Clipmarks | wiccantexan's 'sex' clips

Munch’s ‘Vampire’ could set auction record

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:22:35 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Edvard Munch's "Vampire," a dark, brooding painting of a woman with cascading red hair kissing a man's neck, may set a new record for the Norwegian artist when it goes on the auction block this fall.

The 1894 work, which has been in private hands for more than 70 years, is expected to bring $35 million at Sotheby's on Nov. 3. In May, Munch's "Girls on the Bridge" sold for $30.8 million, setting a record for the artist.

The "Vampire" painting, also known as "Love and Pain," caused a stir when it was first exhibited in Berlin in 1902. It was part of a 20-work project called Frieze of Life that explored themes of love, betrayal, death and sex and included his masterpiece, "The Scream."

"Like 'The Scream,' it distills extraordinarily intense feelings," Simon Shaw, head of Sotheby's impressionist and modern art, said Tuesday. "The lovers, locked in their dark embrace, evoke love's paradox as a source of tenderness and pain."

Tags: art, artist, emotion

Transgendered woman wins landmark case

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 04:17:30 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

A transgendered woman, who lost a job offer because of her sexual status, has won a potentially groundbreaking federal sex discrimination lawsuit.

A federal district court judge in Washington, D.C., ruled today that the Library of Congress discriminated against Diane Schroer when it offered her a job and then rescinded it after learning she was transgendered.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Schroer, said Judge James Robertson's ruling is the first to hold that the federal sex discrimination statute, Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, applies to transgendered people.

"It is tremendously gratifying to have your faith in this country, and what is fundamentally right and fair, be reaffirmed," Schroer said. "I very much hope that this ruling will help to eliminate the all-too-pervasive discrimination against sexually nonconforming people in all areas."

Tags: sexuality, transgendered, woman, legal, sex, discrimination

Mark Morford on the GOP, Palin

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:47:58 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: More of this great column:

To be sure, it's moments like these that make it difficult not to take some delight, not to sit back and feel the ironic righteousness melt over us like hot Cheez-Whiz over an Alaskan mooseburger. After all, Sarah Palin is anti-choice, pro-abstinence, anti sex-ed, religiously fundamentalist, a creationist, about as friendly to feminism and women's reproductive rights as John McCain is to his beloved "gooks."

But here's the saddest part of all: Governor Palin knew. She absolutely had to realize that her daughter's unfortunate condition would come to light when McCain offered her this bizarre gig. To which we can only say: Way to shove your own daughter under the wheels of the GOP Machine, Governor Palin. Ultimate sacrifice indeed.

Clip Source: www.sfgate.com

This just in: Even the Lord has abandoned the desperate, shameful Right

This just in: Hurricane of delicious irony slams Republican National Convention, flooding the streets of Minneapolis/St. Paul with rivers of savage hypocrisy as levees of evangelical denial and sexual confusion overflow into the streets, leaving stunned party members scrambling in vain for shaky moral high ground.

Meanwhile, clever looters smash windows of opportunity and steal valuable quips about underage sex and teen pregnancy, as everyone gets a very unsettling if not downright weird taste of warped pro-gun anti-choice elk-kabob conservative Alaskan family values. YouTube at 11.

Yes, the rumors are true. The cosmic votes have all been tallied, and I do believe we can now say, with some measure of happy certainty, that God appears to be just as sick-to-death of the Republican Party as the rest of us.

Let us, in other words, imagine that "rains of Biblical proportions" had slammed the DNC to a halt

Lesbian rights pioneer Del Martin dies

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:58:20 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan
clipper's remarks: "Ever since I met Del 55 years ago, I could never imagine a day would come when she wouldn't be by my side," Lyon, 83, said in a statement. "I am so lucky to have known her, loved her and been her partner in all things."

Clip Source: www.sfgate.com

Lesbian rights pioneer Del Martin, whose trailblazing activism spanned more than five decades, most recently in the battle for same-sex marriage, died Wednesday, just two months after she made history again by wedding her longtime partner in San Francisco City Hall.

Ms. Martin's crusading began in 1955, during an era in America known more for social conformity than for rebellion, when she co-founded a lesbian social-turned-political organization, Daughters of Bilitis, named after a 19th century book of lesbian love poetry.

This year, on June 16, she and her partner of 55 years, Phyllis Lyon, were legally wed. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom officiated. Theirs was among the first same-sex nuptials in California.

