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Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
IS HOMOPHOBIA ASSOCIATED WITH HOMOSEXUAL AROUSAL?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8772014 :
J Abnorm Psychol. 1996 Aug;105(3):440-5.
Adams HE, Wright LW Jr, Lohr BA.
Source
Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens 30602-3013, USA.
Abstract
The authors investigated the role of homosexual arousal in exclusively heterosexual men who admitted negative affect toward homosexual individuals. Participants consisted of a group of homophobic men (n = 35) and a group of nonhomophobic men (n = 29); they were assigned to groups on the basis of their scores on the Index of Homophobia (W. W. Hudson & W. A. Ricketts, 1980). The men were exposed to sexually explicit erotic stimuli consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual, and lesbian videotapes, and changes in penile circumference were monitored. They also completed an Aggression Questionnaire (A. H. Buss & M. Perry, 1992). Both groups exhibited increases in penile circumference to the heterosexual and female homosexual videos. Only the homophobic men showed an increase in penile erection to male homosexual stimuli. The groups did not differ in aggression. Homophobia is apparently associated with homosexual arousal that the homophobic individual is either unaware of or denies.
PMID: 8772014 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
This explains so many homophobic "Born again Christians" caught with their pants down. Or should I say PORN Again Christians?
J Abnorm Psychol. 1996 Aug;105(3):440-5.
Adams HE, Wright LW Jr, Lohr BA.
Source
Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens 30602-3013, USA.
Abstract
The authors investigated the role of homosexual arousal in exclusively heterosexual men who admitted negative affect toward homosexual individuals. Participants consisted of a group of homophobic men (n = 35) and a group of nonhomophobic men (n = 29); they were assigned to groups on the basis of their scores on the Index of Homophobia (W. W. Hudson & W. A. Ricketts, 1980). The men were exposed to sexually explicit erotic stimuli consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual, and lesbian videotapes, and changes in penile circumference were monitored. They also completed an Aggression Questionnaire (A. H. Buss & M. Perry, 1992). Both groups exhibited increases in penile circumference to the heterosexual and female homosexual videos. Only the homophobic men showed an increase in penile erection to male homosexual stimuli. The groups did not differ in aggression. Homophobia is apparently associated with homosexual arousal that the homophobic individual is either unaware of or denies.
PMID: 8772014 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
This explains so many homophobic "Born again Christians" caught with their pants down. Or should I say PORN Again Christians?
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
New York makes gay marriage legal. Excelsior!, from Bad astronomy blog
As you no doubt heard over the weekend, New York is set to be the sixth state to legalize gay marriage: the state Senate passed a bill, and the Governor has said he’ll sign it.
My sincere and very happy congratulations to all my gay readers! I think this is terrific news, especially since NY is such a big state, the largest to make gay marriage legal. I also want to specifically point out this bill would not have passed without four Republicans signing it into law as well. I especially wish to thank Republican Senator Roy McDonald, who gave this heartfelt speech:
You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn’t black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing. You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, [bleep] it, I don’t care what you think. I’m trying to do the right thing. I’m tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I’m trying to do the right thing, and that’s where I’m going with this.
Also, Republican Senator Mark Grisanti, who said:
I cannot deny a person, a human being, a taxpayer, a worker, the people of my district and across this state, the State of New York, and those people who make this the great state that it is the same rights that I have with my wife.
They are precisely correct. It is the right thing to do, and in America all Americans should have the same rights. It’s really just that simple.
Of course, not everyone agrees with this. I hear the same arguments against gay marriage every time it comes up, which is why I’ve written about this topic several times, including here, and
here, and here. I don’t need to add much to those posts; please read them if you have a few minutes.
I do want to mention one particular argument against gay marriage I’ve heard before but was brought up again this time around. It’s especially silly because it’s so clearly wrong. Here it is, from Catholic Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio:
I believe the passage of same-sex marriage is another ‘nail in the coffin’ of marriage… It is destructive because we fail to view marriage in the context of a vocation: a calling to participate in the great enterprise of forming the next generation. Marriage is reduced to an empty honor…
That statement is almost trivially easy to prove wrong. After all, would the Bishop forbid a man marrying a woman who had a hysterectomy? Or to a post-menopausal woman? Or a woman marrying a man who lost his genitals in combat? And if you argue that those couples could adopt, well then, you’ve proven my point. We can allow gay couples to adopt too. After all, children raised in such a way are just as likely to be happy and well-adjusted as with heterosexual parents.
