This week in queer web content // October 1, 2012

Laura Vivanco has been writing about feminism and queer issues in romance novels. Morgan M Page writes about the need to include HIV in discussions of trans persons’ access to health care. French legislators have proposed a law that would eliminate the words mother and father from official documents, and attempt to establish complete gender neutrality. A discussion of coming-out processes, with a focus on the straight spouses of queer folks. When Reddit users attempted to shame a Sikh woman for her unshorn facial hair, no one expected the woman herself to appear in the thread and lay the smackdown on intolerance levelled at her gender presentation. Media Action Média (MAM) is running a YouTube video contest in an attempt to diversify media representations of women beyond the status quo of thin, white, straight, cis, conventionally attractive anglophones. Check out this heart-warming satirical story inspired by two of the most important figures in American Christianity: the oft-cited Adam and Steve. Git (a software version control system) is hostile to the possibility of contributor name changes. This presents a real problem for individuals who wish to change their names, including trans software developers. It is illustrative of a common issue in programming. Anthony Esolen, Professor of English at Providence College, has published an impassioned and highly-intellectual plea for decency (AKA “gays, please get back in the closet”); Box Turtle Bulletin, however, is not in the mood for his crap. Two trans activists are on hunger strike in a San Diego prison, protesting the isolation inherent in automatic single-cell status for trans women. “The hundreds of verses regarding wealth and poverty offer a wealth of potential clobber verses — all far clearer and far stricter than any of those six brief mentions of stuff-that-sounds-sorta-gay.” – Fred Clark on homosexuality and the Bible.   Chelsea Edgell: Communications & Promotions Coordinator 613.563.4818 communications@ptsottawa.org