Obama and the gays

Good blog post on Lesbiatopia about the guy that's swearing in Obama. Absolutely shocking that he compares incest and polygamy to gay marriage (even though he is sort of led down that route by the interviewer).

The online gay encyclopedia

Found this great website, an encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer culture: www.glbtq.com. I particularly like the notable birthdays on the homepage - whoever knew how many historical gay people there are?

It's a great resource and it's good to know that stuff like this is so readily available.

Let us have Lindsay - just for a bit at least

Lindsay Lohan is probably bisexual, which is cool, but why is this a problem for the celeb media? They've lost a good one, we've gained a good one and now there is a miniscule chance that I might have sex with a hollywood star.

Below is a picture of Lindsay doing normal Lesbian stuff:




If you google Lindsay Lohan all you find is articles speculating on her sexuality. Here is one I found: Lindsay Lohan denies she's a lesbian. Which is probably because she's not, she's probably bisexual. There seems to be this inability to let dear sweet child actress Lindsay become not straight - to leave the world of heterosexuality. Even if she does break up with Sam Ronson and go out with a guy, let us have her just for a little bit.

Gays have more to say

I came across this article, One in five US gays and lesbians writes a blog, and it got me thinking that maybe gays have more to say. I realised quite quickly that this was ridiculous, but it may well be that for the first time gays have an outlet where they can speak their minds. That's pretty much why I started this blog.

I have a theory that because gay people had to really consider their sexuality, when they were a teenager or as they were coming out, they understand a lot more about it. There is something about spending the majority of your time between the ages of 12 to 18 considering why you find the same sex attractive that must alter your psyche.

And that is why we love to blog?!

Humble observations on G3

I recently decided to flick through a G3 mag I'd had pressed upon me by an old girlfriend - billed as a ''must read for a laughable excuse of what ostensibly constitutes a colour print worthy lesbian publication.'' I have to admit that I tend to agree & wish I hadn't bothered.. it's universally rubbish.

Six pages in, I'd already found fault with the following:
* a ridiculous quiz offering farcical options like: "answer c) lie at her feet, weeping and threatening to kill yourself" - oh yes, because we're all mentally imbalanced aren't we..

* numerous ads for the cats protection league/dogs trust/residential property/cosmetic breast enhancement - seriously wtf???? - the latter ad in particular made me so mad I nearly launched it across the office (in the general direction of the shredder) in a fit of rage!

* the transparent interview quotes from straight celebrities hinting at their sexual ambiguity thus providing arguably the slimmest possibility that the readership could in fact bed them..

and

*an article on culturally endemic battered wives from a biased and wholly subjective/culturally offensive standpoint - don't get me wrong, of course it should be subject to discourse and obviously these particular horror stories do go on, but the way the "journalist" has chosen to write about it as a shopping list of atrocities is just so so wrong.

Still, despite my disappointment at yet another out of touch lesbian magazine, I thought the 'scene style' section was a nice touch - where the photographer had chosen to snap girls out on the town adorned in interesting accessories and bothered to find out the cost and locale. And the listings were pretty navigable too. But other than that, yep. Rubbish.


I've joked on more than one flight of whimsical fancy of clubbing together with a few media savvy mates and putting something out there to rival the likes of Diva and G3.. ("It shall be called Diver and henceforth would point blank refuse to interview P!nk, even if her publicist came begging at the door.."), but unfortunately the name has already been taken by a maritime enthusiast rag, and frankly, who's got the time, money or inclination when I can vent my spleen via the medium of blog (Cheers Tashie dude).

However, I will endeavour to put into production my other publishing pipe dreams - watch this space for my upcoming title, the Lesbian Guide to Sex - Pop Up Edition (as an educational tool for the men in your life who insist on asking how to make love to a woman - to which I always convivially reply, "You're a guy, and you're asking me..? Got a pen on you? You might want to write this down..)

and, the Lesbian Almanac/Guidebook - I'm thinking.. some kind of Lesbian starter-kit manual, with complimentary car bumper sticker & vouchers for Doc Martens.

Aren't militant Lesbians great

A T-shirt made by the Lesbians of Hackney, it kind of makes me wish I was more militant, or that I had something to be militant about. Everywhere I've ever worked everyone has been so happy that I'm gay, that they work with a lesbian. I often think of the drama I would have gone through had someone hated me. But they never have. Maybe I'm lucky, I don't know, but here is a great article on Lesbian history. This made me think.

We should all start talking about bisexuality

For a little while now I've been reading Penny Red and I was struck by her recent post Gender fucked: what does 'healthy womanhood' look like? The honesty of the post is really important, mainly because she is tackling very difficult subjects that many people feel awkward reading. Other blogs have tackled the gender issues, but nowhere have I found the kind of discussion she opens up about bisexuality.

I am not bisexual and so I can't begin to understand what it's like to be so, but what I do know is how straight and gay people react to bisexual people. During my time at university I was a member of the LGBT. I observed that if you were bisexual and dating someone of the same sex you were welcome and everyone's best friend. However, if you were dating someone of the opposite sex you were slightly outcast. You were of course welcome, because no one would have said that you weren't, but there was a feeling of 'you don't need us anymore, you're one of them now'.

A very close friend of mine and a fellow member of the LGBT had this exact experience when she started seeing a guy (who she is now married to). She stopped coming to events and socialising with the society as she felt people didn't want her there. As a bisexual woman she was unclear of her place. She wasn't straight or gay, but she fitted better into the world of heterosexuality. But she didn't want to leave the world of gay, where she had found a place that for a while she had felt most comfortable.

I find it sad that a lot of gay people can't accept bisexual people. I think they think, 'they have it easy, they have the choice to be part of "normal society"', which is complete bollocks. Bisexuality just has it's own set of issues that people have to work through. Many bisexual people have said that they envy me knowing what I am, which did help me to understand how difficult their own sexuality is to deal with. I also don't think that individuals can answer this, it is part of the subconscious of society. It's just important that we talk about it openly and through discussion attitudes will change.

How far we've come

Amongst friends, in the workplace and (mostly) in general public it's not that difficult to be a lesbian in the twenty first century. This is just from my personal experience, but I want to share what it's like to be a lesbian today and hopefully create a community for others to share their own experiences.

History is littered with examples of women who have loved women and gone to sometimes extreme lengths to be together. The Story of Barbara Hill is pretty sad and really shows how society has progressed. The thing that really struck me was that there is so little detail, but you can imagine how horrific the situation must have been for them both. Also, it was a pretty stupid risk to take to try and join the army.

If only these women could have seen what we have today.