lifeonq.com

Life on Q Expands LGBTIQ Resource Coverage

November 8 is Intersex Solidarity Day.

We’ve just completed the latest edition to our Resources section, your source for links, articles and news for the LGBTIQ community.  A new Intersex Information and Resources page is now online. It seems the subject of intersexuality is getting more and more attention in the last few months. There’s a great section on intersex science, history and politics on Wikipedia that defines intersexuality as “a state of a living thing (where) sex chromosomes, genitalia, and/or secondary sex characteristics are determined to be neither exclusively male nor female. An organism with intersex may have biological characteristics of both the male and female sexes. Intersexuality is the term… applied to human beings who cannot be classified as either male or female. Intersexuality is also the word adopted by the identitiary-political movement, to criticize medical protocols in sex assignment and to claim the right to be heard in the construction of a new one.”

The addition of intersex resources was inspired by a comment posted on Life on Q by Curtis Hinkle, founder of the Organisation Intersex International, requesting a link to the organization’s Website.  That led me on a Google chase of additional intersex resources.

You’ll find a link to Life on Q’s intersex resources on our Resources page, some of the most-visited content on the blog.  If you have ideas for other resource categories, post a comment or send an e-mail to editor@lifeonq.com.

Shame on Political Hypocrisy, Media Bias and Indifferent Americans

Perhaps being a “new” American, recently naturalized, makes for a more patriotic point of view.  Comedian and late night talk show host Craig Ferguson recently went on a rant about the hypocrisy of much of our political process, the asleep-at-the switch media and why voting is not sexy, but necessary.  Watch and be outraged and/or inspired.

Dems to Get Peppy at Mary’s

If, like me, you’ve had just about enough of John McCain and his attack dog, you might want to head over to Mary’s bar in East Atlanta tonight.

Mary’s is hosting a Democratic Pep Rally to encourage voter registration and raise money for the Barack Obama campaign.  In true Mary’s style, the pep rally will feature a costume contest for the best First Lady or Head of State doppleganger.  The winner gets $100 donated to the Obama Campaign in their name. There will be boys on the bar dancing to the tunes of DJ Hawg-Tied.  MC 5 Hour Boner will officiate.

Life in this red state has me blue in the face.  It’s time to do something, and what better place than at Mary’s.

Suffering Through a Night of Republican Speeches

I’m not sure I can do this without popping a vein, but I’m watching the Repulican National Convention on CNN and will live blog through it. With a stiff drink near the keyboard.

10:15 pm - Sarah Palin’s sister Heather Bruce described her sister as “one of the smartest women I know.” I wonder if she would be willing to recommend one of those smarter women she knows for Vice President. When asked about the controversy surrounding Palin’s family this week, she said the family keeps their opinions private. Hmmmm…..

10:23 pm - Rudy Giuliani just made his first reference to 9/11. He made it through 10 or 15 minutes before he used his tagline.

10:25 pm - CNN just cut to Cindy McCain holding Sarah Palin’s infant son. I’m just wondering, why do you never see the Dad holding the baby? This is the first time I’ve not seen the baby in the arms of his pregnant sister Bristol.

10:30 pm - Giuliani just used Sarah Palin’s approval rating as proof of her readiness to be vice president. And it’s true she is very popular. But if approval ratings are the measure of readiness, George W. Bush should have submitted his resignation months ago.

10:34 pm - Giuliani used the old Republican spin again. Saying the opposite of reality. Like America being an inspiration around the world. His party destroyed respect for the country. How can he claim it with a straight face?

10:36 pm - Sarah Palin is onstage. Here we go. BTW, her husband is finally holding the baby.

10:41 pm - Five minutes into the speech, and Gov Palin has only talked about McCain.

10:43 pm - Palin just introduced her family. Boy, does Levi Johnston, Palin’s “future son-in-law” looks soooo uncomfortable.

