What Scientists Just Discovered About ‘Gaydar'

Does it exist?

“Gaydar” is commonly defined as the ability to detect homosexuality based on appearance. In 2008, a study came out claiming the phenomenon had some scientific weight to it. Three years later, a group of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison sought out to debunk those claims.

“Most people think of stereotyping as inappropriate,” lead author of the study, psychologist William Cox, said in a statement, adding “But if you’re not calling it ‘stereotyping,’ if you’re giving it this other label and camouflaging it as ‘gaydar,’ it appears to be more socially and personally acceptable.”

How the Fight for Gay Rights Changed America

"I covered Obama for nearly five years. What I witnessed during that time were the contortions of a shrewd and cautious politician grappling with his conscience."

The following is an excerpt from the new book Don't Tell Me To Wait by Kerry Eleveld (Basic Books, 2015): 

President Obama presided over a tipping point in the history of LGBT rights—a time when Congress passed its first-ever pieces of pro-gay legislation, when government-sanctioned discrimination against gays in the military and same-sex couples began to crumble, when a sitting president declared all love equally sacred and the voters went from rejecting marriage equality at the ballot box some thirty times prior to 2012 to ratifying it by popular vote in three consecutive states that same year.

But the president did not do it alone. The forces that helped move him and his administration in the direction of progress contained the classic elements of every struggle for freedom and equality: societal pressure, a moral dilemma, and a group of people who were deemed unreasonable because they refused to engage the political system in accepted and ordinary ways.

Will Gay and Lesbian Voters Swing Philly for Obama or Clinton?

In Philadelphia, gays constitute an estimated 5 percent of voters. That is not an inconsequential percentage in a race as tight as this one.

There’s an article in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer about how both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are courting the gay vote in PA as they square off for the primary here in just three weeks. It mentions how both campaigns value that voting bloc, and how Chelsea extended her campaign visit to Woody’s, a major gay bar here, in order to visit with the largely gay and lesbian crowd. I’m thinking this is a good thing. Neither Clinton nor Obama seems to have a lock on this segment of the voting population, but they sure are energizing the gay and lesbian voters here in Philly. Here’s a little of the piece from the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Oklahoma Republican Wants to Forbid Suicidal LGBT Kids From Meeting Gay-Friendly Therapists

Proposed by Republican Sally Kern, the state House bill is part of a slew of anti-gay legislation she wants to pass.

Oklahoma legislators are trying to pass an expressively cruel bill that would bar depressed LGBT youngsters from seeking gay-affirming counseling at school, Slate reports.

The state House bill, proposed by Republican Sally Kern, is part of a slew of anti-gay legislation she wants to pass, which would sanction discredited gay “conversion” therapy and prevent HIV-positive people from getting married.

As Slate points out, LGBT kids raised in homophobic households have higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide, and public school counselors who can connect them with the right LGBT-friendly groups and gay-affirming therapists provide a critical lifeline.

The bill states that no public school “counselor, therapist, social worker, administrator, teacher or other individual” will be allowed to refer anyone under 18 to any person or organization if the referral “pertain[s] to human sexuality.”

While the restriction would end when a person turns 18, Slate points out Oklahoma lawmakers have ensured anti-gay harassment and discrimination will continue to torment young people in college by making it legal for student groups on college campuses to openly discriminate.

Fonte: Alternet

The Genderfluid Lioness Who Looks and Acts Like a Male

Genderfluidity is not unique to humans; it has found its way into the animal kingdom.

Genderfluidity is in full swing in the human world. Now scientists have recently discovered it also exists in the animal kingdom.

Mmamoriri, an African lioness scientists began studying in 2012, lives on the plains of the Okavango Delta in Botswana, southern Africa. Unlike other females in the pride, she sports a mane and has developed a deeper and more masculine roar. Mmamoriri isn’t alone. Scientists believe she is one of five lions in the area who has naturally adopted male characteristics in order to survive. The “evolutionary twist” may have come about in order to help protect prides in the event that the alpha male dies.

Scientists claim the phenomenon will be passed down to the next generation, though Mmamoriri herself is thought to be infertile. Her dark mane seems to be indicative of an especially high level of testosterone, researcher Robynne Kotzee writes in Africa Geographic.

Mmamoriri is featured in the new BBC documentary, “The World’s Sneakiest Animals.”

Other animals that have adapted their appearances in order to survive include male deer who don’t grow antlers and cuttlefish who can change color and shed skin to disguise themselves.

_________________

FONTE: http://www.alternet.org/ 

Number of Americans Who Identify as Bisexual on the Rise

A CDC study finds that women are far more likely to identify as bisexual—and it cuts across racial lines.

It seems fitting that as we close out a year in which sexual fluidity was one of the most discussed topics, a new study finds that the number of adult Americans who identify as bisexual is on the rise.

That’s according to the Centers for Disease Control, which assessed sexual attitudes of more than 9,000 U.S. residents aged 18-44. The survey found that between 2011 and 2013, an increasing number of respondents reported same-sex sexual contact and bisexual self-identification.

As in other recent surveys, the CDC report found U.S. women outpaced men in reporting bisexuality. Two percent of men polled labeled themselves bisexual, up from 1.2 percent in the 2006-2010 survey. Women, at 5.5 percent, up from 3.9 percent in the previous poll, were nearly three times as likely to identify as bisexual than men.

Fittingly, the report notes an increase in the number of American women who report same-sex sexual contact. This was true of 14.2 percent of women polled in 2006-2010—a figure that rose to 17.4 in the most recent survey. Just 6.2 percent of men say they’ve had sexual contact with other men.

CNN notes that researchers identified some race-linked disparities among survey respondents. Hispanic and Latina women, at 11.2 percent, were least likely to have had sexual contact with other women. Conversely, 19.6 percent of white women and 19.4 percent of black women reported having had same-sex sexual contact.

In late 2015, a study at the University of Essex became somewhat controversial due to researchers’ determination that “100 percent heterosexual” women simply don’t exist. The study assessed women’s involuntary physical responses, such as pupil dilation, when shown sexually suggestive videos of both men and women. Overwhelmingly, women who identified as lesbian showed signs of arousal almost solely with images of women. But heterosexual women involved in the study responded to both.

“Even though the majority of women identify as straight, our research clearly demonstrates that when it comes to what turns them on, they are either bisexual or gay, but never straight,” said the study's lead author Gerulf Rieger, in a statement that garnered a few interesting responses.

The 2014-2015 edition of the CDC study is slated for release this fall.

__________________________

FONTE: http://www.alternet.org/