REPEAL DOMA NOW

DOMA repeal introduced. Take action here.

call in for a clean climate

Call your Senators today and tell them to pass a strong clean energy bill. Take action here.

House Dems and the Respect for Marriage Act

Great news: House Democrats are taking on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which reserves marriage for "heterosexual" couples.

Representatives Jerrold Nadler, Tammy Baldwin and Jared Polis appeared along with same-sex marriage advocates at a Tuesday morning news conference to announce the introduction of the bill, called the Respect for Marriage Act. full article

The bill already has 90 co-sponsors.

Point of clarification: I included "heterosexual" in quotation marks because the term really isn't so straight forward. If marriage is between a "man" and a "woman," that doesn't really say much in terms of biology versus gender performance/identity. In other words, if I am a trans woman whose life partner is a woman, unless I have changed my legal gender status, my relationship can operate as "man" and "wife" legally--although not so much on an everyday basis. Alternatively, if I am a trans man married to a woman, and have changed my legal gender status, I can function as "heterosexual"--but if I have not changed my legal status, I cannot function as "heterosexual," despite the fact that I pass as "hetero-" with my partner.

If I am in a same-sex female partnership, but my partner has a male gender identity, this nuances the discussion of "male" and "female" because my partner identifies as male, while being biologically female.

Clearly, I can enumerate many different scenarios. My point is, and I constantly revisit this on my blog, it is not enough to say female/male "sex" or "gender." Social conservatism insists on a specific relationship between a certain set of genitals, and a certain gender performance, i.e. biological vagina and feminine gender identity (as opposed to biological vagina and masculine gender identity); it does not allow for mix and match.

The Colonic, on the other hand, does allow for mixing and matching. So when I hear "heterosexual," there is more at hand.

woot woot

The Colonic has hit (and exceeded) 100 fans on Facebook! If you're not a fan, you can become one here.

COAL IN THE WATER, part II

Here's a picture of life near a coal companies in West Virginia:

In fact, her entire family tries to avoid any contact with the water. Her youngest son has scabs on his arms, legs and chest where the bathwater — polluted with lead, nickel and other heavy metals — caused painful rashes. Many of his brother’s teeth were capped to replace enamel that was eaten away.

Neighbors apply special lotions after showering because their skin burns. Tests show that their tap water contains arsenic, barium, lead, manganese and other chemicals at concentrations federal regulators say could contribute to cancer and damage the kidneys and nervous system.

Despite lawsuits, state regulators have not punished these companies for breaking pollution laws. read the full article

In case you missed my post urging action against Verizon for sponsoring a large pro-coal rally, check it out. Again, if you use Verizon, this is a great time to drop it like it's hot.

COAL IN THE WATER

Please check out this truly chilling clip posted on the New York Times about coal mines,water contamination, children with cancer, and multiple deaths of young people in a single small neighborhood.

Unfortunately, I can't embed the clip, so follow the link.

If you didn't catch my post about Verizon and its sponsorship of a large pro-coal rally, please take a look now. If you use Verizon, now would be a great time to switch cell phone service.

I think only vegans would find this funny...

Rush Limbaugh gets jiggy with the Humane Society

Turns out their is a softer side to Rush Limbaugh--he's an animal lover. Actually, I would say he is a pretty dedicated animal lover since he has actually recorded 2 public service announcements for the Humane Society, sparking outrage from sports groups around the country. Bud Pidgeon, president of US Sportsmen Alliance commented:

"It is our hope that once Mr. Limbaugh hears from American sportsmen and women he will understand how his endorsement aids [the Humane Society] in its quest to to destroy American freedoms such as hunting, fishing and trapping." full article

The announcements, however, have nothing to do with hunting. One encourages the religious to be stewards of god's creatures, and the other is against illegal dog-fighting.

jailed for wearing pants

All I have to say for this one is "you go girl."

The New York Times reports:

A Sudanese woman who wore pants in public was fined the equivalent of $200 but spared a whipping on Monday when a court found her guilty of violating Sudan's decency laws...Mrs. Hussein vowed to appeal the sentence and even walked into the court in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, wearing the same pair of loose-fitting green slacks that she had been arrested in.

But Mrs. Hussein refused to pay at all, facing instead a one-month prison sentence.

Mrs. Hussein said flatly: “I would spend a month in jail. It is a chance to explore the conditions in jail.” read the full article.

On Monday night, she was taken to jail, and demonstrations have erupted since. Love the sense of pride, bravery, and adventure she took in handling this issue.

what does Verizon have to do with dirty coal?

That's right. Verizon Wireless is funding an anti-environmental rally.

Verizon and Massey Energy (known for having to pay the EPA $20 million for over 4,500 violations of the Clean Water Act) are sponsoring the "Friends of America" event this weekend at a coal mine is West Virginia. The point? To rally against the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which includes provisions for cap-and-trade. The event will be filled at maximum capacity.

Enjoy the following invitation from the CEO of Massey:

"Hello I'm Don Blankenship and I'd like to invite you to a Labor Day rally in West Virginia. We're going to have Hank Williams and have a good time but we're also going to learn how environmental extremists and corporate America are both trying to destroy your jobs."

It gets better. Before this campaign was launched, CREDO Action reached out to Verizon:

Becky Bond, our Political Director, then sent a cordial follow-up to give Verizon Wireless a heads-up that our campaign had launched. Verizon replied as follows:

"This is how our response is going over with the activists. Becky once lived in a tree for a while. At least now I know where the emails are coming from."
— James Gerace, VP of Corporate Communications at Verizon Wireless

What can you do?
1) If you use Verizon, drop it like it's hot. Then tell your friends and fam.
2) Sign the petition here

protecting our trans communities: CA and the Equal ID Act

Nice work, California:

California State Senate joined the Assembly in passing the Equal ID Act by a 22-14 vote. The bill, AB 1185, sponsored by Equality California (EQCA) and introduced by Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), expands legal protections for transgender people born in California. If signed by the Governor, the new law would allow qualified transgender people born in California to return to the county of their birth and obtain a court order reflecting their correct gender and an accompanying name change, if applicable. The court order is then used to obtain a corrected California birth certificate. full article

more on male privilege

Aggravating incident on the day:

Someone told me today that he finds it irritating that our text book uses default female pronouns.

I told him that I was sorry that his male privilege was being disrupted.