10:49 pm - Palin is going to explain to Democrats why being mayor of a small town qualifies you to be vice president. “Unlike being a community organizer, you have actual responsibilities.” Yeah, Republicans really hate do-gooders who try to help people in need. The only people in need they care about are lobbyists.

Security just hustled a protester out of the arena, who was flashing a peace sign. Amazing she got in.

10:50 pm - An attack on the media. Yes, it’s liberals and media. What a great diversion. It’s worked for Republicans since the 1980s. How long will Americans fall for that? I’ve not heard a thing yet about economic policy. Just a chant of “Drill, baby drill.” And the same old drumbeat for a fruitless and costly war.

10:55 pm - Palin is patronizing Democrats for saying that drilling offshore will not bring energy independence “as if we don’t know that.” Then, she proclaimed that was no excuse for doing nothing. What I’m wondering is, if drilling is not the whole answer, why has Sen. McCain voted against every measure for renewable energy in the Senate?

10:56 pm - Palin is accusing Obama of wanting to increase the size of government and send more orders from Washington to the American people. She’s learning from her colleague Mayor Giuliani: say it like you mean it, and conservative sheep will believe it. Nevermind the facts–that government is significantly bigger now, thanks to six years of Republican control of Washington and two more of Republican obstruction in a razor-thin Democratic majority Congress. And is she serious about “orders from Washington?” Oh, I guess anti-gay marriage amendments, airport security, warrantless wire taps and limits on abortion rights are not orders from Republicans; they are merely “suggestions.”

11:01 pm - Interesting. Sarah Palin says it was lobbyists and comfortable committee chairmen who have fought against John McCain since the primaries in 2000. Funny, everyone knows that it was George W. Bush and Karl Rove who “push polled” McCain in 2000, using McCains adopted daughter as political bait. Funny how “families are off limits” is the rule until it can benefit a Republican. And by the way, John McCain’s adopted daughter is one of only maybe three people of color at the Republican Convention. And the others are being paid to be there–like Donna Brazille, for example. And even CNN has put her and her Republican token black female commentator away from the other pundits, isolated in a viewing box above the sea of white faces. It’s so white in St. Paul, I had to pause my TiVO and go fetch my sunglasses.

11:09 pm - You have to hand it to Sarah Palin. She nailed it. It was a great speech. It was full of lies and devoid of any substance other than “War is good,” and “Drill, baby, drill.” But it was a good speech. She looks relieved. She actually took a deep breath and sigh of relief. And who can blame her. On a side note, someone should tell Levi not to chew gum on national television.

11:16 pm - CNN just halted their commentary to stand for the national anthem. An honorable gesture, but I can’t help but notice how CNN has been groveling all night. The “liberal media” and Campbell Brown’s call on the carpet with McCain’s senior strategist a couple of days ago must have really pissed off some of those rich, white Republicans who run the “liberal media.”

McCain’s Judgement Superpower — Vetting in 24 Hours or Less

With a due respect to America’s war hero, John McCain’s supporters must believe he’s also some kind of superhero.  His power:  vetting a vice president pick in just one day.  Conservative and gay blogger Andrew Sullivan (I realize that’s an oxymoron) reported today that:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was not subjected to a lengthy in-person background interview with the head of Sen. John McCain’s vice presidential vetting team until last Wednesday in Arizona, the day before McCain asked her to be his running mate, and she did not disclose the fact that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant until that meeting, two knowledgeable McCain officials acknowledged Tuesday… McCain had spoken with all of the others on his shortlist over the course of a selection process that went on for several months, but he was least familiar personally with the person he finally chose.

Sullivan, a highly respected blogger for The Atlantic,  wondered (as many have) how this revelation creates confidence in McCain’s executive skills.  Answer:  It doesn’t.  In his post, Sullivan noted another new revelation that was blogged at politico.com: Just days before being tapped for the VP nomination (on August 17), Palin attended a Jews for Jesus sermon.  A speaker at the event said that anti-Israeli terrorism was “God’s Judgment” for the Jews not converting to Christianity.  Palin was in the congregation, according to her pastor, Larry Kroon.  I wonder if her head was nodding.

