I know, we constantly hope that our country is run by people with brains, but sadly the zombies have taken over.

At first I had a hard time believing it but if the BBC says it's true, it must be, right? Apparently the Pentagon was considering building a "gay bomb." This non-lethal chemical weapon could be dropped on enemy soldiers and would, in theory, make soldiers irresistible to each other, therefore dismantling the enemy's morale by transforming them into homosexuals.

Just imagine what would happen if such a bomb fell into the wrong hands. All of a sudden anyone could be gay. Gay priests, gay children, gay grandparents, gay Christians, GAY REPUBLICANS! Evildoers could use such a device to plant homosexuals in all realms of society. No one would be safe.

But seriously, wouldn't the enemy soldiers fight harder if they were in love/lust with each other? Hmm, do I shield my love bucket or my buddy? There's also the possibility...dare I say it...that making soldiers gay might bring peace. I mean, all the queer people I know are pretty non-violent, so...maybe we SHOULD detonate gay bombs all over the world.

But seriously (again) CBS5 out in California (KPIX) reports that the Pentagon confirmed plans for building a gay bomb. The Pentagon insists that it is not, however, currently building it. A Berkley-based watchdog group that tracks Pentagon spending tells a different story. The group discovered the plans for a gay bomb under the Freedom of Information Act, CBS5 reports, BECAUSE the military began spending money on the project. 7.5 million dollars were requested for this project. Okay, but regardless of how far along the project is, the mere fact that the Pentagon is financing a thinktank of some kind in order to come up with ideas like gay bombs--I mean, damn. What about shit bombs, fire ant bombs, brussels sprouts bombs, dentist bombs, restless leg syndrome bombs, or my favorite Pamela Anderson Boob Bombs (if the enemy all grow enormous breasts they'll be too distracted and top-heavy to fight). What's YOUR favorite offensive bomb of the week? I swear the Pentagon should host a reality show where you get a gazillion dollars if your non-lethal bomb idea wins.

Sure enough, according to the BBC, the Pentagon has considered other weapons like the fart bomb and the bomb that makes rats attack you. It's totally righteous, dude.

The Guardian reports that the Christian Right has taken on the evildoers at Wikipedia. That's right, Wikipedia promotes Satanism. Wikipedia is WIKID, full of demons, evil Evil EVIL!!!. When good ol' Andy Schlafly, founder of Conservapedia, tried to edit Wikipedia entries, his changes were erased by wikid editors. He had no other option than to establish insert cherubic choir Conservapedia...and they say God smiles upon us? He's laughing his ass off.

Shlafly's vision of honest and correct encyclopedic entries can be inferred from reading the list of Wikipedia's sins posted on Conservapedia. Truth, he implies, is full of praise for Jesus and full of praise for America and full of spite towards commies, queers, and foreign languages. Oh, and by the way, "You will much prefer using Conservapedia compared to Wikipedia if you want concise answers free of "political correctness" (from the site's friendly home page).

So correctness has nothing to do with correctness, correct?

This news from India (as reported in The Guardian) is inspiring, especially considering the the names attached to the pro-queer alliance of authors and other cultural figures. They are trying to oveturn an old Victorian-era law that criminalizes homosexual acts.

One thing jumped out at me, though. I'll quote the passage and then comment:
"In an open letter, more than 100 influential signatories, including the Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen, the Booker prizewinner Arundhati Roy, and author Vikram Seth, said the law had been used to "systematically persecute, blackmail, arrest and terrorise sexual minorities" and had spawned intolerance."

Let's consider what is meant by "sexual minorities." Sure, there are less queer-identified people in any given nation than there are non-queer identified folk, and in that sense we are minorities, but where do we draw the line between queer and not-queer? And the big question: What is QUEER sex? What kind of sex makes you a minority--the kind you enjoy?

It seems to me the conservatism that seeks to oppress us is also concerned with oppressing all kinds of sexual expression--not just the queer variety. Conservatism seeks to halt sex education and replace it with abstinence-only education. It yearns to keep us not only from the dildo store, but also from discussing our fantasies in any format by sounding the pornography alarms. Never mind the fact that if it were okay for us to discuss sex more openly, there would probably be a lot less porn.

Willi Ninja, the internationally lauded voguer, died on September 2nd at 45. He was best known as one of the stars of the documentary Paris is Burning and as the muse for Madonna’s Vogue music video, and he was considered by many as the godfather of voguing. If you browse the outpouring of love from the blogosphere, however, you realize Willi Ninja was more than an artist, more than an icon—he was a force for good. Throughout his self-made career as a dancer, Willi took under his wing countless young gays and lesbians throughout New York City and elsewhere. He taught them to dance, and nurtured them emotionally, spiritually, and creatively. In the 1980’s he founded the House of Ninja—a family of dancers and apprentices who he fostered and there are now branches of the house in several American cities. Willi Ninja was not just a community leader, he was a community builder. His lifelong display of courage and compassion is an inspiration.


