Horrifying piece of news. The Senate Finance Committee has voted in a 12-11 vote to restore $50 million in funding for abstinence-only education, the programs that have been proven over and over again to be ineffective in reducing teen pregnancy and STI rates. That's why a color-coded map of these statistics looks like this, in which the darker colors indicate the highest rates:


This is because many southern states are trapped in the same delusion that "just say no" actually works. But recently, even Texas was re-considering its abstinence-only programs. When Texas starts rejecting this "education," you know it's crap.

Take action on the Advocates for Youth website by contacting your senators.

The Senate Finance Committee, in a 15-8 vote, has shot down an amendment calling for a public health care option. My boy Chuck Schumer introduced another amendment with a different version of a public health care plan, which was defeated by 13-10. He says the fight is not over.

I'm hugely disappointed by this news. But Senator Schumer's dedication made me feel slightly better; I know that there are politicians and citizens who support health care reform, and we can only hope that eventually, we can live in a country where we're not going broke to pay for health care or being rejected for coverage because of a "preexisting condition."

Also, in an opinion piece in Huffington Post by Robert Creamer, he argues that the mere fact that ten Democrats voted to support a public option shows growing support for health care reform. Read it if you want to feel a bit better about this whole thing. In a way, it is pretty amazing that the public option did receive a significant amount of votes - though we wouldn't completely switch to universal health care, mere "reform" makes Americans shake in their boots. Here's me hoping that in time, those so afraid of change will come to their senses.

On October 17th, some friends and I will be participating in the Hudson Valley AIDS Walk. I'm very excited for the walk, and I want to raise as much as possible to help fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic. To my knowledge, I've never known anyone affected by AIDS, which is lucky considering that over one million people in the U.S. are living with it, but it's important to me to help any way I can. If you're in New York, consider participating in the Hudson Valley walk, or maybe search for a walk near you!

If you can, I would really appreciate anyone who can donate a bit to sponsor me. You can visit my fundraising page to donate online with a credit card - it's totally secure. Many thanks to anyone who can give :)

I wanted to share this with all of you. I was recently tagged in this photo on Facebook that someone took for my campus newspaper. It's from when nutty extremists came to our campus last year to preach hatred against gay/lesbian people, and as a large crowd of students formed around them, I ran back to my room to make a sign that said "GOD LOVES EVERYONE" and stood on a bench in front of them. They were not happy. But everyone else was.

We know all too well the infamous "preexisting condition" debacle when it comes to health care coverage, which Obama's plan seeks to destroy. We hear horror stories of people being denied coverage for the most ridiculous of reasons, such as a woman with breast cancer who needed a mastectomy but was ultimately denied by her health care provider because she forgot to cite a case of acne.

It happens every day.

But... domestic violence as a "preexisting condition"? It's true. Women in Washington D.C., Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming are being denied health care coverage because they have been targets of abuse in the past.

This policy blatantly punishes women for the actions of their partners; actions which they had little or no control over. It truly confirms my belief that insurance companies lack hearts when they further complicate the lives of cancer patients, the elderly, and now domestic violence survivors.

Health care reform NOW. Seriously. I'm tired of this shit.

In an interview with CNN, Bill Clinton explained that he has changed his personal stance on same-sex marriage. Whereas before he was opposed to it, now he believes in giving same-sex couples marriage rights, though he still thinks it should be left to the states.



It's easy to admit this stance when he's not in the White House, because being President of the United States and fully supporting same-sex marriage means political suicide. I truly think that Obama has no personal opposition to marriage rights for all, but knows that he can't express it. Ten years down the line... maybe.

The Florida Secretary of State's office approved the language this week for a "personhood initiative" proposed by Personhood Florida and the American Life League. The ballot measure would amend the state constitution to say that:

The word 'person' and 'natural person' apply to all human beings, irrespective of age, race, health, function, condition of physical and/or mental dependency and/or disability, or method of reproduction, from the beginning of biological development of that human being.

