More homeoboxuals

Continuing to watch The Making of Me in bits. JB's genuine emotion when a scientist reckons orientation is determined in the womb is rather sweet. But the best part so far is when he talks (with commendable respect) to the "ex-gay" guy. Firstly, because the narrator explains that John's having trouble finding any "ex-gay" guys to talk to him, with thirty of them turning him down: you can't help but think this is because they figure, in the face of Barrowman Power, their hard-won "heterosexuality" will vanish in about four seconds. >:) And secondly, the reason I'm using so many "quotation marks": the "ex-gay" guy makes it abundantly clear that he is still homosexual. For him, men are like cigarettes or chocolate - something he has chosen to abstain from, rather than something he no longer desires. This brings to mind one of those cartoons where a ravenous character sees the person sitting opposite them as a roast chicken, or in this case, a family-size block of Cadbury's.

Also, Scott pwns.

ETA: The relevance of the "nature or choice?" debate struck me as I rummaged in New Scientist and discovered UK MP Iris Robinson's shameful remarks. Homophobes claim that same-sex attraction is "not natural" and can be "cured". Decades of science knock those claims down like houses of cards. However one may personally feel or what one's church teaches: God made teh ghey.

Real-life examples of interpersonal racism

For a number of reasons, it can be hard for White people to accept that People of Colour still experience direct, personal racism. So, further to my previous postings about racial discrimination and stress, I wanted to provide some concrete examples.

I've been reading recent Annual Reports from Australia's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (just renamed the Australian Human Rights Commission), which includes case studies of some of the complaints which were upheld. (You can learn more about the complaints process itself at the site. The issue here is that there was sufficient evidence to confirm that each of these incidents really happened.)

If you're White and these incidents make your blood pressure rise, you can begin to imagine the effect they must have had on the stress levels of the POC on the receiving end. (Recall, also, that the highest risk for low birthweight amongst African American mothers was for women reporting at least three such incidents.)

( Real-life examples of interpersonal racism )