Monday, September 23, 2013

"The Kids Are All Right" Criticism

During Zach Wahls's private talk with our class, one of the questions was about media coverage of LGBT families. He mentioned a few movies and TV shows, and seemed especially critical of the 2010 movie The Kids Are All Right. The movie focuses on a lesbian couple raising two teenagers and how they cope with meeting and interacting with their sperm donor. I recalled seeing the movie in theaters, but honestly couldn't remember if I had any problems with its depiction of the family.

After doing some research, I found this Huffington Post article criticizing the movie, and I thought it was a really interesting read. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joan-garry-/the-kids-are-all-right-no_b_659444.html

In summary, the author of the article, Joan Garry, takes issue with the film's implication that lesbian families ultimately need men to be complete. I won't say any more in this post in case I spoil the plot for anyone, but read the article if you've seen the movie! In case you haven't seen it but want to, the movie was also recently posted on Netflix Instant.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Same Love

Music Video by Macklemore I briefly discussed today in class. Has almost 80 million views, so my guess is that you are one of those views. Regardless link follows:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVBg7_08n0


Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Historical Literary Tryst: Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook earlier today and it felt particularly appropriate to share in light of us reading 'Calamus' by Walt Whitman.

The information for it comes from a 2005 biography of Oscar Wilde by Neil McKenna entitled The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde, which specifically focused on Wilde's sexuality.

The actual article/post is quite comical, but it's pulling quotes from primary documents, just like we do!

Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman Did It

Thursday, September 12, 2013

NBA player's coming out story

Here's an article written by the first openly gay athlete of a major American team sport.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/news/20130429/jason-collins-gay-nba-player/

Kind of cool to get his story

LGBTQ Catholic School Club

Hi all,

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook today, and I think it's really interesting piece about the intersection of religion and the younger LGBTQ community.

http://www.ballardnewstribune.com/2013/09/11/news/lgbtq-catholic-school-students-fight-get-club-rec

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Daily Show: Zach Wahls

Daily Show: Zach Wahls: Zach Wahls lists the values instilled by his two moms.

Zach Wahls comes to CMC, Wed. Sept. 18

Zach Wahls, who will be talking with our class next week and speaking at the CMC Athenaeum, was a 19-year-old University of Iowa student when he testified before the Iowa House Judiciary Committee in 2011.  His testimony, about growing up as the child of lesbian parents, advocated for marriage equality.  You can watch the testimony here:


He later appeared on a number of TV shows, including the Ellen DeGeneres show:


And he spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention:

You can see more (including his appearance on the Jon Stewart show), read articles and interviews, and learn about his book My Two Moms at his website.