If this stunning revelation does not receive equal media (and Youtube) attention to that we saw during the assault on Barack Obama caused by his pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright, we are in real trouble.  And if this country elects a man who makes knee-jerk decisions on important issues like who should be second in line for the most powerful position on the planet, then America has clearly lost all ability for rational thought.  Republicans, think.  If you truely believe your “country first” slogan, then choose your president based on facts and deliberation, not truthiness.

All’s Fair in Gov. Palin’s Family Values

Gov. Sarah Palin with her daughter Bristol and baby Trigg. This photo was found on Bristol's Myspace page over the weekend, before someone woke up and had Bristol set her profile to private. Bristol's caption on this photo is "Mommy Inlaw Trigg and Myself." Mommy Inlaw. What does that mean?

John McCain’s choice for the vice presidential nomination was a hail Mary pass to out-buzz Obama’s masterful performance in Denver’s football stadium.  But he clearly fumbled the ball.  Republican pundits are really twisting logic and reason to the breaking point with their irrational and highly ironic defense of McCain’s choice Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for vice president from a number of unflattering angles.

“Troopergate” is being dismissed on national television by trying to deflect the conversation to variations of “he (Governor Palin’s former brother-in-law) is not a nice guy at all.”  Okay.  So abuse of power is okay if you’re abusing your power to hurt someone who’s not a good person?  Will that be Palin’s defense when she talks to the investigators appointed by the Alaska State Legislature?

Meanwhile, Barack Obama is trying to take the high road, declaring Gov. Palin’s children off-limits in political discourse, referring to the controversy over Palin’s unmarried, pregnant 17-year-old daughter Bristol.  But I respectfully disagree.  I strongly, defiantly disagree.  Of course, it’s not the glaring lack of family values that a pregnant high school daughter that is the worst reflection on Palin (although clearly she should have practiced the “teach abstinence” she preaches).  What reflects unflatteringly on Gov. Palin is that she herself put her daughter in the political fray.  The governor’s statement on her daughter’s situation tells us that, unlike Senator Obama, she has no problem using her daughter for political purposes.  That is what all the national pundits are missing.  When Gov. Palin stated that she “is proud of her daughter’s decision to keep her baby,” she made Bristol a political tool.

Being proud of Bristol’s “decision to keep her baby” is Republican political code for, “See, I’m against abortion, even when my daughter has an unwanted and unplanned pregnancy.”  Sarah Palin made her daughter the political poster child for anti-choice zealots.  That is why Bristol Palin’s pregnancy is fair game.  Her mother made it political. Period.  End of story.

If Republicans and the media can’t see that, then irrationality, double standards and hypocrisy have reached heights never before seen.  They can’t be serious, can they?

No Speech from Sarah Palin and No Explanation

Alaska’s CBS affiliate is reporting that Gov. Sarah Palin, who was expected to address the Republican National Convention tonight, will not appear after all.  No explanation was given for cancelling her speech to the RNC.  (You can watch the report from KCBS here.) Could it be an attempt to calm all the controversy surrounding McCain’s choice for VP, or the beginnings of a less-than-graceful exit for Palin.  Rumors swirled on the blogosphere today that Palin would bow out of McCain’s campaign citing “family reasons.”  Should those unsubstantiated rumors become reality, McCain may prove to be a maverick after all — a man who acts impulsively and is clearly prone to making inappropriate decisions.  Listening to the pundits over the weekend kept me laughing.  They can’t possibly believe their own spin, can they?

Gov. Palin’s family troubles aside, this is a woman who is clearly unqualified to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency.  She may be tough-minded (or maybe not).  She may be popular with the Republican Party’s far right.  She may have a bright future.  But she is not ready.  Alaska’s governor is so obviously unqualified for the job, I can be nothing other than amused by Republican efforts to compare Palin’s experience with Barack Obama’s.  We’re way past April Fool’s Day, but surely this is some kind of elaborate joke.  McCain can’t possibly be serious.