I suspect the real problem at the heart of this issue is civil marriage versus religious marriage. Perhaps, once and for all, it’s time to separate the two. If a religion doesn’t like gays, that’s its right, and it doesn’t have to acknowledge a gay marriage. The government, however, is not allowed to discriminate, so any adults should be allowed to have a civil marriage. I know this is a difficult topic, and sounds like a "separate but equal" issue, but I’m not so sure — if the government doesn’t officially recognize religious marriage, and requires a civil marriage for the rights of partners to be bestowed, that may solve the issue. I’d be very curious to hear other people’s opinions on this, especially those familiar with the issue of civil versus religious marriage.
In the meantime, though, by passing laws as NY and five other states have, it’s sending a strong signal of which I approve. What the State is doing is recognizing the bond that ties humans together. It’s giving participants civil rights involving each other, the same spousal rights I enjoy with my wife.
And you know what? I’m all for that.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Marriage Equality Passes in New York Legislature
Received this e-mail from GLAAD
Today marks a historic victory for the LGBT community, as the New York legislature passed a bill introduced last week that allows gay and lesbian couples to get married in the Empire State. New York State proudly joins five other states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire) and Washington, D.C., in allowing loving gay and lesbian couples the opportunity to marry. GLAAD continues to work alongside other LGBT organizations to advocate for marriage equality in New York State:
• GLAAD trained LGBT couples, like Henri Velandia & Josh Vandiver, Farid Ali Lancheros & Constantinou, and Dr. Alicia Salzer & Dr. Leslie Miller on how to effectively speak to the media, and pitched them to major news outlets in order to ensure that our voice was clearly and fairly heard. Salzer appeared on CNN, saying: “I think we're sending a loud and clear message about our families and our life (…) and who we are and our love...” It’s these images and stories that are moving Americans to support our equality.
Dr. Alicia Salzer & Dr. Leslie Miller
• GLAAD worked with several other community groups, like The Hispanic Federation, on how to effectively communicate the importance of this issue to the public. GLAAD-trained spokesperson Pastor Joseph Tolton told us: "The key to building stronger communities is creating an atmosphere which encourages couples to make a lifetime commitment to spiritual partnership. GLAAD has been an excellent partner in working with me to hone my message, being strategic about building a platform for issues that complement my experience and trusting me to bring my knowledge base to the forefront without compromise."
Pastor
Joseph Tolton
• GLAAD engaged in intensive media monitoring, combing through the broad media discourse over marriage equality in New York, to ensure that all coverage was accurate, factual, and fair.
• GLAAD partnered with Spanish-language media to ensure accurate reporting on the issue.
Today’s decision is about New York’s loving and committed gay and lesbian couples who want to make a lifelong promise to love and take care of each other and their families. Marriage equality in New York allows them to do just that. Become part of the movement and amplify your own voice by sharing what marriage equality means to you on GLAAD’s website; and stay up-to-date on marriage equality news at glaad.org/ny4m.
HOORAY!
Today marks a historic victory for the LGBT community, as the New York legislature passed a bill introduced last week that allows gay and lesbian couples to get married in the Empire State. New York State proudly joins five other states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire) and Washington, D.C., in allowing loving gay and lesbian couples the opportunity to marry. GLAAD continues to work alongside other LGBT organizations to advocate for marriage equality in New York State:
• GLAAD trained LGBT couples, like Henri Velandia & Josh Vandiver, Farid Ali Lancheros & Constantinou, and Dr. Alicia Salzer & Dr. Leslie Miller on how to effectively speak to the media, and pitched them to major news outlets in order to ensure that our voice was clearly and fairly heard. Salzer appeared on CNN, saying: “I think we're sending a loud and clear message about our families and our life (…) and who we are and our love...” It’s these images and stories that are moving Americans to support our equality.
