A Place For Great Minds

At the risk of revealing my true age, I must say that I am a longtime fan of "Mama" Cass Elliott (she late of the 60s musical pop family, The Mamas and the Papas) . I am also a longtime fan of the old Saturday morning live-action fantasy show H.R. Pufnstuf from the wonderfully-warped-and-obviously-pharmaceutically-altered minds of the deliciously-but-mostly-benignly-demented duo of brothers, Sid & Marty Krofft. I loved all their live-action Saturday morning stuff: The Bugaloos, Lidsville, Sigmund & The Sea Monsters, and Land of The Lost (BTW, even all these years later, the Sleestak still freak me out, but I kept watching every Saturday...actually, I think it was because I had a crush on the character Will played my Wesley Eure, who--as it turned out--is also gay! Obviously, that cutie Will trumped the scary Sleestak for me! :-)...but I digress....

I was perusing YouTube, as I apt to do from time to time, looking up songs by Mama Cass, and I found a video clip of a song I had never heard before. A new Mama Cass song for me to experience was wonderful enough by itself, but to know that she did it dressed as a witch for a Krofft Brothers show just made it too, too delicious to pass up. And, as if those two facts weren't enough, the song our Ms. Elliott sang (whose character name was not as inventive as I might have hoped: Witch Hazel) was called "Different". I have included the YouTube clip below, as well as the lyrics to the song.

It seemed to me quite appropriate for a song whose lyrics include the stanza below to be posted in a group like this, for people like us, who know that, as difficult as it is to be "different" in this world, it's worth every single sling & arrow just to be--to borrow Witch Hazel's words--"true to yourself", and to come to realize that there are (again to quote Witch Hazel) others like me:

Wonder no longer, together we're stronger.
It's not so bad to be different,
be true to yourself -
that's what you must be!

Amen, my Sister!

Sing it to us:



Lyrics

When I was smaller, and people were taller,
I realized that I was different,
I had a power that set me apart.

I learned to take it, to use it, to make it,
it's not so bad to be different -
to do your own thing
and do it with heart.

Different is hard,
different is lonely,
different is trouble, for you only.
Different is heartache,
different is pain,
but I'd rather be different than be the same!

At first I'd wonder, what hex I was under.
What did I do to be so different?
Then I discovered some others like me.

Wonder no longer, together we're stronger.
It's not so bad to be different,
be true to yourself -
that's what you must be!

Different is hard,
different is lonely,
different is trouble, for you only.
Different is heartache,
different is pain,
but I'd rather be different than be the same!

Hey, first post here!
I'm planning on making my first zine, and I want it to be about queer/LGBT youth culture.
If you were to pick up a queer zine, what would you like to see represented in it?

I also plan on doing profiles of queer youth throughout the zine. Kind of name/gender/occupation and then some more thought-provoking questions. I want a little musing on what it means to be queer for people in different places/social groups. Show unique perspective from queer youth living in different places. But I'm having some trouble about how to make good open ended questions for a survey for that purpose. Any suggestions?

I know these are broad questions, I'm just in the beginning stages. Any help or comments welcome! :] I'll probably be back with the survey in a couple weeks.

x-posted to queerdammit

The David Letterman show on the CBS network has insulted Amanda Simpson, a trans woman who was recently appointed to the U.S. Commerce Department by the Obama administration. In the clip below David Letterman announces the news, followed by a guest on his show who breaks out in shock that "Amanda used to be a dude" the man is disgusted and outraged and runs off stage, the segment insinuates the man had some sort of relationship with Simpson and reinforces the sentiment that being transgender is somehow disgusting, misleading, and abnormal.

The video clip, other remarks by Letterman on LGBT issues and ways to contact the show are available below:
http://queersunited.blogspot.com/2010/01/david-letterman-show-promotes-trans.html

From Advocate.com:

An Orthodox rabbi in Washington, D.C., is making waves by welcoming not only non-kosher Jews but gay followers as well.

Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld leads Ohev Sholom: The National Synagogue, the oldest continuously operating Orthodox synagogue in the capital, and has taken steps to welcome more followers who may not subscribe to all of the traditions. This includes stopping harsh language against LGBT members.

"Homosexuality is an 'abomination'?" he asks rhetorically in a profile by Advocate contributor James Kirchick. "We don't use that language for eating pork, yet it’s described in the same way as homosexuality."

Soulforce is a social justice organization whose purpose, as explained in their Vision Statement, "...is freedom for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from religious and political oppression through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance."

I've been on their email list for a while & today I got another email from them. In the email, the executive director of Soulforce, Jeff Lutes, references a new report from the American Psychological Association that suggests to psychologists not to advise their patients that, with professional assistance, same-sex attracted people can change their inborn sexual orientation.

Mr. Lutes also talks about society's built-in heterosexism which promotes the idea anyone not strictly heterosexual is inherently less and/or in need of fixing. I think his email is pretty interesting & brings up a lot of good points.

I hope you get a chance to check behind the cut & read the email he sent out today. Maybe it'll get you thinking about heterosexism & the potential (and even actual & continuing) damage that can (and is) being foisted upon those of us who are not exclusively opposite-sex attracted, just as unchecked racism & sexism in society work against everyone who is not a straight, white male.

( Heterosexism 101Collapse )