The amendment seeks to outlaw ALL abortions, even in cases of rape and incest, and criminalizes most forms of birth control and well as emergency contraceptives.

In order to be on the 2010 ballot, supporters must gather over 675,000 signatures by February. From there, it requires 60% approval from voters to amend the state constitution.

Personhood intiatives have been pushed by anti-choice activists in several states (all failed in the 2008 election). They are dangerous measures, and similar amendments are currently being pushed in Colorado and Montana.

This isn't just defining a fetus as a "person," this is giving a fetus more rights than a grown woman. You would think that if both woman and a fetus are defined as a "person," they would have equal rights... but that's hardly what anti-choicers are seeking to do. Their plan is to take bodily rights away from women altogether.

On the new New York Times Magazine cover is a feature story on coming out in middle school.


I think it's wonderful they showcased the plight of young gay teens. You can read the entire story online - it's worth a look!

This is ah-mazing.

Senator John Kyl (AZ-R): *grumblegrumble* I don't need maternity care in my health insurance! *grumblegrumble*
Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI-D): I think your mom probably did.



(h/t to Feministing!)

For... fun? I guess? MSN.com put together a list of ridiculous and horrifying laws against women around the world. It includes:

A woman was arrested at a Saudi Arabia coffee house for sitting at the same table with a male co-worker.

A woman was convicted earlier this summer for drinking a beer in public.

One woman says she wasn't allowed to swim in a Paris pool because she was wearing a "burquini."

Undoubtedly, it's a good thing to call attention to the injustices against women around the world, but I wish MSN decided to take it more seriously. If you visit the site, you'll see they treat the whole list as laughable, and their main picture is this:




First of all, the woman convicted for drinking beer in Malaysia was not white with blond hair, nor was she smiling because, um, she was sentenced to caning.

Sure, in a sense, these laws are almost laughable because they are so ridiculous, but we only laugh at them because we cannot imagine the kind of life these women have to live. For us it might be a joke, but for them it's reality.

FINALLY! The Census Bureau has released data on same-sex couples, after Bush refused to release this data in 2000, citing the Defense of Marriage Act as justification. This newly released data estimates how many Americans over the past eight years have been living in a same-sex partnership or marriage. The most recent numbers show that nearly 150,000 people said they had a same-sex spouse, and approximately 415,000 identified as "unmarried partners."


According to AlterNet, the number of same-sex spouses dropped this year only due to "improvements to ACS survey design and tabulation procedures" and not a drop in same-sex demographics.

The kind folks over at 15andCounting, an activist site/blog that discusses issues surrounding sex, sexuality, and reproduction, put together a "Feminist Blogs We Love" post. Appetite for Equal Rights made the list! And so did several other wonderful feminist blogs. Check out the list and pay each blog a visit.

And be sure to look over the 15andCounting website - it's a really great campaign. Here's a video with more information on what they do:

Men get football, a highly popular sport taken so seriously that, when in season, people bet money on it, talk about it constantly with friends and strangers, Tweet about it, and dedicate their Sundays to it.

We... get lingerie football.



There's an entire league, in fact. The Lingerie Football League. The website looks like a standard website for any sports league, with game recaps and team standings, except for the half-naked models of course.

If you watch the videos of the games, you'll see that a lot of these women are tough as nails, surviving tackle after tackle, in which their bare skin is dragged across the ground because they aren't allowed to wear clothes. The sad part is that no one seems to watch this sexist sport to admire the athletic ability of women.

Forgive me if I skip the next LFL game.

Sorry, friends, for not writing for a few days. I was home with my family for the holiday weekend. But I'm back!

I attended a Rosh Hashanah service this past Saturday at the same temple I've been attending since I was a wee Jew. I was very happy to see that:

A.) All services are now conducted from gender-neutral prayer books, which replace words like "King" and "Him" with "God" and "Sovereign One."

