Quickies: Native Sexuality, Trans Motherhood, Facebook “Real Names” Saga Continues

• Interview on Native Gender, Sensuality, and Erotica – “In the post-contact era, with the forced assimilation of Native people, compulsory Christianity and boarding/residential schools, Native people were taught to feel ashamed of their bodies and pleasure… And now, in the third era, Native people are reclaiming philosophies and lived experiences of sexuality in really creative and important ways. For example, Kent Monkman’s work resuscitates and refigures what could best be described as queer Native practices and fiction like Louise Erdrich’s demonstrates the joy inherent in Native expressions of sexuality.” From Jon Breweer.
• Transitioning at Work – NPR has a piece about Andrea Zekis, who transitioned 4 years ago while working at the Michigan Highway Department. They talk about bathrooms and let a co-worker place the onus on trans people to conform to cis-normative gender performance in order to be granted acceptance.
• HIV Medication via Subdermal Implant – Researchers have done successful animal tests of a subdermal implant that would deliver antiretroviral drugs for 4 months straight, and they are working on one that would last for a year.
• Trans Motherhood – Eleven trans women talk about their experiences with motherhood for Mother’s Day.
• “Jodie Foster Made me a Gay Atheist Polygamist” – This week’s episode of The Sewers of Paris podcast features Ben Williams, organizer for the Diversity Lounge at PAX. His journey from closeted church-goer to “gay atheist polygamist” started with watching Jodie Foster in the movie adaptation of Carl Sagan’s Contact.
• Diverse Representations of Queerness in Sarah Deragon’s “The Identity Project” – The Huffington Post has a gallery from Deragon’s “The Identity Project” featuring a “Dapper Chick,” a “Fat Fierce Queer Femme,” a “Xicana Butch Dyke,” and others.
• Thousands March for LGBT Rights in Cuba – On Saturday, the eighth National Day Against Homophobia in Cuba, thousands of activists took part on a march for LGBT rights and marriage equality in Havana. Cuba has a history of extreme anti-gay discrimination, including labor camps and deportations under Fidel Castro’s dictatorship.
• Activists Want Facebook Banned from Pride Over “Real Names’ Policy” – Despite having issued an apology and promised change in October of last year, Facebook is still blocking transgender people, performers, and people with names that fall outside of the Western European orthodox from their accounts. As a result, activists including drag performers and The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are calling for Facebook to be banned from Pride parades in San Francisco and New York until they have fixed their discriminatory practice of name policing.
• Brittney Griner Weds Fellow WNBA Star Glory Johnson – Griner and Johnson were married Friday at a resort in Phoenix. Check out the link for photo of the adorable couple.

Featured image: Kent Monkman via Brian Boyle