Five Ways to Help Someone Quit Beating Up On Themselves

The Prompt: If you could quit one bad habit instantly without difficulty, which would it be? Putting myself down. When you grow up in a fractured fairytale, you internalize a lot of negative messages that aren’t even necessarily about you – and when you are bullied and abused by your peers, it is worse. Not only […]

Days of Our Lives – The Unfolding Story of Nick’s Homophobia (Maybe)

For the past year, DAYS has been exploring a multifaceted gay storyline involving the sweet romance of Will Horton and Sonny Kiriakis, along with the homophobia of Will’s cousin Nick Fallon. This week, we are starting to see the “explanation” for Nick’s homophobia  – he was raped in prison by a pretty scary dude, Jensen. […]

Talking About Boston and Sexual Assault and Helpers

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As I watched the news unfold last night, I felt a familiar pit in my stomach – the feeling of horror and anger and being upset and irrationally MAD about small things. I’ve never witnessed a shooting or been on the scene of such medical trauma. But I was alternating between being distraught and hunting […]

Sexual Assault and Rape Culture Are LGBTQ Issues

Trigger Warnings – sexual assault, rape, victim-blaming Coauthored with Ian Awesome. Originally posted on HuffPo Gay Voices. The conviction of two young men for raping an unconscious young woman challenges us to rethink our assumptions about youth, the legal system and sexual assault. We are both survivors of sexual assault. In the light of media responses to […]

WYEP’s Sauter on Shocked comments

I asked Mike Sauter, music director and midday on-air host at WYEP (91.3), what he thought of reports that folk singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked verbally attacked gay people during a concert in San Francisco. Have station staff members discussed the incident? “We’ve been definitely talking about the situation at the station. Shocked’s behavior is very odd, […]

Eco-Wednesday: Vinegar

Green Grandma Vinegar Fridays

Now, I’m sure some folks might be tempted to snark on the association of vinegar with moi. And while “ha ha ha” is my first response, I do admit the shoe might fit.  But recently I’ve grown interested in the use of vinegar as a healthier alternative for everyday home and personal needs. I met […]

This Week in LGBTQ – February 24, 2013

The New York Times reported on a study that found that the effects of bullying last into adulthood. Individuals who were bullied are more than 4x likely to have an anxiety disorder as an adult. Bullies who were also victims were 14.5x more likely to have a similar disorder  A Puerto Rican court has ruled […]

Another Trans Bash #Fail Tied to Melissa McCarthy

Last week, we reported on an issue with CBS using a trans slur in their sitcom “Mike & Molly” which stars actor Melissa McCarthy. The slur “shemale” was used by Mike in the show; McCarthy was not in the scene, but people called on her to speak out given the vicious attack she endured at […]