Monday, February 21, 2011
"In The News Today..."
Former coal miner Sam Hall (right) says in a lawsuit against a Massey Energy subsidiary that he faced harassment at work because he is gay. He and partner Burley Williams say they hope their efforts help other gay people.
Gay Ex-miner Pushes for Anti-discrimination Bills
By Alison Knezevich
The Charleston Gazette
Charleston, W.Va.
Sam Hall says he never told the other men he was gay.
"I tried to play the manly man," said Hall, a lean 28-year-old who worked five years in Southern West Virginia coal mines. "It didn't work."
The other miners found out anyway.
And then, according to a lawsuit Hall filed in December against his former employer, the harassment started. Hall says he faced homophobic taunts, threats of violence and vandalism to his car.
Now, Hall is pushing for state legislation to protect West Virginians from discrimination based on their sexual orientation.
On Monday, he's set to appear at a Capitol news conference with the group Fairness West Virginia to endorse two bills (SB226 and HB2045) that would add sexual orientation to the state's existing civil-rights laws, which already cover race, gender, religion and other characteristics.
The legislation is meant to prevent discrimination in the workplace, housing and public accommodations such as hotels and restaurants.
Hall grew up in Clay County, where "[being gay] is something you never put out there because you've got a lot of country boys," he said
In 2005, he went to work for Mammoth Coal, a Massey Energy subsidiary. It was good money, he said. He worked 10- to 12-hour shifts, sometimes six days a week.
In the mines, "I never came out," he said. "I didn't want to be perceived as someone who was out there flaunting my sexuality."
Hall's lawsuit alleges that managers did not stop miners from harassing him. Sometimes, supervisors took part.
Co-workers shook their penises at Hall underground and in the bathhouse, according to the lawsuit. They scrawled slurs on his locker and dinner bucket, wrote "faggot" on his car, and stuck a cardboard sign on the vehicle that said "I like little boys."
"We're told underground all the time: You look after the next guy. Well, even though these guys were doing this, I still looked after them," Hall said. "You're supposed to be your brother's keeper underground."
Massey General Counsel Shane Harvey said the company is investigating Hall's allegations.
"We're not going to discuss the investigation while it's ongoing, for Mr. Hall's sake and for everyone else's sake," Harvey said, "but I can say that, as a corporation generally, we certainly don't approve of harassment of anyone because of sexual orientation."
According to court papers, the mining company suspended one of Hall's alleged harassers for three days "for unprofessional behavior."
Mammoth Coal also says in legal filings that Hall was transferred to another mine at his request and that he met with Mammoth managers, "but denies that his complaints were about sexual or any other type of unlawful harassment."
Hall's lawsuit alleges that he got especially worried when the harassment escalated to threats of violence, such as "I would like to see all faggots die."
His partner, Burley Williams, said he constantly worried when Hall was at work. If Hall was late getting home, Williams jumped in his car. "I'd just get up and go looking for him," said Williams, a 37-year-old state worker.
The couple married last July in Washington, D.C., and live near Elkview.
Hall left the mines two months after he filed his lawsuit.
"The abuse continued and it became a very unsafe work environment," said Charleston attorney Roger Forman, who filed Hall's lawsuit in Kanawha County Circuit Court.
Forman said Hall is standing up for all victims of harassment and discrimination. In many sexual harassment cases, people "don't immediately complain because they're scared," he said.
Hall doesn't know what he'll do next, but says he's always preferred manual labor to office work. Before he mined coal, he worked in a lumberyard and roofed houses.
"Not all of us are hairstylists," he joked.
At Monday's news conference, two candidates in the special gubernatorial election are scheduled to appear in support of Hall - acting Senate President Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, and Secretary of State Natalie Tennant.
The state Senate passed similar bills adding sexual orientation to state civil-rights laws in 2008 and 2009, but the legislation has not had success in the House of Delegates.
"We need to see some leadership in the House to work on solving this problem, and we need it now," said Stephen Skinner, president of Fairness West Virginia, which advocates for gays and lesbians. "Most people don't understand that people can be fired from their jobs or kicked out of their hotel rooms simply because they're gay."
Opponents of the legislation include the Family Policy Council of West Virginia, whose president, Jeremy Dys, said the legislation "insults the civil-rights pioneers."
"This is a time for the state to be encouraging strong marriages," Dys said. "They shouldn't be pursuing helping special-interest groups achieve a political agenda that does an end around [to] the social and moral convictions of West Virginians."
Hall said he's nervous about appearing at a news conference, but that nothing could be as difficult as coming out to his family when he was 16.
"If I can do that," he said, "I can do anything."
