"There's a showdown unfolding in Oklahoma's House District 84, between Brittany Novotny, the state's first transgender political candidate, and Sally Kern, infamous for believing that LGBT Americans are more dangerous than terrorists. An interview with Novotny, after the jump..."
Click here to read the full interview on Jezebel.com.
"Equal parts music history, ethnography and Feminism 101 syllabus, Sara Marcus‘ new book, Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution, is wholly engrossing, with Marcus’ meticulous research being perhaps the book’s greatest strength. For individuals like myself, who missed out on the Riot Grrrl movement due to factors such as age (full disclosure: I was five years old when the book’s opening events took place) and gender, Marcus’ incredible attention to detail allows you to lose yourself completely in a truly unique moment in our culture’s history..."
Click here to read Sara Marcus and Her Riot Grrrl Bible
"South Dakota is not known for being the most politically liberal state in the union. The state legislature is overwhelmingly made up of Republicans and even the Democratic members of the state’s congressional representation have been endorsed by groups like the National Rifle Association. So when a young straight woman with an extensive resume of LGBT activism stands a good chance of being elected to the State Senate, it’s worth taking notice..."
Click here to read An Ally in South Dakota
"There have been quite a few words in past Global Gaze columns dedicated to the plight of sexual minorities seeking asylum in the United States from repressive and discriminatory governments around the world. But there are other difficulties in terms of U.S. immigration policy that queer people face on a daily basis. For those individuals who are running towards something – in this case a lover or spouse from a different country – rather than away from their home, there are challenges to be overcome as well..."
Click here to read Caught Between Love and Country, Part I and Part II
"Last May, 24-year-old Johannesburg resident Noxolo Nogwaza was brutally raped, stabbed repeatedly with shards of broken glass, and beaten with rocks by a group of young men, then left to die from her injuries. Her body was subsequently dumped in a very public part of her township. Despite living and dying in country where it is said that the percentage of women and girls that will become sexual assault survivors is greater than the number that will be taught to read, Nogwaza’s murder made national and international headlines because of her sexuality. She had been on her way home from dropping off her girlfriend when she was attacked, and neighbors reported hearing her attackers shouting homophobic slurs throughout the crime. Noxolo Nogwaza wasn’t just a target of rape; she was a target of so-called “corrective” rape – a crime in which gangs of heterosexual men commit a sexual assault with the stated purpose of “curing” or “correcting” their victims’ sexuality..."
Click here to read the full story.
"When one thinks of a natural resource being at the center of conflicts in an area of the globe such as Africa, one tends to identify commodities such as oil or diamonds as the likely culprit. But it’s the most basic and fundamental resource of all that’s the focus of an ongoing standoff in East Africa: Water..."
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"Driving down any given road in the United States, one has very little occasion to contemplate who constructed said thruway or where the funds for its completion originated. Travel down a newly paved road in a country like Liberia in West Africa or a reconstructed railway in Angola, in the continent’s southern region, and consideration of the origins of such infrastructure projects results in delving into complex relationships involving the international community and issues such as paternalism, accountability, resource dependence, human rights, and neo-colonialism..."
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Anyone reading the coverage of the 17th International AIDS Conference, held Aug. 4 to 8 in Mexico City, likely spotted the quote by Ron MacInnis, director of policy and programs at the International AIDS Society (IAS), the group organizing the conference.
His quote carried far and wide by the Associated Press, MacInnis said of HIV-related travel bans:
''It's blatantly discriminatory to single out people with HIV. It's stupid and ridiculous. These restrictions are really impeding our ability to control HIV and AIDS.''
Click here to read the full story.