Thomas Kraemer

This may be my last post - customer feedback to Google

2011-12-01T14:33:00.001-08:00

PHOTO: Thomas Kraemer's campy wreath and fake Merry Christmas tree, in 2011, assembled to the six foot height (fully assembled it is over ten feet tall).

PHOTO: Thomas Kraemer is shown in 2011 standing next to his campy and fake Merry Christmas tree that is being put together for approximately the 20th year in a row. Fake Christmas trees are persona non grata in Oregon and Minnesota where real Christmas trees are grown and sold worldwide. However, in California fake trees of all types can be a sign of an environmentally conscious person saving water, which is a positive thing in the drought stricken state of California. Last year, Thomas Kraemer experienced a series of ischemic strokes that have caused him to become a low vision blind person. He can't recognize faces or read much text without assistive technology and even then his reading abilities are limited.

Thomas Kraemer Obituary (In the event of my death, I have written below my own obituary for my family and friends):

Thomas Kraemer [insert year of birth and death] was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and grew up in Edina, Minnesota. He is survived by Kim Kraemer, his life partner since 1978, and his sister Carol Kraemer of Windsor, California. Kraemer graduated in 1977 and 1978 from Oregon State University with a Bachelors and Masters Degree in electrical engineering and went to work for three decades at Hewlett-Packard until his early retirement due to illness. Kraemer is the founding benefactor of the OSU Foundation Magnus Hirschfeld Fund, which funds educational, scientific and ethnographic research activities at OSU concerning people or animals with a minority sexual orientation or gender identity.

Thomas Kraemer started his professional engineering career in the Corvallis, Oregon Hewlett-Packard calculator research and development lab where he witnessed the invention of the first inkjet printer, which was originally developed for battery-powered calculator products. Thomas Kraemer was an engineer or manager at Hewlett-Packard divisions in Oregon, Washington, California and Colorado from 1978-1998 and worked on many calculator, computer, network and instrument products.

Thomas Kraemer's grandfather Elmer O. Kraemer was a renowned PhD chemist, nylon, and synthetic rubber pioneer who worked for DuPont and as a chemistry professor in Sweden, Germany and the U.S. His father Herbert Kraemer was also a PhD chemist who worked for General Mills in Minneapolis when the food industry was pioneering the use of processed soybeans as a healthy protein substitute in processed foods.

See my previous posts:

Before I die, I would like to give Google Blogger engineers and marketers some customer feedback about why, if I was still in good health, I would be shopping for a new blogging service after having posted 1,554 blog posts on their Blogger service between 2006 and 2011. The reason I would be shopping for a new blogging service is because Google has disabled the search box at the top of my blog page, which makes it hard for me and my readers to find my older blog posts. This software product defect also hurts the ability of the Google search engine to do better searches for other people interested in finding the types of links that are included in my blog.

The occurrence of this particular Google search software defect surprised me because Google prides itself as being the best place to do searches of Web pages. The search box in every Google product should satisfy customer expectations, especially if a reader is requesting the search of a specific Google Blogger page.

Some time ago, I had previously noticed that the Google Advanced search page had quit working when I tried to do a search limited to my blog's thomaskraemer.blogspot.com domain name. This software defect seemed to be related to Google having added an interstitial page that required a reader to click on a button acknowledging "I understand and I wish to continue" to read my blog, despite the "Content Warning. Some readers of this blog have contacted Google because they believe this blog's content is objectionable. In general, Google does not review nor do we endorse the content of this or any blog. For more information about our content policies, please visit the Blogger Terms of Service."

I have heard from other bloggers who tell me that this "objectionable content warning" interstitial page was added on their blogs, even though they do not have any objectionable material in their blogs. Many bloggers speculate that the objectionable content warning is being automatically added by Google after malicious people have repeatedly clicked on the report abuse button at the top of each blog page. This is a way that individuals or groups of people can censor blogs and make them invisible to anyone using Google search.

On the one hand, I applaud Google for not caving into the will of censors by automatically deleting controversial blogs as many blog services do. Google claims to value free speech and I believe them given interviews of their founders. However, on the other hand, it seems ridiculous of Google to disable searches of a specific blog page when it has been explicitly requested by a reader.

Google is going to hurt their own search business by driving away bloggers. I would imagine that blogs provide the Google search engine with some very useful information about what real people are linking, which Goggle could use to provide better searches to everyone. It is a crowd source of search intelligence that Google can not easily replace without hiring an unrealistic number of fulltime editors. There is only so much that can be done by robotic and algorithmic searching. Sooner or later you need to depend on the intelligence of real people to guide your search engine.

I hope to have the physical ability to continue blogging, but I am not sure if I can. When I first started having severe physical limitations over a decade ago, I gradually adapted by changing jobs and reducing the amount of work I did as my physical condition worsen. In the last few years, this blog has been about the only thing I could accomplish. This blog was nearly a full-time effort for me to write less than one small post a day on average. I have been fortunate to possess sufficient savings to survive without being homeless or destitute.

As I have become low vision blind and physically weaker, I no longer have the stamina to fight or deal with the recent attack on my blog by people who want to censor it.

I would love to hear if the decision to disable Google search of certain blogs by Google Blogger was well thought out or not. For example, was the decision driven by somebody at Google asking if all of these blogs are more hassle and cost more than the revenue they are generating? Did Google Blogger consider the advantage blogs provide their search engine in determining what real people care about finding in a search result? Or was the decision an unintended one, accidentally made by some programmer who broke the search function without fully understanding the strategic impact on Google's customers or future business?

Whatever the reason for this Google search defect, it looks like a typical defect that would result from the growing pains of a high-tech Silicon Valley business and I hope somebody at Google realizes their mistake before they lose too many customers and source of search engine intelligence. (I want this because I own a significant amount of Google stock in my retirement account and I want Google to succeed so I can profit too!)

If I do start writing more blog posts elsewhere, I will update this blog with a note and a link to the new location. I hope I will be able to write for at least a few more years.

Year 2006-2011 in review - 6 years of blogging

2011-12-01T14:28:00.000-08:00

I started this blog in 2006 and at the end of each year I have listed my favorite posts for that year. See my previous posts summarizing some of my favorite blog posts and other writing that was published elsewhere:

Although I wasn't able to post as much in 2011 due to my stroke, here are some of my favorite blog posts of last year:

Randolfe Wicker promotes Marsha P. Johnson movie at IFC

2011-11-29T10:15:00.000-08:00

PHOTO: the nearly 80 year-old transaged activist Randy Wicker talking to a group of gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgender youth in a church in Jersey City, NJ, on 3/12/09, hoping to provoke a discussion about being transaged. (see previous post Randy Wicker vs. Mattachine 1958 (3/20/09))

I recently got an email from the famous gay activist Randolfe Wicker (aka Randy Wicker) concerning a screening of the first rough-cut showing of the Marsha P. Johnson movie Monday night Nov. 28, 3011 at the IFC Theater. (see "Pay It No Mind: Marsha P. Johnson," Directed by: Michael Kasino and Richard Morrison, Introduced by Michael Musto, ww.ifccenter.com accessed Nov. 29. 2011)

Randolfe Wicker is near eighty years old, but he is still reinventing himself online in the Internet Age at these links:

See my previous posts about Randy Wicker:

Queer Graffiti 1967 (6/30/06)
Barbara Gittings Randy Wicker video (5/5/07)
Randy Wicker on pregnant man (4/8/08)
"Sex: The Revolution" Randolfe Wicker and John Waters (6/6/08)
Transaged Randy Wicker (7/26/08) -- Randy Wicker, Age: 70, I'm a transaged male (young man trapped in an old body) who has been a LGBT activist since 1958, sex freedom activist since 1962, anti-Vietnam-War button merchant (1965-1971), founder of LeMar (legalize marijuana) in1964, heavy drinker since 1982, world's first cloning activist since 1997, transgender fashion activist since 2007.
Randy Wicker on Donn Teal and doctors (2/7/09)
Randy Wicker vs. Mattachine 1958 (3/20/09)
Randolfe Wicker on David Susskind 1967-1972 (10/14/09)
Gay marriage 'zap' 1971 video by Randolfe Wicker (3/24/10)
Arthur Evans 1942-2011 gay zap of marriage bureau 1971 (9/16/11)

PHOTO: various button made and sold by Randolfe Wicker in the 1960s. The Joe Pyne button referred to a bigoted talk radio host who was the Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly of his day. The LBJ buttons referred to President Johnson's warmongering. Make love not war. These buttons proved very useful for signaling to other gay men that you were "one of them." Are you one too? (see previous post Randolfe Wicker's plea for gay rights in "Newsweek" July 30, 1962 (4/15/06)

Computerized sun glasses use LCD light shutters

2011-11-17T13:48:00.000-08:00

PHOTO: University of Buffalo prototype of a new kind of sunglasses, which can do a lot to reduce that glare. See article by Ymanda Davis, "LCD lenses and sensor eliminate glare," theinstitute.ieee.org Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers, posted Nov. 4, 2011.

Polaroid sun glasses were the rage a few decades ago for use while driving and skiing. Their theory of operation was that the polarized plastic lenses would block the glare of reflected light that had been polarized in the other direction, such as off of a snow covered ski slope or road. I always used them, but I never saw a side by side demonstration of their superiority over standard tinted sun glasses. I assumed they worked because the cost difference was negligible.

Today, electronic display and lens technology has advanced to where microscopic LCD light shutters can open or close at arbitrary locations on a lens. This same LCD technology is used to turn on and off the individual pixels of an LCD TV display, but it has never been applied to a lens. Clearly, being able to block all or part of the light coming in each small area of a lens would enable you to make the ultimate sun glasses because you could do more darkening of the lens in area of super bright light or reflections and do less darkening in the area where you would like to see in low light or the shadows.

There is an obvious future extension for this technology. Individually controllable areas of an eyeglasses lens would allow changing the focal length in each area of the lens to make variable corrections for astigmatism and other defects in the lens of a human eye. For sighted people, it could create eyeglasses that improved vision beyond 20/20 and it would allow a person to see one region magnified bigger. For people like me with low vision blindness and the more common old-age related presbyopia (the need for reading glasses due limited accommodation or focusing range), a lens that could change focal lengths and magnify as needed under the control of a user or automatically by an artificially intelligent computer vision program, would be a great benefit.

See my previous posts:

Micro-lens and plenoptic Lenses refocus capability (11/13/10) - Electronic eyeglasses lenses may help my low vision blindness
Electronic eyeglasses lenses may help my low vision blindness (10/30/10) - new optical solutions to replace conventional eyeglass lenses with something of better functionality
Bifocals the Next Generation (7/15/06)
New 3 Tesla MRI used on me (7/3/10)
Golden Rule in Braille (1/18/09)

Trevor Hoppe sees public health gay bareback sex politics and quits blogging

2011-11-16T12:20:00.000-08:00

PHOTO: a graphic medical photo of anal cancer related to an HIV infection, which was shown in a public service advertisement intended to prevent additional HIV infections. Also see the fear-based video by NYCHealth, "It's Never Just HIV," youtube.com posted Dec. 7, 2010. For more, see post by Trevor Hoppe, "Analysis of NYC's Wrong-Headed HIV Ad, and a Call for Accountability," posted Dec. 14, 2010 that I referenced in my previous post To fear or not to fear HIV infections and gay sex (12/18/10)

I had subscribed in Google Reader to the RSS feed from the blog of Trevor Hoppe, who is also the champion of the interesting Web site "Beyond Masculinity, Essays by Queer Men on Gender and Politics". I hadn't recently seen any postings from Trevor and just when I was about to check out if he had moved to a different URL, I was sorry to read his "final" post: Trevor Hoppe, "I Bid Thee, Adieu! (And My Greatest Hits)," posted Nov. 14, 2011, which reiterates his disgust with HIV prevention campaigns based on fear and stigmatization. He also describes his disappointment and flagging interest in public health, and his desire to shift his focus to social justice, but he is still working on his doctoral dissertation at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I was sorry to see his disenchantment, but he sounds like he is just hitting a wall that many early career researchers hit, which is waking up to the realization ones' idealistic research goals and visions are not shared by the mainstream and in many cases are being undermined by them politically and financially by not funding controversial research. I hope he doesn't let such negative realizations inhibit his future creativity because anybody familiar with the history of academic progress knows that the best innovation has been done by younger people who were willing to ignore conventional wisdom and do what they thought was right, even if it might seem naive or stupid at the time. Yes, 99 percent of those who do this are later humiliated and they learn much from doing it, but the other 1 percent will cause extraordinary things to happen. It just takes the guts to take the risk you might be right and be willing to fail if you aren't.

In Hoppe's good-bye post, Trevor lists his favorite posts and I have included below my favorite subset of his favorites list with some selected quotes and notes from his posts:

Trevor Hoppe, "My FIRST Day as a Graduate Student," posted Aug. 26, 3005 at San Francisco State University Graduate Student
Trevor Hoppe, "Misogyny and Gay Men," posted Jan. 22, 2006
Trevor Hoppe, "Where's the Pleasure in Gay Sex?" posted Feb. 16, 2008 "disconnect in gay culture between two seemingly parallel concepts: pleasure and desire"
Trevor Hoppe, "Barebacking and XTube: A Window Into Our Sex Lives," posted Feb. 22, 2008 "the fact that some many guys are pushing these bareback videos to the top tells us that fantasy is a *big* component of what the drive for unprotected sex is all about."
Trevor Hoppe, "Outrage! NC DJ Arrested for Having Unprotected Sex (Updated)," posted Oct. 23, 2008 "Criminalizing sex and HIV-positive people's lives is not only unethical but a dangerous practice that will undoubtedly stoke the flames of hate and stigma against Poz people"
Trevor Hoppe, "Working Out, or, "What happens to twinks when they hit 25?"" posted Dec. 8, 2008 Trevor worries about his looks while going to the University of Michigan campus gym
Trevor Hoppe, "Eric Leven's Recent Barebacking Video: "Why are we..."," posted Mar. 3, 2009 "the video relies on the language of "barebacking," a category which has become so terribly villianized in the media that next to nobody chooses to identity with it. Barebacking as a label has come to be associated with pathological, irrational, and self-destructive gay men. In this way, it's easy to view this video and dissociated yourself from the label and, thus, the message it contains"
Trevor Hoppe, "What's New in Gay Sex?: "Natural"," posted Apr. 11, 2009 "Concurrent with the sex without condoms framing has been a rise of "natural" used by men to refer to their masculinity."

Trevor also linked to an article he dismisses on gay bareback anal sex without a condom: Taylor Friedman, "Pros and Condoms: S.F. Emphasizes HIV Treatment, but a New Generation Advocates Bareback Sex," sfweekly.com posted November 09, 2011. In my view it is a good ethnographic description of how the bareback culture is able to operate openly in San Francisco today. I do not see the article as being judgmental, but I could somebody reading it as having this subtext.

See my previous posts:

Ex-gay politics of stroke altering sexual orientation

2011-11-12T15:37:00.000-08:00

PHOTO: MRI from the year 2000 looking for a possible source of my vision problems. The MRI machine available at the time could not detect low blood flow levels or as much detail as the 3 Tesla magnetic field strength fMRI machine that was used on me in 2010 after my latest stroke, which took away some more vision. In the photo above the left side of the head is on the right and the right is on the left, as if you were viewing the patient from his feet while he is laying on his back in the MRI machine. The top or anterior of the brain is at the top of the photo and the posterior or back of the brain is at the bottom. This image detected an enlarged right ventricle that could be a sign of many things include missing brain tissue from an earlier stroke or just natural variation. It was unable to detect the reduced blow flow the newer fMRI detected nor any recent dead brain tissue due to a stroke. My case confounded the doctors because I live a perfectly healthy lifestyle, which they could not blame s a cause, and the easy standard medical tests showed me to be perfectly healthy despite my symptoms.

I've learned from personal experience the weird symptoms that can be caused by a stroke. For example, I woke up one morning unable to see the first two digits of an LED digital clock. My sexual orientation became more asexual even though my sexual plumbing still works when mechanically stimulated. (See previous posts Signs and symptoms due to stroke (9/18/10), Stroke-related Blindness slows me down more (2/5/11), Face recognition vs. sexual orientation, handedness, and sex (1/15/11) and I am still alive (2/6/11))

This altering of sexual orientation can be used to argue the ex-gay political agenda that says homosexuals can be made straight through therapy, but it can also be used to argue that sexual orientation is built into the brain's wiring and it can be altered only by physically damaging the brain. (See post by Evan Hurst, "Unknown Osmond Wouldn't Be Tough Butch Dancer He Is Today Without Chuck Norris," Truth Wins Out, posted Nov. 10, 2011 that references a post by Alan Osmond, "Families And Friends Can Reach Out To Those With Homosexual Difficulties," thefamily.com posted Jul. 17, and the article by Jeremy Kinser, "Osmond Brother Defends Antigay Reparative Therapy," Advocate, posted Nov. 9, 2011 and previous posts Tennis racket bashing ex-gay cure by Richard Cohen (11/24/10) and Wayne Besen ex-gay speech for OSU Pride History Month (10/6/11))

The real issue I see with ex-gay treatments is not whether they might or might not work, but are the risks of iatrogenic harm from ex-gay treatments worth it for the possibility one will become heterosexual? First, no ex-gay treatment has worked for many gays, but the risk is high because a large number of ex-ex-gays were harmed y it. If this was life or death, the risk might be worth it, but not just to change sexual orientation.

This subject was recently refueled by a news article by Neal Broverman, "Can a Stroke Turn You Gay? Rugby Player Says It Did," Advocate posted Nov. 8, 2011 that linked to the news by Ryan Jaslow, "Rugby jock says stroke turned him gay," CBS News posted Nov. 8, 2011, which cites a medical journal "Letter, Altered Sexual Orientation Following Dominant Hemisphere Infract," The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences June 1, 2009;21:353-354. 03090016j

PHOTO: functional MRI scan showing brain activity during lying about something. From a professional electrical engineering magazine article by Mark Harris, "MRI Lie Detectors, Can magnetic-resonance imaging show whether people are telling the truth?" originally appeared in print as "Liar!" IEE Spectrum August 2010, cover, p. 4, 40-44, 52-53. See previous post Lying about gay sex in fMRI scan (9/4/10).

See previous posts:

Also of interest is the post by Andrew Sullivan, "Losing Our Right Minds," posted Oct. 30, 2011 about the Pen State coach ephebophile scandal and also, speaking of death, see Neal Broverman, "Advocate Co-Founder Aristide Laurent Dead at 70," Advocate posted Oct. 31, 2011.

Edina High School 40th Reunion

2011-11-12T15:31:00.000-08:00

PHOTO: Thomas Kraemer (middle row second from right) in 1972 Edina High School Whigreen yearbook. Yes, the suits and ties were required by the dress code of this public high school that was located in an affluent suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The vast majority of graduates went on to college, including many of the top tier universities. The caption says I worked on the "Buzzette" school newspaper, I had a job at the Bajus-Jones Studio One animated film commercial production company, and I won the WCCO-TV best film contest for an animated film. My desire to go into animation caused me to seek training in computer design because I realized that I would have to design and build the then unavailable computer equipment needed for doing my dream of computer animation.

I recently received a post card with the Web link www.edina72.com Edina High School Class Reunion E72 40th Class Reunion -- Still Crazy After All These Years. The registration form return address was to Charlie Moore, who was the son of the famous and longtime Minneapolis WCCO TV news anchor Dave Moore who went on the air when TV was first broadcast in Minneapolis.

Of course, I had to check out the In Memoriam list of deceased classmates to see if I was dead yet. It is sobering to recognize so many names out of a graduating class of nearly 1,000 students. My class was so big because it was at the peak of the baby boom. The student population started to drop off just as they built a second high school to address the space needs.

The reunion organizers not only set up the above Web site www.edina72.com , but they also started the Edina High School 40th Reunion Facebook page. How modern! Now if only I could see well enough to use Facebook.

The Classmate search allowed me to find fellow grads and use the change data form.

PHOTO: Jack Baker used this poster, circa 1971, making fun of the stereotype that all gays are drag queens with the campaign slogan, "Put yourself in Jack Baker's shoes," to become the first openly gay person elected to be the University of Minnesota student body president. See my previous posts Gay U of M student body presidents Chris Armstrong and Jack Baker (10/3/10), Life Magazine 1971 gay liberation story (7/20/08), Life Magazine gay marriage 1971 (11/20/08), and Jack Nichols, Gay Pioneer" biography (3/19/08)

The Web page section Buzz Talk (named after the school mascot of a hornet buzzing) allowed me to enter these questions and comments:

As I have gone blind and disabled, I have had time to be curious if any Edina High School Class of 1972 LGBT classmates were out of the closet in high school. Was there anybody? Stonewall occurred between our 9th and 10th grade years. Also, while we were in high school, the openly gay University of Minnesota law student Jack Baker was elected student body president and he took his pioneering gay marriage case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but lost in 1972 (today, the Baker v. Nelson case is still being cited in court cases nationwide concerning gay marriage). Ironically, back then nearly all gay liberationists dismissed Baker as a lunatic because marriage was against the gay agenda of sexual liberation, but 40 years later gay marriage is now legal in several states and it is widely supported by mainstream gay activists who left behind their desire for sexual liberation after the AIDS crisis occurred in the 1980s. I assume some of our classmates have died of AIDS - does anybody know who? After graduating from Edina in 1972, I did most of my undergraduate work at the University of Minnesota, joined Jack Baker's group, and then went on to receive my Masters Degree at Oregon State University. I was too scared to form an LGBT student group or gay straight alliance in high school, but I used what I had learned bout it at the U of M to form the first gay student group at OSU in 1976. (FYI, this Minnesota connection is included in the history by Thomas Kraemer, "Corvallis, Oregon State University gay activism 1969-2004," posted April 30, 2010 available on the Web site OutHistory.org produced by The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS), located at the City University of New York Graduate Center. The shortened URL goo.gl/BQhv2 will also go to it more easily if you are text messaging or hand typing the link.) See my blog at thomaskraemer.blogspot.com

PHOTO: Polaroid photo button of Thomas Kraemer wearing Mickey Mouse ears after an all-night Edina High School graduation party. (In a moment of weakness, he was persuaded by a female teacher into wearing these campy Mickey Mouse ears, even though it was against his sense of aesthetics!) For more on these buttons see my previous posts Randolfe Wicker's plea for gay rights in "Newsweek" July 30, 1962 (4/15/06) and Uncivil language not new - 'Send Joe Pyne to College' 1960s example (1/19/11).