Dr. Alicia Salzer & Dr. Leslie Miller
• GLAAD worked with several other community groups, like The Hispanic Federation, on how to effectively communicate the importance of this issue to the public. GLAAD-trained spokesperson Pastor Joseph Tolton told us: "The key to building stronger communities is creating an atmosphere which encourages couples to make a lifetime commitment to spiritual partnership. GLAAD has been an excellent partner in working with me to hone my message, being strategic about building a platform for issues that complement my experience and trusting me to bring my knowledge base to the forefront without compromise."
Pastor
Joseph Tolton
• GLAAD engaged in intensive media monitoring, combing through the broad media discourse over marriage equality in New York, to ensure that all coverage was accurate, factual, and fair.
• GLAAD partnered with Spanish-language media to ensure accurate reporting on the issue.
Today’s decision is about New York’s loving and committed gay and lesbian couples who want to make a lifelong promise to love and take care of each other and their families. Marriage equality in New York allows them to do just that. Become part of the movement and amplify your own voice by sharing what marriage equality means to you on GLAAD’s website; and stay up-to-date on marriage equality news at glaad.org/ny4m.
HOORAY!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
White supremacist praises David Tyree on anti-gay marriage stance
From the blog of Michael in Norfolk
For years it has driven me to distraction to watch members of the black community act as water carriers for the Christianists/white supremacists who long kept blacks as slaves and then fought tooth and claw to maintain segregation as a way of life. The Christianists/white supremacists (I combine the terms because of the huge overlap between the groups - even within "family values" group like Family Research Council) must be laughing their asses off at the way they dupe blacks time and time again into acting as their lackeys. It drives me crazy!! The latest "boy" to do the bidding of the Christianists/white supremacists is former football star David Tyree who I slammed the other day for his bigotry against marriage equality in New York State. Now, as Alvin McEwen points out on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, Tyree is drawing praise - at least in terms of his anti-gay bigotry - from a noted white supremacist. Hello, Mr. Tyree! Can you get your head out of your ass? Here are some highlights from Alvin's post:
*
David Tyree can count on one person to support his negative stance on gay marriage - a man by the name of James Edwards. For those who don't know, Edwards is a white supremacist. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center:
*
Edwards, 27, is the host of "The Political Cesspool," a shamelessly white nationalist radio talk show that's broadcast for two hours every weeknight from a studio near Memphis, Tenn., where Edwards grew up and still lives. "The Political Cesspool" in the past two years has become the primary radio nexus of hate in America. Its sponsors include the CCC and the Institute for Historical Review, a leading Holocaust denial organization. Its guest roster for 2007 reads like a "Who's Who" of the radical racist right.
*
Concerning the situation with Tyree and marriage equality, Edwards says the following: Even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and then. While I might not agree with David Tyree on anything else, on this single issue, he is absolutely right.
*
How fascinating. If the issue was about African-Americans, Edwards would be saying things like: "Crime and violence follow African-Americans wherever they go. And if you think that is racist, then spend some time on the mean streets of south Memphis." . . . . "Whites are in for the fight of their lives. America is becoming balkanized. We are being robbed of having a future in the very nation our ancestors carved from the wilderness."
*
I'd like to ask a question: If the African-American movement for equality and the gay movement for equality aren't similar, then how come we both have the same fools trying to put a boot on our necks?
*
Every time a black pastor joins in the rants against gay equality, they need to look and see who they've allied themselves with. They are - stupidly, in my opinion - aiding and abetting the cause of those who hate them and who, if they could have their way, would have them disenfranchised and totally marginalized. Simply put, they are being played for fools and might as well put a sign around their necks that reads "I'm an ignorant ass."