B.) My rabbi, who I adore, gave a sermon on the state of Israel, and he acknowledged that the nation is far from treating all as equals. As an example, he mentioned the shooting at a gay and lesbian center in Tel Aviv in August. A gunman opened fire at the center, killing two people and wounding at least fifteen. I was extremely grateful that my rabbi addressed GLBT rights - it was very appropriate, considering a passage we had read earlier in the service from our prayer books read, "We shall grant others the same rights we claim for ourselves."

Though I don't 100% identify with Judaism (the God stuff throws me off sometimes), I still wholeheartedly appreciate the religion and how accepting it can be.

A new study finds that teen birth rates are highest in the most religious states:

The relationship could be due to the fact that communities with such religious beliefs (a literal interpretation of the Bible, for instance) may frown upon contraception, researchers say. If that same culture isn't successfully discouraging teen sex, the pregnancy and birth rates rise.

File this under: "what we've been saying all along."

And better than ever.

Following an incident that received news coverage in which a white student was beaten up on a school bus by black students, Rush Limbaugh had a thing or two to say:

You put your kids on a school bus you expect safety but in Obama's America the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering 'yeah, right on, right on, right on.' Of course everybody said the white kid deserved it he was born a racist, he's white.

Wait... who said the kid deserved it? Oh right, no one.

While the video of that student being brutally beaten was undoubtedly horrifying, you have GOT to be kidding me when you blame it on Obama. Rush, do you honestly think that Obama would applaud ANY child being beaten up, regardless of race? You need to have your head examined.

Rush Limbaugh and his lackies need to stop trying to play the victim. People of color are slowly climbing up to the white man's level, racism is (hopefully) disappearing as time goes on, and equality now doesn't seem like a myth... and Rush is going to stand there and claim that his poor white man status is in jeopardy? BOO FUCKING HOO.

Build a bridge, and get your racist ass over it.

Funny sidenote: police reported that the crime was probably not racially motivated. So shut it, Rush.

Head on over to the Huffington Post to check out their "7 Most Inappropriate Products For Children." Among the 7: baby's first high heels (which I wrote a post on awhile back), a baby doll you can breastfeed, and booby tassles for your little one. Weird stuff.

I want to send my condolences to the family of the anti-abortion activist, Jim Pouillon, who was gunned down outside a high school, as well as to the family of the business owner who was killed shortly after by the same man. Luckily, the murderer's third target was able to flee.

However tragic these deaths are, I want to take a minute to acknowledge that the death of the anti-choice activist is by no means relatable to the death of abortion provider Dr. Tiller.

While I am sure that anti-choice groups will attempt to use this to show that they are the "oppressed victims" as well, I refuse to admit that there is any kernel of truth in that. As Lauren of Choice Words points out, there are significant differences between the two murderers, namely the fact that Scott Roeder, the fellow who killed Dr. Tiller, was a known anti-abortion activist, a staunch and devout anti-choicer, whereas Harlan Drake, the killer of the anti-abortion protester, is not known to be a pro-choice activist and has not expressed any sort of pro-abortion rights sentiments, except to say that he "didn't like" the protester's graphic signs depicting late-term abortions.

HUGE difference.

I'd be surprised if you haven't yet heard about the disappearance of Yale student Annie Le. There are many reasons as to why this story is so widely covered by various news channels and websites: Annie was young, pretty, smart, and set to be married the weekend after she disappeared. It's typical that this story would be appealing, but it doesn't make it any less sad.

For me, this story hits close to home. My father called me, mentioned the story, and asked, "Do you know who her fiance is?" Turns out... I know him, as someone who went to my high school, attended my temple, and is close with a handful of my friends. I was good friends with his sister for many years. To see the photos of him and Annie in the news is strange and upsetting. Stories like this are always hard to hear, but it seems to hurt a bit more when I know the people involved. Somehow, it becomes more real.

Now, police have found remains hidden in a wall in a basement, and they seem to think it's Annie, though a positive identification has not yet been made.