I've included my obituary in my previous post Stroke-related Blindness slows me down more (2/5/11).

PHOTO: (click on photo to enlarge) Dean Johnson, host of Hometime on PBS TV show, shows off his 12th Grade Senior photo in the Edina High School "Whigrean" 1970 yearbook. Lower left I am shown holding my copy in front of a TV screen showing the Hometime episode, "Vacation Home Laundry Room," aired Dec. 21, 2009, at 8-8:30AM, on KOAC-TV channel 7.3 and Comcast cable channel 310. This scene was a flashback from an earlier show that featured the same log cabin vacation home. See previous post Dean Johnson Edina High 1970 yearbook on PBS Hometime show (12/22/09).

Glitter bombing of Dan Savage finally mentioned in Eugene Weekly

2011-11-11T10:56:00.000-08:00

VIDEO: The above video was included in a blog post by Dan Savage, "Here I Am In Eugene, O," posted Nov. 2, 2011 that doesn't explicitly mention he was glitterbombed while in Eugene, Oregon (The video by HyPeRBaLLaD1983, "Kristin Chenoweth - Glitter and Be Gay," youtube.com posted on Dec 1, 2009, which appears to be unrelated except for the title.)

Dan Savage did not, to my knowledge, write anything about being glitter-bombed, except in one blog post, Dan Savage, "Here I Am In Eugene, O," posted Nov. 2, 2011, which only said he was busy. (I assume busy filming Dan Savage's new MTV Savage U show at the U of O).

I was wondering when the glitter bombing of Dan Savage would be mentioned in the Eugene Weekly alternative newspaper of the city where it happened. (See previous post Stuffing the boyhole Starfruit ballot box at HUMP film festival (11/9/11))

Although there has never been a published article about Dan Savage's glitter bombing, the EW did print a reader's viewpoint by Ariel Howland, "Glitterbombed! Dan Savage targeted for being transphobic," Eugene Weekly, Nov. 10, 2011, p. 6, a local activist and public speaker who identifies as a trans woman.

On Nov. 1 an activist "glitterbombed" Dan Savage during the filming of his MTV show Savage U during his stop at the UO. According to Portland Indymedia: During this session, the operative leapt to the stage and poured glitter over Dan's head as they shouted, 'Dan Savage is a transphobe!' As they turned tail, they added, 'Glitterbomb courtesy of the Dan Savage Welcoming Committee,' and just before they got out the door, 'He's a racist and misogynist and a rape-apologist, too!' The operative then fled the scene. People reacting to this news have had varied reactions, everything from confusion and anger to amusement and ambivalence. . . He has also repeatedly used the transphobic slurs "tranny" and "shemale" in his column. These are words that are used to harass and demean trans people they are not appropriate for casual use by anyone who isn't transgender. . . Despite devoting an entire opinion column to discussing Savage's flaws, I do not hate him. In fact I am a fan of his column. I am of the opinion that you can be disappointed or angry about a person's views and actions while still enjoying his creative endeavors and/or work (Mel Gibson, anyone?). . .
(Quoted from Ariel Howland, "Glitterbombed! Dan Savage targeted for being transphobic," Eugene Weekly, Nov. 10, 2011, p. 6)

UPDATE: 11/15/11 A post by Dan Savage, "On Glitter, Transphobia, and Hate Speech," posted Nov. 15, 2011 defends himself from allegations he is a transphobic "cissy" and he directly responds to the post by Tobi Hill-Meyer, "Dan Savage Glittered Again, Student Arrested," bilerico.com posted Nov. 14, 2011 and links to a good piece by Michelangelo Signorile, "Surely Not the Last Word on the T-Word," The Gist, posted Dec. 29, 2010 on the general subject of what is offensive when it comes to people with a minority gender identity.

See previous post Dan Savage gets screaming ovation at OSU (5/11/11).

Wayne Dynes on gay Abe Lincoln and Dynes' new direction

2011-11-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

PHOTO: Google Books scanned cover of the book by C. A. Tripp, Lewis Gannett, "The intimate world of Abraham Lincoln," Simon and Schuster, 2005. (See my previous posts C. A. Tripp Abe Lincoln gay history gaining traction (9/11/10), Obama loves SpongeBob and Lincoln (12/9/07), Abe Lincoln not gay on History Channel (3/17/09) and Larry Kramer on C. A. Tripp's 'Abe Lincoln is gay' history (11/11/09)

The retired professor Wayne R. Dynes blog includes a recent post by Wayne Dynes, "The "Gaybe" question revisited," posted Nov. 4, 2011 that comments, "Six years after its appearance, C.A. Tripp's book "The Intimate Abraham Lincoln" (2005) still ranks as the most serious and inclusive roundup of arguments for the homosexuality of the 16th president of the United States. Initially the volume elicited a frosty reception from the community of Lincoln scholars, though today, in 2011, a couple of cracks may be detected in the edifice of non-reception."

In my opinion, a bigger question than whether Lincoln was gay or not is the question of how was being gay socially constructed in Lincoln's time. Unfortunately, due to censorship and lost documentation, we will probably never know unless some new contemporaneous documents are discovered.

Another post by Wayne Dynes, "A new turn," posted Nov. 2, 2011 teases by saying, "Reader alert. Dyneslines may be about to move in a new direction. My best friend, who is writing his memoirs, suggests that I do the same. I am now 77 and have had a fairly interesting life. I grew up in genteel poverty in a fairly good neighborhood in Los Angeles. My parents were poor not for any cultural reason--both had gone to college--but because of the huge medical bills that had to be paid for my mother."

I look forward to reading Dynes' memoirs.

Stuffing the boyhole Starfruit ballot box at HUMP film festival

2011-11-09T10:16:00.000-08:00

PHOTO: Dan Savage photographed the appropriate, at least for the HUMP porn film festival, a boyhole Starfruit ballot box (and the female variant). These ballot boxes echo popular pen and ink line drawing designs that are similar. See blog post by Dan Savage, "This Is What Democracy Looks Like (Well, This Is What Democracy Looks Like at a Porn Festival)," posted Nov. 5, 2011.

Several trans activists failed in getting much publicity from their glitter-bombing of Dan Savage, purportedly the glitter bombing was retaliation for Savage's previously alleged trans-phobic advice. (I do not recall Savage writing about being glitter bombed when it happened, other than to say he was in Eugene and too busy preparing for HUMP film festival to write many blog posts. (See blog post by Dan Savage, "Here I Am In Eugene, O," posted Nov. 2, 2011)

Speaking of advice, the Savage Love advice column by Dan Savage, "SL Letter of the Day: Buttsex Free At Last," posted Nov. 2, 2011 discussed letters from readers who are not interested in anal sex, but feel pressure to try it and in response will only tolerate it to please a partner. One letter writer, who said he purposely skipped the anal parts of porn, questions the conventional wisdom hat gay men are virgins until they have both top and bottomed because of conventional wisdom that they need to try it to know it before disliking it. (This idea was echoed in the Glee TV show -- more on this below)

Dan Savage hypothesizes that it was not porn that elevated gay anal sex to become the expected norm for gay sex by all gay men, but it was the fault of AIDS education programs that say, "use a condom every time," and given that few people use condoms for oral sex, safe sex ed teaches that anal sex happens every time gay men have sex together. I recall that this type of negative consequence due to sex education was widely discussed back when the AIDS safe sex campaigns were first designed in the 1980s. Most people thought it was worth risking to avoid more HIV infections and deaths from AIDS.

Savage's letter-of-the-day was part of a follow-up reply to a previous post by Dan Savage, "Wedding Party," posted Nov. 2, 2011where Savage quoted a Journal of Sexual Medicine research paper that claims some estimates find 25 or 30 percent of gay men never have anal sex because, in Savage's words, "they just don't dig it."

In my experience, many young gay men start out having only fuzzy romantic notions that involve only cuddling or at most kissing another man. As gay men mature, any disgust they might feel conberning the grossness of sucking a man's dick will fade away and they will eventually be overpowered by their sexual drive and joy of actually doing it. Learning to enjoy anal sex takes longer for many gay men. I didn't really know about or think about having anal sex until the first time I saw it in action at a party and in a porn film. My initial visceral response to gay anal sex made me desire it. Perhaps today, my response might be less acute given today's less sheltered environment where I might have learned about or seen gay anal sex at a younger age.

Clearly, every human is unique in their sexual likes and dislikes, but in my opinion, most of the gay men who avoid anal sex typically do so because they are either disgusted by the thought of anal sex or they think it wil be painful (See more on this below). However, many gay men who initially have no interest in anal sex, when they first come out, will over time develop a love for anal sex with experience. Any disgust or fear of pain they might have about anal sex, in my opinion, will only further delay the point when they become comfortable with it.

I note that in addition to overcoming the fear of anal sex, there is an additional issue for gay men of developing a preference for being either the top (active) or bottom (passive) partner in anal sex. Some gay men become tops only because they found bottoming to be painful. Other gay men are born bottoms who want to be dominated and only fucked by a man instead of fucking another man. Probably a majority of gay men become versatile and will either top or bottom. Exclusive tops seem to be rare according to the conventional wisdom of exclusive bottoms who often complain that every guy they meet wants to be fucked. Unlike developing joy from anal sex, I think the preference for being a top or bottom involved a more complicated set of emotions, such as the desire to be dominant or submissive.

In contrast to most straight men, who typically want to fuck a girl's cunt from the start and avoid oral sex with girls because they find the idea of licking a girl's cunt to be gross (they know it expels gross period effluents), many young gay men will first seek only oral sex and not seek anal intercourse until they have met a special partner.

Gay men who are disgusted by the thought of anal sex often hold the idea that anal sex is messy and will smell like shit, which only very few scat fetish lovers enjoy. While anal sex can be disgusting just like heterosexual fucking can be during a girl's period, anal sex doesn't have to be messy or disgusting. Anybody experienced having anal sex knows it can be clean given a healthy diet and other preparations before anal sex. Many bottoms develop a sense of when they are clean and they will do a "finger test" before anal sex to make sure no small pieces were left behind. Other bottoms use enemas or douches to clean out any residue, but some bottoms find doing this can cause a bigger mess while being fucked. Bottoms will also be sure to fuck only where it is easy to clean up and deal with any mess that may happen, such as Santorum spills. (See previous post Dan Savage Santorum in Eugene Weekly (5/6/11))

Other gay men avoid anal sex because they think it will be painful or they have found it to be painful when they tried it. Once again, anybody experienced with anal sex knows that with proper preparation, such as lube, and relaxation by slow streching of the anus, anal sex can be painless and enjoyable. Experienced bottoms often develop toughened skin around the asshole and more conscious ass muscle control to the point where they can be fucked with only spit for lube. Porn often depicts anal sex as being a spur of the moment and effortless act of insertion, which misleads virgin gay men into thinking that any dick can be quickly inserted into their ass without any pain. In fact, many virgin gay men need a very long period of foreplay where their ass is slowly stretched and stimulated with gentle fingering or with a series of increasing sized dildos, before they will be relaxed enough the painless insertion of a hard penis.

Yes, I've met natural bottoms. These gay men describe how they started fingering themselves during masturbation as a youth and how the first guy to fuck them caused only a momentary feeling of pain that quickly turned to being pleasurable. Some natural bottoms will cum no-handed, without their dick being touched, only from the sensation of a dick being thrust in their ass. This can cause such men to became instantly hooked on anal sex and never stop wanting to be fucked. However, I suspect such "natural bottoms" are in the minority and I bet most gay men must learn how to be fucked painlessly either by a patient and more experienced partner or from playing around and experimenting with anal stimulation by themselves during masturbation.

Rarely reported is how many straight females also describe a similar problem of learning how to be fucked painlessly. Inexperienced straight males will often thrust into a girl's cunt too quickly without making sure the girl has become sexually excited enough to self-lube and relax her vaginal muscles as required for painless entry. Even natural gay bottoms say they need to be sexually excited for their ass muscle to open up naturally, like it does when taking a shit, for painless insertion of a dick. Some bottom boy sluts even claim to have the equivalent of the female lubing phenomena when they are sexually aroused. Medical researchers have never found any lubing glands in these bottoms and they can't explain it other than to speculate that these bottoms expel anal mucous or sweat upon sexual arousal.

Shifting gears to a loosely related topic, I recently watched the gay cable channel show "Bad Sex" video series on Logo TV. Chris Donaghue, the star of the show is a "registered associate social worker working under a licensed psychologist," who provides group therapy to "sex addicts" in a "sex positive" way that doesn't judge what sex people have except when it becomes a problem in their lives. Ryan, one of the clients, says he is a sex addict because he wants to have sex 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Ryan finds it easier to have sex than to kiss another person. Chris and Ryan agree this as an intimacy disorder." Ryan resists all suggestions by Chris and so Chris prescribes "in-patient care" (presumably at a mental health or alcoholic recovery hospital." Ryan rejects this because he thinks the "twelve-step" program used to treat alcoholism is only for the religious and he rejects God. Ironically, some of the other heterosexual clients are older virgins who are disgusted by and averse to the idea of having sexual intercourse. The possibility that each one might be an asexual was not brought up. This reminded me how gay men who avoid anal sex might be similar to heterosexual virgins who also don't want to have sexual intercourse.

Finally, a blog post by Andrew Sullivan, "One Orgasm Straight Guys Don't Want," posted Nov. 7, 2011 links to the post by Maria Pawlowska, "Dudes and Dildos," Good Men Project, posted Nov. 5, 2011 that discusses why straight men don't want to be fucked in their ass because they don't want to be gay.

Also, to quote Steve Jobs, "there is one more thing." Last night (Nov. 8) I watched the FOX TV show Glee (TV series 2009- ) :The First Time" (episode #3.5) that was hyped to feature gay boy Kurt losing his virginity to his boy friend Blaine because of jealousy over his boyfriend spending time with another gay boy Sebastian and also from being goaded by the student director of the high school musical who criticized Finn and Rachel for being unable to show proper passion in heir acting and singing performance because they were virgins who had never experienced sex with somebody they loved. This episode was a good show overall, but the prudishness level was high because I would not have understood what was going on unless I had read the blog previews. The only sign that Kurt ant and Blaine ended up in bed together was when Kurt said he was ready to go home with Blaine. There were no images of them kissing or cuddling, etc. I assume some of this prudishness was due to the very real fears of corporate management that some TV station would be prosecuted for showing underage sex, but I also think it had more to do with homophobia. (See bog posts by Tim Stack, "'Glee' scoop: Why next week's sex-themed episode, 'The First Time,' is a game-changer," posted Nov. 3, 2011 and Michael Ausiello, "Glee Spoiler Alert: 8 Things You Must Know About Next Week's Sex-excellent Episode, 'The First Time'," posted )

See previous posts:

Freud on anal sex disgust reaction vs. heterosexual analogy of oral sex (4/27/11)
No handed cum via pegging for straight guys (7/3/08) and the no handed cum video (not safe for work if prudes are looking over your shoulder)
G-spot, P-spot orgasms (4/23/09)
Dan Savage gets screaming ovation at OSU (5/11/11)
Dan Savage on pegging and straight guys (12/20/06)
Dan Savage plugs pegging book (8/10/07)
Phthalates in dildos toxic? (10/26/07)
Thomas Kraemer, "Gay Anal Sex Ed: Learning the joy of being fucked in the ass painlessly," nifty.org posted Jan. 1, 2006
Gay anal sex douche advice by 'Cum Craver' (1/6/10)
Gay anal dyspareunia and chezolagnia (12/2/09) -- on painful gay anal intercourse
Listerine strips for rimming microbicide delivery (11/10/09)
Gay bareback sex history (8/1/09)
Michael Petrelis, female condoms, PEG-ES enemas for gay men (3/14/09)
Anal enema usage in MSM and LGVP (9/20/08) -- If micobicidal methods are further delayed, I believe a researcher could make an important contribution in developing a safer anal sex enema solution, such as PEG-ES, which I was able to prototype with standard over-the-counter drug store products.
PEG-ES for clean anal sex (7/19/08) -- PEG-ES enema consisting of 8 ounces of Naturalyte or Pedialyte electrolyte solution mixed with one tablespoon (one capful) of MiraLAX Polyethylene Glycol 3350 white powder. These ingredients can be easily purchased in any drugstore without a prescription.
MiraLAX and Pedialyte anal sex enema? (7/13/08) -- Businesses are selling premixed enemas targeted at gay men without ingredients or safety testing. Why hasn't anybody marketed a PEG-ES enema that has some medical safety testing behind it? I would love to see a gay businessman start making and marketing premixed PEG-ES enemas as a safer sex product for gay men. MiraLax is Polyethylene Glycol 3350 and it is available without a prescription. It was previously approved by the FDA as a prescription drug.
Enemas douches rectal microbicides paper (6/25/08) -- I include a long quote from Alex Carballo-Dieguez's paper, which gave me the idea of using PEG-ES for safer sex purposes.
Dr. on DynaDouche enema safety (9/19/07) -- Dr. Stephen E. Goldstone, M.D., F.A.C.S. who runs gayhealth.com once again expressed his medical opinion against using enemas.

Promising AIDS cure discovery by MIT electrical engineer

2011-11-06T13:29:00.000-08:00

PHOTO: research on a promising cure for AIDS that kills all cells infected with HIV, including cells with a mutated virus, is summarized in the article by Olga Kharif, "Innovator Todd Rider Has a Kill Switch for Viruses -- The MIT scientist is developing a possible cure for the common cold and every other virus," Bloomberg Businessweek, Nov. 7-13, 2011, p. 40. Also see the original science journal paper by Todd H. Rider, et al., "Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Therapeutics," PLoS ONE 6(7): e22572 Published: July 27, 2011 (DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0022572)

Ever since the HIV virus was determined to be the likely cause of AIDS in the 1980s, I've been praying for an AIDS cure that would kill all the HIV viruses and not just suppress them as the current anti-retroviral therapies do. My dream cure would have no negative side effects and also deal with mutating forms of HIV that have proved to be too difficult for any previous treatment to deal with.

After so many years of failure, I've become jaded by many false hopes and frustrated by the AIDS denialists who ignore science and deny that HIV causes AIDS. I admit that there is yet to be any conclusive proof that HIV causes AIDS, but the circumstantial evidence is huge. See previous posts:

Given my long history fighting AIDS, I was ecstatic to read the latest research on a promising new discovery that could, finally, provide a true cure for AIDS by killing all of the HIV viruses, including mutated ones, without any negative side effects and not just suppress HIV as do previous anti-retroviral AIDS therapies:

Even more impressive, the study's main researcher isn't a doctor. Todd Rider entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986 at age 17 and left nine years later with four degrees, including a PhD in electrical engineering and computer science. He also minored in relativistic quantum field theory and solid state and optical physics. "Once you start on the path of the dark side, you are hooked," jokes Rider of his obsession with science. . .
Rider, now 42 and a senior staff scientist, initially devoted his research to finding new ways to sniff out viruses. By splicing jellyfish genes into white blood cells -- nature's front line against viral invaders -- he created a biological sensor that glows in the presence of disease. The technology is faster than chemistry-based methods of disease detection and is now used by the government to test air samples for biological threats. Starting next year, Rockville (Md.)-based Innovative Biosensors plans to sell nasal swabs that use Rider's technology to spot infectious-disease outbreaks in hospitals. . .
Rider moved on from detecting viruses to destroying them. . . The drug acts like a homing missile that seeks out and kills cells infected by a virus. It appears to have few negative consequences and works against all diseases, even as they mutate. "Most viruses kill the host cells anyway. They are like aliens in a movie," says Rider. He has tested the drug in mice, but it may be as many as 10 years before a commercial version is available for humans. "This is a very clever approach, we are very encouraged by the proof of concept," says Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the study's funders. . .
Rider is a sci-fi aficionado, and he patented a rocket-staging system in high school. The invention earned him the grand prize at the International Science and Engineering Fair, along with a trip to Stockholm and a chance to meet Nobel prizewinners in literature and physics. "This was deemed sufficiently nerdy that I was promptly institutionalized at MIT," he jokes. . .
For his PhD thesis, he proved that a working hot fusion reactor would either consume more energy than it generates or spew as much radiation as existing nuclear power plants . .
(Quoted from Olga Kharif, "Innovator: Todd Rider Has a Kill Switch for Viruses, The MIT scientist is developing a possible cure for the common cold-and every other virus," Bloomberg Businessweek, Nov. 7-13, 2011, p. 40

Todd Rider is truly a modern day Renaissance man. MIT engineering grads are famous for their practical approach to theoretical problems, unlike Stanford grads who prototypically get stuck in the theoretical world and therefore never produce any practical result. Discovering a cure for AIDS is impressive, but to also find the cure for the common cold is ironic. I'll gladly take both.

