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  "Gay caveman" ‘Transgender’ skeleton discovered– A 5000 year old skeleton identified as male by preliminary examination was buried in a manner usually reserved for females.
The skeleton, which dates back to about 2,500 to 2,800 B.C.,[was part of a culture that] was very finicky about grave rituals, reported Iranian news network Press TV, which visited the excavation site….Corded Ware males were usually buried on their right sides with their heads facing east [accompanied by weapons] This man, however, was buried on his left with his head facing west [accompanied by household items] — a traditionally female position.
Discussion still continues about news outlets calling it a ‘gay caveman.’
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  Bell Hooks Today I have had this “Less Hate More Love” crap shoved down my throat. Now that I have your attention- let me tell you- I think the world does need a lot of love. Our society causes many of us to be broken, traumatized, fragmented, and isolated. Good politics and good practices should help us heal, bring us closer, and should inspire us to love openly. However; the idea that we should approach all of our interactions and root our analysis only in love is not only simplistic- it is anti-feminist, silencing, and counters much of what we value throughout history.
Most of my feminist upbringing and socialization is directly related to the works of bell hooks. I love bell hooks and her contributions to race, class, and gender politics are invaluable. However; in the past couple of years she has turned her attention away from political struggle to more of an individual and spiritual look of oppression. She has also not pushed herself to engage with queer/gender/sex positive theories and practices. I recall some of her analysis of BDSM and feminism to be downright sex negative. However; for a long while as a youth I took nearly everything she said as gospel and still hold her near and dear in my heart. Even some of the spiritual woo-ness that she espouses has sort of a place in revolutionary political struggle. However; that place is not in the foreground. Her most recent article Building a Community of Love upsets me for many reasons. Her revisions radical history, her conclusions of radical work, and the simplistic nature that she posits valid political struggle get to my point of why it is positing our world in a love vs. hate is damaging and ineffective.
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  Ask the meat man I was inspired to write about Berlin Reed aka the Ethical Butcher because of his BCN/PDX Spring Slabs deals, but Berlin is a busy guy and I just had to take this opportunity to ask him a whole host of queries. Luckily, he was amenable to answering all my questions ranging from butchery to blogging.
Scroll down to the bottom and hit up page 2 for full information on how to order your spring slabs and descriptions of their mouthwatering flavors. Act soon because ordering ends Thursday!
qPDX: What made you decide to bring Slabs and Slices back to Portland? Where else have you brought it?
Berlin: Well, I do these bacon cures and bacon events as part of one of my projects, The Bacon Gospel. I have been doing installments of the project for over 2 years now, this is just the latest one. I did the Winter Slabs & Slices back in December and now it’s time for Spring Slabs! I am really liking the seasonal aspect of it, it sort of gives it a little more structure to BCN/PDX, the Portland leg of the project, and lets me time events through the year a little more predictably. I did Bacon Gospel events in Brooklyn, Seattle, Portland, Cincinnati in the first year, and returned to Brooklyn in February.
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  DJ Freddie Fagula holds a feminist icon sculpture in support of Planned Parenthood Planned Parenthood has been in the news a lot lately, fighting for there very existence. But even when PP is “completely” funded, there scope is technically limited to the prevention of baby-making. Lots of women take advantage of their medical services, contraceptives and other resources. But not every woman needs the meds or paps because she has sex with men, and while plenty of us fudge the truth in order to get services local PP workers knew that this policy was unfair and wanted to do something about it. That’s why they created the Equal Access Fund.
The Equal Access Fund, established by PPCW, gives low-income lesbians, bisexual women and trans people the same access to affordable annual exams and Pap tests as low-income heterosexual women, and increases access to health care to an underserved population. The fund removes the requirement of seeking contraception to access no-cost annual exams.
I a recent survey in three Portland health centers, front-line staff members estimated that in a single month, six lesbians decided not to access services because they could not afford them and were not eligible for CCare. We estimate that annually 150-175 women in our service area decide not to access services because they cannot afford it.
We also suspect that man more low-income lesbian, bisexual and trans patients at PPCW request and take home contraception they don’t require because they need help from FPEP to pay for their services This subterfuge puts up additional barriers between patients and their health care providers, making an honest discussion about relationships, sexual behavior and risk factors even more difficult for women who may be already hesitant to speak freely.
Consistently facing financial woes, the completely donor funded EAF is holding a trivia night benefit tomorrow night at Crush (1400 SE Morrison). We got a chance to sit down with some of the organizers on the eve of their big fundraiser to ask a little bit more about the program.