For thorough coverage of Willi Ninja’s inspired life and details about his death, I recommend this post on www.keithboykin.com.

Thank the divinity for parents like these.

Check out this link for an incredible story about a 5 year old mtf transgendered child. It's an article that appears in this week's Village Voice.

Would YOU fight for your child's right to exist as a gender different than its anatomical one? Do you fight for your child's right be happy?

Summer blockbusters are kicking off to a yawn, and they don't look like they're gonna get much better. I'm holding out for Gore's docudrama, An Inconvenient Truth, and XMEN.

For real film pleasure that will more than make up for the Hollywood's Crapfest 2006, check out NEWFEST's 18th annual New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Film Festival by going to Newfest.org. It's only in New York City, only from June 1st through the 11th, 2006.

The festival opens with the movie based on the television series of the same name, Strangers With Candy, starring Amy Sedaris, the politically charged Stephen Colbert, and a bunch of recognizables: Allison Janney, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Kristen Johnston, Sir Ian Holm, Matthew Broderick, and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Closing the festival will be 20 Centimeters, by Ramon Salazar, about a narcoleptic, pre-op MTF named Marieta. When Marieta falls asleep, she has show-stopping dreams swirling with choreography and music. More than just fluff, though, the film gives Marieta a big dilemma: to cut or not to cut. Sounds simple, but she's in love with a guy who likes chicks with dicks and going full female might mean more than just losing 20 centimeters of penile flesh. This raises lots of interesting questions, like: are one's genitals the source of one's happiness (and success) in love? I haven't seen the movie yet, but definitely will.

The best this about this festival is that it is truly international. Most features are accompanied by a short, so you get plenty of perspectives on issues of gender, identity, sex(uality), on and on.

Check it out. There's more to see than you could possibly have time for.

"I don't know which is worse, to be one of the living dead or to be just dead."

--From an anonymous Jamaican lesbian, as quoted in a recent feature by Gary Younge writing for the Guardian online. He provides a complete picture of the stakes of being homosexual in Jamaica, including the ways in which national identity and class affect the perception and reception of homosexuality. And as an addendum I’d suggest reading two comments posted to my entry a while back about the same issues. The entries are by Jamaicans: one taking a defensive posture against my so-called falsehoods about homosexuality in Jamaica; the other a touching expansion of the dangers faced by gays and lesbians on the island.

And if you read nothing else, check out this excerpt from Younge’s article:
“Earlier this month the Sunday Herald ran a front page headline "No homos!" in which opposition leader Bruce Golding vowed, according to the paper, that "homosexuals would find no solace in any cabinet formed by him". The statement was supported by several clergyman and a trade union leader. During the 2001 elections Golding's party used as its theme song Chi Chi man by T.O.K. Lyrics, which celebrates the burning and killing of gay men.”

I’ve got some GREAT news about Reverend Phelps. No, he’s isn’t dead yet (walking dead, maybe; heartless for sure.) but he’s pushing his crusade into self-destruct mode. Lately he and his church have been protesting at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. What’s great about it is how isolated he’s becoming. I mean, you don’t have to love gay marriage to oppose this guy’s funeral protestations. The best part (by which I mean the part that most red-flags Phelps’ lunacy) is the basis for his demonstrations: that the soldiers are fighting in a “fag army” for a “fag nation.” Wow. 2nd grade sandbox, anyone? He celebrates the sodliers’ deaths and proclaims that they’re hellbound for protecting our fag country. The second best part is that he calls the demonstrations part of his Love Crusade.

PUHLEASE.

Fag Army? Love Crusade? Uh...Circuit Party?

Apparently banning gay parents and their kids from the annual White House Easter Egg Hunt doesn’t count as “politicizing,” but allowing families with gay parents to participate IS. The religious right is busy sniffing the egg dye again. Read on here.

On Monday, March 6th, 2006, South Dakota’s governor signed into law an almost total ban on abortion. There are no exceptions except one: the mother’s life must be at risk. Not her HEALTH, but her LIFE. So, if she’s going to suffer because of the pregnancy, well that’s just Eve’s fault. And if she has gotten raped or is pregnant because of incest (consensual or not) too bad so sad. God wants her to have that child. God wanted her to get raped, too I suppose.

South Dakota Republican senator Bill Napoli said on PBS that exceptions are possible in cases of rape or incest under the provision that protects the mother’s life and when asked for an example scenario under which an exception for rape might be made, he said:
"A real-life description to me would be a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged," he said. "The girl was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married. She was brutalised and raped, sodomised as bad as you can possibly make it, and is impregnated. I mean, that girl could be so messed up, physically and psychologically, that carrying that child could very well threaten her life."