Gay marriage discussed in 1969 Time magazine cover story

2011-11-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: Cover of the Oct. 31, 1969 Time Magazine featuring the cover story written by Contributing Editor Christopher Cory, researched by Madeleine Berry, and reported by Ruth Galvin, "The Homosexual in America," Time Magazine, Oct. 31, 1969, p. 56-67 (See contents for Time magazine, Oct. 31, 1969, Vol. 94 No. 18, p. 9). This issue appeared on newsstands and in school libraries, used by children, just a few months after the gay bar Stonewall riot occurred in Greenwich Village, New York. Stonewall is often used to mark the start of the modern gay rights movement even though homophile groups preceded it. The brightly colored cover photo was modified using the "posterization effect" that was created by a then newly popular graphic arts photo biography printing process. It echoed the modern pop art paintings and artwork of the closeted asexual or gay artist Andy Warhol who became popular in the 1960s mass media. Frank Kameny, who was a homophile activist and member of the Mattachine Society (a pioneering gay rights group formed in the 1950s), was included as part of "A Discussion: Are Homosexual sick?" sidebar to Time magazine cover story, "The Homosexual in America," Oct. 31, 1969, p. 66-67. (See previous post Pre-Stonewall gay activist Frank Kameny dies - was he a hero? (10/19/11)..) Also included in this issue was a sidebar "Four Lives in the Gay World," Time magazine, Oct. 31, 1969, p. 62 and an introduction to the issue written by Henry Luce III, "A Letter From The Publisher: Time magazine, Oct. 31, 1969," p. 9 who comments on the cover story by writing, "It deals with one of the most delicate issues of the day: homosexuality in American society. Once taboo, it is now the subject of debate and concern. Yet, as Cory says, 'Basically it is still a topic that is explained piecemeal and in polemics. Like all study about sex, large-scale homosexuality research is really just beginning. And the findings seem to knock down many of the stereotypes.' [At the end of the publisher's letter is a note that says] The Cover: Color-key montage by Fred Burrell. The face and figure are those of a young homosexual who agreed to pose for the photographer."

Until 1969, the word gay or homosexual rarely appeared in the mass media, except in stories about medical doctors trying to cure it as a mental disorder or police vice squads trying to clean up the city by arresting those sexual perverts and deviants who frequented gay bars. In fact, regular police raids on gay bars and associated corruption of payoffs of police by bar owners, led to the 1969 Stonewall riot. This magazine inspired gay liberationists across America when it was published. Gay people rose up across America demanding equal rights, inspired by the success of other civil rights movements of that time including the women's liberation movement and the black civil rights movement.

I clearly recall seeing this issue in my mother's reading pile in 1969 and quietly taking it after she was done reading it. She was a well read college graduate who was not shocked in the least by the subject matter of the cover story. She had been taught that homosexuality was mental illness that could blamed on having a domineering mother and weak father, which she took as an insult to the parents.

Nearly two decades before this article, many early homophile activists had been inspired by a book by Donald Webster Cory (pseudonym of Edward Sagarin 1913-1986), introduction by Albert Ellis, "The Homosexual in America: A subjective Approach," Greenberg Publisher, New York, 1951. (See previous post 'Homosexual in America' 1951 book by Donald Webster Cory a.k.a. Edward Sagarin (11/1/11))

The former Oregon State University professor and educational director of the 17-year-old ONE, Inc. (an early homophile activist group) W. Dorr Legg is quoted on p. 56 claiming, "I won't be happy until all churches give homosexual dances and parents are sitting in the balcony saying 'Don't John and Henry look cute dancing together?'" Legg was later the founder of the Log Cabin Republicans, an organization for conservative gays. See previous post W. Dorr Legg OSU archives records 1935-1942 (7/31/10).

Speaking of conservative gays, given how gay marriage was widely dismissed by many early, mostly liberal, gay activisst who had a goal of gay and sexual liberation, one thing I found interesting rereading the 1969 Time article is the fact that the concept of gay marriage was mentioned on pages 62, 64 and 67. They quote Manhattan Secretary "Rachel Porter," on page 62, saying "If Katie were a man, I would marry her and be faithful to her the rest of my life." On p. 64 the article asserts, "Keeping a gay marriage together requires unusual determination, since the partners have no legal contract to stay together for worse or better; there are no children to focus the couple's concern." On p. 66-67, Robert Weeks, an Episcopal priest who had arranged for the meetings of homosexual discussion groups in his Manhattan Church acknowledged that some sexually obsessive gays are "sick" said, "However, I don't think Dr. [Charles] Socarides [a psychoanalyst who treated "sick" homosexuals] is talking about another acquaintance of mine, a man who has been 'married' to another homosexual for fifteen years. Both of them are very happy and very much in love. They asked me to bless their marriage, and I am going to do it."

PHOTO: Jan. 9, 1976 feature article by Anne Wood, "Gay women: Coming out of the closet in Corvallis, 'Now I want to marry this woman,'" on p. 7-8 of Corvallis Gazette-Times. One of the women profiled in the article came out in a letter to the editor of her student newspaper and she was active in early gay women's groups at Oregon State University. (See previous posts Jack Baker gay marriage theory was right (4/8/09), Gay 1976 newspaper controversy (5/3/06) and Thomas Kraemer, "Views on gays same," Corvallis (Oregon) Gazette-Times, Sept. 13, 2005, p. A11)

PHOTO: ten years after the first gay cover story appeared another issue "how gay is Gay? cover of Time magazine, April 23, 1979, Vol. 113 No. 17 . It included the articles: John A. Meyers, "A Letter from the Publisher," Time April 23, 1979, p. 3, George Church, cover story "How Gay Is Gay? Homosexual men and women are making progress toward equality," Time April 23, 1979, p. 72-76 and Ruth Mehrtens Galvin, "Masters & Johnson on Homosexuality, An exclusive preview of the famed sex researcher's newsest study," Time April 23, 1979, p. 77-78. See previous posts:

Gay marriage 'zap' 1971 video by Randolfe Wicker (3/24/10)
Life Magazine gay marriage 1971 (11/20/08) -- Reverend Troy Perry of the Metropolitan Community Church conducting a same-sex marriage ceremony in 1971 and May 18, 1970 Michael McConnell and Jack Baker were married by Hennepin County Minnesota Justice of the Peace.

Also, for another perspective on the Time magazine article, see article "Rob Frydlewicz: A Harsh Portrayal of Our Lives, Oct. 31, 1969," outhistory.org accessed Oct. 22, 2011.

The 1969 Time magazine article introduced the general reader to many ethnographic terms that had been hidden in the homosexual underground culture. For example, they define the term "fag hags" are being homosexuals who are the parlor darlings of wealthy ladies. They contrast W. Dorr Legg's conservative homophile group to radical groups such as the Gay Liberation Front that chants "gay power" and "gay is good," a term Frank Kameny claims credit for popularizing. A photo captions calls picketing by gay liberationists as being, "In some areas, there is a kind of homintern." In 1969 computers were mostly lareg mainframe computers used only by corporations and so it was ahead of the time for Time to mentioning a computer dating service in San Francisco.

The word "homophobia" is used on page 61 and attributed to Americans still regarding "the invert with a mixture of revulsion and apprehension, to which some authorities have given the special diagnostic name of homosexual panic." A Harris Poll is quoted as saying that 63 percent of Americans consider homosexuals "harmful to American Life." A few years after the word homophobia appeared in the Time article, a book by George Weinberg, the person credited with coining the term homophobia, is published. See previous post George Weinberg homophobia book 1972 (12/6/08)

Coincidentally, on p. 62 of the article, Tom Kramer, 28, a tall New York City public relations man who was a practicing homosexual until 2 and 1/2 years ago, is quoted as saying, "throughout high school and college, I would try to put it out of my mind. I had sissified gestures, and when I was with people I would concentrate on not using them . . . When I read about somebody being a pervert, it was a like a slap in the face -- my God, that's what I am! . . . [Tom] and the girl were married. . . Tom is still in analysis."

Here are some more quotes from the Time magazine article and discussion on are homosexuals sick:

The reason that the invert's sex behavior is not dictated by his anatomy is related to a remarkable finding of sex researchers: no one becomes fully male or female automatically. The diverse psychological components of masculinity and femininity -- "gender role identity" -- are learned. Gender is like language, says Johns Hopkins University Medical Psychologist John Money: "Genetics ordains only that language can develop, not whether it will be Nahuatl, Arabic or English."
This does not mean that homosexuality is latent in all mature humans, as has been widely believed from a misreading of Freud. . .
[text Below is from discussion sidebar on if homosexuals are sick]
Kameny: All the homosexuals whom you have explored in depth were patients or others in clinical circumstances. So how do you know that all the ones who wouldn't come near you are sick and suffer from severe anxieties? . . Kameny: One of the major problems we have to face is the consequences of these attitudes, which are poisonous to the individual's self-esteem and self-confidence. The individual is brainwashed into a sense of his own inferiority, just as other minorities are. When we are told "You are sick," and "You are mentally ill," that finishes the destruction. . . Fox: A psychoanalyst says that we are destined to heterosexual union, and anything that deviates from this must by definition be sick. This is nonsense even in animal terms. Animal communities can tolerate quite a lot of homosexual relationships. The beautiful paradigm of this is geese. Two male geese can form a bond that is exactly like the bond between males and females. They function as a male-female pair; and geese, as far as I can see, are a very successful species.
So far as the two "married" individuals are concerned, they are engaged in what to them is a meaningful and satisfying relationship. What I would define as a sick person in sexual terms would be someone who could not go through the full sequence of sexual activity, from seeing and admiring to following, speaking, touching, and genital contact. A rapist, a person who makes obscene telephone calls -- these seem to me sick people, and I don't think it matters a damn whether the other person is of the same sex or not.
One of the crucial issues in the public discussion about homosexuality is whether or not the condition is a mental illness. To try to find out, TIME asked eight experts on homosexuality -- including two admitted homosexuals -- to discuss the subject at a symposium in New York City. The participants: Robin Fox, British-born anthropologist at Rutgers University; John Gagnon, sociologist at the State University of New York; Lionel Tiger, a Canadian sociologist also at Rutgers; Wardell Pomeroy, a psychologist who co-authored the Kinsey reports on men and on women and who is now a psychotherapist; Dr. Charles Socarides, a psychoanalyst who has seen scores of homosexuals in therapy and is associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in The Bronx; the Rev. Robert Weeks, an Episcopal priest who has arranged for the meetings of a homosexual discussion group to take place at his Manhattan church; Dick Leitsch, a homosexual who is executive director of the Mattachine Society of New York; and Franklin Kameny, an astronomer and homosexual who is founder-president of the Mattachine Society of Washington. . .
Pomeroy: If I were to base my judgment of homosexuals, both male and female, on the people who come to me in my practice, I think I would agree that they are sick, that they are upset in many, many different ways. But I had 20 years of research experience prior to this, in which I found literally hundreds of people who would never go to a therapist. They don't want help. They are happy homosexuals.
Socarides: I guess some of you feel that obligatory homosexuality is not an illness, that homosexuality should be proposed as a normal form of sexuality to all individuals. I think that this would be a disaster. A little boy might go next door to the Y and an older man might say to him, "Look, this is normal, my son. Just join me in this." If you sell this bill of goods to the nation, you are doing irreparable harm, and there will be a tremendous backlash against the homosexual.
Fox: I went through the English school system, which everybody knows is a homosexual system in the very fullest sense. Speaking as an obligatory heterosexual on behalf of myself and the other 90%, we went through it, we enjoyed it, we came out the other end, and we are fine. Some people have strayed about somewhere in the middle. This notion, therefore, that if you catch somebody and tell him that homosexuality is normal and practice it with him, he is necessarily going to get stuck in it, is absolutely nonsense. And I cite my three daughters as evidence. . .
(Quoted from "A Discussion: Are Homosexual sick?" Time magazine cover story, "The Homosexual in America," Oct. 31, 1969 (copy of article accessed on time.com Oct. 22, 2011))

See previous post Pre-Stonewall gay activist Frank Kameny dies - was he a hero? (10/19/11)

The analogy of homosexuality being similar to language development made by Dr. John Money above is one I haven't heard in decades. Dr. John Money was one of the early researchers who believed that intersex children could be surgically altered to be a boy or girls and then if raised as a boy or girl they would never know the difference according to his theory. In fact, many real intersex children who were raised this way later grew up dissatisfied with their assigned gender and asked to be converted to another sex. Clearly, Dr. Money also believed the Freudian theories that homosexuality was a caused by psychological development influenced by the way the parents raised the child. This theory has been so debunked and has become so politically incorrect that few people will discuss it rationally today. However, I would like to revisit the theory of sexual orientation and gender identity development by opening my mind to be less absolute. In particular, what if there was some component due to how you were raised that would be fixed and hard to change? Using the language example, yes, even and "American" child born and adopted at birth by parents in a foreign country would grow up and learn the foreign language without difficulty. Also, the same child would also have an accent, such as a Spanish accent, if they learned to speak English later in life. Accents are an example of something that is hard-wired in during early childhood development and is hard to change. Could there be an analogous childhood development phenomena for sexual orientation and gender identity? Are all children equally able to develop any sexual orientation or gender identity, but then develop an accented gender or sexual orientation, similar to an accent when speaking a language," which is just as hard to change or alter? If not all children can develop either way, are there varying shades of sexual orientation or gender identity they can develop based on their environment and genetics combined? My prediction is that future research will show that sexual orientation and gender identity is neither all "nature" nor all "nurture" and it will be discovered that there are many natural variations, some of which are harder, if not impossible, to alter later in life, just like an accent. Likewise, there are probably certain characteristics that are genetic and something a person must accept as having no control over changing.

The local history, leading up to the Oregon State University Pride Center by Thomas Kraemer, "Corvallis, Oregon State University gay activism 1969-2004," posted April 30, 2010 is available on the Web site OutHistory.org produced by The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS), located at the City University of New York Graduate Center. The shortened URL goo.gl/BQhv2 will also go to it more easily if you are text messaging or hand typing the link.

'Homosexual in America' 1951 book by Donald Webster Cory a.k.a. Edward Sagarin

2011-11-01T14:50:00.001-07:00

PHOTO: first printing original title page of the book by Donald Webster Cory (pseudonym of Edward Sagarin 1913-1986), introduction by Albert Ellis, "The Homosexual in America: A subjective Approach," Greenberg Publisher, New York, 1951. This book is frequently mentioned by early homophile and gay rights activists as being their main source, in the middle of the 20th Century, for any information, both accurate and inaccurate, about homosexuality. Cory's book was later reprinted many times well into the 1970s when it became largely obsolete due the positive efforts of homophile activists and later gay activists after the 1969 Stonewall riot.

One review of the book Donald Webster Cory (pseudonym of Edward Sagarin 1913-1986), introduction by Albert Ellis, "The Homosexual in America: A subjective Approach," Greenberg Publisher, New York, 1951 says:

When Jack Nichols first read The Homosexual in America, he was 15-years-old, the year was 1953, and it was not the best time to be a homosexual in America.
"The Homosexual in America," Nichols recalls, "had an immediate influence on me in three different ways.
"First, it helped me, as one of its chapter titles suggests, to move "From Handicap to Strength".
"Second, it suggested that the worst effects of discrimination against any minority are that its members take to doubting themselves and sharing in a general contempt for others of their kind. ...
"Third, it made clear to me that our numbers are legion, and that there was much work to be done to change our status."
(Quoted from Jesse Monteagudo, "Book of the Century: The Homosexual in America," GayToday.com posted Nov. 8, 1999)

See previous post Jack Nichols 1938-2005 (9/5/06) for more on the arly homophile and gay rights activist.

I did not read Cory's book until decades after it was printed and I found it to be a wonderful source of historical references on homosexuality circa the middle 20th Century. The Oregon State University Library, stored on their dusty old library shelves, owns many of these references in the original bound and printed form.

For example, Cory references the still distinguished and reputable Journal of the American Medical Association, a primary reference for doctors and medical science, which published an answer to a question from a doctor, who said a 19 year-old boy he had known since he was 3 had told him he was a homosexual, asking whether or not homosexuality was a hereditary condition (See JAMA, Dec. 23, 1950, p. 1536 column titled, "Queries and Minor Notes," which included the general disclaimer that all answers were "prepared by competent authorities" who "do not, however, represent the opinions of any official bodies.") The answer authoritatively stated homosexuality is not hereditary, but says, "It is a developmental arrest in the evolution of a personality. In varying degrees the subject remains psychologically immature in his attachment to and relation with other persons. There are many degrees of homosexuality. It is a normal phase in personality development in early adolescence. It remains a basic feature of every person's life, but he passes through the phase when he is more interested in members of the opposite sex. It becomes pathological in the adult who maintains such a relation for its sexual outlets. Help is available and can be effective for the homosexual person who desires it. The treatment, however, is entirely psychiatric and is nearly always a prolonged undertaking, lasting, even with intensive treatment, many months or even years. For those persons who do not want to change their makeup and even those who are not highly motivated in seeking help, treatment is practically useless."

The fact that a widely read and reputable medical journal in 1951 would dismiss ex-gay therapy as not being very effective is probably more an example of the split between traditional medicine and psychiatric medicine, a split that still exists today between the effectiveness of psychiatric drug treatments versus non-drug oriented talk therapies, and not necessarily an example of doctor's acceptance or tolerance of homosexuality. Clearly, the experienced doctors who wrote this answer had seen little evidence of any successful ex-gay treatment done by the psychoanalytic therapy common at that time. Psychiatrists and psychoanalysts engaging in psychoanalysis of that era were often more optimistic about being able to treat homosexuality, but even the grandfather of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, was skeptical about using it to treat homosexuality, even though many of his theories of domineering mothers and weak fathers being the cause of homosexuality originated from his research writing.

PHOTO: Google books preview of book by Vern L. Bullough, "Before Stonewall," Harrington Park Press, 2002, chapter by Stephen O. Murray, "Donald Webster Cory," p. 333-343.

Steve Jobs never acknowledged standing on the shoulders of giants

2011-10-28T12:42:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: U.S. Patent Number 5,883,639 "Visual Software Engineering system and method for developing visual prototypes and for connecting user code to them" Date of Patent: Mar. 16, 1999. See previous posts Google Scholar is cool (6/28/07), Microsoft Vista copied from HP Vista? (7/29/06) and Hewlett-Packard Journal historical favorites (7/16/11) -- Thomas F. Kraemer, "Product Development Using Object-Oriented Software Technology . . . object-oriented technology is rapidly becoming an accepted technology for designing and developing software systems. This paper provides a brief history, a tutorial and a description of HP's Lake Stevens Instrument Division's experience using the technology for product development," HP Journal, Aug, 1989, p. 66, 87-100 (accessed at findarticles.com 10/26/11).

I wrote about the connection between Steve Jobs, Apple, NeXT, Hewlett-Packard and Corvallis, Oregon in my two previous letters to the editor and blog posts:

After having read the new authorized biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, "Steve Jobs," Simon and Schuster, 2011, I was motivated to write a (hopefully) final letter to the editor about Steve Jobs:

A new authorized biography depicts Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, in a fit of hypocrisy and megalomania, angrily accusing Google Android software of stealing from Apple. Tellingly, Jobs simultaneously brags about stealing great ideas himself, such as the revolutionary mouse and graphical computer interface, first demonstrated by the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center.
The Xerox PARC demonstration was prototyped with the pioneering object-oriented Smalltalk language. Smalltalk was implemented in a more practical software form, called Objective-C, by an independent software firm and Hewlett-Packard.
In 1986, Hewlett-Packard's intellectual property attorneys avoided taking legal action against Steve Jobs' NeXT (sic) Computer for stealing the copyrighted Objective-C software developed by HP. Attorneys at that time were more concerned about the legal uncertainties of patenting software inventions, which resulted from conflicting court decisions and inaction by Congress.
Jobs later sold the NeXT operating system software to become the basis of all future Apple computer products, including the Apple iOS used for iPod and iPhone. As a result, in my opinion, Apple is infringing U.S. Patent Number 5,883,639 and other patents owned by HP and spinoff Agilent Technologies. Jobs defiantly refused to cross-license Apple's patents, even for free, as companies with large patent portfolios typically do to avoid costly legal battles.
Steve Jobs idolized Hewlett-Packard cofounders Bill and Dave, but he never adopted their humble ethic of crediting visionary innovation to Standing on the shoulders of giants.
(Quoted from Thomas Kraemer, "Jobs and the patent issue," Gazette-Times, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011, p. B5)

What I didn't have space to write it in a letter, and something that would probably be too difficult to explain to a general audience, is that the greater lesson I have learned is how patents and copyright laws were originally meant to protect the individual author or inventor, but the ownership of them by corporations has perverted their meaning to the point where intellectual property has lost all meaning. Intellectual property laws need to be reformed. Hopefully, I will be able to write more in a future post, but my low vision blindness is limiting my ability to do so. Links to others thinking on this are in the post by Andrew Sullivan, "A Defense Of Copying," posted Oct. 27, 2011 that points out the Apple slide to unlock patent is silly.