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  The original Bash Back protest November 2008 in front of Mt Hope Church in in Delta Township, Mich. (Photo courtesy of Bash back! Lansing) I don’t know too much about this story but will expound as more details are revealed. In the meantime, this press release, which I accessed through Facebook, does a pretty good job of explaining the basics:
Portland, OR– On Wednesday, March 16th, Google will be forced to hand over the email accounts of two queer activists from Portland, Oliver Hayes and Kat Enyeart, to the evangelical Mt. Hope Church in Lansing, MI. This subpoena is a part of a civil suit against the queer organization Bash Back stemming from a non-violent protest and political theater action that disrupted a church service at Mt. Hope Church several years ago. Both Portlanders are subpoenaed because of their alleged ties to the organization. However no factual evidence has been produced to support such a relationship [emphasis mine] existing and both deny membership in the organization.
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  An academic friend in the midwest sent this call for papers my way and I figured Portland, being so famous for the bearded, men and ladies, queer and hetero, needed a voice. So I encourage you all to submit.
To date, no monograph length text has been produced that looks at beards from both an academic and community based perspective that is critically engaged. This book seeks to carve out a space to discuss the social cues and meanings of facial hair, specifically beards and other bulk masses of visible hair, on queer(ed) bodies.
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  Perry Winkle is not just a qPDX poster child anymore but a Pride NW poster child too! March 11, 2011, Portland OR – The Board of Pride Northwest is pleased to announce its theme for the 2011 Portland Pride Parade and Festival: “Make It Happen!” As we have seen across our country and around the world in recent months, when ordinary people come forward together and speak their truths, powerful forces can be unleashed that change the shape of things to come.
“We know that real lasting change comes from the bottom up. With our 2011 theme, ‘Make It Happen,’ we honor the work of activists everywhere, from the young person taking that brave first step in coming out to those who exercise their right to peacefully resist injustice,” stated Pride Executive Board member Mark Santillo.
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  Only the classiest... Earlier this week I came across a very brief and slightly bizarre little article on The Advocate’s website discussing female proclivities towards anal sex. It starts out with the ubiquitous stats on how women are more sexually fluid than men, yada yada yada. Nothing new there. But it goes on to say that:
Among lesbian and bisexual women, the study shows that 48% reported having anal sex with a man, compared to 33% of heterosexual women. Additionally, bisexual women report having more vaginal sex with men than women who say they are completely straight.
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  Purrrfect Brandie hosts Mrs Pussy Poppin' Friday night Thursday
Don’t forget the jam packed 30th Annual Gender Symposium at Lewis and Clark going all week long and continuing into Thursday and Friday. An extra special highlight will be Homomentum‘s foray into the all ages space. Minors get ready for a raucous good time!
Trans Life open house – Every Thursday is a chance for trans folks to get together and find out about the programs, support groups and social outings that the Q Center has to offer. This night, allies, friends and partners can also get in on the cross gender fun. Great day for tranny chasers.
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  Homomentum performs Friday as part of the Lewis & Clark Gender Symposium For the pop-academia lovers among us this week presents one of the better college conferences on gender and sexuality. Beginning tomorrow Lewis and Clark will kick off the 30th annual Gender Studies Symposium titled New Directions: Gender in the Future. Organized by a committee of students, with support from faculty and staff, the Gender Studies Symposium brings together representatives from academia, activism, and the arts for three days of workshops, roundtable discussions, lectures, film screenings, readings, performances, academic panels, and other intellectual and creative explorations.
This year doesn’t have as big of names as have some past years (i.e. Dorothy Allison, Leslie Feinberg or Angela Davis) but it has a great program nonetheless.
Julia Serano’s Compulsory Genderqueerness: Transsexuality, Feminism and the “End of Gender” on Thursday afternoon should be particularly fascinating. Author of Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity Serano is an artist, wordsmith, slat poet, and Ph.D. holding science geek.
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Love and Rage: A guest editorial from Katey Pants
Bell Hooks
Today I have had this “Less Hate More Love” crap shoved down my throat. Now that I have your attention- let me tell you- I think the world does need a lot of love. Our society causes many of us to be broken, traumatized, fragmented, and isolated. Good politics and good practices should help us heal, bring us closer, and should inspire us to love openly. However; the idea that we should approach all of our interactions and root our analysis only in love is not only simplistic- it is anti-feminist, silencing, and counters much of what we value throughout history.
Most of my feminist upbringing and socialization is directly related to the works of bell hooks. I love bell hooks and her contributions to race, class, and gender politics are invaluable. However; in the past couple of years she has turned her attention away from political struggle to more of an individual and spiritual look of oppression. She has also not pushed herself to engage with queer/gender/sex positive theories and practices. I recall some of her analysis of BDSM and feminism to be downright sex negative. However; for a long while as a youth I took nearly everything she said as gospel and still hold her near and dear in my heart. Even some of the spiritual woo-ness that she espouses has sort of a place in revolutionary political struggle. However; that place is not in the foreground. Her most recent article Building a Community of Love upsets me for many reasons. Her revisions radical history, her conclusions of radical work, and the simplistic nature that she posits valid political struggle get to my point of why it is positing our world in a love vs. hate is damaging and ineffective.
Continue reading »