Gay Ex-miner Pushes for Anti-discrimination Bills
By Alison Knezevich
The Charleston Gazette
Charleston, W.Va.
Sam Hall says he never told the other men he was gay.
"I tried to play the manly man," said Hall, a lean 28-year-old who worked five years in Southern West Virginia coal mines. "It didn't work."
The other miners found out anyway.
And then, according to a lawsuit Hall filed in December against his former employer, the harassment started. Hall says he faced homophobic taunts, threats of violence and vandalism to his car.
Now, Hall is pushing for state legislation to protect West Virginians from discrimination based on their sexual orientation.
On Monday, he's set to appear at a Capitol news conference with the group Fairness West Virginia to endorse two bills (SB226 and HB2045) that would add sexual orientation to the state's existing civil-rights laws, which already cover race, gender, religion and other characteristics.
The legislation is meant to prevent discrimination in the workplace, housing and public accommodations such as hotels and restaurants.
Hall grew up in Clay County, where "[being gay] is something you never put out there because you've got a lot of country boys," he said
In 2005, he went to work for Mammoth Coal, a Massey Energy subsidiary. It was good money, he said. He worked 10- to 12-hour shifts, sometimes six days a week.
In the mines, "I never came out," he said. "I didn't want to be perceived as someone who was out there flaunting my sexuality."
Hall's lawsuit alleges that managers did not stop miners from harassing him. Sometimes, supervisors took part.
Co-workers shook their penises at Hall underground and in the bathhouse, according to the lawsuit. They scrawled slurs on his locker and dinner bucket, wrote "faggot" on his car, and stuck a cardboard sign on the vehicle that said "I like little boys."
"We're told underground all the time: You look after the next guy. Well, even though these guys were doing this, I still looked after them," Hall said. "You're supposed to be your brother's keeper underground."
Massey General Counsel Shane Harvey said the company is investigating Hall's allegations.
"We're not going to discuss the investigation while it's ongoing, for Mr. Hall's sake and for everyone else's sake," Harvey said, "but I can say that, as a corporation generally, we certainly don't approve of harassment of anyone because of sexual orientation."
According to court papers, the mining company suspended one of Hall's alleged harassers for three days "for unprofessional behavior."
Mammoth Coal also says in legal filings that Hall was transferred to another mine at his request and that he met with Mammoth managers, "but denies that his complaints were about sexual or any other type of unlawful harassment."
Hall's lawsuit alleges that he got especially worried when the harassment escalated to threats of violence, such as "I would like to see all faggots die."
His partner, Burley Williams, said he constantly worried when Hall was at work. If Hall was late getting home, Williams jumped in his car. "I'd just get up and go looking for him," said Williams, a 37-year-old state worker.
The couple married last July in Washington, D.C., and live near Elkview.
Hall left the mines two months after he filed his lawsuit.
"The abuse continued and it became a very unsafe work environment," said Charleston attorney Roger Forman, who filed Hall's lawsuit in Kanawha County Circuit Court.
Forman said Hall is standing up for all victims of harassment and discrimination. In many sexual harassment cases, people "don't immediately complain because they're scared," he said.
Hall doesn't know what he'll do next, but says he's always preferred manual labor to office work. Before he mined coal, he worked in a lumberyard and roofed houses.
"Not all of us are hairstylists," he joked.
At Monday's news conference, two candidates in the special gubernatorial election are scheduled to appear in support of Hall - acting Senate President Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, and Secretary of State Natalie Tennant.
The state Senate passed similar bills adding sexual orientation to state civil-rights laws in 2008 and 2009, but the legislation has not had success in the House of Delegates.
"We need to see some leadership in the House to work on solving this problem, and we need it now," said Stephen Skinner, president of Fairness West Virginia, which advocates for gays and lesbians. "Most people don't understand that people can be fired from their jobs or kicked out of their hotel rooms simply because they're gay."
Opponents of the legislation include the Family Policy Council of West Virginia, whose president, Jeremy Dys, said the legislation "insults the civil-rights pioneers."
"This is a time for the state to be encouraging strong marriages," Dys said. "They shouldn't be pursuing helping special-interest groups achieve a political agenda that does an end around [to] the social and moral convictions of West Virginians."
Hall said he's nervous about appearing at a news conference, but that nothing could be as difficult as coming out to his family when he was 16.
"If I can do that," he said, "I can do anything."
********
"A life lived in fear is a life half-lived..."
"Same Gender Loving People - No. 577"
Freedom to Love..."
Positive images of people like me... The truth of the matter is that we all need to see people like ourselves. So everyday, I'll post a photo, drawing or some other artwork that depicts Same Gender Loving People as what we are... Only Human.