I want to send my condolences to Annie's family, and her fiance (his name I will not mention) and his family. My heart goes out to them during this extremely difficult time. I cannot imagine finding out my daughter, sister, friend, or wife-to-be has disappeared without a trace. Though police have a suspect, they are still virtually clueless as to what exactly happened.

Articles say that Annie was never really concerned about walking alone on her campus. I walk alone on my campus all the time, so it sends a shiver down my spine to think about this. Violence against women is all too prominent; a woman isn't even safe in broad daylight on an Ivy League campus in a locked building.

When you examine the statistics, the overwhelming numbers, that display the frequency of violence against women, it's easy to forget that there is a face attached to each of those numbers. Violence against women can happen anywhere and to anyone... in fact, with the rate so high, you would be lucky to go through life without it happening to someone you know.

There's a new AIDS awareness campaign in Germany, and it's hardcore controversial. Rightfully so.

Put out by the German charity, Regenbogen ("Rainbow"), the campaign tries to compare AIDS to a mass murderer - which, admittedly, it is. But the way they go about this is questionable. The posters designed for the campaign show women having sex with Hitler, Saddam Hussein, and Stalin:




There is also a very disturbing commercial to go along with it (not safe for work).

First of all, the highly pornographic nature of this campaign doesn't sit right with me. Is it necessary to depict sweaty graphic sex with thin gorgeous women to convey a message about AIDS?

Second of all, I agree with Chen of Choice Words: "This comparison of AIDS to Hitler is easily read as a comparison of a person with HIV with Hitler. It stigmatizes and demonizes the person with HIV."

I understand that this ad is meant to compare the disease to a mass murderer, but I think it can be easily misinterpreted to label the people living with HIV/AIDS as the "murderers." As we know, each HIV/AIDS case is unique, so we cannot assume that all people living with the disease are clueless and careless and go around spreading it.

I honestly have to give some props to the creators of this campaign because of its creativity, and I know that their intentions are good, but we don't need any more animosity directed towards people with HIV/AIDS.

Stories like this make me really grateful that I live in the U.S.

A student in Afghanistan, Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, was sentenced to death for distributing information regarding the role of women in Islam. He was convicted of "distributing blasphemous material."

"Blasphemous material"!!!

Thankfully, he has now been freed, but as his brother publicly stated, "Pervez should never have been put in that position." All he advocated for was the bettering of women's lives.

There's an interesting article in Newsweek, entitled "See Baby Discriminate." It explores how and why babies and toddlers see differences between white people and people of color. The article cites several different studies that tested how children see race, similar to the infamous black doll vs. white doll study:



Most studies seem to go somewhat like this:

Vittrup's first test of the kids revealed they weren't colorblind at all. Asked how many white people are mean, these children commonly answered, "Almost none." Asked how many blacks are mean, many answered, "Some," or "A lot." Even kids who attended diverse schools answered the questions this way.

Not surprising. Racism is a cycle, perpetuated by parents passing on either their racist views or their let's-never-talk-about-race philosophy:

Combing through the parents' study diaries, Vittrup realized why. Diary after diary revealed that the parents barely mentioned the checklist items. Many just couldn't talk about race, and they quickly reverted to the vague "Everybody's equal" phrasing.

Of all those Vittrup told to talk openly about interracial friendship, only six families managed to actually do so. And, for all six, their children dramatically improved their racial attitudes in a single week. Talking about race was clearly key.

But...

Others think it's better to say nothing at all about the president's race or ethnicity—because saying something about it unavoidably teaches a child a racial construct. They worry that even a positive statement ("It's wonderful that a black person can be president") still encourages a child to see divisions within society.

The fact of the matter is... there are divisions within society. I think more than anything it's important to educate our children about prejudice and stereotypes and injustice so they can understand what they will encounter out in the world.

