Today in a 2-1 decision, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that California’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. In a bold statement by the majority, the court stated: “Proposition 8 served no purpose, and had no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California.” The holding, though limited to California, is another big step towards recognizing equal rights for gays and lesbians in the country. Continue reading
After a turbulent week for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation which saw the charity threaten to withdraw future funding for Planned Parenthood’s breast cancer screening programs due to a right-wing based investigation that launched a probe at the urging of anti-abortion groups, and the subsequent mealy-mouthed reversal of their policy amid the backlash — now a top executive with the foundation has resigned under what can best be described as ideological differences, despite her claim otherwise, of the current trajectory of the foundation. Continue reading
You’ve done the home work, the affirmations, the congratulations, the adorations. You’ve stared clear-eyed and clear-headed in the mirror, you’ve told yourself that you’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like you. And yet, you catch yourself telling yourself the same old negative story. What gives?
Today, I noticed an online news article about someone I went to high school with. We were more acquaintances than friends. I think we might have hung out socially once or twice in the four years I knew him. He’s someone who was on “the slow track” when we were in high school. Socially awkward, he sort of hung around the fringe of society. He was not in any honors classes, didn’t take part in any of the “bleeding edge” things our school was doing in the sciences, never stood in front of the student body to receive a varsity letter for his jacket, or any official award or commendation for that matter, and he certainly wasn’t in the “Who’s Who in American High Schools” book. Just a normal guy, did his time and got out. Continue reading
When the gworls enter the workroom, they read Alisa’s parting message on the mirror, and Jiggly says she feels as if she has a target on her back. Latrice tells LaShauwn that most of the gworls expected her to win the last challenge, and LaShauwn knows her shyness/lack of confidence is holding her back. Foreshadowing! Hit the jump to see what went down on Episode 2.
Continue reading
The English national soccer football team yet again finds itself embroiled in drama right before a major tournament. And yet again, defender John Terry is the alleged cause. Continue reading
The 1980s was a huge decade for black women. Angela Davis made her first Vice Presidential run in 1980. In 1982, Alice Walker was the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for The Color Purple. Toni Morrison doubled down on the ass kicking when she won the Nobel Prize for literature later that year. On the opposite, but no less notable end of the achievement spectrum, Vanessa Williams was the first black woman to win the Miss America pageant, in 1984, and the first black woman to turn a public nudity and over-blown, puritanical rage incident into a hit record and successful acting career. Ah! The infancy of equality!
Returning to sports, one of the most notable people of this decade was groundbreaking, world champion, figure skater Debi Thomas. Continue reading
After this photo, the eagle shed a single tear. Continue reading
Well, uh, that’s probably not the best idea. Yeah, sure, Clint may be 81 years old, but something tells us he’s probably still able to deliver on the second part of that “Make My Day” comment. What do you think? Continue reading
Woody Harrelson[‘s PR person] provoked the anger of Redditors on Friday while attempting to promote Harrelson’s latest movie, Rampart. While Reddit AMAs (Ask Me Anything) have been well-received in the past coming from celebrities, Harrelson[‘s PR rep] clearly didn’t do his research.
Things quickly turned sour when participants realized that whoever was behind Harrelson’s account had no intention of answering any questions that didn’t concern Rampart and quickly disappeared. The highlight (or lowlight)? Redditor AndyRooney asked if Harrelson remembered crashing his prom party in LA and “taking the virginity of a girl named Roseanna. You didn’t call her afterward. She cried a lot.” The Harrelson account replied with, “First of off, its not true, and second off, I don’t want to answer questions about that. Lets focus on the film people,” an instruction sure to please internet commenters everywhere. Continue reading
A warning—this post is on a difficult subject to discuss. Not only am I unable to tell the full story and incapable of being impartial or unsentimental, but I may still very well fail to do the Clementi family justice. If it weren’t for my own siblings, I wouldn’t have made the attempt.
In this week’s New Yorker, Ian Parker reexamines the ongoing case of Tyler Clementi, a household name for the worst reasons a parent (or frankly, a student) could imagine.
Using Tyler’s own words and interviews with witnesses and family, Parker creates an incomplete but valuable portrait of a reserved, thoughtful teenager who had just come out to his family when he started his freshman year at Rutgers University. Continue reading