For years it has driven me to distraction to watch members of the black community act as water carriers for the Christianists/white supremacists who long kept blacks as slaves and then fought tooth and claw to maintain segregation as a way of life. The Christianists/white supremacists (I combine the terms because of the huge overlap between the groups - even within "family values" group like Family Research Council) must be laughing their asses off at the way they dupe blacks time and time again into acting as their lackeys. It drives me crazy!! The latest "boy" to do the bidding of the Christianists/white supremacists is former football star David Tyree who I slammed the other day for his bigotry against marriage equality in New York State. Now, as Alvin McEwen points out on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, Tyree is drawing praise - at least in terms of his anti-gay bigotry - from a noted white supremacist. Hello, Mr. Tyree! Can you get your head out of your ass? Here are some highlights from Alvin's post:
*
David Tyree can count on one person to support his negative stance on gay marriage - a man by the name of James Edwards. For those who don't know, Edwards is a white supremacist. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center:
*
Edwards, 27, is the host of "The Political Cesspool," a shamelessly white nationalist radio talk show that's broadcast for two hours every weeknight from a studio near Memphis, Tenn., where Edwards grew up and still lives. "The Political Cesspool" in the past two years has become the primary radio nexus of hate in America. Its sponsors include the CCC and the Institute for Historical Review, a leading Holocaust denial organization. Its guest roster for 2007 reads like a "Who's Who" of the radical racist right.
*
Concerning the situation with Tyree and marriage equality, Edwards says the following: Even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and then. While I might not agree with David Tyree on anything else, on this single issue, he is absolutely right.
*
How fascinating. If the issue was about African-Americans, Edwards would be saying things like: "Crime and violence follow African-Americans wherever they go. And if you think that is racist, then spend some time on the mean streets of south Memphis." . . . . "Whites are in for the fight of their lives. America is becoming balkanized. We are being robbed of having a future in the very nation our ancestors carved from the wilderness."
*
I'd like to ask a question: If the African-American movement for equality and the gay movement for equality aren't similar, then how come we both have the same fools trying to put a boot on our necks?
*
Every time a black pastor joins in the rants against gay equality, they need to look and see who they've allied themselves with. They are - stupidly, in my opinion - aiding and abetting the cause of those who hate them and who, if they could have their way, would have them disenfranchised and totally marginalized. Simply put, they are being played for fools and might as well put a sign around their necks that reads "I'm an ignorant ass."
Betelgeuse’s sandy belch from Bad Astronomy
For one of the brightest stars in the sky, Betelgeuse still has some surprises up its sleeve. We’ve known for a couple of years it’s surrounded by a cloud of gas, but new observations show that nebula is far larger than previously thought!
[Click to enorionate.]
This new image is care of the Very Large Telescope, and shows a very deep and very high-resolution shot of Betelgeuse in the infrared. The inner black circle is the 2009 shot of the star and its surrounding gas — what we knew about before — and the big image shows all the gas around it just discovered. At the very center is a red circle indicating the actual size of Betelgeuse on this scale — it’s a red supergiant, and nearly two billion kilometers in diameter.
This structure is actually a wind of material blown off of the star itself. The exact mechanism behind this is unclear, though. Red supergiants are so big that gravity on their "surface" (they don’t really have a surface; they just kinda fade away into space) is very weak, and they can barely hold on to the material there. They are also incredibly luminous — Betelgeuse is 6000 trillion kilometers away, yet one of the brightest stars in the sky — so much so that the pressure of light is very strong. This pressure can lift material off the surface and blow it into space. It’s also known that Betelgeuse has gigantic convection cells bringing hot material from deep below up to the surface, and that’s part of this process as well.
Once the material is ejected it forms into dust grains: complex molecules including hydrocarbons. The astronomers doing this observation detected oxygen-rich dust in this nebula (PDF), which given the environment is most likely silica or alumina. Silica, also known as silicon dioxide, is the main constituent of sand and quartz! That’s the most common constituent in the Earth’s crust — over 60% by mass — and we think that a lot of the materials in the Earth’s crust actually formed in the winds of red giants and supergiants.
Think about that the next time you’re playing at a beach this summer. Billions of years ago, some now long-dead red star belched silicon dioxide into space, seeding a nearby nebula with materials… and this cloud collapsed to form our Sun and planets, with some of that interstellar silicon dioxide making up the sand under your feet.
