equality
pharyngula | March 8, 2010There was this young child at a Catholic pre-school who was kicked out because his or her parents were lesbians. Now people are protesting, because that's not what Jesus would do (I won't quibble over their justifications — Jesus probably would have told the mob to stone the perverted parents to death — it's OK that they're doing the right thing for the wrong reasons). And the local newspaper runs a poll.
Is it valid to protest a Boulder Roman Catholic school's decision to bar the child of a lesbian couple from attending?
Yes
 43.98 %
No
 40.32 %
I'm not sure
 1.443 %
I don't care if…
pharyngula | March 6, 2010I've been on a few job search committees, and I've been on a few job searches myself, and there's a standard piece of boilerplate we put on all of our job ads.
The University of Minnesota is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.
Whenever we start a job search, too, human resources reviews whatever we do, and we also get to attend a meeting where we're…
pharyngula | January 30, 2010Dennis Engelhard was a trooper in the highway patrol who was killed in an accident, when a car lost control in the snow and hit him. That's tragedy enough, but what makes it worse is that the person he loved faces this sudden loss without any acknowledgment or support, not even a mention in the obituary. You can guess why: it's because Trooper Engelhard was gay.
If Engelhard had been married, his spouse would be entitled to lifetime survivor's benefits from the state pension system -- more than $28,000 a year.
But neither the state Highway Patrol pension system nor Missouri law recognizes…
pharyngula | January 13, 2010A new Pew survey has some encouraging results about intermarriage in America: people seem to be more willing to accept it. The numbers show that a majority across the board will readily accept a family member of a different race.
Although I do have to find a few continuing problems there. Who are the biggest bigots in the poll? White people. There doesn't seem to be anything said about that unsurprising result.
There are also some kinds of marriages that would be unacceptable. Guess who?
The survey finds that most Americans also are ready to accept intermarriage in their family if the new…
pharyngula | January 6, 2010New Jersey lawmakers are waffling over a bill to allow gay marriage. The story is depressing: lots of reps busily weaseling and straining to find an excuse to vote it down. There is also a poll at the site: I trust readers here to be a little more decisive.
Do you support the gay-marriage bill up for a vote in the New Jersey Senate?
Yes 30% (1,334 votes)
No 70% (3,173 votes)
Get in there an demonstrate some positive activity, without excuses.
pharyngula | January 4, 2010
It's true! The Trophy Wife™ and I never got our temple recommends, weren't sealed, and didn't go through the temple ceremony (which sounds like so much fun), so when the Mormons get their way, our marriage will be invalidated, and I'll be reduced to bragging about my Trophy Concubine™.
pharyngula | December 29, 2009Here's another odd pink phenomenon. This is a page from a Toys 'R Us catalog, illustrating some science toys, and note the odd distinctions being made. Both the telescope and the microscope come in special pink versions, just for the girl who is apparently more interested in getting an instrument that matches her nail polish than being functional, and note also (you may have to click through to see the larger image) that in every case the pink model is less powerful than the black and gray model.
There is a message being sent here. Being feminine, being girly, means you belong in a separate…
pharyngula | December 21, 2009Wow, we're surrounded now. When will the US follow suit and join Mexico City in the 21st century?
That article has other interesting information: Uruguay has legalized civil unions throughout the country, and several cities scattered throughout South America have done likewise. Good for Latin America, a region working on being more progressive than our little backwater.
pharyngula | November 19, 2009I have to recommend this criticism of sexism in the skeptical community: skeptifem points out that while we're quick to outrage when someone like Bill Maher violates science norms, we seem to shrug off the fact that he's been rudely anti-woman at times.
When someone does try to share the perspective of being a person of color or a woman in skeptic communities the majority of people in the groups I have encountered dismiss their viewpoint on extremely typical grounds. This article from richarddawkins.net has some really disturbing comments that illustrate exactly what I am getting at; an…
pharyngula | November 12, 2009Sometimes I find it hard to believe how callous these conservative politicians can be. The governor of Rhode Island has just vetoed a bill that would have allowed a same-sex partner to make funeral arrangements for a dead partner. So imagine this: someone wracked with grief at the loss of someone to whom they had committed a substantial part of their life now gets to also be told that they are locked out of the responsibility of taking care of anything to do with the funeral ceremony. How degrading and insensitive; how vile and intrusive.
Shame on Governor Carcieri. It takes a real man to…
pharyngula | November 4, 2009It looks like justice was defeated in Maine, but we got a glimmer of success in Washington (Hooray for my home state!). I think everyone who is unhappy with Maine voters should go tromp on this Canadian poll just to get it out of your system.
Do you support same-sex marriage?
Absolutely, yes
21%
Sure, why not?
19%
Not really
11%
Absolutely, no
35%
I don't care either way
14%
What counts next, of course, is for activists in Maine to get back to work. Same for everyone in every state…like Minnesota.
pharyngula | November 3, 2009If you're in Maine, vote NO on 1. This is the law that attempts to repeal civil rights from gay couples.
If you're in Washington state, vote YES on 71. This is a vote to preserve a law that gives legal protection to gay couples.
Isn't it amazing that we even have to argue for equality, and that there are people who oppose it?
pharyngula | October 19, 2009A couple of Republican district chairmen took it upon themselves to defend Senator Jim DeMint (R, Crazytown). Uh, maybe.
There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves. By not using earmarks to fund projects for South Carolina and instead using actual bills, DeMint is watching our nation's pennies and trying to preserve our country's wealth and our economy's viability to give all an opportunity to succeed.
I bet that if you sat those two down and asked them if they knew…
pharyngula | October 15, 2009But this judge won't marry interracial couples.
A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.
"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else…
pharyngula | October 11, 2009Right now, people are marching on Washington with a reasonable demand: equality under the law for all gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. It's not much to ask for; it's simply what every human being in this country ought to expect.
I'm not in Washington DC. I'm sitting in wintery Minnesota. You're probably snug in your homes, too. So what can you do?
How about getting inspired?
Are you feeling it now? We all should hope for a world where all the differences between us are no obstacle to full participation in civic life by all people; whether you're gay or godless, black or white…
pharyngula | September 15, 2009I'm very disappointed in Australia. Here I thought it was the kind of place where individuality was valued, and there was some good old rugged common sense to the people. But then I read this ghastly story.
In short, Tegan Leach gets pregnant at the age of 18, she and her boyfriend sensibly realize they are too young to be having children, and she obtains some RU486 to induce an abortion. That's smart and practical, although it would have been better if she'd gotten the assistance of a health care professional to monitor the situation.
Apparently, that wasn't an option. Doctors refuse to…
pharyngula | September 14, 2009Fawziya Ammodi was 12 years old. She was a little girl in Yemen — she would still be in elementary school in the US, or would be just entering middle school. Twelve year old girls are still interested in dolls, and are maybe giggling over those gawky immature boys, and should be learning prior to the awkward business of growing up.
In Yemen, Fawziya was married to a 24 year old man.
She was pregnant.
She was in labor for 3 agonizing days — twelve year old girls usually aren't physically developed enough to cope with childbirth, at least not with the relative (emphasis on that word, please,…
edyong | December 23, 2008Three years ago, Lawrence Summers, former president of Harvard University, claimed that genetic differences between the sexes led to a "different availability of aptitude at the high end". His widely derided led to his dismissal, but is views are by no means uncommon. In the same year, Paul Irwing and Richard Lynn conducted a review of existing studies on sex differences in intelligence and concluded:
"Different proportions of men and women with high IQs... may go some way to explaining the greater numbers of men achieving distinctions of various kinds for which a high IQ is required, such…