"Her last act of activism was her most personal - marrying the love of her life,"

"I am devastated, but I take some solace in knowing we were able to enjoy the ultimate rite of love and commitment before she passed."

Tags: gay, gay marriage, lesbian, family, love

David Duchovny enters rehab for sex addiction

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:54:21 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan
clipper's remarks: I guess Mulder's porn addiction was based on real life.

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

“Californication” and “X-Files” star David Duchovny has checked into rehab for sex addiction, his lawyer Stanton “Larry” Stein confirmed to Access Hollywood.

“I have voluntarily entered a facility for the treatment of sex addiction,” the actor said in a statement released to Access. “I ask for respect and privacy for my wife and children as we deal with this situation as a family.”

Tags: tv, television, actor, sex

American Indian tribe to allow same-sex marriages

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:34:47 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

At the request of a lesbian couple, the Coquille Indian Tribe on the southern Oregon coast, in the U.S. West, has adopted a law recognizing same-sex marriage.

Tribal law specialists say the Coquille appear to be the first American Indian tribe to sanction such marriages. Most tribal law doesn't address the issue. The Navajo and Cherokee tribes prohibit same-sex marriages.

The couple planning their wedding at the tribal plankhouse say they seek only tribal recognition and are unconcerned about Oregon state and U.S. federal prohibitions against gay marriage.

"For me, the important thing wasn't about rights or the benefits," 25-year-old Kitzen Branting told the Eugene Register-Guard. "I just wanted the tribe to say 'Yes, we recognize that you are just as important as any other tribe member, and we will treat you and your spouse as we treat all tribal members.'"

Tags: indian, gay, gay marriage, lesbian

In marriage debate, divorce church from state

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:55:17 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.firstamendmentcenter.org

Suddenly this summer, the reality of same-sex couples lining up to get married in California has led some religious leaders to rethink their government role.

In a letter last month, Bishop Marc Handley Andrus of the Episcopal Diocese of California directed his clergy to “encourage all couples, regardless of orientation, to follow the pattern of first being married in a secular service and then being blessed in The Episcopal Church.”

The bishop’s missive illustrates what a tangled web we have woven when clergy intone “by the power invested in me by the state.”

Because the Episcopal Church doesn’t sanction same-sex marriage — but gives the option of blessing the union — the bishop appears to be seeking a way to bless all couples while distancing the church from legal arrangements sanctioned by the state.

“There are a lot of benefits in getting out of the legal marriage business,”

Tags: church, state, marriage, religion, legal, government

States Shun Funds For Abstinence Education

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:47:15 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

(AP) Skeptical states are shoving aside millions of federal dollars for abstinence education, walking away from the program the Bush administration touts for slowing teen sexual activity.

Barely half the states are still in, and two more say they are leaving.

Some $50 million has been budgeted for this year, and financially strapped states might be expected to want their share. But many have doubts that the program does much, if any good, and they're frustrated by chronic uncertainty that it will even be kept in existence. They also have to chip in state money in order to receive the federal grants.

A federal tally shows that participation in the program is down 40 percent over two years, with 28 states still in.

The abstinence-only grants have been controversial from the start.

Tags: sex, sexuality, bush, education, abstinence, teens

Bikinis make men stupid: Scientific proof

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:54:19 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

You may have known this all along, but now it has been demonstrated scientifically: bikinis make men stupid.

This month’s issue of the Journal of Consumer Research features a paper titled “Bikinis Instigate Generalized Impatience in Intertemporal Choice,” which is a neuroeconomist’s (definition in a moment) way of saying that men don’t make good decisions while checking out pretty girls in bikinis.

In the “bikini” experiments, Belgian researchers conducted a series of tests on 358 young men.

“I observed in my studies that men are more likely to pick a smaller immediate reward over a larger later reward,” Bram van den Bergh, the study’s lead author, tells me. “Hence I do think that men might spend money on something they might otherwise not purchase. Men would become more impulsive in any domain after exposure to sexual cues.”

Tags: men, behavior, women, science, sex

Elderly Pair To Be First Gay Married Couple in California

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:24:03 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

More than 55 years after they fell in love, Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin plan to become one of the first same-sex couples to legally exchange marriage vows in California.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will officiate the private ceremony in his City Hall office tomorrow before 50 invited guests.

He picked 87-year-old Martin 84-year-old Lyon for the front of the line in recognition of their long relationship and their status as gay rights pioneers.

