Fixing What Isn't Broken...Homosexuality and Eugenics

Why do we always mess with that big shiny button that says "DO NOT PUSH!"? Is there something genetic within the human species that sees something that looks like a bad idea and absolutely feels compelled to be mess with it?

I read a post recenty, via queerty, siting an article in the Bioethics Forum concerning one Dr. Maria New and her use of Drug she believes will reduce the "masculinazation" of female fetus's in the womb. The drug, dexamethasone, was origially used as a way to treat Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia(CAH) which causes female fetuses to have ambiguous genitalia. Other symptoms may appear later in life such as:

• Abnormal menstrual periods
• Genitals that look both male and female (ambiguous genitalia), often appearing more male than female
• Deep voice
• Early appearance of pubic and armpit hair
• Excessive hair growth and facial hair
• Failure to menstruate

Dr. New believes that an excess of Androgens in the womb is what accounts for the condition...The Problem? She also believes that the drug used to treat CAH can also potentialy be used to treat other forms of "masculinization" in the womb. The assertion has been made that this could eventually be put to use as a way to prevent lesbianism in the womb. Although Dr. New has made no such  DIRECT claim..what she does say certainly leads us in that direction...and the ramifications for future use of this drug a more than a little scary.

Gays and Religion

We live in a multi-spectral world. Sometimes that fact can be a great source of wonder... as when you realize that it takes all kinds of people to make the world go around...or that life will always hold another mystery to be pondered no matter how much we know about the world. Yet sometimes, that same capacity for infinite diversity can also be a source of frustration and strife, as when you realize that with the endless possibilities that life manifests, a few of those possibilities fly in the face of your own reason and intelectuall comfort. How we use these circumstances can be a measure of who we are as human beings. Such is at the core of the debate over whether or not gays can...or should... believe in religion. Many on both sides of the aisle believe that you cannot be gay and spiritual with any integrity. Hogwash

todays discussion is brought to you via a recent Youtube video of our Yosemite camping trip in which Tom, aka Fruityteen09 appears onscreen wearing a cross around his neck. For which a commentor immediately picked that detail out...ignoring his shirtless dive into the icy stream behind our campground...and proceeded to berate him as ignorant for wearing it. My question is....Why? Video after the jump:

Near Death Experiences of Gays and Lesbians

This is the message many of us take away from from our churches...and sometimes our families. "YOU ARE GOING TO HELL." ....Being raised in a "Traditional Christian home" and being gay can cause sever emotional conflict that sends many of us on a personal journey away from religion to resolve our sexuality and our religion of birth. For many of us in the gay community...the condemnation can cease to be external and become an ever present voice in your mind. That same stance of condemnation causes a great many gay people to walk away from religion and spirituality entirely. That's not a judgement....it just is...and that was me for a time.

The voices I had heard all my life that said that being gay was an automatic ticket to hell had ceased to be the voice of sunday morning televangelists and had become my own. The emotional weight of which, would keep me up at night. I could not close my eyes to it...mostly becuase I knew that no matter how far away I pushed it from my mind, I would have to deal with it someday....especially that someday that all of us face...the end of our lives.So...as I was coming out, I also began dealing with the question "am I going to hell?" I began reaching out to other spiritual traditions and went in search of an answer that would put that question to rest, once and for all.

Thats when I discovered near death experiences. I had heard of near death accounts but had never previously given them much attention. Finally, the light clicked on..."well, most spiritual traditions are either written thousands of years ago and have been passed down such that their veracity can be compromised in the constant retelling, and many new age philosophies seem out to sell you something....what do the people that have been through death and seen it first hand have to say?"

Homosexuality..As Seen Through The Looking Glass

For many people who think of themselves as "gay"...coming to that place of acceptance is a long and difficult process of soul searching and struggle. Our society has been such, that there is little room for middle ground. Even those who label themselves as bisexual can face resistance from both the gay and straight community, who have little tollerance for ambiguity. Also, those who refuse to label themselves at all still face all the same discrimination from a society that makes no distinction between self-identy and same-sex actions. Most of the time, we expect our world to fit neatly into the boxes that help us understand it ...and.... it may have taken us a lifetime to accept the boxes themselves. If something comes along that invalidates the way we categorize life, it can be a very threatening experience.

Case in point comes via a Queerty Write up on a Fox news article That I will now also discuss just to make sure there isn't a human being on the planet who hasn't seen it. The article discusses a recently unclassified Pentagon study of the sexuality of Pashtun men in Afghanistan. The study itself was a part of a military effort to "get to know the local population". What they found perplexes them...and if I being honest It messes with my perception a bit too...

Hear No Evil...Read No Evil

Well its Halloween again, my favorite holiday! I love all the spooky decorations and scary costumes. And whats the scariest thing out there this season? Vampires?...no. Flesh eating zombies?...wrong again. Brain sucking aliens?...Ha! you wish! The scariest thing this Halloween is.....Penguins! Yup you heard me right. Lock your doors!Hide in the closet! and put on your tinfoil hats because the penguins are coming to get your children!