If I ever have a daughter, I plan to sit her down and explain, "Some people might try to make you feel like you can't do certain things because you're a girl, but know that you can do anything you put your mind to. Don't let them get you down." To me, ignoring the state of our society is a surefire way to end up with confused children who think "black people are mean." Talking is key.

Because Caster Semenya has defined muscles and can run faster than most people we've seen, she couldn't possibly be 100% female. Undoubtedly, the right thing to do is to subject her to grueling, intricate, and humiliating "gender testing" to confirm our gender stereotypes - that Caster is only so fast because she is part male or all male.

In the mean time, just to "prove" that Caster can fit the narrow role of a "real" woman, certain people thought it necessary to give her a feminine makeover. Take that, gender testers, Caster can rock high heels and lipstick, so she must be a woman.

It doesn't matter that Caster has gotten this crap all her life, we simply must know Caster's sex... we must categorize her... it's like a challenge that our society has become obsessed with, similar to every Saturday Night Live character who encounters the famously androgynous Pat.

And now we've discovered that Caster - our "Pat" - is a hermaphrodite, but some argue that no, she isn't a hermaphrodite, and her poor mother just wants people to back off, and now Caster has withdrawn from a race because she "isn't feeling well."

I just want to shout at everyone to STOP.

Don't you all see? This is why it is just impossible to classify people using those two simple symbols you see on bathroom doors - the people who wear skirts, and the people who don't. Caster's case is not unique. About 1.7% of the U.S. population has been born intersexed, and in South Africa the number is 1 in 500. It may seem insignificant because it seems like we only really care about the majority of the population, not the minorities, but cases like Caster's show that real people have to suffer from this every day... and I'm not talking about intersexuality; I'm talking about gender roles.

People may pity Caster for the horrific "confusion" she must suffer from, not knowing what she "really" is, but what is the greater injustice here? The fact that she was born this way, or the fact that society feels it necessary to penalize her for it?

No need to blame her testosterone levels. I blame us.

Just read a heart-breaking article about a surge in the killing of gay men in Iraq. Homosexuality is not illegal in Iraq, but LGBT Iraqis are still the target of abuse, discrimination, and hatred.

As the world hails Iraq's supposed return to normality, the country's militias -- the same ones that spent years waging a sectarian civil war -- have found a new, less apparent target: men suspected of being gay. The systematic killings, which began earlier this year, reveal the cracks behind Iraq's fragile calm. Iraq's leaders may talk of security and democracy from behind barbed wire in the Green Zone, but the surge of murders against gay men is a stark sign of how far Iraqi society still has to go.

During a 10-day Human Rights Watch research trip to Iraq in April, we heard harrowing stories of torture, abductions, kidnappings, extortion, and murder. We listened to dozens of men who had faced violence at the hands of armed militias, attacked by youths with guns for violating the unwritten codes of Iraqi masculinity.

In August, Human Rights Watch released a full report detailing the "wide-reaching campaign of extrajudicial executions, kidnappings, and torture of gay men that began in early 2009." Read it for more information.

Not ashamed at all to admit that I cried at this State Farm commercial. Major props to State Farm for having a commercial filled with diversity - and notice how they show a woman soldier returning to her family! Made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

My favorite part:

It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions.

Inevitably, there's controversy surrounding this speech. Some are claiming that Obama is putting too much pressure on students to "fix" the country, but I saw this speech as a message of encouragement. Students are the future, and it's important to encourage them to see school as an opportunity to discover their passions and talents.

Also, conservatives are claiming that in addressing children, Obama was trying to "sell" his political agenda. Parents protested the speech, carrying signs with such phrases as: "Mr. President, stay away from our kids."

As far as I know, it is extremely common for presidents to address children and schools, and as far as I know, Obama didn't say the words, "SOCIALISM GOOD DEMOCRACY BAD" to the children, so where is the problem again? E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post says it well:

Upon Barack Obama's election, even my most conservative friends who supported John McCain said Obama could do a world of good for poor children in the country by stressing the importance of education, hard work, staying in school and taking responsibility. Yes, those are often thought of as conservative values.

