As reported by ABC News, a new Twitter study by assistant professor Monica Stephens and Humboldt State University measured racist and homophobic tweets in the United States. The result is the “Geography of Hate” shown above. To read more, click here.
“Geography Of Hate” Maps Racist and Homophobic Tweets
October 30, 2013
Demographics, Heterosexism, Racism Hate Tweets, Homophobia Leave a comment
Gay Parades Banned In Moscow For 100 years
August 20, 2013
Civil Rights, Heterosexism, Human Rights, Transphobia Discrimination, LGBT, Pride Parade Leave a comment
Moscow’s top court has upheld a ban on gay pride marches in the Russian capital for the next 100 years. Earlier Russia’s best-known gay rights campaigner, Nikolay Alexeyev, had gone to court hoping to overturn the city council’s ban on gay parades. The Moscow city government argues that the gay parade would risk causing public disorder and that most Muscovites do not support such an event. To read more, click here.
Oppression of LGBT People in Russia Draws Condemnation
August 16, 2013
Civil Rights, Discrimination, Heterosexism, Human Rights LGBT Leave a comment
A recent law signed by President Vladimir V. Putin has ignited international condemnation. The new law, nominally aimed at “protecting” children by banning “propaganda on nontraditional sexual relationships,” is widely understood as an effort to suppress homosexuality and Russia’s fledgling gay rights movement. Russia remains a country where discrimination and even violence against gay people are widely tolerated. To read more, click here.
Hip Hop Artist Takes on Homophobia
December 5, 2012
Heterosexism, Sexuality Leave a comment
Macklemore is a hip-hop artist whose biggest hit is about the second-hand shops where he buys clothes. But he’s also becoming famous for another song, Same Love, which promotes acceptance of LGBTQ people. To read more about Macklemore click here.
You can watch the YouTube video of Same Love below.
A Closet By Another Name
July 10, 2012
Heterosexism Anderson Cooper, Coming Out, Homophobia Leave a comment
Daniel Mendelsohn, writes about the “coming out” of Anderson Cooper, CNN reporter and talk show host. In a New York Times op-ed piece, Mehdelsohn criticizes Cooper for not sooner speaking up about being a gay man:
You can’t claim to be comfortable with being gay while trying to keep it a secret: When you conceal your sexuality, you’re buying, however unconsciously or reluctantly, into the notion that there is, at some level, something wrong with it.
To read the full article, click here.
Boycotting a Cookie
July 9, 2012
Heterosexism, Transphobia Homophobia, Oreo Leave a comment
The makers of Oreos posted on their Facebook page a special cookie in honor of gay pride. Some commenters have gone so far as to proclaim that eating Oreos is now a sin. Click here to read the comments on BuzzFeed
Study: Culture to Blame for Racism, Sexism, Homophobia
December 30, 2011
Anti-Semitism, Classism, Ethnocentrism, Heterosexism, Racism, Sexism Culture 1 Comment
A study led by Paul Verhaeghen, a professor at Georgia Tech’s School of Psychology, found that facets of U.S. culture, such as literature, movies, television, radio and the internet, may contribute to the problem of racism, sexism and other “isms” by exhibiting the same stereotypes that society tries to snuff out. To read the story in Science Daily, click here.
Gen Silent: LGBT Elders Go Back Into the Closet
November 12, 2011
Heterosexism Elder, LGBT, Senior Citizens Leave a comment
Vist the filmmaker’s website at by clicking here.
Regional Acceptance of Same-Sex Relations
October 13, 2011
Heterosexism, Sexuality Leave a comment
A University of Chicago study shows wide variations in the regional acceptance of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. Acceptance is highest in New England, where 27 percent of adults say they think homosexual relations are “always wrong.” To read more about this CBS News story, click here.
Wrestler Promotes LGBT Support Among Athletes
May 3, 2011
Hudson Taylor, an All-American wrestler and coach at Columbia University, wants to eliminate homophobia from all levels of sports. To learn more click here.
“I Don’t Care If You’re Offended”
April 3, 2011
Ableism, Classism, Ethnocentrism, Heterosexism, Privilege, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia Leave a comment
In an article from his blog, Fineness & Accuracy, Scott Madin talks about the difference between saying something that is “offensive,” and saying something that harms others because of racism, sexism, homophobia, and the like. The article adds clarity to the “you’re-being-offensive-too” argument often made when people are rebuked for remarks that reinforce oppression. To read the article, click here.
Push(back) at the Intersections: How About Some -isms with Your Feminism?
March 31, 2011
Ableism, Classism, Ethnocentrism, Gender, Heterosexism, Racism, Sexism Leave a comment
What do Mary Daly, Margaret Sanger, Nellie McClung, Martha Griffiths, Gloria Steinem, Geraldine Ferraro, Julie Bindel, Robin Morgan, Germaine Greer, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Janice Raymond, Sheila Jeffreys, and Beth Elliott have in common? According to s. e. smith, “All of these ‘leading lights’ of the feminist movement are contributors to a long and not very proud history of dragging -isms into the feminist movement.” To read smith’s article, click here.
Report: Catholic Attitudes On Gay and Lesbian Issues: A Comprehensive Portrait from Recent Research
March 28, 2011
Heterosexism, Religion, Sexuality Leave a comment
Catholics are more supportive of legal recognitions of same-sex relationships than members of any other Christian tradition and Americans overall. Nearly three-quarters of Catholics favor either allowing gay and lesbian people to marry (43%) or allowing them to form civil unions (31%). Only 22% of Catholics say there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship. To read the full report from the Public Religion Research Institute read here.
Microaggressions Blog
March 8, 2011
Ableism, Anti-Semitism, Classism, Ethnocentrism, Heterosexism, Microaggressions, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia Leave a comment
Microaggressions are brief and commonplace verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities—whether intentional or unintentional—that communicate hostile attitudes, slights, or insults toward members of marginalized groups, including people of color, women, and members of the LGBTI community. The Microagressions blog collects and publishes reader-submitted descriptions of microaggressions and the impact the microaggressions had on the people who endured them. Here are two examples:
Look at her. That’s no fair. Why do I have to walk? She’s taking advantage.
—I’m a wheelchair user in a large museum. I felt like my struggles with accessibility were nothing and the young, able-bodied man who said this expected pity.
* * * * * * *
Excuse me, do you speak English?
—Man at the bus stop. I am an Asian American woman. I was reading Jane Austen. In English.
To read the many posts on the blog and perhaps to submit your own, click here.
Joel Burns Tells Gay Teens, “It gets better.”
February 20, 2011
Heterosexism, Sexuality Leave a comment
“Stereotype Threat:” Creating Poor Performance
February 12, 2011
Anti-Semitism, Classism, Ethnocentrism, Heterosexism, Racism, Sexism Leave a comment
Stereotype threat refers to the risk of confirming a negative stereotype about one’s own group. Research shows that stereotype threat causes decreased performance and distancing from the stereotyped group. Click here to go ReducingStereotypeThreat.org to read more.