As is the custom of my people, I begin with a vignette. A person I know is taking antibiotics for a hilarious, as in schadenfreude, reason I won’t get into. It appears he is allergic to it. So now in addition to hilarious reason, he’s covered in an itchy rash all over. The following conversation transpired: “Want some benadryl?” “Sure, is it in a cream?” “... »
[TL;DR version at the end of the article] Chris Clarke posting at Pharyngula has written a condemnation of the use of the insult, ‘moron,’ in response to a challenge from a reader. But he’s right about my not having offered my opinion on the use of the word “moron”. And here it is: I don’t like it. He then links back to his previous post, “Retarding the Discourse,” p... »
This week, Brazilian government announced that trans* people will have the right to use their social names – that is, the name they chose and that fits their identity – to present themselves within the Sistema Universal de Saúde/SUS (Universal Healthcare System). The legal names don’t cease to exist, as it’s still illegal to alter, but people will be able to register their social names and have bo... »
This holiday season, a 14-year-old cousin of mine had to have an emergency appendectomy and spent New Year’s eve hospitalized. She had the surgery on Dec. 29th, but she’d been showing symptoms (unbearable pain that refrained her from even walking and inability to keep anything in her stomach among them) since the 22nd. The reason it took her seven days of suffering from a ruptured appendix before ... »
This year, when I sat down and thought about what I’m really, enduringly thankful for, I noticed a pattern. On top of the more universal things – my family, my friends, and above all, my cat Cedric (name changed to protect purr-vacy) – there were some items on the list that are probably not all that common at all. It made me think of a different kind of closet, one that I’m... »
Apparently I recently lost my abilities to function like an adult and forgot how to read a calendar, and completely missed last Saturday’s scheduled Queer Health post. So, here it is, a little late. And don’t worry, I have since regained my somewhat adult-like mind. Back in July the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a letter to the National Center for Lesbian Right... »
Mr. Harmon, I just read your article, ”Judge goes too far in sex change ruling” published in The Boston Globe, and I must say I’m quite disturbed by your complete lack of humanity. Not only does your piece read like a second grader’s essay about unicorns, but it’s so full of cissexist bigotry I’m stunned you didn’t sprout a second penis from sheer testoste... »
I’d like to talk about shame. More honestly, I have to. There’s nothing about shame I enjoy discussing, and when the topic comes up in our home, between my partner and myself, it almost always provokes tears, choking up, and casts a pall over whatever happiness we were sharing. This is why I have to talk about it. Why I have to talk about it here specifically is a different matter. That I don’t ma... »