See these related links:

Standing on the shoulders of giants (Wikipedia)
Isaac Newton (Wikipedia) is soften credited with the quote Standing on the shoulders of giants (Wikipedia)
Andy Towle, "Steve Jobs Describes the First Time He Met a Gay Man, in New Bio," towleroad.com posted Oct. 24, 2011
Apple has company memorial to Jobs on its website (accessed Oct. 25, 2011
Brandon K. Thorp, "NY Times Frenzy Over Imminent Steve Jobs Bio," Towleroad.com posted Oct. 23, 2011
Janet Maslin, "Making the iBio For Apple's Genius," New York imes, posted October 21, 2011 review of Walter Isaacson biography of Steve Jobs
Nick Wingfield and Damon Darlin, "Steve Jobs Biography: A Scorecard of Put-Downs," New York Times posted Oct. 21, 2011
Damon Darlin and Nick Wingfield, "Hints of Apple Plans In Jobs Book," New York Times posted October 21, 2011
UDPATE 11/1/11: -- Alex Danfelt, "Apple too focused on dominating, rather than innovation," Barometer, posted Oct. 31, 2011 -- an Oregon State University senior in new media communications weighs-in on the quote from Steve Jobs' autobiography in which he states, "I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong, I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product." The studetn seems to confuse the intellectual property rights legal concepts of copyright and patent rights in his discussion, but his sixth sense is right on about Apple's behavior.
UDPATE 11/2/11: -- Andrew Sullivan, "A Defense Of Copying, Ctd," posted Oct. 31, 2011 quotes a reader and patent lawyer, "Timothy B Lee and Yglesias argue that society is better off when good ideas can be used freely, and that is certainly correct on one level. But it does not follow that we should restrict or eliminate the patent laws, the existence of which arguably encourages the development and commercialization of those very good ideas. It is way too simplistic to say that because competition is good, copying of ideas should be allowed. The appropriate question is how we can create systems to encourage the development and dissemination of good ideas, which then can be expanded and built-upon by others. In broad strokes the patent laws try to do this, albeit I would be the first to suggest that they do so very imperfectly.
One frustration about public discussions of the patent system is a conflation of the policies underlying the system with the administrative implementation of those policies. The US Patent and Trademark Office grants about 250,000 patents per year. Thousands of these are granted even though they do not meet the standards for patentability (indeed, about 35-40% of all patents that are litigated in court are found to be invalid, though because of selection bias, this does not mean that 35% of all patents granted are invalid).
This is a very serious problem, and generates enormous costs for society. The reasons are complex and multifaceted - lack of resources, terrible incentives for patentees, administrative incompetence, and even political pressure all play a role. Looking at the posts you linked to, it appears that this was the original objection to Apple's slide-lock patent - various commentators claim that it already existed in the 'prior art'. If so, then the patent is likely invalid. (I do not know.) But even if true, that doesn't tell us much about whether the patent system could work well, given serious attention to it's administrative failings.
It is fashionable in the software industry in particular to take the view that new ideas should not be patentable because the world would be better off if those ideas were free to all. But that is a little like walking into a grocery store and making the claim that those delicious steaks should be free for all because we would all be better off. This makes sense only if you ignore that those steaks exist in that refrigerator case because of significant (and often risky) investments by a chain of private actors, and that without a fair return on the investments, there won't be steaks in the case in the future. Unfortunately, this is indeed the position that much of the high-tech industry has taken with respect to patents, typified by the ludicrous "patent reform" law signed by President Obama in September - a series of changes that simultaneously fails to address any of the causes of the problems with our patent system, while offering giveaways to those who infringe patents. Sadly, lobbying and manipulation of public opinion works, even in the technocratic world of patent law.
Today, the US is the most innovative, intellectually dynamic country in the world, no question. But our standard of living increasingly depends on the ability to develop and commercialize new ideas - and yes, "monetize" these ideas. The patent system, warts and all, underlies this innovative engine. We misunderstand it at our peril."

Village People record, Randy Shilts, Lady Bird Johnson and OSU drag show camp

2011-10-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: common masculine stereotypes are caricatured by the very gay (Greenwich) Village People (a cowboy, an Indian, a cop, a sailor, a leather clad biker and a construction worker) as shown on the back jacket photo of the 'Go West' LP vinyl record album circa 1980. (See previous posts Robosexual pride parade in Gearwich Village (7/3/10), Randy Wicker Felipe Rose Village People Indian interview (9/10/09), Cowboy drag research paper (9/6/08) and Gay "Cowboy and Indians" party offends Native American (6/4/08))

PHOTO: Newspaper ad for OSU Fall 2011 Drag Show in Barometer, Oct. 20, 2011, p. 3. The drag event has become a popular tradition at OSU and it makes lots of money for the gay student group -- it echoes the pre-Stonewall days before gay activism when drag a popular event in underground gay bars. In 1969, Just after Stonewall, gay activists tried to hide their love of drag because it reinforced the common stereotype that gay men are all a bunch of sissy women. This drag event is either a sign that this stereotype has been forgotten as being oppressive or it is evidence that the gay rights movement has moved beyond such concerns. Either reason is good. (See previous posts OSU Pride Week 2009 Barometer coverage (5/16/09) and OSU blackface and drag offensiveness forgotten (10/31/07))

A blog post by Michael Petrelis, "Shilts Files: Photo of Lady Bird Johnson Holding a Village People Album," posted Oct. 18, 2011 printed a photo of the wife of former U.S. President Lyndon Johnson holding a Village People record album in the Randy Shilts files, now stored at the San Francisco Public Library's main library in their rich LGBT collection. Randy Shilts, a journalism graduate of the University of Oregon, was a famous gay author who died of AIDS after covering AIDS for the San Francisco Chronicle during the worst days of the epidemic in the 1980s. (See previous post Randy Shilts 'Reporter Zero' on Logo (3/10/07))

For more on gay music record album art by artist Andy Warhol see previous post Wojnarowicz, Warhol, Smithsonian censorship and the Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers zipper art (12/18/10)

OSU Pride Center new interim director

2011-10-19T12:42:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: Oregon State University, satellite map showing area near the Pride Center accessed Feb. 24, 2010. (Also see Oregon State University Pride Center map highlighted with building photo, official campus map accessed Oct. 18, 2011 and previous posts OSU digital library, Steven Leider, Larry Roper, Diversity Alliance, Bloss Hall costs (3/26/11) and OSU Pride Center, condoms, and ex-gay cures (2/24/10)

) The student newspaper story by Amanda Antell, "Pride Center opens doors to LGBTQQIA community, National Coming Out Day encourages students to celebrate sexuality," Barometer, posted Oct. 12, 2011 mentioned the new interim director of the OSU Pride Center Beth Wasylow, a psychologist with the Counseling and Psychological Services at OSU and interim director for the Pride Center. Also mentioned in the article was Audrey Schwartz, Pride Center Supporter and Pre-doctoral psychologist, Charlie Vang, Pride Center staff member, Neil Suplido, Pride Center staff member, and Rylan Wall, Pride Center Coordinator, who helped set up the recent Wayne Besen speech at OSU. (See previous post Wayne Besen ex-gay speech for OSU Pride History Month (10/6/11))

I just snail mailed to Beth Wasylow a printed copy of the local history, leading up to the Oregon State University Pride Center by Thomas Kraemer, "Corvallis, Oregon State University gay activism 1969-2004," posted April 30, 2010 that is available on the Web site OutHistory.org produced by The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS), located at the City University of New York Graduate Center. The shortened URL goo.gl/BQhv2 will also go to it more easily if you are text messaging or hand typing the link. (See previous post OSU gay history at OutHistory.org (12/7/10)). I had previously mailed a copy to Victoria Nguyen, OSU Intercultural Student Services, Diversity Development who had previously been appointed in the interim.

It is not clear if the former Pride Center Director Steven Leider will be replaced or not. Leider was a good educational resource for students who will be missed. (See previous post OSU digital library, Steven Leider, Larry Roper, Diversity Alliance, Bloss Hall costs (3/26/11))

Pre-Stonewall gay activist Frank Kameny dies - was he a hero?

2011-10-19T12:29:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: (left to right) Dr. Frank Kameny, Jack Nichols, and Dr. George Weinberg being honored as Grand Marshalls of New York City's 2004 Heritage of Pride Parade. This photo was given to me by Jack Nichols shortly before his death. (See previous post Jack Nichols 1938-2005 (9/5/06))

VIDEO: "Rachel Maddow On Gay Rights Pioneer Frank Kameny," from MSNBC Rachel Maddow Show of Oct. 12, 2011 as posted on youtube.com (See "Video: Rachel Maddow on Frank Kameny," Advocate.com posted October 13, 2011 and post by Evan Hurst, "Rachel Maddow Remembers Gay Rights Pioneer Frank Kameny," Truth Wins Out, Posted October 13th, 2011)

While the blog by Wayne Dynes, "Frank Kameny," posted Oct. 12, 2011, correctly critiques the lionization of Frank Kameny, and even though I agree with Dynes that Randy Wicker, Harry Hay and others, such as the former OSU professor W. Dorr Legg, had just as much, if not more, to do with inventing the gay rights movement, I am also of the opinion that Frank Kameny deserves the same amount of credit as these other pioneers. They all made significant contributions that helped gay people worldwide, albeit in different cities and venues. I forgive people for being a little bit hyperbolic and sappy while eulogizing Frank Kameny. The historically accurate points of Wayne Dynes should be relegated to be the basis for future historians to argue over. (See previous posts George Weinberg homophobia book 1972 (12/6/08), Randolfe Wicker's plea for gay rights in "Newsweek" July 30, 1962 (4/15/06), W. Dorr Legg OSU archives records 1935-1942 (7/31/10) and FBI files on gay OSU professor 1956 (7/7/10))

See following links:

MTV Real World shows homophobia disgust reaction

2011-10-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: Nate has a classic homophobic disgust reaction when he spots his bisexual roommate Frank having sex with another guy in the hot tub on Real World > San Diego > Ep. 2603 "A Pig Walks Into A Gay Bar..." aired Comcast channel 763 MTV Oct. 12, 2011 7-8PMPT. Nate tries to be brave and claim he doesn't care about who anybody is having sex with in private, but when he actually sees gay sex in real life he admits that it has an "ick factor." (See the Real World San Diego,| Ep. 3, After Show aired Oct. 12, 2011)

Even though the word homophobia is based on the original observation by Dr. George Weinberg that straight men are fearful of homosexuality, later research has suggested that homophobia is more of a disgust reaction than a fear reaction. Other research has shown that some straight men will also experience an erection and other measurable sexual excitement in reaction to the sight of gay sex, which when combined with their disgust reaction can cause some men to physically bash gays violently. See my previous posts:

George Weinberg homophobia book 1972 (12/6/08) -- the doctor who coined the word homophobia
Freud on anal sex disgust reaction vs. heterosexual analogy of oral sex (4/27/11)
Homophobia is disgust, not fear, reaction used for political gain (8/28/10)
Fearful conservative brains and liberal genes (1/5/11)
Lying about gay sex in fMRI scan (9/4/10)
Nearly a century ago, the famous gay German Doctor Magnus Hirschfeld, like Freud, discussed the disgust reaction to homosexuality. See my previous posts Magnus Hirschfeld Book notes 37 to 39 - final post (11/2/10) and the book by Magnus Hirschfeld, translated by Michael A. Lombardi-Nash, Ph.D., "The homosexuality of men and women," Prometheus Books, 2000, p. 1054, 1088.
MTV Real World Denver Davis (11/22/06)
Real World Davis' straight envy (5/18/07)
MTV Real World Brooklyn (12/18/08)
MTV Real World Tyler scores (5/10/06) (MTV Real World Key West)
MTV Real World New Orleans again (7/15/10)
Coming out at HRC on MTV Real World Washington DC (2/19/10)
Gay dry humping on MTV 'Real World' (1/9/10)

Quick Response QR code for potatoes and Thomas Kraemer blog

2011-10-15T12:29:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: (click photo to enlarge) the Harvestmark trace 9278 9565 7972 KRZU that shows the growing history of some Russet Potatoes I recently bought at the Fred Meyer grocery store (owned by Kroger). The Harvestmark code was encoded in a QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response code) that was printed on a label attached to the potatoes. With the correct smart phone apps you can photograph the QR code in the store and then the app will decode the photo of the QR code and go retrieve the Harvestmark information you see above. It is also possible to manually type in the Harvestmark code directly at the Harvestmark Web site, but it is a long number and it is much easier to photograph the QR code with your smart phone. (See QR code (Wikipedia)).

PHOTO: Fred Meyer Kroger grocery store russet potato label with a QR Code (upper left) for the Harvestmark 9278 9565 7972 KRZU. The legacy UPC barcode, which has been in supermarkets since the 1970s, is at the lower left.

I recently noticed that the two-dimensional QR code technology seems to be catching on and so my curiosity was piqued to learn more. (See my comment to the blog post by Bobby Samai, "QR codes - much more than odd and confusing," PEAK Chat blog posted October 6, 2011)

Before the UPC code became standard on every grocery store product in the 1970s, I studied the theory behind linear-style UPC bar codes while in graduate school, when I built a small microprocessor to decode UPC barcode symbols. Unfortunately, the only way I could make it work was to enlarge the barcode with a Xerox copier because the optics path on my prototype reader was too crude to read the UPC barcode in its standard size.

PHOTO: QR code for the URL link to the Thomas Kraemer blog at http://thomaskraemer.blogspot.com that any smart phone should be able to photograph and decode to come here without having to manually type the link.

For example, to generate the above QR code image for the URL link to this blog thomaskraemer.blogspot.com you can type the link https://chart.googleapis.com/chart?chs=150x150&cht=qr&chl=http://thomaskraemer.blogspot.com/ (where 150 is the size of the image in pixels) and the QR code will display and can be saved as a PNG image. For more instructions see "Getting Started with Infographics," google.com (accessed Aug. 8. 2011). The Google Chart Tools page allow you to generate pointers, QR codes, and other data-based infographic images. Included on the page Google Infographics Web page are tools anybody can use to generate QR codes.

The original UPC code that is still in use today encodes only ten digits and it had a rudimentary error detection scheme. Despite this limitation, the UPC code has proven to be very robust in actual use over the years, especially as the UPC reader technology has gotten more accurate by using multiple passes and laser scanning methods.

The UPC code is a linear scanned one, but the QR code is a two-dimensional barcode, which unlike the linear straight line symbols scan of the UPC, the QR can incorporate and use much more advanced error detection and error correction mathematical tricks to ensure a correct scan and decode. It is truly amazing to see a smart phone photograph a QR code that may be on a magazine page or potato label and then watch it launch an application and quickly figure it out and go to the link or displays the text that is embedded in the QR code. This type of bar code scanner was only a dream when I first started playing with UPC barcodes in the 1970s. It promises to be very useful to store more data than the current UPC code.

PHOTO: a self-promotional advertisement printed in the Gazette-Times, Aug. 10, 2011, p. A10 that included a QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response code -- see QR code (Wikipedia)). Scanning it with a smart phone or computer scanner and then uploading it to the zxing.org/w/decode.jspx QR decoder application reveals that the code will link you to the Web page URL http://q.msky.us/r/GDCT that automatically redirects to the newspaper's home page www.gazettetimes.com.

Apple founder Steve Jobs cosmic connection to HP Corvallis

2011-10-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: Steve Jobs death was featured on the flashy silver inked back cover (left) and front cover (right) of the special print edition magazine issue "Steve Jobs 1955-2011," Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Oct. 10-16, 2011. The contents of the entire issue were devoted to Steve Jobs. (Also see "Steve Jobs, In Memoriam Our tribute to a boundary-breaking thinker and endlessly astute businessman," posted Oct. 6, 2011)

PHOTO: Shortly before his death, Steve jobs showed at the June 7, 2011 Cupertino City Council meeting a highlighted map of his current Apple Infinite Loop Road site (left) and the HP Cupertino, California site (right) that was bought by Apple and on which Steve Jobs plans to bulldoze the HP buildings in order to build a new circular building for 12,000 employees. (See description by Jordan Golson, "Steve Jobs Pitches Cupertino on Stunning New Apple Campus," MacRumors, posted Jun. 7, 2011 and video by cupertinocitychannel, "Steve Jobs Presents to the Cupertino City Council (6/7/11)," youtube.com at youtu.be/gtuz5OmOh_M posted Jun. 7, 2011. Also see previous post Apple to bulldoze HP site to build circular building for 12,000 employees (6/15/11))

My local Corvallis, Oregon newspaper printed an obituary for Steve Jobs by Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News "Apple co-founder and Silicon Valley pioneer Steve Jobs dies at 56," Gazette-Times, posted Oct. 5, 2011, to which I responded to in the following letter to the editor:

The death of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs has evoked memories of his "cosmic connection" with Corvallis.
In 1984, The Hewlett-Packard Corvallis Division was designing and manufacturing portable computers when Steve Jobs hired away a key HP engineer, Steve Sakoman, who Jobs had heard about from a "college intern" that had worked at HP. Jobs initially asked Sakoman to build a Macintosh telephone that was also a computer. (See the book by Steve Hamm, "The Race for Perfect: Inside the Quest to Design the Ultimate Portable Computer," McGraw-Hill, 2008, p. 206-209)
Two years earlier, HP engineers had seriously investigated designing a handheld computer cell phone in partnership with AT&T Bell Labs, the inventor of the cell phone. (See my letter "H-P: What goes around went around -- to California for a while," Gazette-Times, Jun. 14, 2011)
A new Apple boss, Jean-Louis Gasse, killed Job's Macintosh phone and moved Sakoman to head up Macintosh hardware where he assembled a team to build the first Macintosh Portable. It failed in the marketplace like the one he had designed at HP.
Sakoman's pet project, the Apple Newton, became the first personal digital assistant product. It was prematurely hyped by the new Apple CEO John Sculley and became a huge embarrassment because the handwriting input did not work.
Steve Jobs is our present day Thomas Edison. Both men are known more for their spectacular skills in managing and marketing revolutionary invention, rather than the actual invention itself.
(Quoted from Thomas Kraemer, "Letter: Steve Jobs was, above all, a master of marketing," Gazette-Times, published Oct. 13, 2011)

PHOTO: the Hewlett-Packard HP 110 portable computer clamshell laptop computer notebook design was introduced in 1984 and it became the standard configuration for portable computers. The HP 110 portable computer was designed in parallel with the HP IPC (HP Integral PC) transportable computer at the HP Corvallis, Oregon division between 1982 and 1984 after the successful introduction in 1980 of the small desktop HP 85 BASIC programmable PC that had a 5-inch CRT graphical display and built-in thermal printer. I recall going to many early HP design meetings in 1982 and struggling to figure out what portable computer format would win in the future. I had recently read in the Bell Labs Journal that cell phones were about to be introduced and so I drew up a formal proposal for a combined handheld computer and cell phone. My idea was openly laughed at a management review. (See Kay laptop, Engelbart mouse history (12/1/08), "Hewlett-Packard HP 110," oldcomputers.net accessed Dec. 1, 2008 and "The HP-110, HP's first laptop computer," Hewlett-Packard virtual museum accessed Dec. 1, 2008)

PHOTO: In 1989, the first Macintosh Portable was introduced by Apple. It was huge and largely rejected in the marketplace just as the Hewlett-Packard HP 110 portable computer was rejected by mainstream customers in 1984.

Steve Jobs used Objective-C to create the NeXT operating system, which he then sold to Apple to become the main OS for Apple. Objective-C was also used for the HP product described in the article by Thomas F. Kraemer, "Product Development Using Object-Oriented Software Technology . . . object-oriented technology is rapidly becoming an accepted technology for designing and developing software systems. This paper provides a brief history, a tutorial and a description of HP's Lake Stevens Instrument Division's experience using the technology for product development," HP Journal, Aug, 1989, p. 66, 87-100 (PDF). (See previous post Hewlett-Packard Journal historical favorites (7/16/11))

See previous posts:

PHOTO: Steve Jobs was inspired by The Last Whole Earth Catalog, 1971 (top), The Next Whole Earth Catalog (1981), and The Millennium Whole Earth Catalog 1994 (bottom). These catalogs provided a potpourri of information about various topics in a manner similar to what one can easily find today on the Web and Wikipedia. Most of the items appealed to alternative and creative thinkers. (See Google Books: Portola Institute, "The Last Whole Earth Catalog," Random House, First Printing, 1971, p. 324-325, Stewart Brand, editor, "The Next Whole Earth Catalog," Rand Mcnally, Sept. 1981, and Howard Rheingold, editor, Foreward by Stewart Brand, "The Millenium Whole Earth Catalog," Harper Collins, 1994.

PHOTO: (click photo to enlarge) a sample of the 1971 so-called "The Last Whole Earth Catalog" on p. 324-325 included notes on "Sex and broadcasting" or how to start a community radio station. Also, a short review on the Beaverton, Oregon Tektronix oscilloscopes used to debug the hardware of early computers. Tektronix also made storage oscilloscopes that used an analog method of storing vector computer graphics on a green phosphorus display, which was used by 1970s computer animation and engineering programs. It is mentioned on p. 346 of "The Last Whole Earth Catalog."

