I was a child in the 1970s and a teen in the 1980s. These days, LGBTQIA characters have a solid, increasingly even-handed presence in mainstream entertainment. In my childhood, they didn’t. I can remember three TV shows in particular that shaped my perspective on gay and transgender men: All were sitcoms, and only one featured…
Author: Clio
Proper Pronouns Are Important, But Still We Struggle
International Pronouns Day is the third Wednesday of October, which was October 16th this year. My pronouns are they/them. But more on that later. ◊♦◊ I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why, of all the LGBTQ+ issues, the matter of using declared pronouns seems to upset so many people. As I wrote recently, I…
Why Ellen Is Wrong
Last week, the LGBTQ+ community had three significant stories. ◊♦◊ One was Friday being National Coming Out Day, a day for LGBTQ+ persons to tell whomever they please about their sexual orientation and gender identities. A lot has happened since the first NCOD in 1988. The Supreme Court has ruled that both same-sex marriage (Obergefell…
“Joker”: A(nother) Violent White Male Narrative
Full disclosure: I have not seen “Joker.” I have no immediate plans to. As Grandpa says in “The Lost Boys,” “Read the TV Guide, you don’t need a TV.” Honestly, part of me doesn’t even want to write this, because it will give the movie more attention. But ultimately, this movie itself doesn’t really matter….
The Bargain
This has always been the deal. What I get: All the benefits and privileges that come with looking like a heterosexual, cisgender man. What I give up: The right to fully be myself. This has always been the deal. What I get: The right to fully be myself. What I give up: The Devil drives…
It’s Not Just a Pronoun
A few weeks ago, the lexicographers at Merriam-Webster continued doing their job by adding a non-binary meaning to “they”: “4. used to refer to a single person whose gender identity is nonbinary.” Because this was a controversial act, a blogger at the site explained the decision: “All new words and meanings that we enter in…
Adding vs. Multiplying
We tend to act as if multiplying is repeated addition. This misses a key, crucial difference between the two operations: WE CANNOT ADD UNLIKE THINGS. We can absolutely multiply unlike things. Sometimes, the result doesn’t make any real world sense, but we can do it. This is because multiplication doesn’t care about units, and addition…
Raising a Son Who Cries
My ten year old son cried in public the other day. This was noteworthy because it wasn’t. At the time, I didn’t even think much about it. I had had a rough day. He hadn’t seen me in thirteen hours, and we went out a local coney island to grab a late meal. He was…
Nightmare
I tend to have two kinds of nightmares. My scariest nightmares are usually things that were just plain silly when I woke up. For instance, years ago, I dreamed that the next door neighbor was reaching into my room through a missing window and putting things on my bed. No matter how many times I…
Education and the Legacy of Slavery
During the most recent Democrat debate, Former Vice President Joe Biden was asked, “What responsibility do you think that Americans need to take to repair the legacy of slavery in our country?” Biden started out by talking about his background opposing redlining and unfair banking practices before moving on to education. After discussing increasing funding…