The couple co-founded a San Francisco social club for lesbians in 1955 called the Daughters of Bilitis — the nation's first lesbian advocacy organization.

Martin and Lyon were also the first couple wed in February 2004 when Newsom decided to challenge California's marriage laws by issuing licenses to same-sex couples.

Tags: gay, gay marriage, lesbian, marriage

Social networks more powerful than thought?

Mon, 26 May 2008 16:25:23 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Facebook, MySpace and other Web sites have unleashed a potent new phenomenon of social networking in cyberspace. But at the same time, a growing body of evidence is suggesting that traditional social networks play a surprisingly powerful and underrecognized role in influencing how people behave.

Taken together, these studies and others are fueling a growing recognition that many behaviors are swayed by social networks in ways that have not been fully understood. And it may be possible, the researchers say, to harness the power of these networks for many purposes, such as encouraging safe sex, getting more people to exercise or even fighting crime.

"Public policy in general treats people as if they are sort of atomized individuals and puts policies in place to try to get them to stop smoking, eat right, start exercising or make better decisions about retirement, et cetera. What we see in this research is that we are missing a lot of what is happening if we think only that way."

Tags: social networking, facebook, myspace, livejournal

Mr Sulu's getting hitched....

Tue, 20 May 2008 03:15:50 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.nypost.com

GEORGE Takei, the original Sulu from "Star Trek," is the latest Hollywood star to announce that he is taking advantage of California's new gay-marriage ruling.

Over the weekend, Takei announced on his Web site that he and long-time partner Brad Altman will get married this summer.

"Our California dream is reality," he wrote. "At long last, the barrier to full marriage rights for same-sex couples has been torn down."

Takei, who also had a reoccurring role on "Heroes" last year, first came out in 2005 in order to talk against a veto by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of a same-sex marriage law.

Tags: gay, marriage, gay marriage, sexuality

Age of pregnant FLDS 'girls' disputed

Sat, 17 May 2008 01:59:37 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- When Texas child welfare authorities released statistics showing nearly 60 percent of the teen girls taken from a polygamist sect's ranch were pregnant or had children, they seemed to prove what was alleged all along: The sect commonly pushed girls into marriage and sex.

But in the past week, the state has twice been forced to admit "girls" who gave birth while in state custody are actually adults. One was 22 and said she showed state officials a Utah birth certificate shortly after she and more than 400 minors were seized from the West Texas ranch in an April raid.

The state has in custody two dozen other young mothers and others whose ages are in dispute. If most of them also turn out to be adults, it would be a severe blow to the state's claim of widespread sexual abuse.

Parker said the state ignored evidence the young mothers presented, including birth certificates and Social Security cards.

Tags: flds, religion, belief, marriage, children, pregnancy, teen, girls, texas, abuse

Polygamy showdown: balancing child welfare, religious freedom

Sat, 03 May 2008 02:55:43 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.firstamendmentcenter.org

Texas officials are trying hard to keep the focus on child abuse — and away from religion — in the custody battle involving 437 children seized from a polygamist religious sect this month.

If only it were so simple.

Like it or not, this conflict is about far more than the issue of older men having sex with under-age girls in violation of Texas law. It’s also about religion — specifically the religious culture of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS).

Defenders of the church argue that the raid was an overreaction to one telephone call (that may have been a hoax) and was motivated by long-standing animus toward the FLDS community. The state counters that dramatic measures are justified when evidence points to children trapped in a religious culture that promotes child abuse.

The only way to sort out the truth, and determine the fate of the children, will be to put the FLDS way of life on trial.

Tags: religion, belief, rights, children, polygamy, sect, texas, culture

Wis. school district will allow religious expression in art

Sat, 03 May 2008 02:54:15 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.firstamendmentcenter.org

The Tomah School District has agreed to permit religious expression in student artwork in response to a federal lawsuit.

The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal advocacy group, sued the district in March on behalf of a Tomah High School student. ADF alleged an art teacher gave the student a zero on an assigned drawing of a landscape because the student included a cross and the words "John 3:16 A sign of love."

The teacher cited a class policy that prohibited any expressions of violence, blood, sex or religious beliefs in artwork. The lawsuit alleged the student was treated unfairly because of his religion.

Students still will be barred from including gang symbols, violence, blood and sex in their work. But they will be allowed to express their religious beliefs as long as it satisfies the assignment criteria.

Tags: art, artist, religion, public, school, christian, legal, policy, belief