See the following links:

Wayne Besen ex-gay speech for OSU Pride History Month

2011-10-06T10:35:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: Wayne Besen, founder of the charitable organization truthwinsout.org "Truth Wins Out", on Oct. 5, 2011 gave a rousing speech on ex-gay political and religious groups, in front of a filled room at Oregon State University. Before the speech, Besen received very good coverage in a local newspaper article by Gail Cole, "Author questions efforts to fix homosexuality," Gazette-Times, Oct. 5, 2011, p. A3. (See press release by Wayne Besen, "'Ex-Gay' Lies To Be Challenged By Author and Activist Wayne Besen at Oregon State University," Truth Wins Out Blog, posted Sep. 28, 2011 and my previous post Wayne Besen ex-gay therapy research hits local news (7/16/11))

Sadly and totally coincidentally, just before Besen's speech, the news of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs' death filled the room. (See Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News "Apple co-founder and Silicon Valley pioneer Steve Jobs dies at 56," Gazette-Times, posted Oct. 5, 2011)

I spoke a few words at the beginning to emphasize how relevant ex-gays are to Oregon State University. I could tell from comments that some students in the audience related to the fact that ex-gays are not just a problem in some other place. I stated my opinion that I believe in religious freedom, but I draw the line at religious practices that harm other people. Ex-gay groups have been harming other people. My opinion is shared by a unanimous Oregon jury that recently convicted several faith healers of murder.

I also gave a plug for the OSU Foundation Magnus Hirschfeld Fund Agreement for research concerning humans or animals with a minority sexual orientation or gender identity. I also showed the audience an authoritative Jack Nichols biography book by J. Louis Campbell, "Jack Nichols, Gay Pioneer: "Have You Heard My Message?" Routledge, 2006 , p. 77 that my research fund helped. See previous posts:

OSU Foundation Magnus Hirschfeld Fund Agreement (5/29/06)
Magnus Hirschfeld Book notes 37 to 39 - final post (11/2/10) for a list of posts that are my notes on Hirschfeld's book
Jack Nichols 1938-2005 (9/5/06)
"Jack Nichols, Gay Pioneer" biography (3/19/08))

Finally, I mentioned the local OSU history I wrote that is now on the OSU Pride Center Web page and the Women's Center Web page:
Thomas Kraemer, "Corvallis, Oregon State University gay activism 1969-2004," posted April 30, 2010 available on the Web site OutHistory.org hosted by The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS), located at the City University of New York Graduate Center. (See previous post OSU gay history at OutHistory.org (12/7/10))

PHOTO: cover of book by Wayne Besen, "Anything but straight, Unmasking the scandals and lies behind the ex-gay movement," Harrington Park Press, 2003 can be previewed and searched by Google inside the book. Also see Wayne Besen, "Anything but straight, Unmasking the scandals and lies behind the ex-gay movement," Psychology Press, 2003 and previous post Wayne Besen ex-gay therapy research hits local news (7/16/11). Eight years ago, the famous gay activists Jack Nichols ran my book review -- Thomas Kraemer, "Why Do Ex-Gays Matter?" GayToday.com posted December 08, 2003 -- that discusses Wayne Besen's "Anything but straight" book, which is also available in the OSU library. (See previous post Jack Nichols Gay Today Archive (9/12/09) for links to all my Gay Today articles.)

The speech was held 10/5/2011 Wed 4:30 PM 8:00 PM Wayne Besen Speaker Memorial Union - JPLC Journey

Gay OSU VP Todd Simmons on Corvallis housing and bike commuter census data

2011-10-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: gay Associate Vice President, Oregon State University Todd Simmons , appeared Sep. 29, 2011 in an interview on KVAL News DTV Channel 13.1 (Comcast Cable channel 703) and talked about the growth in student population in Corvallis and how OSU is cooperating with the city of Corvallis to meet student housing needs. (See KVAL Communities Staff, "OSU starts year with record enrollment," KVAL News Sep. 26, 2011 and KVAL News, "OSU Building Boom Rolls On," June 1st, 2011. See previous posts Todd Simmons VP OSU Barometer article (7/8/10), OSU 'The Liberty' plays victim card (9/26/10) and OSU conservative 'victims' of censorship (6/5/09).)

PHOTO: Corvallis OSU bike commuter Tucker Doyle on 9//29/11 appeared Sep. 29, 2011 in an interview on KVAL News DTV Channel 13.1 (Comcast Cable channel 703) about the latest Census report that shows Corvallis, A related story said OSU is building more covered bike parking, an important feature in rainy northwest winters. Oregon has the highest percentage of bike commuters in the U.S. This statistic is probably driven by the lack of parking on the Oregon State University campus and the ease of biking short distances to most places in Corvallis. See newspaper article by Gail Cole, "City pedals to top ranking," Gazette-Times, posted Sep. 28, 3011 that said, "The U.S. Census Bureau announced in a recent release that 9.3 percent of Corvallis residents bike to work, the largest percentage in the nation. . . The Eugene-Springfield area followed close behind in the Census Bureau's rankings, with 6 percent of workers commuting via bicycle. . . Nationally, the survey found 0.6 percent of people use a bike to commute to work. The vast majority of respondents - 86.1 percent - commuted in a passenger vehicle, either solo or by carpool. . . . The release also noted that Corvallis ranked second in the nation in percentage of people walking to work, with 11.2 percent. Ithaca, N.Y., came in first, with 15.1 percent. Corvallis is the only metro area that appeared on both the release's biking and walking lists. . . . Oregon State University most definitely contributes to Corvallis' ranking; the university says about 40 percent of its employees bike, walk or use some form of nonmotorized transportation to get to work on campus; 47 percent drive a passenger vehicle. The remaining 13 percent either carpool or use public transportation. . . a vast majority of OSU students use alternate forms of transportation: Only about 14 percent drove alone to campus. "

Eugene Weekly on smart meters and my letter in response

2011-09-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: close-up of a Landis Gyr+ Focus AXRsmart meter shortly after it was installed in 2011 by the Consumers Power electric co-op as part of President Obama's stimulus bill. (See manufacturer Web site www.landisgyr.com). See previous post New electric smart meter technology raises security issue (8/7/11)

I was recently interviewed about these new smart meters, which are being installed locally, for a local newspaper article by Steve Lathrop, "Consumers Power customers to get new 'smart meters,'" Albany Democrat Herald for Gazette-Times, posted Aug. 9. 2011 after I sent the letter: Thomas Kraemer, "Letter: 'Smart meters' questioned," Gazette-Times, Aug. 7, 2011, p. D5.

Then I found out a similar thing is going on in Eugene from the article by Alan Pittman, "Smart' Meters, Will EWEB's radios be worth the cost?" Eugene Weekly, Sept. 15, 2011, p. 11, and opinion piece by Michael E. Lee, Ph.D., "A New Health Hazard? The coming fight over smart meters," Eugene Weekly, Sep. 22, 2011, p. 4.

This prompted the following letter to the editor from me:

So-called "smart meters" are being installed by the Consumers Power electric co-op in the areas they serve near Eugene. Unlike EWEB, CPI is using Obama stimulus dollars to pay for it.
The Sept. 15, 2011 Eugene Weekly article about so-called "smart meters" did not mention the biggest issue. I worry that cyber terrorists could launch denial of service attacks and create havoc by turning off home electric services remotely, which could also destabilize the power grid and cause permanent damage to equipment.
The publicly available smart meter engineering specification for the smart meter on my house says two-way communication (e.g., to remotely shut off your electric service) is done over the same unlicensed radio frequencies used by Wi-Fi computer networks, but with a different and incompatible mesh network standard defined by the ZigBee Alliance.
CPI's previous generation "Turtle" electric meter interfered with my home's X-10 light controls, which forced me to abandon them. Wi-Fi computer networks could be similarly disrupted.
Perhaps privacy is only a concern of marijuana growers trying to hide from police their plant lights' abnormal usage of electricity. There is still too much secret about proprietary smart meters to know if privacy is a bigger issue.
Thomas Kraemer
Corvallis
(Quoted from Thomas Kraemer, "Meter Secrecy," Eugene Weekly, Sep. 29, 2011)

UPDATE Oct. 1, 2011: See Douglas Birch, Associated Press, "Cyber attacks on utilities, industries rise," Army times, posted Sep. 29, 2011

OSU women's Center hides gay history unintentionally

2011-09-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

Student newspaper article, "Center orients women to man's world," Oregon State University Barometer, Sep. 25, 1975, p. 33, recounts history of the Women's Center. The headline appears to be unintentionally sexist. The OSU Women's Center was formed in 1973 and an informal women's group in Corvallis led to the formation of the first gay student group to be officially recognized by OSU in 1976. The central role of the OSU Women's Center in starting the first gay student group at OSU in 1976 is documented in the history I wrote about gay activism in Corvallis, which is available on a site hosted by the City University of New York Center for gay and lesbian studies: Thomas Kraemer, "Corvallis, Oregon State University gay activism 1969-2004," outhistory.org accessed Sep. 28, 2011. See previous posts Gay OSU Beavers history (1/28/09) and OSU queer history month speech (9/30/06).

Below is my letter in response to the article by Gail Cole, "Women's Center director retires after long career at OSU," Gazette-Times posted Sept. 19, 2011. (See previous post OSU Women's Center director Beth Rietveld retires as OSU grows (9/22/11))

As an ally of the Oregon State University Women's Center since its founding in 1973, I appreciated the Sep. 19 story about the outstanding service of Beth Rietveld, "Women's Center director retires after long career at OSU." Much has changed since 1975, when the OSU student newspaper's back-to-school orientation issue printed the sexist headline, "Center orients women to man's world," most likely unintentionally.
I saw firsthand how many of the early leaders of the OSU Women's Center were lesbians, including one profiled in a two-page long, Jan. 9, 1976, Gazette-Times story, "Gay women: Coming out of the closet in Corvallis, 'Now I want to marry this woman.'" Unfortunately, many leaders of the women's liberation movement have tried to hide their lesbian sisters to avoid being dismissed as "a bunch of man-hating butch lesbians."
This is not their intention, but it appears the OSU Women's Center is still hiding their LGBT history, which in my view is an anti-gay political statement. They should be proud of it instead of ashamed.
I hope that the new OSU Women's Center Director Dr. Mirabelle E Fernandes-Paul will be able to lead the OSU Women's Center beyond the petty anti-gay politics of decades ago.
Thomas Kraemer
Corvallis
(Quoted from Thomas Kraemer, "Letter: Why does OSU Women's Center understate LGBT influence?" Gazette-Times, posted Sep. 28, 3011)

UPDATE Oct. 3, 2011: see response to my letter by Virginia Martin, "Letter: Rietveld was fierce ally of the LGBTQ community," Gazette-Times, posted Oct. 3, 2011

UPDATE Oct. 1, 2011: see the response to my letter by Mirabelle Fernandes-Paul, Director, Women's Center, Oregon State University, "Letters: Women’s Center out and proud about lesbians’ contributions," Gazette-Times, Sep. 30, 2011, p. A9

UPDATE Sep. 29, 2011: See student newspaper article by Alex Hilborn, "Women’s Center director receives lifetime achievement award Beth Rietveld, women’s center director for 18 years, reflects on life of service to community," The Daily Barometer Published: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 -- Beth Reitveld served as Women's Center director for 18 years from 1993 to 2011 and was the Dixon assistant director for 14 years from 1979 to 1993. "In recognition of her commitment and advocacy for women's rights, Beth Rietveld, the previous director of Oregon State University Women's Center, has been awarded the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Women's Student Association."

PHOTO: Jan. 9, 1976 feature article by Anne Wood, "Gay women: Coming out of the closet in Corvallis, 'Now I want to marry this woman,' " on p. 7-8 of (Corvallis, Oregon) Gazette-Times. One of the women profiled in the article came out in a letter to the editor of her student newspaper and she was active in early gay women's groups at Oregon State University.

See previous post Gay 1976 newspaper controversy (5/3/06) on gay women in Corvallis wanting to get married. Also see OSU Women's Center About Us and OSU Women's Center Resources - Sexual Orientation, both accessed Sep. 24, 2011 for an example of the current Web site.

What killed printed gay books and magazines? Plus self-publishing an e-book for Kindle Reader

2011-09-24T12:42:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: a small portion of the miscellaneous printed books concerning gays and homosexuals on my private bookshelf, which I have collected from the 1970s to the present. Very few new gay books have been published in the last few years as sales dried up due to bookstores going out of business and readers moving on to electronic media such as internet Web pages and e-book readers.

PHOTO: some of the last printed gay media that I was able to easily acquire in Corvallis, Oregon: clockwise from lower left, Portland, Oregon Just Out gay newspaper circa 2006, Freshman magazine Jan. 2006, Unzipped magazine Dec. 2005, Genre Magazine Apr. 2006, Instinct magazine Feb. 2007, Out and Advocate magazines Oct. 2011 received by mail subscription.

PHOTO: some of the last printed gay stroke magazines and books (primarily used for masturbating while reading) that I've bought. From left to right, "Straight to Hell" zine dated 1980, "First Hand" magazine Jul. 1988, "Guys" magazine Apr. 1988, "Ultimate Gay Erotica 2007" book. The stroke magazines were often sold only in adult shops, but some of the above were stocked in mainstream bookstore magazine racks wrapped in plastic. The book was one of the last sold in a mainstream Borders bookstore before it and many gay publishers went out of business. Yes, gay printed material has been replaced by online gay writing, such as the nifty.org Nifty gay story archive and many gay blogs, but professionally edited magazines were so much better to read than having to wade through the hackneyed poorly written material you often find on the internet. The internet is not all bad because it has allowed many more creative writers to be read without having to compromise with a a publisher or bookstore seller to make money.

It has been amazing to see the increasingly rapid decline of gay publishing in printed form, such as books and magazines, over the last few years. This is why my eye was caught by the well written article by George Snyder, "Op-ed: How to Self-Publish and Not Perish in the Process, A beginner's how-to guide in seven deceptively easy steps," advocate.com posted Sept. 23, 2011 who describes the evolving business models for gay writing.

It occurred to me while reading his piece why printed gay publishing is so rapidly declining -- most of the printed material available today is less creative than what you can find online and it is compromised by too much corporate advertising and a lack of interesting stuff to read. I think there will always be a market for printed material, if it is interesting to read, but the shape that printed material takes in the future may be radically different from the tabloid newspapers and eight and half by eleven inches, glossy, magazine formats of the past. I recall in the 1970s buying my first copy of "The Advocate," which was then a biweekly tabloid newspaper. Over the years it evolved to being a glossy monthly magazine filled with corporate advertisements and little written content. In contrast, "The Advocate" newspaper was always filled with interesting articles and news, despite the lack of mainstream advertisers to fund it. Even given my nostalgia for "The Advocate," I doubt that I will be renewing my subscription in the future because I see little left to read in it. My decision has nothing to do with hating print and preferring the internet. Personally, I still see a see value in a well edited monthly magazine that summarizes all the noise on the internet and provides me with some good feature articles.

PHOTO: Thomas Kraemer wearing "The Advocate" magazine t-shirt with the slogan "touching your lifestyle" of the new publisher in 1976. (See previous posts Advocate magazine sold again (4/12/08), Wall Street Journal 1975 Advocate Story (7/8/06) and Advocate Touching Your Lifestyle 1976 (9/16/06))

I just bought a Kindle reader with the very low battery power e-ink technology that provides a paperback book quality reading experience. Therefore, I was intrigued by the ideas presented in the article by Alex Castle and Thomas Sommeregger, "Create an E-book for the Kindle Reader," Maximum PC Nov. 2011, p. 62-63. (Link may not be good until a few months from now -- see MaximumPC magazine PDF Archives or buy the magazine or go to a library) The article describes the use of the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing Service and other resources.

I am guessing that most gay writing is going to evolve to electronic formats. The big question I have is how much of it will be paid for by the reader versus advertising dollars. I am sure there will be a mix of both, just as there is today with the advertiser support free tabloid newspapers and paid gay magazine subscriptions to "The Advocate." My biggest question is how long free blogs will be able to survive with no obvious revenue source.

U.S. Patent number 5,883,639 dated Mar. 16, 1999

2011-09-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: (click photo to enlarge) Thomas Kraemer U.S. Patent number 5,883,639 " (left) dated Mar. 16, 1999 with the title "Visual Software Engineering System and method for developing visual prototypes and for connecting user code to them" that names me as one of the inventors who worked for Hewlett-Packard. Also, while searching online for my patent, I coincidentally found another couple of patents by Thomas Kraemer, such as Patent number 913,828 (right) dated Mar. 2, 1909, with the title "Talking Machine Mechanism." I wonder if he is a long lost relative of mine. It is amazing to see two different patents 100 years apart in time.

My employer at the time, Hewlett-Packard, encouraged me, and the engineering team I managed, to patent everything we could think of, even if the inventions seemed obvious to us. The HP corporate attorney said that the reason HP had all of a sudden become interested in patenting everything they could (HP had previously only patented the most important of inventions) was so HP could build a "patent portfolio" that could be used to fight and negotiate with other companies when HP was accused of violating somebody else's patent. Instead of paying a licensing fee to use other company's patents, HP could usually find a HP patent that the other company was violating and then HP could offer to cross license patents with a no fee legal settlement. With smaller companies, HP could actually force the other company to pay HP instead of the other way around or extract something else of value for HP.

The lack of a large patent portfolio has recently been cited a problem for Google because other big companies, such as Microsoft, are trying to use patents they own to undermine Google's dominance.

Significantly, software patents have only been possible since about the 1990's when my first one was filed. The HP lawyers explained to me that it took a major decision by the U.S. Patent Office and the courts to allow software inventions to be patented. Prior to that, copyright was the only available means of intellectual property protection. The reason for this was that the original patent law, which predated the invention of software, had been written to forbid patents on non-real inventions or concepts, for good reason. In fact, for many years, the U.S. patent office required inventors to submit an actual physical model of their invention, but these proved too hard to store and so drawings of the invention were soon the only thing required.

I would be interested to know if HP still owns my patent or if it was reassigned to Agilent when the electronic instrument product side of HP was spun off. The reason I wonder is because visual software engineering and object oriented software has recently become the rage for a number of new commercial products and I wonder if HP or Agilent lawyers realize that they have a key patent in this area.

For more on the type of software that was patented, see my previous post Hewlett-Packard Journal historical favorites (7/16/11) that links to the HP Journal Aug. 1989 (PDF) technical journal article by Thomas F. Kraemer, "Product Development Using Object-Oriented Software Technology . . . object-oriented technology is rapidly becoming an accepted technology for designing and developing software systems. This paper provides a brief history, a tutorial and a description of HP's Lake Stevens Instrument Division's experience using the technology for product development," HP Journal, Aug, 1989, p. 66, 87-100 (PDF).

OSU Women's Center director Beth Rietveld retires as OSU grows

2011-09-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: front page newspaper article by Gail Cole, "Women's Center director retires after long career at OSU," Gazette-Times posted Sept. 19, 2011 about the OSU Women's Center director Beth Rietveld retiring after 18 years of service to OSU.

PHOTO: Student newspaper back to school orientation issue article, "Center orients women to man's world," Oregon State University Barometer, Sep. 25, 1975, p. 33, recounts history of the OSU Women's Center. The headline appears to be unintentionally sexist. The OSU Women's Center, formed in 1973, quickly became the center of gay activism in Corvallis, Oregon. An informal women's group in Corvallis led to the formation of the first gay student group to be officially recognized by OSU administrators in 1976. See previous posts OSU queer history month speech (9/30/06), OSU gay student group history (5/3/06), Gay OSU Beavers history (1/28/09). Also see the history by Thomas Kraemer, "Corvallis, Oregon State University gay activism 1969-2004," outhistory.org (Solicited by OutHistory.org as part of the "Since Stonewall Contest")

Oregon State University is back in session. The town of Corvallis nearly doubles in population as people stream into town. Coincidentally, the crime rate seems to go up too. See previous post OSU growth should attract early retiree baby boomers (9/16/11).

On the same front page as Beth Rietveld's retirement was the article by Gail Cole, "Moving on up: Students set up in OSU dorms," Corvallis Gazette-Times posted September 19, 2011 with large pictures of college students moving into the dorms. An earlier article by Bennet Hall, "Close quarters," Corvallis Gazette-Times posted September 18, 2011documents how Oregon State University has enrolled more students every fall since 1996, when the count was 13,784, until this year when enrollment is expected to top 25,000 students. When baby boomers were in college during the 1970's to 1980's, enrollment had been capped at 15,000 by the State Legislature because they wanted to limit the tax dollars used to subsidize tuition. The subsidy has been reduced further and the Legislature has now cut tax subsidies for tuition (when Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling went to college here his tuition was 100 percent paid by taxpayers, today it is a small fraction). The University President has been encouraged to grow enrollment to generate more revenue.

OSU has always been dominated by engineering and science students. It is not clear if this will continue to be true as OSU grows. A front page student newspaper article by Kristin Pugmire, "OSU: A place for future engineers Nationally recognized college of engineering home to most students on campus," Barometer, posted Sept. 18, 2011 showed a graph of how "OSU's college of engineering is still the largest out of the university's eight colleges" and it said, "According to OSU's most recent enrollment summary, roughly 3,600 undergraduate and 700 graduate students were enrolled in the College of Engineering in the spring of 2011, nearly 20 percent of the student population. This hasn't always been the case, however. Enrollment in the college has increased 8 percent in the past two years, according to Renie Ashbaugh, Administrative Assistant in the College of Engineering."

The state university with more liberal arts students, the University of Oregon, 40 miles down the road in Eugene, was featured on the news today because the Eugene police rented extra jail space in nearby Springfield for the start of school so that they can make more arrests of college students who are partying too loud and causing a disturbance. This kick ass approach has proven to be effective in controlling the student population at U of O that has always had a reputation as being a "party school." By contrast, OSU has always had the reputation of being the "nerd school" where engineering students would calculate the alcohol content of their party drinks to avoid being too drunk and rowdy. If OSU becomes more of a party school, I wonder if the Corvallis Police will be forced to kick ass as the Eugene Police department was forced to do several years ago.

