The View and Hoh-muhsexshuels.

“There is no universal moral code that should dictate human behavior. There is no such thing as good or evil, there is no universal standard of right and wrong. Our values and morals come from us and belong to us, whether we like it or not; so we should claim them proudly for ourselves, as our own creations, rather than seeking some external justification for them.”

What a conundrum.

I want to hear what you have to say.

The beginning of the Queer Reporter’s Notebook..

I caught my roommate off-guard in the library. She was working, speaking with folks she hadn’t seen in a while. I stopped, laptop in hand as I was rushing to take down notes from an interview I just had (or performed? I was the interviewer…)

“You talk to Moira yet?” she basically asks. She has a good rapport with this person, but I, diligently, do not yet. This, I feel, is because I am a part of press, and that makes me the enemy.. no matter how queer I am.

My roommate is gay. This makes a difference to both of us, because it effects the way that we perceive and move through the world of campus every day. Not that campus is our exclusive reality, but that it is the most immediately experienced.. to an unexposed audience, we are simply a removed “other.”

However, to Moira, the director of LGBT student services, I am reporter first, and maybe not really queer. I don’t think she even knows.

My beat this semester for my reporting class is GLBT issues. I chose it enthusiastically, but I knew this would be difficult. Can we say conflict of interest?

Honestly, I see no conflict. Who better to report than someone who fundamentally has raised his or her critical consciousness, at least slightly enough to be inclusive and understanding of the community? We are not “others.” And try as we might to disseminate this fact, anecdotal evidence is not enough to get through to the minds of our audiences, or for that matter, our newspaper editors.

That is why queer journalism is important.

I have emailed Moira three times thus far. Today, I stopped in, left a message. pick one: L Groves

Emailed

Called

Came in to see you

Wants to see you

Wants to make an appointment

Emailed again

Called for the third fucking time, where are you?!

Calmed down and

Wants to engage in open, communicative dialogue about reporting and the GLBT community.

Another thank you written out and I was almost on my merry way. I actually spoke with some of the students in the office, like, “omg she hates me, sadface” and they responded sympathetically. They may even help open doorways for me to SOGLBT, the student org (not the resource center).

I know folks in this community but, you know, I am attempting to branch out. And no one wants to talk to the press anyway, I’m thinking, not even my friends.

“Can I remain anonymous?” is a question oft asked. I answer this with sensitivity. I wish all my sources could remain anonymous, and then anyone would talk to me!

But really, I get it. People don’t want to be out. It is important, let me tell you, not to out people in the press unless they are expressly out and tell you so. Outing politicians? No-no. Outing frat boys on campus? That could even be dangerous. Ever been in a room full of bros with your bleached blonde girlhawk, trying to fend off the guys like savage beasts? Yeah. Talk about awkward.

Well, today was “talk to CSUPD!” day at the information center on campus, and on my merry way out of the office, I stopped, flitted my eyelashes, and cornered the man.

“Normally we have only one person who talks to press. Are you a part of any media organization in town?”

If you mean the organization of my own free will, then I’m shit out of luck. But otherwise, I’m in!

We discuss hate crimes. He is white and handsome. And in uniform. I scribble down his panderings of “diversity trainings!!! We have them.” He has never personally dealt with a hate crime. I should probably pursue things elsewhere. Suddenly, another handsome white man walks by in a crisp, collared shirt and a name-tag.

“Eric!” the policeman directs me towards this person, apparently an assistant director, and again, I move in for the kill. He helps me out with a little more knowledge about how hate crimes might be dealt with on campus.

Honestly, neither of them have any idea. What if the student is afraid of further retaliation from their attacker? What if it escalates? What happens then? Where can they go?

My quest to figure this out continues…

The Gay Language: Polari makes comeback, but not really.

Gay slang was heavily used in the 1960s around the time that prosecution was causing us to riot and fight back for equal civil rights. It allowed the GLBT community to communicate in a heterosexual environment without fear of being outed, hated, or attacked as being homosexual.

In the UK, a gay language known as Polari sprang up, but not much has been written about the subject. As scholars delve more into GLBT history, activism, and effects, interest has piqued. Apparently, it’s been hard to track down exact origins or dictionaries of words due to it’s oral nature. (ha.. bad sexual pun, sorry).

However, some small efforts have been made. Some Polari words actually made their way into mainstream language, and some are words we still use today. Here are some common examples:

bod – body (simple, right?)
butch – masculine, masculine lesbian (this has become slightly pejorative)
dish – an attractive male, or buttocks (a term chauvinists use for women now)
drag – clothes, esp. women’s clothes
fruit – a queen, now also pejorative unless you’re gay

It’s not too surprising that a gay slang developed in the UK. British people mostly have an almost unintelligible slang to Americans anyway. Hilariously enough, in a dictionary of British slang I found the following entry:

gannet Noun. A greedy person.

Sound familiar?

A quick run-down of GLBTIQQA terminology.

This list will probably be ever growing. Add terms, if you please! And I will add them to the list.

Glossary of Terms.

What is GLBTIQQA?
This is the acronym used to be as inclusive as possible of gender identity and sexual orientation.

GLAAD defines gender identity as one’s internal, personal sense of being a man or woman, and sexual orientation as an “enduring physical, romantic, emotional and/or spiritual attraction” to another person. Gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same.

I would suggest and encourage you to educate yourself on what gender identity is, and it’s difference from biological sex. There are many controversial and sometimes contested talking points, so the best way to figure out what it is for yourself is to do research on your own, and come to your own, fully educated conclusions.

Here is a breakdown of this acronym:

Gay – This is the adjective used to describe people whose sexual orientation is towards people of the same sex/same gender.

Lesbian – This is the adjective used to describe women whose sexual orientation is towards other women.

Bisexual – An individual who is physically, romantically, emotionally and/or spiritually attracted to men and women. Bisexuals need not have had equal sexual experience with both men and women. In fact, they need not have had any sexual experience at all to identify as bisexual.

Transgender – Persons whose gender identity differs from the biological sex they were born with. The term relates to being trans- or beyond- the gender roles constructed for us by society.

Intersex – Describes a person whose biological sex is ambiguous. There are many genetic, hormonal or anatomical variations which make a person’s sex ambiguous. Parents and medical professionals usually assign intersex infants a sex and perform surgical operations to conform the infant’s body to that assignment. This practice has become increasingly controversial as intersex adults are speaking out against the practice, accusing doctors of genital mutilation. “Hermaphrodite” is an outdated, stigmatized word used to sensationalize intersex people.

Queer – This term was traditionally a derogatory word used to belittle gay people, but has been reclaimed by some in the GLBT community as a way to self-identify. Some value to term for its defiance and because it can be inclusive of the entire GLBT community. However, the term is not universally accepted within the GLBT community and should be avoided when describing someone, unless they specifically self-identify this way.

Questioning – This term is used for people who are questioning their sexual orientation.

Ally – An ally is someone who is or is not necessarily GLBTIQQ, but recognizes themselves as advocating for their rights.

Much of this information has been adapted from:

http://www.glaad.org

http://www.glbtss.colostate.edu/home.aspx

http://www.sexuality.org/l/incoming/trbasic.html (Warning: adult material).