 1990s). So having one older brother ups the chance to only about 2.6%.

[...]

Left hand vs. right hand. The hand you use to sign your name might have something to do with what gender you are drawn to.

The numbers: More lefties -- or at least more somewhat-ambidextrous folks -- crop up in the gay population than among straight people, several studies have shown. An analysis of more than 23,000 men and women from North America and Europe in 2000 found that being non-right-handed seems to increase a man's chances of being gay by about 34%, and a woman's by about 90%.

[...]

Hair whorl. How does your hair grow? This might reflect your sexual orientation.

The numbers: A 2004 study of nearly 500 men -- 272 on Delaware's Rehoboth Beach, popular with gay men, 200 on a beach without that reputation -- found that hair on the heads of men on the gay beach was 3.5 times more likely to grow in a counterclockwise direction. (Scalp hair typically resembles a clockwise-rotating typhoon.)

[...]

Penis size. If exposure to testosterone in the womb influences sexual orientation, scientists reckon that straight and gay people would differ in body parts strongly affected by testosterone, such as the penis.

The numbers: Anthony Bogaert of Brock University in Ontario and his colleagues re-analyzed data on 5,000 gay and straight men from sexologist Alfred Kinsey's famous files, collected from the 1930s to the 1960s. The results, published in 1999, showed that gay men had longer, thicker penises than did straight men: on average, about 6.5 inches long and 4.95 inches around when erect, versus 6.1 inches long and 4.8 inches around for straight men.

Hmmmm, since I have no experience with the penises of straight men, I can't really comment on this topic!

NYC Unveils New Condom For Valentine's Day

Mad Professah has been following the ongoing saga of official condom distribution plans by New York City and Washington, D.C. for quite awhile. I'm still curious as to why my fair city of Los Angeles (or one of the 99 cities found within Los Angeles County) does not seem to have such a widespread free condom distribution plan as New York.

Does this mean Angelenos are "knocking boots" less frequently than New Yawkers, or Allah forbid, are they just using less condoms?

Above is the newly unveiled condom wrapper for the Official NYC Condom, with the slogan "Get Some." In 2007, New York City gave away 3 million condoms per month, for an annual total of 36 million condoms for 8.2 million residents.

Boris Kodjoe Guest Stars On Nip/Tuck

Finally got around to watching last week's Nip/Tuck episode "Chaz Darling" which, to my delight, co-starred the excessively pulchritudinous Boris Kodjoe (Soul Food, Love & Basketball, Madea's Family Reunion) as a "successful African American lawyer in Los Angeles" who runs a heterosexual swinger's club where Black men have sex with white suburban housewives while their husbands watch.

It was great to see Boris Kodjoe on television again, he looks as phyne as ever as you can see from the picture above. The storyline was a bit problematic, although the stories about actual swingers' clubs like this have been swirling about the 'net for awhile now. On the show, Sean is freaked out after his girlfriend confides that the thought of Sean watching her getting her brains frakked out by a "Big Black Stud™" like Boris. Sean himself seems oddly titillated by his client's activities (Kodjoe comes in to the plastic surgeon's office with huge scratches down his back reminiscent of the injuries caused after a slave's whipping) although he professes disgust at the entire notion of white couples getting serviced by black men.

In another story line, the also excessively pulchritudinous AnnaLynne McCord attempts to blackmail Christian in providing a free surgery to her BGF (Best Gay Friend) played by former Queer Eye for the Straight Guy Jai Rodriguez, who does a believably fey turn as Eden's stylist.

Georgia Teen Imprisoned For Consensual Sex Act Freed

Genarlow Wilson, a now 21-year old African American man who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for aggravated child molestation for having oral sex at age 17 with a 15-year old girl at a 2003 New Year's Eve party has been freed by the Georgia Supreme Court which ruled in a 4-3 decision released Friday October 26th his sentence violated the U.S. Constitution's 8th Amendment prohibition of Cruel and Unusual Punishments.

Wilson, who was a star athlete (homecoming king) and college-bound senior with a GPA of 3.2 at the time of the videotaped incident had served nearly 3 years (32 months!) of his 10-year sentence and recently refused plea deals by the district attorney because they would have forced him to register as sex offender and prevented him from living at home with his 9-year old sister.


According to Georgia Law at the time of the 2005 jury trial and conviction, a 15-year old was below the age of consent of 16 and thus could not legally have consented to sexual relations with anyone. In response to the hue and cry over the Genarlow Wilson case, the Georgia Legislature in 2006 had included a "Romeo and Juliet" provision in the law which would prevent teenagers from being charged for having consensual sex with each other and changed the statute he was convicted under to a misdemeanor. However that new law could not be applied retroactively to Wilson so he would have to wait for either the courts or the District Attorney or Attorney General to act. Both legal officials acted to prolong Wilson's time in jail. The Attorney General of Georgia is Thurbert Baker, the highest African American elected official in the State.


Wilson said he felt no "negative energy" towards Douglas County District Attorney David McDade but instead is looking forward to going to college in majoring in sociology because he feels like he has been "living his major."