As a side note, maybe it is because I am blind an missed it, but I couldn't find anything in the back to school issue about the OSU gay student group and OSU Pride Center. Perhaps this information is in other packets being given to students, but a little publicity always helps to recruit new students to help further the goals of LGBT student groups.

UPDATE Sep. 22, 2011: The OSU Women's Center Web home page accessed Sep. 22, 2011 said, "Please join the Office of Intercultural Student Services in welcoming Dr. Mirabelle Fernandes-Paul as Director of the Women’s Center beginning September 12, 2011. Dr. Fernandes-Paul brings with her a broad portfolio that reflects both a research background in biochemistry and molecular biology, as well as an extensive background in educational leadership. She has most recently worked in Oregon State University’s Office for Women’s Advancement and Gender Equity (WAGE), wherein she addressed issues of gender equity relevant to the campus community. In addition to her work within the Office of Women’s Advancement and Gender Equity, Mirabelle Fernandes-Paul has also served as a guest lecturer on campus women’s issues, mentored students within the Intercultural Student Services Cross-Cultural Mentorship Program (CCMP), and has served as an active member of the OSU Campus Coalition Builders. Dr. Fernandes-Paul brings with her a strong background in mediation and conflict resolution and a strong desire to engage the Women’s Center both globally and locally, and to explore innovative ways to engage students from within the Women’s Center and beyond. We ask that you join us in welcoming Mirabelle to the Division of Student Affairs, and to her new role as Director of the Women’s Center."

Arthur Evans 1942-2011 gay zap of marriage bureau 1971

2011-09-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

VIDEO: gay activist Randolfe Wicker used one of the earliest available 1/2 inch reel-to-reel portable videotape recorders to capture a zap by the New York City Gay Activist Alliance at the marriage bureau in 1971. The video shows Bruce Voeller and Arthur Evans yelling Gay Power while representing the New York City Gay Activists Alliance. Video by RandolfeWicker, "1971 GAY MARRIAGE BUREAU TAKEOVER NYC PRT 2 - THE INVASION BEGINS," youtube.com posted Mar. 16, 2010 transferred from videotape recorded Jun. 4, 1971. (See previous posts Gay marriage 'zap' 1971 video by Randolfe Wicker (3/24/10) and Randolfe Wicker's plea for gay rights in "Newsweek" July 30, 1962 (4/15/06))

The recent death of the famous gay activist Arthur Evans was commented on in posts by gay activist Michael Petrelis, "Arthur Evans, Gay Liberation Writer, Has Passed Away in San Francisco," posted September 12, 2011, Michael Petrelis, "Arthur Evans' Obit, Written by Arthur Evans," posted September 13, 2011 and Michael Petrelis, "Tuesday, September 13, 2011 1971 Tape: Gay Activists Alliance,Arthur Evans Zap NYC Marriage Bureau," posted September 13, 2011.

More history about Arthur Evans can be found in the book by David Eisenbach, "Gay Power AN American Revolution," Carroll & Graf. 2006. Arthur Evans was a lover of Arthur Bell, who was a columnist for the "Village Voice" newspaper that I often read back then.

UPDATE: 9/17/11

OSU growth should attract early retiree baby boomers

2011-09-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: the INTO-OSU Living Center on Western Boulevard and Linus Pauling Science Center on 30th Street in Corvallis, Oregon are two of the under construction buildings on the Oregon State University campus. See previous posts OSU building boom vs. no-growth strategy (1/1/11) and HP CEO resigns, OSU building boom, tariff for Social Security funding (8/17/10)

Below is my letter in response to the news of the growth to 25,000 students at Oregon State university (Gail Cole, "OSU students face housing scramble," Gazette-Times, posted Sept. 7, 2011) and the editorial "Editorial: Clearing the air over OSU's growth," Gazette-Times, posted Sep. 7, 2011:

The Sept. 7 G-T editorial, "Clearing the air over OSU's growth," called for "focusing on smarter ways to help the community outside the campus deal with the growth of its most important institution."
Corvallis should respond to increased OSU student enrollment by marketing itself to attract more early retiree baby boomers who want to live in a place that is intellectually stimulating as San Francisco, but without the problems of a big city. More retirees would consequentially lead to upgraded neighborhoods and greater property tax revenue, without having to build any new elementary schools. It would also synergistically provide students with a good source of experienced individuals to review and fund new business plans or research projects.
Corvallis is one of only a few cities in the world where you will commonly find, for example, a part-time store clerk engaging in small talk about his or her Ph.D. thesis that numerically solved the partial differential equations of a fluid dynamics research problem.
Being around 20-somethings makes me feel young again, even though most students insist on treating me like they do their own grandfathers.
In my experience, having formerly lived next door to something painfully resembling the 1978 movie "Animal House," the bad behavior of a few OSU students has been controlled only by skillful Corvallis police chiefs and university presidents, not by any growth limit.
Thomas Kraemer
Corvallis
(Quoted from Thomas Kraemer, "Respond to OSU growth by encouraging early retirees," Sep. 16, 2011, p. A11)

See previous post Thomas Kraemer, "OSU growth pains due to tax cuts not population demographics," thomaskraemer.blogspot.com posted June 5, 2022. Some other links of interests:

Nancy Raskauskas, "City, university to sign memo of understanding," Gazette-Times, Sept. 2, 2011, p. A1, A5
Shelley Ries, "Letter: What about housing for the nonstudents who live here?" Gazette-Times, posted Sept. 9, 2011
Frederick Joseph Burgess, 85, June 07, 1926 July 22, 2011, Published in The Oregonian on August 14, 2011 Dean of the College of Engineering at Oregon State University from 1970 until his retirement in January 1990

HP-12C calculator 30th anniversary in BusinessWeek

2011-09-16T13:52:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: article about 30th anniversary of the HP-12C financial calculator by Cliff Edwards, "The Little Calculator That Coul, HP's 12c: 30 years and (still) counting," Businessweek, Sept. 12 - Sept. 18, 2011, p. 42

See previous posts:

Minnesota State Fair poll and same-sex marriage census 2010 data

2011-09-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: University of Minnesota law student Jack Baker, an early gay marriage rights advocate, used this poster, circa 1971, making fun of the stereotype that all gays are drag queens with the campaign slogan, "Put yourself in Jack Baker's shoes," to become the first openly gay person elected to be the University of Minnesota student body president. See my previous posts Life Magazine 1971 gay liberation story (7/20/08), Gay U of M student body presidents Chris Armstrong and Jack Baker (10/3/10) and Jack Baker case still cited to bar gay marriage (3/12/11)

The Minnesota state Fair is a popular tradition, probably because it is in the center of two large cities where city folks can get a taste of the country by visiting the farm animal exhibits. It attracts a large cross section of Minnesotans and so the poll on gay marriage recently conducted at the fair is interesting, but I have to wonder if it representative of the older people who actually show up and vote. (See Kurt Zellers, Speaker, "2011 State Fair Poll Results: Fairgoers say marriage definition shouldn't be in state constitution," Minnesota House of Representatives, Sept. 6, 2011 (PDF) and Mike Mullen, "Gay marriage ban voted down at the State Fair," City Pages, posted Sep. 6 2011)

The latest 2010 U.S. Census data is now being processed to show the prevalence of gay couples in America despite earlier concerns (See Will 2010 census count married same-sex couples? (10/24/09)):

PHOTO: Population Today May/June 2002 figure showing Corvallis with the 6th highest concentration of lesbians according to U.S. Census 2000 data. (See previous posts Corvallis lesbian census 2000 data (9/16/06), 'Gay & Lesbian Atlas' Census analysis (7/31/08) and Census hiding gay marriages - GT (7/23/08))

Sony TV CRT ceiling mount circa 1994 still in use

2011-09-10T10:49:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: before the days of flat panel TV sets, a glass CRT (cathode ray tube) was used to display the TV picture, such as the 20-inch diagonal Sony TV set shown here ceiling mounted. The physical configuration of the glass tube made it almost as deep as the picture's width. The above Sony TV set was bought in 1994 and it is still in operation, as of 2011, hooked up to a Comcast cable TV DTA adapter box to receive digital cable TV signals. I had owned several Sony TV sets before this one and they had all burned out before 10 years of operation. For some reason this set is still running, which does not provide me with an excuse to replace it with a larger 32-inch LED backlit LCD TV set that would fit in the exact same space with a different articulated wall mount. (Of course, my low vision blindness might make this moot.)

PHOTO: (top) an original hand inked and painted animation cel filmed for the Saturday morning TV cartoon The Jetsons (TV Series 1962-1988) and (bottom) my 1962 Seattle Space Needle and 1964 New York World's Fair dream kitchen of the future, as I have realized it in 2011. It includes two separate VESA articulated arm wall mounts holding a Samsung HDTV set and a HP TouchSmart all-in-one personal computer that has a built-in HDTV tuner, DVR and a slot load DVD player. See my previous posts Jetsons flying car in 1962 and World's Fair kitchen of the future in 2011 (3/1/11) and HP wall mount touch computer wet dream fulfilled 30 years later (10/12/10).

Rob Lowe jockstrap movie scene 'Youngblood' 1986

2011-09-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: still frames of actor Rob Lowe wearing noting but a jockstrap from scene in the movie Youngblood (1986) -- "New York farmer's son Dean Youngblood is a natural at ice hockey, the Canadian national sport. After selection for the Canadian Hamilton Mustangs, the future looks bright, even his landlady is hot."

The jockstrap has been a fetish of many gay men probably since it was invented. Even straight males recall wanting one as a boy because they knew it was something older boys and "real men" athletes wore to compete in sports. Today, many boys choose to wear tight briefs and some stick with boxer shorts while ignoring the supposed risk of being injured by their balls being unsupported and bouncing around. I never quite understood the dire warning of my gym teacher that I would be injured if I didn't wear a jockstrap -- after all, Greek Olympians were famous for doing sports naked.

PHOTO: nude Greek Olympics shown in National Geographic, March 1944, p. 344. (See previous posts Olympics eye candy is here again (2/6/10) and Jack Nichols' National Geographic gay porno (1/31/07))

For more on the gay ethnography of jockstraps and nut cups, see my previous posts:

Albany, Oregon FTM Alan Hart 1890-1962

2011-09-03T11:53:00.001-07:00

PHOTO: Alan L. Hart, shown in 1943, grew up in Albany, Oregon as Alberta Lucille Hart and is considered to be an early example of an FTM or female-to-male. Early gay historians controversially categorized Hart as a lesbian. (See previous post Jonathan Ned Katz gay history pioneer (3/6/10) and Alan L. Hart (Wikipedia))

Lucille Hart was controversially identified by early gay historians as a lesbian, but today many consider her to be an early example of a FTM or female-to-male transgendered person. In either case, Alan Hart (a.k.a. Lucille Hart) is an example of somebody with a minority sexual orientation or gender identity. (See previous post Jonathan Ned Katz gay history pioneer (3/6/10))

A letter to the editor by James C. Egan of Albany, Oregon, "The Amazing Story of Lucille Hart: Measure 9 may keep it out of schools," was published in the Corvallis, Oregon and Albany, Oregon combined Sunday newspaper, Mid-Valley Sunday (Corvallis Gazette-Times and Albany Democrat-Herald) on Oct. 15, 2000, p. A11 (no link available). The writer warned that an Oregon anti-gay ballot measure sponsored by Lon Mabon would make teaching her history in Oregon schools illegal. Fortunately, the ballot measure was defeated.

Some other related and unrelated links to OSU Web sites:

OSU Valley Library search "Subject Guides" for "gay"
OSU Study Guides, instructor Mina Carson, Course Librarian Jane Nichols, "HST 368: Lesbian and Gay Movements in America," Oregon State University Valley Library, Last Update: February 12, 2010 15:47, accessed Sept. 1, 2011 -- Sources for the study of lesbian and gay history in the U.S.
Ecampus Schedule of Classes - All Terms College of Liberal Arts HST 368 LESBIAN AND GAY MOVEMENTS IN MODERN AMERICA (4) instructor Mina Carson,
OSU Libraries University Archives category es-351 dated Sept. 26, 2007 -- The University Archives is the repository for official and unofficial records that document OSU's history. Our collections include historical records of enduring value generated by faculty, academic departments, administrative offices, students, and campus organizations.
OSU Libraries' Oregon Multicultural Archives
OSU library Archives, Thomas Kraemer Speech & Blog: OSU alumnus Kraemer helped found the Gay Peoples Alliance the first gay student group at OSU. This collection gives some history of gay student groups from 1976-2006 at OSU. (PDF)
OSU Barometer Advertising info and newspaper delivery locations
Barometer Advertising rate card 2011 (PDF)
Sample Ad Sizes and Pricing (click to download PDF)

M&M's candy apes gay naked man drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

2011-08-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: M&M's Candy ad parodying "Proportions of Man" drawing by the gay artist Leonardo da Vinci, circa 1487, appeared on the back cover of TV Guide, Aug. 15-28, 2011 and as part of the marketing campaign at facebook.com/mms. (See Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and Vitruvian Man (Wikipedia)) This drawing is often copied, but to avoid sexually exciting gay men or offending the anti-sex prudes, in most copies of it the penis is censored by being covered over or airbrushed out. (See previous post da Vinci's missing penis (4/29/06)) and Gay rim job ritual of Knights Templar (9/22/10))

My unrequited lust for a Little League Baseball uniform as a kid

2011-08-29T11:34:00.001-07:00

PHOTO: the August 27, 2011 U.S. Championship game in the Little League World Series (Wikipedia). See Little League Baseball (Wikipedia) and www.LittleLeague.org for more.

Seeing the Little League World Series, as I channel surfed yesterday, made me nostalgically recall when I was a boy and became old enough to play Little League baseball. I had lusted after the thought of wearing a Little League Baseball uniform as a fashion statement just like the older boys I had seen wearing them. Also, the rumors of boys having to wear jockstraps and nut cups excited me greatly. I had no interest in playing baseball, except for the fact that I would sometimes bring my baseball glove to a Major League Minnesota Twins baseball game in hopes of catching a foul ball. (See previous post Steve Endean, Oregon, HRC gay omission (10/5/09))

I recall riding my bike to the local neighbor hood baseball park that had been set up to try out boys and to place them on Little League baseball teams. Needless to say, as a bookish nerd, I had no experience playing any sports even though my dad had tried to butch me up by playing a few games with me, therefore when I was asked to do the various throw, catch and run tests, I must have come off looking like a girl because one of the fathers in charge gave me a sympathetic look and tried valiantly to coach me into a better performance, but to no avail.

As a result, when it came time to pick the teams, I was amongst the small groups of boys who were picked last. I eagerly watched while boy after boy was placed on a team and given a actual Little League Baseball uniform that looked just like what they wore in the Major Leagues. (See Baseball uniform (Wikipedia) and Major League Baseball uniforms (Wikipedia))

I was only mildly embarrassed to be one of the last boys picked, which included the quintessential fat boy and a few other nerds. I consoled myself, thinking this would be worth it to be given a uniform with a local sponsor's name on it, such as Jerry's Hardware Store, where my father often shopped.

My last shred of hope was dashed when the father passing out the uniforms turned to my group of stragglers and said, "I'm sorry, but there are no more sponsors or uniforms for the last team picked, but we have these t-shirts to give you as your uniforms."

"T-shirts," I silently screamed to myself! Not only was I only getting a T-Shirt instead of a baseball uniform, but it was a horrible shade of purple, and this was years before I learned purple was the color of fags, gays and queer guys. Furthermore, there was no jockstrap or nut cup anywhere to be seen and I was too embarrassed to ask my mom to buy me because I wasn't sure if these mythical articles of clothing even existed or not. (Back then they were behind the counter and you had to ask the pharmacist to buy one."

Nonetheless, I stuck it out all summer and played Little League Baseball, my only summer playing baseball and my only experience playing on an organized sports team. The other boys, mostly near or just after puberty, quickly targeted me as being a sissy or gay, but fortunately the fathers running the program were real good at stopping any overt bullying by the other boys. They appealed to each boy's sense of manhood by telling them that their baseball heroes were always gentlemen and that it was unmanly to be otherwise. I recall being purposely pitched four balls so that I could get walked to first base because I could never hit the ball and get to first base on my own. It gave me a chance to run the bases. Despite, this bad experience, I never lost my love of the ambience of baseball as a theatrical experience.

Postscript: I am sure many people will misread my nostalgic story as bordering on pedophilia or ephebeophilia -- if so, for the record, I have no desire for either predilection and therefore you should psychoanalyze your own dirty mind! (See previous post Jim Palmer Jockey underwear 1980s ads (7/2/09) about a famous baseball pitcher who turned to doing underwear ads.)

Philosophy matters to computers and gay Gen-X billionaire

2011-08-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: Wayne R. Dynes retired professor and gay scholar. The Wayne R. Dynes (Wikipedia) page says he is a "professor, historian, encyclopedist, and gay activist" who was born in August 1934. Also, "During the 1960s Dynes was a member of the Mattachine Society of New York (MSNY). He was in Europe at the time of the Stonewall Uprising in Greenwich Village in June of 1969. After returning in 1973 he collaborated with Jack Stafford, a librarian, to work on a basic bibliography of gay studies. See previous post Wayne R. Dynes gay scholarship (3/12/11).

In response to a question asked in the recent blog post by wayne Dynes, "Philosophy: does it matter?," postedAug. 22, 2011 , I added a comment by Thomas Kraemer, posted Aug. 24, 2011 that said, "When modern computers were being developed in the 1950s and 1960s, many of the academic papers in computer science cited philosophers, such as Karl Popper, as being the theoretical foundation for what they were doing."

Shortly after posting the above comment, I ran into another interesting connection between philosophy, computer software science and the gay Republican generation X billionaire Peter Thiel, who launched Paypal, provided the seed money for Facebook, and who received college degrees are from Stanford University in Philosophy and law. He now wants to build an independent island state exempt from all laws and regulation to test out his utopian libertarian beliefs.

See the following links:

Some other post of interest by Wayne Dynes:

Wayne Dynes, "Of cell phones and flash mobs," posted August 14, 2011 -- I wonder if the bigger issue in Britain is classism instead of multiculturalism xenophobiua?
Wayne Dynes, "Catastrophe averted?" posted Aug. 2, 2011 -- I think, right now, the debt is a false crisis created by those who seek to eliminate all the FDR-era "entitlements" of unions, Social Security and Medicare by using the strategy of "starve the beast," which President Ronald Reagan thought was the only way Republicans could reduce the size of government.

Bisexual erectile response scientifically measured despite skepticism by Dan Savage and others

2011-08-20T14:59:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: Kinsey published a histogram showing the number of people along the spectrum of heterosexual to homosexual, including the few percent of asexual humans: Alfred Charles Kinsey, Wardell Baxter Pomeroy, Clyde Eugene Martin, "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male," W. B. Saunders Co., 1948, Fig. 169, p. 656. (See my previous posts OSU Dr. Sex on sexual orientation spectrum, 'The Stranger' JO method (1/6/11, Kinsey scale and asexuality 1948 (9/16/06), OSU Dr. Sex on sexual orientation spectrum, 'The Stranger' JO method (1/6/11 and Portland asexuals and mainstream ads in gay newspaper (2/6/10))

A recent syndicated sex advice column by Dan Savage Savage Love, "Science Case Closed: Bisexual Men Exist!" posted Aug. 16, 2011 humorously responded to critics of the many gay men, including Savage himself, who have expressed skepticism about the existence of bisexuals because many self-described bisexual men commonly behave exclusively gay, but later in life come out as being gay. Savage declared he agrees a few "true" bisexual men exists by referencing a scientific lab experiment, which measured bisexual's erectile response with a circumferential penile plethysmograph (e.g. a peter meter) that measured bisexual men getting erections while watching either heterosexual or homosexual porno scenes, as described in the research journal paper by A.M. Rosenthal*, D. Sylva,A. Safron,J.M. Bailey, "Sexual arousal patterns of bisexual men revisited," Biological Psychology, Received 22 January 2011, in press (PDF).

A related question by an asexual man was answered by Dan Savage, "SL Letter of the Day: A Friend Not In Need," posted Aug. 17, 2011. Savage said, "Asexuality, according to asexuals and the people who love (but don't fuck) 'em, is a real sexual orientation... or lack thereof. Usually. Because, you see, some asexuals do "experience attraction," DLNAA, "[but] feel no need to act out that attraction sexually." So it's an orientation. Or a disorientation. Or something. But whatever it is, it's for real." He uses this as an opportunity to make a political statement about Republican Presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann's husband Marcus Bachmann, who is widely perceived as a gay closet case.

See previous post Face recognition vs. sexual orientation, handedness, and sex (1/15/11)) where I discuss why I now believe the asexuality exists because last year I acquired prosopagnosia or face blindness after having an ischemic stroke, which made me unable to recognize faces and also visually asexual, but not impotent. In other words, after the stroke I did not find any visual images to be sexually arousing anymore, but I can still orgasm and ejaculate from physical stimulation (e.g. my plumbing still works, but not my brain). Before experiencing this abrupt change to being asexual, I was skeptical about the existence of asexuality, even though gay sheep research and Kinsey's research has documented a small percentage of asexual rams and people.