But when Obama proposed to do just that on the first day of school, the far right -- without asking any questions or seeking any information -- decided to pounce, on the theory that everything Obama did should be attacked relentlessly as part of some secret and dangerous ideological agenda.

The Republicans must be terrified of Obama turning our children into zombies:

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is the first official contender for the late Senator Ted Kennedy's empty seat. If elected, she will be the first woman to represent Mass. in the Senate. Currently, there are a measly 17 women in the Senate, which is far from acceptable.

I'm not 100% sure on Coakley's stance on various political issues, but she did support Hillary Clinton in last year's election. Hopefully more information about her will emerge, and hopefully more women will enter the race for Kennedy's empty seat.

If you've been reading my blog for awhile now, you probably know that I don't usually go three days without an update. Truth be told, my laptop is out of commission right now due to a nasty virus, and won't be up and working until the techies on my campus reformat the entire thing. Boo. I'm taking it in first thing Tuesday morning, so hopefully I'll be back and updating by Wednesday.

Aaaaand... something I'm totally super excited for: I got a half-hour talk show covering women's issues on my campus radio station. I'm thinking of calling it Viva La Woman! and my first broadcast should be later this week. I'll be sure to post a link where you can listen to a live stream before the date. My plan is to discuss any current happenings and issues, much like I do in here.

Suggestions on anything you think I should do/talk about on the show? I've been on the radio before, but I'm a little nervous because this is going to be an ongoing show, and I'm all by my lonesome. So, tips would be fabulous.

Thanks for being patient with the lack of updates, and I'll do the best I can until the laptop's fixed!

I love when gay guys come in and fix my life!



Back off, Bryan Safi is mine.

This is a trailer for a new horror movie called "Sorority Row."



Try to count how many times you see a sorority girl in her underwear or a bikini.

It's no coincidence that this film centers around sorority girls. This is what horror movies love to do. They often picture sexy women in skimpy outfits drinking, having sex, showering... all to turn young male viewers on. While they are turned on, a killer shows up and slashes her to bits. Male horror movie directors (not surprisingly, "Sorority Row" has been written and directed by only men) are experts at mixing sex with violence.

The original "Scary Movie" parodied this in an opening scene featuring Carmen Electra, where she is running away from a killer and yet still has time to remove her clothes and frolic in the sprinklers (ignore the terrible part in which he stabs her breast implant):



I love horror movies, but it is a struggle to find ones that don't feature women as sex objects or airheads who deserve to die. Perhaps the original "Psycho" is to blame, as its most famous scene features the attractive female lead being stabbed to death while in the shower. Or maybe our society just loves abusing women.

How do more people not realize how dangerous this is? With instances of violence against women happening at appalling rates, why are male filmmakers continuing to put out movies that show killing in a sexy way? Intentionally killing women - killing anyone really - is a heinous act, yet these movies are portraying murder as something one can shrug off, because they always kill the female characters who seem to lack brains and ensure that the victim has already been naked at least once during the movie, so who cares if she dies because I already got to see her tits.

I'm stoked to see Diablo Cody's new movie, "Jennifer's Body." It centers around a possessed high school student, played by Megan Fox, who kills off her male classmates. While I don't condone killing men... isn't it in a way refreshing to finally see a movie that doesn't feature men killing women? And I guarantee the men in this movie won't be running around in skimpy clothing and table-dancing at parties before their deaths.

With Vermont's legislation allowing same-sex marriage going into effect yesterday, several couples got married today just after midnight. Ain't it grand? :)

The photo above is of Bill Slimback and Bob Sullivan, who have been together for 17 years. They were one of the first couples to tie the knot. Love is so beautiful... I seriously think that all those who are against same-sex marriage lack either a heart or a brain.

Thank goodness we have "Prop 8: The Musical" to set 'em... straight: