ETA: Not long after this went live, I received word that the HHS committee voted against any revision on the ban. That said, the information here is still relevant to discussions about the ban in general, and it’s my hope that discussion about a revision will come up again soon. Today marks a second day …
Category Archives: LGBQT
Reassessing Kurt
I’m having a protracted email exchange with a reader, and we’re talking about a lot of things, but most particularly Kurt, and I’m really rethinking and reevaluating his character, in response both to this conversation and other conversations I’ve had about Kurt. The thing for me with Glee, as I recently mentioned, is that the …
I Don’t Do This For Fun
Sometimes I ponder why I do this; why I write at this ain’t livin’ and FWD/Forward, even though I don’t receive compensation for the writing I do at either site1. I think it’s a question that a lot of bloggers who engage in social justice writing ask themselves periodically. Why do we do this? Why …
LGBQT Representations on Television: Doctor Callie Torres
Note; I watch Grey’s the day after it airs, so this doesn’t take anything that may (or may not) have happened in last night’s episode into account! As promised nearly a month ago, it’s time to talk about the lovely Doctor Callie Torres, played by Sara Ramirez. Full disclosure: She is one of my favourite …
Any Representation Is A Good Representation?
Glee has won a lot of awards. Several of these awards have been specifically given on the grounds of the show’s depiction of marginalised groups. A Peabody Award for ‘the musical dramedy that revolves around the motley members of a high-school choral club [that] hit especially high notes with episodes such as ‘Wheels,’ about the …
Reclamation: Marginalised Bodies, Self Labeling, and Empowerment
Today, I’d like to delve into an aspect of the discussion about language which I haven’t really talked about before, because I thought it was self evident. Only, as so often occurs when I make an assumption, I was wrong. There seems to be a profound lack of understanding about what reclamatory language is, how …
Another Reason to Avoid Exclusionary Language
There are a lot of reasons which I think are pretty compelling to avoid the use of exclusionary language, which is to say language which is sexist, ableist, racist, transphobic, homophobic, etc. I think that one obvious reason, of course, especially if you are a social justice activist, is that such language props up problematic …
What Straight Privilege Looks Like: Elderly Gay Couple Separated, Forced Into Nursing Homes, and Robbed By the County of Sonoma
This weekend, I found out about a really horrific legal case through the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Clay and Harold, a gay couple living in Sonoma County, California, were getting on in years and took a number of legal steps to safeguard their relationship. All of the steps which people who want to deny …
LGBQT Representation on Television: Kurt
Glee is returning next week, and I’m honestly still uncertain about whether or not I want to keep watching it and writing about it, because Glee is starting to feel more like homework than anything else. (And I fear the Joss Whedon-directed episode coming up; I don’t know if I am up for being simultaneously …