Greek lawyers going all legal beagle on Oliver Stone’s bisexual Alexander, the fundie right wanting to criminalize filmmakers the likes of Bill Condon, claims that a hankering for porn equals crack addiction, and fundies examining whether deliberately childless marriages should be allowed by law, all in an effort to make their arguments against gay marriage stronger.
But you know what? It’s almost Thanksgiving. There’s more important things to consider today.
Over the years, I’ve kept Pursed Lips as noncommercial as possible. I’ve resisted creating revenue streams to pay for the site (and, perhaps, give me the pocket money excess) because I wanted to keep the site as content-oriented as possible. And if you were to ask me now for a wish list, I’d tell you “thanks but I’m doing fine.” Really. I’d doing fine.
However, if you’d like to do something giving in the name of Pursed Lips, I do have a few pet causes that I care about. Give to them, please.
Give to the sex ed site, Scarleteen. Million of teens in America are getting abstinence-only education. They’re being told that sex before monogamous marriage equals death, disease, and emotional trauma. And by some of the questions that’ve come across Scarleteen’s messages boards, a lot of them aren’t getting basic anatomy lessons either. Labia self-hatred among teens girls, while not as common as an eating disorder, crops up again and again at Scarleteen. Help them get accurate, accessible information, won’t you? And let me point out that the site is volunteer-run and doesn’t have access to major grants or donors the way other, bigger sex ed sites do.
Help bring groundbreaking queer performance to far-flung colleges around the U.S. and Canada by giving to S. Bear Bergman‘s travel fund. Every day, in some far-flung college somewhere in the U.S., there’s a small GLBTQ group that needs validation (not to mention God knows how many isolated individuals lurk on the periphery) and Bear’s work provides that kind of sustenance and strength. “Often,” he wrote recently, “the colleges and universities that don’t allocate money for GLBTQ programming are those that need it the most. When queer and trans education or programs aren’t a priority of the institution, it is a good indicator of a less-than-safe environment for queer and trans students.” Click on the “support this artist’s work” button to help.
Give to the National Coaltion for Sexual Freedom, aka NCSF. Not only do they assist individual and groups facing legal threats because of their sexual practices, but they’re in the process of going after the Communications Decency Act. Bold and brave, NCSF deserves your support.
And favorite niches of mine: the Leather Archives and Museum; the Center for Sex and Culture.
If you’re in a giving mood, take your pick. Any assistance to any of these groups would make me a happy soul. And it would double my reasons to be thankful this year. See you after the holiday weekend.