Positive images of people like me... The truth of the matter is that we all need to see people like ourselves. So everyday, I'll post a photo, drawing or some other artwork that depicts Same Gender Loving People as what we are... Only Human.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
"There Are Still Heroes Among Us..."
Click here to read his entire letterFormer U.S. Marine, and admitted conservative Craig Stowell is a man who says he takes “freedom and liberty very seriously.” He had this to say about efforts to "take away marriage from loving gay and lesbian couples" in a full-page ad which ran last Wednesday in New Hampshire’s conservative Union Leader.
"A life lived in fear is a life half-lived..."
"Same Gender Loving People - No. 576"
"Home Is Where The Heart Is..."
Positive images of people like me... The truth of the matter is that we all need to see people like ourselves. So everyday, I'll post a photo, drawing or some other artwork that depicts Same Gender Loving People as what we are... Only Human.
Positive images of people like me... The truth of the matter is that we all need to see people like ourselves. So everyday, I'll post a photo, drawing or some other artwork that depicts Same Gender Loving People as what we are... Only Human.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
"A Thought To Ponder..."
Corvino: Should We Care If We Were ‘Born This Way?’By John Corvino, columnist, 365gay.com
02.18.2011
I am about to commit an act of gay heresy.
It wouldn’t be my first time. But it is the first time I will be challenging, not just an Article of Faith, but also a High Priestess. I’m referring, of course, to Lady Gaga, whose hit single “Born This Way” is being touted as a new gay anthem.
But I can’t help it. So here goes:
I neither know, nor care, whether I was “born this way.”
Before you react, let me be very clear on what I’m saying, and what I’m not saying.
By “born this way,” I mean “genetically hardwired to be gay,” and by “gay,” I mean having the disposition to be predominantly sexually attracted to other men. I am not saying that I was NOT born gay. I’m actually agnostic on the question.
There has been a good bit of scientific research in recent decades suggesting a strong genetic component in sexual orientation. I am all for such research.
But the evidence, while solid and growing, is still inconclusive. (Edward Stein’s 1999 book The Mismeasure of Desire remains an excellent argument as to why.) There may be intermediate environmental factors that also play a key role. Human sexuality is complex, and not well captured in terms of simple unidirectional hardwiring.
Moreover, such research—which almost always focuses on men—does not claim to show that the same factors are operative in every case. Thus, even if most gays are “born this way,” it doesn’t follow that *I* was born this way.
That’s what I mean when I say I don’t know. Now here’s what I mean when I say I don’t care.
Science teaches us about how we come to have the traits that we do. It does not tell us whether such traits are good to have. It does not tell us whether acting on them would be worthy or unworthy of respect, or perhaps morally indifferent.
In short, science answers scientific questions, which are relevant to, but not the same as, moral questions. In my view, respect for gays should no more hinge upon the biological causes of homosexuality than respect for the left-handed should hinge on the biological causes of left-handedness.
Why then, the insistence that we’re born this way?
I think it’s partly because people mistakenly think that one must be born with a trait in order for it to be (a) deep, (b) important, and (c) immutable. But none of these claims is true.
Consider depth. My comprehension of English runs deep. It is (I’m ashamed to admit) the only language I can speak even passably, and I’ve been speaking it for four decades. No other language will ever have the same resonance for me. But—obviously—I wasn’t born wired for this particular tongue.
Now consider importance. Some congenital traits are important for some purposes; others—such as birthmarks—are less so. Some acquired traits, such as religion, are more important to many people than many congenital traits. You don’t have to be born with a trait for it to be deep and important.
Finally, consider mutability. This, I think, is the real issue driving people when they fix on the etiological research. But such fixation is misdirected: how we came to have our sexual desires is a different question from whether we can change them.
The evidence is actually much clearer on the “change” question than on the “cause” question. Sexual orientation in most males seems relatively fixed from an early age (which does not necessarily mean “birth”). For women, it is somewhat more fluid but not arbitrarily so. In both cases, efforts to “fix” or “cure” homosexuals are generally unsuccessful and often quite harmful, which is why they have been roundly criticized by mainstream professional organizations such as the American Psychological Association.
In other words, whether or not we’re born this way, most of us are going to stay this way.
More to the point, whether we can change a trait is a different question from whether we ought to do so. (I can convert to Palinism or join the Tea Party, but I shouldn’t and I won’t.) There are also constitutional implications to mutability, which I leave aside here.