PHOTO: Tess Jarmain escorts four male-oriented (homosexual) rams (a.k.a. "gay sheep") in Oregon State University's flock back to pasture. From Mary Ann Albright, "The science of rams and sexuality: Not all seek ewes," Gazette-Times, August 12, 2005 photo Tiffany Brown. Some of these sheep were found to be asexual. (See previous posts Gay animals in New York Times (4/3/10) and OSU Gay Sheep NY Times (2/7/07))

Of course, is sexual orientation defined only by the fact whether straight or gay sex makes you hard? Or is sexual orientation defined by the person themselves, or their sexual behavior, or other's perception and definition or of minority gender identity or sexual orientation. (e.g. atypical gender behavior, such as effeminate or masculine appearance and behavior that is different from the majority of people with the queer person's same biological sex.) Clearly, this is a rich area for future university research that I will be funding in the future. See previous post OSU Foundation Magnus Hirschfeld Fund Agreement (5/29/06).

UPDATE: Aug. 26, 2011 -- another post by Dan Savage, "NYT: Bisexual Men Exist!" posted Aug. 23, 2011 linked to the article by David Muller, "No Surprise for Bisexual Men: Report Indicates They Exist," New York Times, Aug. 22, 2011 that reports on the above journal paper and a second study published "in March, a study in Archives of Sexual Behavior reported the results of a different approach to the question. As in the Northwestern study, the researchers showed participants erotic videos of two men and two women and monitored genital as well as subjective arousal. But they also included scenes of a man having sex with both a woman and another man, on the theory that these might appeal to bisexual men."

HP Corvallis mobile computer history recalled by 'HP kills mobile division' newspaper headline

2011-08-20T14:45:00.001-07:00

PHOTO: Corvallis, Oregon newspaper front page headline story by Brandon Bailey, San Jose Mercury News, "HP Kills mobile division, Tech giant explores sale of PC unit, eyes British company," Gazette-Times, Aug. 19, 2011, p. A1. Although the tablets and smart phones being spun-off from HP were acquired from Palm by HP, this story has ties back to Corvallis, Oregon because the HP calculator division moved to Corvallis in 1975 where it investigated in 1982 combining the new Bell Labs cell phone technology with Hewlett-Packard's battery-powered handheld calculator computer technology that evolved to be the smart phones and tablet computers of today. HP senior management chose instead to invest in manufacturing portable computers and HP personal computer inkjet printers, which had been originally designed for battery powered calculators.

The tablet computers and smart phones division that is being pun off of HP today were part of the recent purchase of Palm by HP. Palm provided their famous PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) WebOS to the recently introduced HP tablet computer. Significantly, creating such a device was started in the 1970s by Xerox PARC, HP and Apple Computer in Cupertino, California and the Silicon Valley. In 1972, HP changed the world by creating the first handheld scientific calculator, which quickly made slide rules obsolete. The HP calculator division became so successful that it moved up to Corvallis, Oregon for more space for manufacturing and a research and development lab where HP engineers could design and build new programmable calculators, which evolved toward the personal computers, PDA (personal digital assistants) tablet computers and smart phones of today. In 1982, the HP Corvallis Portable Computer Division investigated the idea of combining the new cell phone technology from Bell Labs with the Hewlett-Packard's battery-powered handheld computer technology. Although Hewlett-Packard's senior management rejected funding it, some HP engineers pursued it elsewhere, such as Apple Computer, at the same time HP invested in creating the first personal computers that were portable or transportable. The HP Corvallis portable computer division remained in Corvallis, Oregon as all of the HP personal computer businesses were transferred to HP California and Ft. Collins, Colorado divisions. Outside of America, portable computers and cell phones were more commonly called mobile computer or mobile phones.

PHOTO: HP 110 portable computer clamshell laptop design introduced in 1984 became the standard configuration for portable computers. The HP 110 portable computer was designed in parallel with the HP IPC (HP Integral PC) transportable computer at the HP Corvallis, Oregon division between 1982 and 1984 after the successful introduction in 1980 of the small desktop HP 85 BASIC programmable PC with a 5-inch CRT graphical display and built-in thermal printer. See previous post HP 110, Apple, Steve Sakoman book (12/18/08) about another early laptop portable computer product designed at Hewlett-Packard in Corvallis.

PHOTO: The 1984 transportable Hewlett-Packard Integral Personal Computer (HP-IPC) ran the HP UNIX window operating system (predating the Microsoft Windows operating system) on a Motorola 68000 microprocessor. The HP IPC included a 512 by 256 pixel electroluminescent flat panel display, driven by a custom hardware graphics chip, and the first HP inkjet printer mechanism, integrated in the case, which could print on standard 8-1/2 by 11 inch fan-fold computer paper using feed sprocket holes. The competing transportable computers of that time, such as the Osborne, had a 5-inch diagonal CRT (cathode ray tube) display that required a large glass tube nearly a foot deep. The above marketing publicity photo was printed in "Professional Computing" magazine, July/August 1985, p. 21.

See previous posts:

HP Integral PC 1984 (8/26/06)
HP Inkjet Printer History (7/20/06)
Microsoft Vista copied from HP Vista? (7/29/06)
HP 41C calculator was iPhone of 30 years ago (12/8/10)
HP calculator wristwatch 1977 vs. Timex 1994 (11/9/10)
IEEE Milestones HP 35 calculator (5/2/09)
Apple to bulldoze HP site to build circular building for 12,000 employees shows California HP Cupertino site where calculators were built before moving to Corvallis, Oregon
HP Integral PC 1984 (8/26/06)
HP Inkjet Printer History (7/20/06)
HP Inkjet printer history article links (9/5/07)
Hewlett-Packard Journal historical favorites (7/16/11)
HP-35 scientific calculator anniversary (10/1007) -- the founder of an engineering firm CH2MHill shows his old slide rule he always used for engineering calculations. Prior to the introduction in 1972 of the HP 35 scientific handheld calculator, engineers and scientists had to use a slide rule to perform calculations. The ability of the HP-35 to instantly compute transcendental functions to 10 digits of accuracy in scientific notation was revolutionary. It freed up engineers to do more creative designs.
HP-35 scientific calculator anniversary (10/10/07)
HP 12c financial calculator history (6/21/06)
Bill & Dave by Michael S. Malone (5/22/07) -- a key history book on HP
HP and Corvallis newspaper history (3/11/09) about the move of the Hewlett-Packard calculator Corvallis division in 1975.
HP spurred Corvallis land use planning (6/11/10)
HP Inkjet printer history article links (9/3/07) and HP Integral PC 1985 video demo (4/14/09) to see one of the first inkjet printers designed and built in the Corvallis, Oregon Hewlett-Packard facility.
Corvallis, Oregon business history and gay book sales (3/16/10) for a photo of Frank Cloutier, project manager of the first inkjet printer research project at the Hewlett-Packard Corvallis Division in 1981.
HP 110, Apple, Steve Sakoman book (12/18/08) about another early laptop portable computer product designed at Hewlett-Packard in Corvallis.
The old calculator factory to inkjet to MEMS (3/17/10) about advanced research today

Outing Oregon U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield recalled by Michael Petrelis and Michelangelo Signorile

2011-08-09T13:54:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: The Oregon Republican U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield is shown over the years. Hatfield was outed as being gay by AIDS activists in 1989. (See previous postings Senators Hatfield and Craig outing history (9/28/07) and Senator Larry Craig entrapment and hypocrisy (9/1/07))

In a recent blog post by the famous gay AIDS activist Michael Petrelis, "NYT, Media 'In' Former OR Sen. Hatfield, Who Was Gay," posted Aug. 8, 2011, Petrelis comments on the obituary by Adam Clymer, "Mark O. Hatfield, Republican Champion of Liberal Causes, Dies at 89," New York times, Aug. 8, 2011 and recalled leading the outing in 1989 of U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield (an Oregon Republican).

In 1989, the then new political strategy of outing closeted gay politicians proved to be important, but controversial tactic. See previous post Michelangelo Signorile outing 20th Anniversary (9/11/10).

PHOTO: the outing of U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield, Republican from Oregon, as being gay is described in the book by the famous gay activist Michelangelo Signorile, " Queer in America: sex, the media, and the closets of power," Random House first edition 1993, Doubleday anniversary editon 2004, p. 86, 340-341.

A comment by Michael@LeonardMatlovich.com attached to the post by Michael Petrelis, "NYT, Media 'In' Former OR Sen. Hatfield, Who Was Gay," posted Aug. 8, 2011 mentioned the irony of the popular mass circulation "Life Magazine" running a profile of Oregon Republican U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield in the same issue as their sensationalistic article on homosexuals in America (See Google books scan of Life, Jun 26, 1964, p. 61-62 and see previous posts Life Magazine 1964 gay expose (12/22/07) and 'Fluffy sweaters' Life Magazine photo recalled by John Wilkinson (7/5/10))

The Glee Project auditions anti-gay twink who won't kiss a girl

2011-08-07T11:21:00.001-07:00

PHOTO: "The Glee Project" reality TV show auditions for a faith-based conservative twink cast member Cameron, 21, from Texas (top). Cameron is auditioned by Executive Producer Ryan Murphy (middle center) who later hugs and consoles Cameron (bottom) after Cameron poignantly breaks down and admits that he can't kiss a girl as an actor due to his conservative beliefs. (For some unspecified reason, the show awkwardly avoids using the words Christian or religious-based objections to explain Cameron's refusal to kiss a girl as an actor). "Glee" TV program Executive Producer Ryan Murphy tells Cameron that he wanted to write a part depicting a "conservative faith-based" character. In my mind this would be a closeted gay Christian Republican boy because it would be an interesting character to play opposite the very gay and out character Kurt Hummel on "Glee." (See "The Glee Project," Season 1, Episode 7 "sexuality," Original Air Date Jul. 31, 2011 9-10PM Oxygen Comcast cable channel 68)

In fact, on the Nov. 9, 2010 Glee TV program, the character Kurt's first kiss comes unexpectedly from his anti-gay bully who reminded ne of the quintessential antigay bullies, such as Senator Larry Craig, who are eventually caught having sex with other men.

The look of disgust on Cameron's face when he was asked to kiss a girl reminded me of the common disgust reaction that is often seen in homophobic men who are disgusted by the thought of having sex with a guy. I have seen and heard many gay men express a similar disgust reaction to the thought of heterosexual sex.

See previous posts:

Also see the following links:

"Glee" TV program (IMDB.com)
The gay character Kurt Hummel is played by Chris Colfer (See IMDB.com)
Glee Season 2, Episode 6, "Never Been Kissed" aired Nov. 9. 3010 (IMDB.com)
The Glee Project (IMDB.com)
"The Glee Project," Season 1, Episode 7: Sexuality Original Air Date -- 31 July 2011 (IMDB.com)
VIDEO: "Robert and Cameron Talk," accessed Aug. 3, 2011 IMDB.com -- Cameron sits down with Robert and talks with him about how Sexuality week is affecting him and Robert gives him advice.

New electric smart meter technology raises security issue

2011-08-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: A new "smart meter" installed in 2011 by the Consumers Power electric co-op on the side of a typical residential home. A standard rain gutter can be seen to the right of the smart meter and a cable TV grey entry box can be seen below the meter. Other utility meters (e.g. gas meter) and other entry boxes are located on the other side of this house.

The engineering journals I receive have been reporting the various reactions by the general public to "smart meters" that are now being installed around the world. For example see the professional electrical engineering magazine article by G. Pascal Zachary, "Spectral Lines: Saving smart meters from a backlash," IEEE Spectrum, Aug. 2011, p. 8 (longer version published online in June). The author G. Pascal Zachary is a professor of practice at the Consortium for Science Policy & Outcomes at Arizona State University. His article tries to debunk many of the hysterical concerns about radiation harm and meter accuracy. However, he misses the network security issue and potential for Wi-Fi interference.

UPDATE 8/9/11 : I was recently interviewed about these new smart meters, which are being installed locally, for a local newspaper article by Steve Lathrop, "Consumers Power customers to get new ‘smart meters,’" Albany Democrat Herald for Gazette-Times, posted Aug. 9. 2011

Here is my letter to the editor stating my questions and concerns surrounding the smart meter security issue that prompted the Albany newspaper Editor Hasso Hering to assign a reporter to the story:

The installation of 22,368 electric "smart meters," on the homes of Lebanon and Corvallis members of the Consumers Power electric utility co-op, thanks to $8 million from President Obama's stimulus bill, is raising some serious privacy and security issues that are inadequately answered by CPI.
Unlike the previous "turtle meters," which could only send electric meter readings back to CPI over the power lines, the new meters add two-way communication to facilitate energy conservation via home energy management systems.
Perhaps privacy is only a concern of marijuana growers trying to hide from police their plant lights' abnormal usage of electricity.
I worry that the official CPI website (www.cpi.coop) declares the smart meter system is "inherently secure" because it "does not use any of the 'common' communication protocols." This sounds disturbingly similar to Microsoft's original security plan, which allowed cyber terrorists to launch denial of service attacks.
CPI's previous electric meter interfered with my home's X-10 light controls, which forced me to abandon them.
CPI claims the new meters will not interfere with Wi-Fi computer networks. However, the publicly available smart meter engineering specification says two-way communication (e.g., to remotely shut off your electric service) is done over the same unlicensed radio frequencies used by Wi-Fi, but with a different and incompatible mesh network standard defined by the ZigBee Alliance.
Smart meters are on the agenda of the 10:30 a.m. Sept. 10 annual CPI meeting for all members.
Thomas Kraemer, Corvallis
(Quoted from Thomas Kraemer, "Letter: 'Smart meters' questioned," Gazette-Times, Aug. 7, 2011, p. D5)

See these other links on smart meters:

OSU co-ed versus gender inclusive dorms today

2011-08-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: Floor plan for a dorm room in the Oregon State University Halsell Hall dormitory that opened in 2003. Halsell Hall houses approximately 200 residents and it offers suite rooms, with four single or two double bedrooms sharing a common area with kitchenette and one-and-a-half bathrooms. Halsell is also home of the OSU Upper-division and Transfer Student Experience Program which is geared towards providing a more independent community for students who have had previous experience at college. Students living in Halsell must be at least 20 years old or a transfer student or a returning student. Upper-division students can also request room assignments be made in an apartment-type manner which we call our Gender Inclusive Living. The Gender Inclusive Living is designed for students who choose to live together inclusive of all gender-variant identities. (See "Gender Variant, Gender Queer, or Transgender? Check out Gender Inclusive Living at OSU!" Oregon State University LGBT Outreach & Services, Steven Leider, (former) Director (who sponsored the creation of gender inclusive housing at OSU) 149 Snell Hall, 541-737-6342 (accessed Jun. 21, 2011))

PHOTO: Oregon State University Halsell Hall dormitory that provides for "Gender Inclusive Living."(See Google Map for Oregon State University Halsell Hall) Also see previous posts OSU digital library, Steven Leider, Larry Roper, Diversity Alliance, Bloss Hall costs (3/26/11) that shows Pride Center location near Halsell Hall and Bloss Hall) and OSU Transgender Awareness Week (11/17/10).

When the nearby OSU Bloss Hall opened in the early 1970s, it was designed to accommodate the then new and growing trend toward co-ed dorms that housed both males and female students. Older and traditional single sex dorms that were converted to co-ed dorms were forced to place males and females on alternating floors or wings because the gang shower and bathroom facilities were a shared large room that required walking down a semi-public hall from each room. Bloss had groups of two double rooms, each adjoining a shared private bathroom, which allowed groups of four males next to four females on the same floor. Similar to Halsell Hall today, Bloss Hall was also originally designated as the dorm for older and transfer students so that residents could avoid the problems of living with unruly freshman who were there to party and not study.

The former OSU LGBT director Steven Leider, who sponsored the creation of gender inclusive housing at OSU, told me he had briefly lived in one of the two Bloss Hall apartments on the first floor when he first moved to Corvallis (about 2005?) The other apartment had always been occupied by the head resident and the second apartment has been used for visiting faculty, graduate students and other special situations. By coincidence, when I was a graduate student at OSU in the 1970s, I also lived for a year in the same Bloss Hall apartment thanks to the help of the previous resident, a Catholic Monk from St. Johns University in Minnesota, who was doing graduate work in student services and recommended me to his boss in student services that was in charge of selecting who could live in the apartment each year. It sure beat a dorm room because it had a full kitchenette and master bedroom with a private bath. The only disadvantage to the apartment was its noisy location across a hallway from a dorm TV room leading to the laundry room and outdoor parking lot. Staying up late and sleeping in during the quiet hours of the morning solved this problem. For quiet studying, I could go to my research lab in the electrical engineering building that was a ghost town after hours.

Chick-Fil-A anti-gay marriage donation mentioned in Consumer Reports magazine

2011-08-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: (click on photo to enlarge) a mainstream magazine article, "Four Big names lose, 36,733 readers rate the food, value, staff, and speed at 53 chains," Consumer Reports, August 2011, p. 20, mentioned that the fast food chicken restaurant "Chick-Fil-A has come under criticism, but not for its food, because "a franchisee ruffled feathers earlier this year by donating food for events by a group reportedly opposing gay marriage."

The last time I ate at at Cick-Fil-A was when I was working in Colorado Springs (home to the anti-gay Focus on the Family headquarters and other Christian groups) and I wanted some fast food at a local shopping mall. I was shocked to discover that every meal was served with a Christian prayer in the takeout bag or on the paper placemat on your food tray. I later learned from the evangelical Christians I worked with that the company founders were Christian missionaries who were proselytizing on purpose. Of course, in Colorado Springs, the home to the Christian U.S. Air Force Academy and other Christian warrior military bases, nobody objected.

At least back in the 1990s, the Chick-Fil-A fast food was excellent and the restaurant management seemed to be walking their talk by keeping up a very good restaurant even though it served fast food at fast food prices. I haven't eaten there recently and don't know if their high rating by Consumer Reports readers is still true or if is a sympathy vote by Christian readers.

My problem today with fast food is that most of it has been cheapened to the point where even I can't stand it. I thought my parents and grandparents were just being picky about not wanting to eat fast food, but here I am with the same attitude years later. Is it just me aging or has the food really gone worse?

Military ban on gays based more on sexism than homophobia

2011-07-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: (click on photo to enlarge) still frames from the 1969 movie "Alice's Restaurant" (top) Arlo Guthrie, shown wearing classic white Jockey underwear briefs, in an attempt to evade the Vietnam War military draft, excitedly jumps up and down with an Army psychiatrist while both are yelling, "I want to kill! I want to kill!" Instead of being rejected, the doctor declares him to be perfect for the job until the Army hears he was once arrested for littering, which raises the question of whether Arlo is moral enough to be drafted into the Army. (Middle and bottom) Arlo is asked to sit on the Group W bench with all of the other military draft rejects, including a presumably transsexual or homosexual queer guy with eyeliner and others who Arlo describes as "the meanest, nastiest, father rape-ers, sitting right on the bench next to me." (See previous post Alice's Restaurant, Jockey underwear, military draft 1969 (6/15/10))

Here's my letter to the editor, in reaction to the repeal of the anti-gay don't ask, don't tell military policy, reminiscing about the history of gays in the military:

The July 22 front-page news story, "Pentagon to say ban on gays can end," reminded me how the ban on homosexuals in the military was historically based on gender sexism more than sexual orientation or homophobia.
In my experience, effeminate gay men were equated with women and therefore barred from full military service. In contrast, masculine gay men, who did not act like girls, were involuntarily drafted, even if they had honestly answered the mandatory witch-hunt questions of Sen. Joseph McCarthy: Are you or have you ever been a homosexual or member of the Communist Party?
The sexist basis of the military's anti-gay policy was dramatically shown by Arlo Guthrie in his 1967 folk song and 1969 film, "Alice's Restaurant." After admitting to committing the petty crime of littering, Arlo is asked to sit on "the Group W bench" with all of the other military draft rejects, including an effeminate gay boy wearing eyeliner and others that Arlo describes as being "the meanest, nastiest, father rapers, sitting right on the bench next to me."
When I was involuntarily drafted to fight the Vietnam War, a burly sergeant, without asking, asserted that I had mistakenly checked the homosexual box, and he erased it because I didn't "look effeminate." He then cited the criminal penalty for "draft dodgers" who lied on a government form.
Today, several Republican presidential candidates are comparing homosexuals to German Nazi officers instead of communists. Clearly, this makes it hard to celebrate the repeal!
Thomas Kraemer, Corvallis
(NOTE: my original letter was published with the wrong, but correctly spelled, word loitering instead of littering because my spell checker changed it and my low vision blindness prevented me from seeing the change. I hope Arlo Guthrie trivia fans will accept my apology!)
(Quoted from Thomas Kraemer, "Ignorant stereotyping of gays long has been the norm," Gazette-Times posted Jul. Jul. 25, 3011)

Christian Republicans and tea baggers are comparing homosexuals to Nazi officers because many of them are believed to be actually gay by serious military historians. (Stories of gay military warriors is a common theme throughout history.) Of course, the logic of homosexuals being ruthless killers is exactly the opposite of the original basis of banning gay men because they were too sissy to be good soldiers!

I wrote more about my gays in the military experience in an earlier letter to the editor: Thomas Kraemer, "Letter: One Christmas wasn't merry for a gay child who wanted a Barbie," Gazette-Times, posted Dec. 21, 2010, which I discussed further in my previous post Asking Santa for a Barbie doll was gay 50 years ago - A Christmas Story (12/21/11. I mentioned, "Ironically, the compulsory military draft called me for the Vietnam War, despite policies against gays serving and my medical diagnosis of being a potential homosexual. One military official explained it was because I didn't "look effeminate" and was just a "draft dodger." I later obtained top-secret security clearances and access to a nuclear war command center." (See previous posts Asking Santa for a Barbie doll was gay 50 years ago - A Christmas Story (12/21/10) and Last military draftee retires and my draft card is still unburned (7/4/11))

PHOTO: Thomas Kraemer's 1972 Draft card revision reassigned him to the classification 1-H not currently subject to induction. The draft card's dog-eared condition is because the law required it be carried on your person at all times and being a law-abiding citizen, I dutifully kept it in my wallet for many years. I also never burned it, which as was fashionable to do during Vietnam War protests, even though I was tempted to burn my draft card many times.