Not to mention that a lot of that water you see in the ocean came from giant comets slamming into the Earth shortly after it formed. Does that make your heart pound, your blood race? Because the iron in your hemoglobin came from massive stars that exploded long ago. If that makes you smile, why, the calcium in your teeth most likely came from an entirely different kind of star that exploded eons ago as well.
We’re directly tied to stars like Betelgeuse.
And oh: while you’re at the beach, do me one more favor. Find a grain of sand, just a single grain about a millimeter on a side. Now give it to a friend, placing it on their outstretched finger. Walk about 40 meters away, turn around, and look at your friend. The grain of sand will be invisible to your eye, far too small to see. Yet at that distance, that grain of sand appears to be the same size as the entire image above of Betelgeuse.
And you thought you were just going to the beach.
Someday, Betelgeuse too will explode as a supernova. It will briefly become as bright as the Moon, then fade over months. The material we see here will get slammed by octillions of tons of gas moving outward 10,000 times faster than a rifle bullet, destroying it. And when it’s all done, our familiar constellation of Orion will be left without his right shoulder.
But it’s worth it. What planets will coaleasce, what suns will shine, what forms of life will one day arise from that material, and wonder which star it was to which they owe their existence?
Image credit: ESO/P. Kervella
[Click to enorionate.]
This new image is care of the Very Large Telescope, and shows a very deep and very high-resolution shot of Betelgeuse in the infrared. The inner black circle is the 2009 shot of the star and its surrounding gas — what we knew about before — and the big image shows all the gas around it just discovered. At the very center is a red circle indicating the actual size of Betelgeuse on this scale — it’s a red supergiant, and nearly two billion kilometers in diameter.
This structure is actually a wind of material blown off of the star itself. The exact mechanism behind this is unclear, though. Red supergiants are so big that gravity on their "surface" (they don’t really have a surface; they just kinda fade away into space) is very weak, and they can barely hold on to the material there. They are also incredibly luminous — Betelgeuse is 6000 trillion kilometers away, yet one of the brightest stars in the sky — so much so that the pressure of light is very strong. This pressure can lift material off the surface and blow it into space. It’s also known that Betelgeuse has gigantic convection cells bringing hot material from deep below up to the surface, and that’s part of this process as well.
Once the material is ejected it forms into dust grains: complex molecules including hydrocarbons. The astronomers doing this observation detected oxygen-rich dust in this nebula (PDF), which given the environment is most likely silica or alumina. Silica, also known as silicon dioxide, is the main constituent of sand and quartz! That’s the most common constituent in the Earth’s crust — over 60% by mass — and we think that a lot of the materials in the Earth’s crust actually formed in the winds of red giants and supergiants.
Think about that the next time you’re playing at a beach this summer. Billions of years ago, some now long-dead red star belched silicon dioxide into space, seeding a nearby nebula with materials… and this cloud collapsed to form our Sun and planets, with some of that interstellar silicon dioxide making up the sand under your feet.
Not to mention that a lot of that water you see in the ocean came from giant comets slamming into the Earth shortly after it formed. Does that make your heart pound, your blood race? Because the iron in your hemoglobin came from massive stars that exploded long ago. If that makes you smile, why, the calcium in your teeth most likely came from an entirely different kind of star that exploded eons ago as well.
We’re directly tied to stars like Betelgeuse.
And oh: while you’re at the beach, do me one more favor. Find a grain of sand, just a single grain about a millimeter on a side. Now give it to a friend, placing it on their outstretched finger. Walk about 40 meters away, turn around, and look at your friend. The grain of sand will be invisible to your eye, far too small to see. Yet at that distance, that grain of sand appears to be the same size as the entire image above of Betelgeuse.
And you thought you were just going to the beach.
Someday, Betelgeuse too will explode as a supernova. It will briefly become as bright as the Moon, then fade over months. The material we see here will get slammed by octillions of tons of gas moving outward 10,000 times faster than a rifle bullet, destroying it. And when it’s all done, our familiar constellation of Orion will be left without his right shoulder.
But it’s worth it. What planets will coaleasce, what suns will shine, what forms of life will one day arise from that material, and wonder which star it was to which they owe their existence?
Image credit: ESO/P. Kervella
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
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