Of course, saying that something shouldn’t matter in theory is not the same as saying that it doesn’t matter in practice. And I don’t mean to diminish the positive social message that Lady Gaga and others aim to spread when they beat the “born this way” drum.
I may neither know nor care whether anyone is born gay. But I know that there’s nothing wrong with us, and I care very much that we be treated with respect.
*******
John Corvino, Ph.D. is a writer, speaker, and philosophy professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. His column “The Gay Moralist” appears Fridays at 365gay.com. Read more at www.johncorvino.com.
"Same Gender Loving People - No. 575"
"To Be Happy... Live, Love and Play Together"
Positive images of people like me... The truth of the matter is that we all need to see people like ourselves. So everyday, I'll post a photo, drawing or some other artwork that depicts Same Gender Loving People as what we are... Only Human.
Positive images of people like me... The truth of the matter is that we all need to see people like ourselves. So everyday, I'll post a photo, drawing or some other artwork that depicts Same Gender Loving People as what we are... Only Human.
Friday, February 18, 2011
"The Truth About Love..."
In today's excerpt - Where to we find enduring love? Answer: Oxytocin. Infidelity? Testosterone. Heartbreak? Low serotonin and endorphins. In fact, our loved ones are actually present in our brains - neurochemically - and when lost it results in chemical trauma for the brain:
"An American study of over four thousand men found that husbands with high testosterone levels were 43 percent more likely to get divorced and 38 percent more likely to have extramarital affairs than men with lower levels. They were also 50 percent less likely to get married at all. Men with the least amounts of
testosterone were more likely to get married and to stay married, maybe because low testosterone levels make men calmer, less aggressive, less intense, and more cooperative.
"The desire to commit to someone is strongly linked to ... oxytocin. ... Oxytocin is released by the pituitary gland and acts on the ovaries and testes to regulate reproduction. Researchers suspect that this hormone is important for forming close social bonds. The levels of this chemical rise when couples watch romantic movies, hug, or hold hands. Prairie voles, when injected with oxytocin, pair much faster than normally. Blocking oxytocin prevents them from bonding in a normal way. This is similar in humans, because couples bond to certain characteristics in each other. This is why you are attracted to the same type of man or woman repeatedly. In general, levels of oxytocin are lower in men, except after an orgasm, where they are raised more than 500 percent. This may explain why men feel very sleepy after an orgasm. This is the same hormone released in babies during breast-feeding, which makes them sleepy as well.
"Oxytocin is also related to the feelings of closeness and being 'in love' when you have regular sex for several reasons. First, the skin is sensitized by oxytocin, encouraging affection and touching behavior. Then, oxytocin levels rise during subsequent touching and eventually even with the anticipation of being touched. Oxytocin increases during sexual activity, peaks at orgasm, and stays elevated for a period of time after intercourse. ... In addition, there is an amnesic effect created by oxytocin during sex and orgasm that blocks negative memories people have about each other for a period of time. The same amnesic effect occurs from the release of oxytocin during childbirth, while
a mother is nursing to help her forget the labor pain, and during long, stressful nights spent with a newborn so that she can bond to her baby with positive feelings and love.
"Higher oxytocin levels are also associated with an increased feeling of trust. In a landmark study by Michael Kosfeld and colleagues from Switzerland published in the journal Nature, intranasal oxytocin was found to increase trust. Men who inhale a nasal spray spiked with oxytocin give more money to partners in a risky investment game than do men who sniff a spray containing a placebo. This substance fosters the trust needed for friendship, love, families, economic transactions, and political networks. According to the study's authors, 'Oxytocin specifically affects an individual's willingness to accept social risks arising through interpersonal interactions.' ...
"What happens in the brain when you lose someone you love? Why do we hurt, long, even obsess about the other person? When we love someone, they come to live in the emotional or limbic centers of our brains. He or she actually occupies nerve-cell pathways and physically lives in the neurons and synapses of the brain. When we lose someone, either through death, divorce, moves, or
breakups, our brain starts to get confused and disoriented. Since the person lives in the neuronal connections, we expect to see her, hear her, feel her, and touch her. When we cannot hold her or talk to her as we usually do, the brain centers where she lives becomes inflamed looking for her. Overactivity in the limbic brain has been associated with depression and low serotonin levels, which is why we have trouble sleeping, feel obsessed, lose our appetites, want to isolate ourselves, and lose the joy we have about life. A deficit in endorphins, which modulate pain and pleasure pathways in the brain, also occurs, which may be responsible for the physical pain we feel during a breakup."
Author: Daniel G. Amen, M.D.
Title: The Brain in Love
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Date: Copyright 2007 by Daniel G. Amen, M.D.
Pages: 64-68
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