Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips issued an injunction immediately stopping enforcement of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that prohibits lesbians and gay men from serving in the military. I am holding my breath hoping that the U.S. Department of Justice will do the right thing and not appeal the injunction of this 17-year-old policy of state sanctioned discrimination.
Many of us have seen the numerous LGBT suicide stories in the news recently — the most high-profile being the tragic death of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi. A college freshman, Clementi completed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate secretly recorded his sexual encounter with another male and streamed it live on the internet. These news stories, however, highlight but a few of the many LGBT youths who have died by suicide as a result of anti-gay harassment, bullying and social homophobia.
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Sept. 14 addressed the failure of law enforcement to report, investigate and handle rape cases with “compassion and transparency.”
For quite some time, Skyy Vodka has been a textbook example of how to objectify and sexualize women. Their ads often portray womankind as man’s well-deserved reward, a way to signify and celebrate the high life. In the process, women’s bodies are presented as if they’re a product to be consumed along with the alcohol.
As the comic strip Cathy retires, the dearth of women cartoonists becomes more noticeable.
