jump to navigation

Sexual minority youth bullied more than heterosexual youth February 5, 2010

Posted by Geekgirl in Uncategorized.
add a comment

Medical Journal Lancet on Uganda “Kill the Gays” Bill January 24, 2010

Posted by Geekgirl in Legal and Policies.
Tags: , , , ,
add a comment
The highly respected medical journal, Lancet, recently published an article on the proposed legislation in Uganda.
Ugandan bill could hinder progress on HIV/AIDS
Health workers in Uganda are concerned that a draft bill to criminalise homosexuality will hamper efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in the country.
Zoe Alsop reports from Kampala.
Click below to read the entire article.

UgandaLancet

Who do we think we are? The brain and gender identity January 24, 2010

Posted by Geekgirl in Gender Identity, anatomy, brain, transsexual.
Tags:
9 comments

About two years old but still an interesting commentary. Please forgive the term disorder when the author refers to gender identity. This is common in the scientific literature. Thankfully, this year the American Psychological Association has put up for debate changing this terminology.

Brain (2008), 131, 3115-3117

SCIENTIFIC COMMENTARY

Who do we think we are? The brain and gender identity

No-one, wrote Frank Beach, a notable contributor to the experimental study of hormones and sexual behaviour, ever died from lack of sex. But the personal, social and legal aspects of sexual behaviour are a pervasive pre-occupation in all humans. The variety and vagaries of sex can have severe implications, and the existence of homosexuality and disorders of gender identity demand some sort of explanation(Bancroft, 2008). Neuroscience can ask itself, therefore, why it has contributed so little to understanding human sexuality. (more…)

Bans on Gay Marriage Can Harm Your Mental Health January 17, 2010

Posted by Geekgirl in Legal and Policies, homophobia, psychology.
Tags: , , ,
1 comment so far

Banning gay marriage is bad for your psychological well being and correlates to living in states with a ban.

Says who? Says Yale University.

Am J Public Health. 2010 Jan 14. [Epub ahead of print]

The Impact of Institutional Discrimination on Psychiatric Disorders in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Populations: A Prospective Study.

Hatzenbuehler ML, McLaughlin KA, Keyes KM, Hasin DS. (more…)

Health and Healthcare of LGB Youth January 17, 2010

Posted by Geekgirl in Health, Teens.
Tags: , ,
add a comment

Publication of the full article will happen in March. I know, there is no T. I will continue to post articles on transgender issues as I find them. I do search for them.

Annual Review Public Health. 2009 Dec 1. [Epub ahead of print]

The Health and Health Care of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adolescents.

Coker TR, Austin SB, Schuster MA.

1Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Mattel Children’s Hospital, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90024 and RAND, Santa Monica, CA 90401; email: tcoker@mednet.ucla.edu. (more…)

Kids with single parent, lesbian parents and heterosexual parents January 17, 2010

Posted by Geekgirl in psychology, social.
Tags: ,
3 comments

Again,  just another quick post from this weekends search for new articles. This is only the abstract. But it has one interesting conclusion, highlighted below in blue. Bottom line: Kids who grow up with moms, one mom or two moms, turn out just fine.

Human Reproduction. 2010 Jan;25(1):150-7. Epub 2009 Oct 19.

Children raised in mother-headed families from infancy: a follow-up of children of lesbian and single heterosexual mothers, at early adulthood.

Golombok S, Badger S. (more…)

Rachel Maddow in the Journal of Lesbian Studies January 17, 2010

Posted by Geekgirl in Commentary.
add a comment

I don’t have access to the full paper, only the abstract. I do find it very interesting that Rachel Maddow made her way into an academic research journal.

Although I never think of Rachel as butch…

I’ll watch for the paper.

Journal of Lesbian Studies . 2010;14(1):108-18.

A lesbian in the punditry.

Reed J.

Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department at California State University Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840, USA. jreed4@csulb.edu

This article argues that Rachel Maddow has become one of a growing number of new public lesbians. This is a subject position that makes no secret of or apology for lesbian identity. Nor does it seek to make explicit political claims for liberation or separation. Maddow uses this subject position as host of her own cable news show, The Rachel Maddow Show, combined with her presence in other media, where she presents as a butch lesbian and comments on her more conservative look on her television show, to create a lesbian presence that disrupts heteronormativity, offers alternatives to heterogender, and in particular as a news show, tells a more inclusive liberal humanist story.

Discrimination increases risk of substance abuse January 17, 2010

Posted by Geekgirl in Health, social.
Tags: ,
add a comment

Discriminated against? Increases risk of substance abuse.

That should not surprise anyone.

Am J Public Health. 2010 Jan 14. [Epub ahead of print]

The Relationship Between Discrimination and Substance Use Disorders Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults in the United States.

McCabe SE, Bostwick WB, Hughes TL, West BT, Boyd CJ. (more…)

NARTH Misuses Scientific Research December 26, 2009

Posted by Geekgirl in A Biologist Speaks, psychology.
2 comments

Love, Hormones and…Voles? December 24, 2009

Posted by Geekgirl in Other species, brain, genetics.
Tags: , ,
add a comment

Hi all

Yes, I really will get to part 3 of the Swaab paper (see earlier posts). With the holidays, I have not had time to summarize the science.

Here’s a little lighter fare for the holiday weekend. I don’t know if these hormones work differently in different sexual orientations. That would be interesting to find out. Grant money, anyone?

This article and others can be found at Hormones and Love

OVER the course of history it has been artists, poets and playwrights who have made the greatest progress in humanity’s understanding of love. Romance has seemed as inexplicable as the beauty of a rainbow. But these days scientists are challenging that notion, and they have rather a lot to say about how and why people love each other.

Is this useful? The scientists think so. (more…)