Squibs
Squibs
Conservative Men Who Cross-Dress
Have you seen the April Atlantic Monthly? It’s got nine pages devoted to an article on conservative white men who cross-dress – and the women who love – or at least are married to – them. Author Amy Bloom says they’re largely Republican, Christian, white, het, and married (or used to be), and they have no desire to change gender and no “homosexual tendencies.” She differentiates this group from gay men, transsexuals, and drag queens. They are, she says, acceptable only to other fetishists. There was at least one logical disconnect in the article – in a quote from the Tri-Ess cross-dressing support group’s web page: “Most [cross-dressers] are ordinary men who have discovered a feminine aspect of their personalities, and desire to transcend the narrow stereotypes mandated by conventional society.” Since when is wearing a girdle, pantyhose, high heels, and make-up “transcend[ing] the narrow stereotypes”? There are a lot of women who would say such accoutrements only reinforce narrow stereotypes of what it means to be a woman.
HIV and Genetically Modified Creatures
According to a UPI report in AgBiotech Reporter, scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena) have modified a form of HIV to deliver modified genes in the creation of transgenic animals. The modified HIV was used to inject green fluorescent jellyfish protein into mouse embryos. The green gene showed results in 80 percent of the baby mice, some of which had glowing green paws, tails and faces. Those mice then transmitted the gene to their offspring.
Are We There Yet?
Chittenden County news junkies might have noticed that local Gannett outlet Burlington Free Press published an article on April 7 that featured lesbians concerned with something other than being lesbians. One lesbian couple was co-parenting one child with a second on the way. Both adults and one child are deaf, and the article discussed the ethics of their desire to have another deaf child through artificial insemination. The issue to them was simple: they wanted a child who would share their Deaf culture, with whom they could fully communicate. Their second child was born with a profound hearing loss in one ear and a severe loss in the other.
In contrast, the same article was given a particularly nasty slant by the New York correspondent of This Is London, an online news and information site. Beginning with the title, “Lesbians: We made our baby deaf on purpose,” the article continued by referring to the children as “designer handicapped babies.”
This Is Equality?
By the way, any Civilly Unionized couples out there have already discovered that our state government doesn’t trust us to tell the truth on our tax forms. Not only did we have to figure our federal income taxes twice (once to file as a single person for the feds, once to recompute our tax liability as if we were married for the state computations), but we had to send in a copy of the “recomputed” federal form so they’d know we weren’t lying to them. Now, um, let’s see ... all you straight couples who had to send your federal tax forms to the state of Vermont, please raise your hands. Hmmmmm, I thought so.
Former OITM Editor Ascends to Halls of Power
Yup, it’s true. I got it from two separate sources that Barb Dozetos, former editor of this very publication, has been elevated to the Executive Committee of Board of Directors of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She is the first member of the working gay and lesbian press to be appointed to the group’s Executive Committee – as Secretary. She has been a Board member and held other positions as well. Congratulations, Barb!