Also see the following links:

David S. Cloud, "Pentagon to say ban on gays can end," Gazette-Times, Jul. 22, 2011, p. A1. A7
Senator Joseph McCarthy (Wikipedia)
Andrew Harmon, "REPEAL CERTIFIED," Advocate.com posted Jul. 22, 2011
Arthur S. Leonard, "History Is Made: Certification of DADT Repeal Compliance Was Issued Today," posted July 22, 2011 -- a constitutional law professor gives some good legal advice and comments on the repeal
Arthur S. Leonard, "Gays in the Military -- Where Things Stand Today (July 23)," posted July 23, 2011

OSU softball Head Coach Kirk Walker came out in 2005

2011-07-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: Kirk N Walker, Head Coach-Softball Oregon State University, came out as gay in 2005 when he and partner Randy Baltimore decided to adopt a child.

Oregon State Kirk Walker, the only publicly gay male coach in Division I sports, has won more than 500 games as Oregon State softball coach since 1995. Not only does Oregon have the only publicly gay Division I women's basketball coach in Portland State's Sherri Murrell. The state also is home to the first openly gay man in a Division I sport: Oregon State's Kirk Walker.
Walker came out to his team in 2005, when he and partner Randy Baltimore decided to adopt a child. Jim Buzinski, co-founder of Outsports.com, said Murrell and Walker are still among the very few out coaches nationwide.
Though Walker, 46, said he knows of other gay coaches -- they just haven't been featured in high-profile stories -- his narrative has taken hold and prompted hundreds of responses. Most who contact Walker praise his courage.
(Quoted from Rachel Bachman, "Oregon State softball coach Kirk Walker inspires, reassures other gay leaders," Oregonian posted July 19, 2011)

Also see the following links:

Neal Broverman, "Oregon's Other Gay Coach," Advocate.com posted Jul. 19, 2011
Kirk N Walker, Head Coach-Softball Oregon State University (OSU Directory Information)
Dan Barry, "A Sports Executive Leaves the Safety of His Shadow Life," New York Times, posted May 15, 2011 -- Rick Welts, the president of the Phoenix Suns, hopes his coming out can break the silence surrounding homosexuality in men's team sports.

Oregon State University has a long history of gay sports figures:

PHOTO: George Hastings (top row, left) and the 1910 football team at Oregon Agricultural College (former name of Oregon State University) as pictured in "The 1912 Orange" yearbook, p. 159. Hastings associated with gay men arrested in Portland. See previous post OSU gay football player 1908 (6/19/08).

PHOTO: Esera Tuaolo is probably the most famous openly gay graduate of Oregon State University. Several years ago, Esera Tuaolo came out on the cover of The Advocate. ("Tackling football's closet," By Bruce C. Steele, The Advocate, Nov. 26, 2002, cover story, pp. 3, 30-39) . See previous post OSU Esera Tuaolo gay football star (8/12/06)

The Hardy Boys are gay

2011-07-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: two different covers of The Hardy Boys (Wikipedia) book by Franklin W. Dixon, "The Tower Treasure," Grosett & Dunlap, copyright 1927 (left) and copyright 1959 (right) purchased in the early 1960s, which were popular with elementary school boys for decades. In this book a dying criminal confesses that his loot has been secreted "in the tower." Both towers of the looted mansion are searched in vain. It remains for the Hardy boys to make an astonishing discovery that clears up the mystery. Frank and Joe Hardy are fictional teenage brothers and amateur detectives who appear in various mystery series for children and teens.

PHOTO: Google Books preview of a book by Marilyn S. Greenwald, "The secret of the Hardy boys: Leslie McFarlane and the Stratemeyer Syndicate," Ohio University Press, 2004 that says on (p. 278) Frank and Joe Hardy reveal they are gay in a 1985 National Lampoon parody humor magazine article, "The Undiscovered Notebooks of Franklin W. Dixon," which shows the unpublished adventure titled "The Hardy Boys in the Dark Secret of the Spooky Closet."

PHOTO: cover of the Sep. 1971 "National Lampoon" parody magazine featuring The Hardy Boys. (From "The Hardy Boys in Other media," The Unofficial Hardy Boys Home Page, bobfinnan.com accessed Jul. 23, 2011.) The original target audience of the "National Lampoon" parody magazine would have read The Hardy Boys when they were younger.

I clearly recall how much elementary school aged boys loved reading "The Hardy Boys" books. They were fun to read and sometimes school teachers would accept them as part of required book report assignments. I likewise enjoyed reading the books, but mostly to compare notes with other boys in school, however, I was shocked when an older 7th Grade boy confessed to me that reading The Hardy Boys books gave him a "hard-on" penis erection because he found reading The Hardy Boys adventures to be sexually arousing and sexually stimulating to him. (Can The Hardy Boys turn a boy gay? :-)

It wasn't until later in life that I could understand the homoerotic aspects of The Hardy Boys and I also learned that many boys were sexually stimulated from this type of danger and thrill seeking, including doing things such as jumping off of cliffs, etc. Therefore, I am not sure if this 7th grader I talked to was sexually turned on by the characters in a gay way or if it was the danger faced by The Hardy Boys in their detective mystery adventures that was sexually stimulating. Maybe it was both things that turned this boy on! Be that as it may, this boy is a good example of how complex the human sexual brain response is and how common it can be at the same time.

Corvallis panoramic aerial photo in GT

2011-07-20T11:39:00.001-07:00

PHOTO: (click on photo to enlarge) David Bassett's aerial photo panorama of Corvallis, Oregon as published sideways, the full length of a newspaper page, in the article by Bennett Hall, "Photographer's panorama captures rare view of Corvallis," Gazette-Times, Jul. 19, 2011, p. A1, A5.The aerial panorama depicts Corvallis from a new vantage point: about 350 feet off the ground, looking south over downtown with the rest of the city stretching out to the west. Perhaps the most prominent feature in the photograph is the Willamette River, shown left of center, with clouds reflecting from its glassy surface as it winds off into the haze-dimmed distance. The photo was shot in early November 2010 and a few landmarks stand out -- the Harrison and Van Buren bridges, that iconic courthouse, the tall firs of Avery Park, the football stadium looming over the OSU campus. Last November he went up in a Robinson R-22, a two-seater helicopter operated by Corvallis Aero Service. As the pilot held the chopper steady, Bassett shot a series of vertical frames to capture the view he wanted. Then he headed back to his Corvallis studio, where he used computer software to stitch together the digital images into a single master file. He also used the program to fine-tune variables such as contrast, brightness and color saturation. (Description quoted from the article by Bennett Hall, "Photographer's panorama captures rare view of Corvallis," Gazette-Times, Jul. 19, 2011, p. A1, A5)

I don't know why, but I have always had a fascination with aerial and satellite photographs, such as the ones available via Google Earth. Perhaps I was a flying bird in a previous life -- or I want to be a flying bird.

I assume from the newspaper's description that the photographer used the Adobe Photoshop software technology that allows multiple photographs to be stitched together into a panorama. The final result looks pretty good, but it is not perfect. Being able to correct for lens geometry distortion and slight variation in color balance is a challenging problem and you can see the seams, even in this low resolution newspaper halftone photo reproduction. I suspect to do a better job would require software that could build a 3-D software model of the photograph that it could then reconstruct a perfect photo realistic picture. The artificial intelligence to do this is probably decades off.

Borders bookstore bankruptcy -- Grass Roots survives in Corvallis

2011-07-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: Newspaper story showing Jack Wolcott, owner and founder of the Grass Roots Book and Music bookstore, located in downtown Corvallis, Oregon on Southwest Second Street. Wolcott opened shop in 1971. "We jumped in my Volkswagen van, went down to Berkeley to a retailer called Book People and bought every book we could carry. Then we drove back up here, put them on the shelves and opened up," Wolcott said. "We just bought everything we loved -- we didn't know anything about business at the time." Wolcott was 25 when he opened Grass Roots. Freshly graduated from Oregon State with a degree in psychology, he decided that Corvallis was where he wanted to spend the rest of his life and share his love of books. During the 39 years that he's been selling books, Jack Wolcott has seen a lot of changes: the growth of chain book stores, the emergence of e-books and the worst economic downturn in 80 years. These are among factors that have caused sales to decline. Quoted from newspaper articles by Raju Woodward, "Book store turns page," Gazette-Times, special insert "Focus 2011," Mar. 25, 2011, p. 25 and by Candice Ruud, "Grass Roots Books & Music, From bookkeeper to bookseller," InBusiness Section, March 2009, p. 7, inserted in Gazette-Times, Mar. 5, 2010. Also see previous posts Oregon Bookstore, 'Show Me!' book vs. censorship (4/6/11) and Corvallis, Oregon business history and gay book sales (3/6/10))

The newspaper article by Nancy Raskauskas of the Corvallis Gazette-Times and Laura Gunderson of The Oregonian adding to an Associated Press report, "No storybook ending for Borders, Corvallis bookstore among 399 Borders nationwide to liquidate," Gazette-Times, posted Jul. 19, 2011 reported the bankruptcy of the Borders bookstore chain.

Borders opened in Corvallis ten years ago in 2001. Its large size (even though it was half the size of the typical Borders) probably caused the failure of a small independent bookstore called "The Book End" that was located in a strip mall next to a large Winco grocery store. In addition to Grass Roots, The surviving bookstores in Corvallis include the Oregon State University bookstore, a small book section in the Fred Meyer grocery store and a large used bookstore downtown called Book Bin that carries a couple of new books. The main clerk for Book End was hired by the Book Bin proprietor. (I believe there is also a small religious bookstore still in Corvallis.)

Historically, Corvallis has never had many bookstores, but being a college town there has always been a large population of book lovers. I recall a small combination stationary store and bookstore in downtown Corvallis in the 1970s, but I don't recall any other major bookstores. The book business was typically dominated by small independent stores and publishers until the 1970s when big chains, such as B. Dalton's started opening across the nation. In the 1990s, the Amazon bookstore pioneered online bookstore sales, which seem to be quickly moving toward mostly e-book sales. It appears that old fashion printed books are quickly being replaced by online reading material. Given the history of technology, I suspect that old fashioned printed books will always have a limited market need, but I wonder what type of books will remain successful in print and where will they be sold if there aren't many bookstores left. As a Republican capitalist might say, "The market place will decide."

Wayne Besen ex-gay therapy research hits local news

2011-07-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: cover of book by Wayne Besen, "Anything but straight, Unmasking the scandals and lies behind the ex-gay movement," Harrington Park Press, 2003. Also see Wayne Besen, "Anything but straight, Unmasking the scandals and lies behind the ex-gay movement," Psychology Press, 2003. Eight years ago, the famous gay activists Jack Nichols ran my book review -- Thomas Kraemer, "Why Do Ex-Gays Matter?" GayToday.com posted December 08, 2003 -- that discusses Wayne Besen's "Anything but straight" book, which is also available in the OSU library. (See previous post Jack Nichols Gay Today Archive (9/12/09) for links to all my Gay Today articles.)

A recent press release by Wayne Besen, "Truth Wins Out Undercover Operation Finds That Marcus Bachmann's Clinic Works to 'Cure' Gay People," Truth Wins Out blog posted Jul. 8, 2010 kicked off massive media coverage all over the place, including on the local Portland, Oregon ABC TV affiliate KATU channel 2, which reran the national ABC News report by Brian Ross concerning Marcus Bachmann, the husband of presidential candidate Michele Bachmann (R-MN), whose clinic is doing unethical ex-gay therapy. Getting this amount of coverage is a very impressive feat for a grass roots gay activism organization.

I recently gave Wayne Besen's TWO (Truth Wins Out) non-profit organization a large donation and Wayne Besen wants to talk at Oregon State University for no charge, if anybody at OSU will invite him.

The Bachman news also prompted an editorial by Dean Hamer, "OP-ED: Is It A Choice? A Scientist's View, When Tim Pawlenty said the science was "in dispute" about whether being gay is genetic, that sure came as surprise to molecular biologist Dean Hamer," Advocate.com posted July 14, 2011. He counters the point often cited by ex-gays that the "gay gene" has never been found.

Oregon State University ex-gay groups predated gay friendly groups in 1976 Campus ministers have been reported to be still running ex-gay groups on campus today. (See previous posts OSU queer history month speech (9/30/06), Doctors on homosexuality 1962, Doctors on homosexuality 1950 and the book "Anything but straight" by Wayne Besen at waynebesen.com )

PHOTO: The March 17, 1962 issue of the British Medical Journal printed the article "Case of Homosexuality Treated by Aversion Therapy," by Basil James, p. 768-770. Homosexuals were electrically shocked or given nauseating drugs if they showed sexual arousal to homosexual images. (See Doctors on homosexuality 1962 (9/14/06), Doctors on homosexuality 1950 (8/12/06) and Neoteny causes homosexuality? (12/15/07))

PHOTO: Front page story by Jane E. Brody, "More Homosexuals Aided To Become Heterosexual," New York Times Feb. 28, 1971, p. 1, cont. 47. More propaganda is reported for ex-gay therapy. (See New York Times 1971 ex-gay article (6/28/07))

See the following links:

See previous postings:

Hewlett-Packard Journal historical favorites

2011-07-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: the author biography for Thomas Kraemer as printed in the Hewlett-Packard "HP Journal," Aug. 1989, p. 66 (PDF) for the article by Thomas F. Kraemer, "Product Development Using Object-Oriented Software Technology . . . object-oriented technology is rapidly becoming an accepted technology for designing and developing software systems. This paper provides a brief history, a tutorial and a description of HP's Lake Stevens Instrument Division's experience using the technology for product development," HP Journal, Aug, 1989, p. 66, 87-100 (PDF)

The HP Labs Web site has a Hewlett-Packard Journal index 1949 to 1998 with scanned PDF copies available to download for free. The Hewlett-Packard Journal was a serious technical journal modeled after one at Bell Labs. It typically provided detailed product technology engineering descriptions of various HP computer and electronic instrument products. The articles were usually written by the Research and Development design engineers who had been assigned to the product R&D project. Its purpose was two-fold. It not only provided recognition to the engineers involved, but it also provided the typical HP customer, who was an engineer or scientist, with technical reasons to buy HP products. Scientific and technical marketing requires convincing an analytical person to buy a product by giving him or her detailed technical information. This is in contrast to the typical consumer marketing method that relies on emotional selling and the voodoo corporate "Dilbert" cartoon idea that you should never give a consumer any information because it might hurt your business by telling the truth about it.

Here are some HP Journal issues that were at the center of my career at HP:

HP Journal Jun. 1972 -- HP-35 Pocket Calculator -- the first handheld calculator to do scientific calculations, which caused the obsolescence of the slide rule just a few years later to the disgust of traditional engineering professors
HP Journal Mar. 1980 Cover: HP-41C (PDF) The HP-41C calculator represented the peak of personal computing prior to the invention of the PC. It included a dial up modem to call a mainframe computer and an HP-IL local area network connection. I am still using mine today over thirty years later.
HP Journal July 1980 Cover: The HP-85, HP's first personal computer -- the HP-85 and the HP-IL local area network interface were the first two projects I was assigned to do when I started working at HP in 1978. I hand checked every hand drawn transistor on a large scale integrated circuit chip (LSI chip) design and then designed a several thousand transistor chip by myself by hand.
HP Journal Aug. 1980 on page 22 I was belatedly credited with being a member of chip design effort for the HP-85 personal computer calculator
HP Journal Oct, 1980 HP64000 cover story described the instrument used to design and debug the firmware and software for embedded microprocessor computer designs. This product line later became my first opportunity to become an engineering section manager and later a business unit manager in a HP product division, albeit just as the product line was going obsolete due to changes in technology.
HP Journal Jan. 1983 HP-IL -- Hewlett-Packard Interface Loop is a bit-serial interface that brought many capabilities formerly reserved for much larger computer systems and instruments to the growing repertoire of portable computers, instruments and handheld calculators. It was modeled after the HP-IB IEE-488 standard instrument bus that was used to communicate between electronic instruments and computers, but it was usable with battery powered devices.
HP Journal Jul. 1984 Cover: The parts of the HP-71B Handheld Computer -- calculators were quickly being surpassed by personal computers and I recommended that HP combine the Bell Labs cell phone technology with our handheld computer technology ala what we know today as the iPhone (see previous posts HP 41C calculator was iPhone of 30 years ago (12/8/10) and Apple to bulldoze HP site to build circular building for 12,000 employees (6/15/11))
HP Journal Dec. 1984 Cover: HP 3561A Dynamic Signal Analyzer -- the DSA product line hired me for my first real R&D engineering project management job, which I moved from Corvallis, Oregon to Lake Stevens, Washington to take on. (I had been an engineering project manager for follow-on interface cards for the HP IPC just prior to this.)
HP Journal May, 1985 describes the ThinkJet product, which was the first HP inkjet printer that was also built into to HP Integral PC portable computer product.
HP Journal Oct. 1985 Cover: Integral PC was a revolutionary luggable PC that far surpassed anything else commercially available at the time. HP direct marketing to corporate engineers and scientists limited sales to about 3.000 units per month.
HP Journal Aug. 1989 (PDF) -- Thomas F. Kraemer, "Product Development Using Object-Oriented Software Technology . . . object-oriented technology is rapidly becoming an accepted technology for designing and developing software systems. This paper provides a brief history, a tutorial and a description of HP's Lake Stevens Instrument Division's experience using the technology for product development," HP Journal, Aug, 1989, p. 66, 87-100 (PDF) -- my firsts chance to shine alone, which helped me get a good job in the HP Colorado Springs Logic Systems Division.

Some previous posts:

HP Inkjet printer history article links (9/5/07)
Apple to bulldoze HP site to build circular building for 12,000 employees shows California HP Cupertino site where calculators were built before moving to Corvallis, Oregon
HP 41C calculator was iPhone of 30 years ago (12/8/10)
HP calculator wristwatch 1977 vs. Timex 1994 (11/9/10)
HP 41C calculator was iPhone of 30 years ago (12/8/10)
IEEE Milestones HP 35 calculator (5/2/09)
HP inkjet printer musical creativity (2/2/11
HP Integral PC 1984 (8/26/06)
HP Inkjet Printer History (7/20/06)
HP PC and UNIX computers 1993 1 year before my first stroke (1/1/11)

OSU inkjet solar cells and gay history front page news

2011-07-15T12:55:00.001-07:00

PHOTO: two side-by-side front page stories in Corvallis, Oregon newspaper: Grady Garrett, "Project uses inkjets to produce solar cells," Gazette-Times, Jul. 15, 2011, p. A1, A10 (Research by Ph.D. student at Oregon State University -- the nearby Hewlett-Packard inkjet research lab is not mentioned) and David Siders, MClatchy Newspapers, "California Schools must teach about gay contributions," Gazette-Times, Jul. 15, 2011, p. A1, A10 -- also another story posted online by the Corvallis newspaper by Associated Press, "Calif. gov signs landmark law to teach gay history," posted Jul. 11, 2011. See my previous post HP Inkjet printer history article links (9/5/07) for more on the HP and OSU inkjet research connection.

VIDEO: the religious show produced by the anti-gay Rev. Pat Robertson also weighed in on the California gay history bill: CBNnews.com, "Gay Rights Movement Taught as History?" Christian Broadcasting Network, shown on "The 700 Club" TV show Jul. 7, 2011 11PM

Also see the blog post by Andrew Belonsky, "Watch: Mark Leno Discusses California's LGBT History Bill," TowleRoad blog posted Jul. 8, 2011.

The importance of minority history was identified decades ago and there have been many efforts to fill the gaps in gay history, including doing compulsory education by law. See my previous post OSU LGBT history at OutHistory.org (12/7/10) for my contribution to a site dedicated to gay history hosted at the City University of New York.

PBS 'An American Family' anniversary show

2011-07-09T10:17:00.000-07:00

VIDEO: "An American Family: Anniversary Edition," PBS TV premiered Jul. 7, 2011 (1:54:38) - Revisit the Loud family in this 2-hour compilation of the ground-breaking 70s series that chronicled the lives of Pat and Bill Loud and their five children Lance, Delilah, Grant, Kevin and Michele Loud. -- Now, more than 35 years later, the original film crew have adapted the 12 hours into this compilation of the most memorable and compelling moments of the series

The Oregon Public Broadcasting stations do not seem to have any plans to show "An American Family: Anniversary Edition" even though it was listed in the printed "TV Guide magazine" to be shown nationally on June 7, 2011 at 8:00 PM.

The "An American Family" show is one of the first examples, in American TV, of what has become to be known as unscripted or "reality television shows," such as the contemporary MTV "Real World" program that records the personal lives of real people.

What caught my eye when the show first aired decades ago was the Loud family's son Lance Loud (June 26, 1951 -- December 22, 2001), who was about my age and who came out as gay in 1973 on the national TV program An American Family. It aired on one of the four TV channels I could receive over-the-air (cable TV was not widely available yet back then) in my parents house. (I typically watched television at my parents' house because I could not afford a TV set or a big enough place to put it -- I eventually bought a 1-1/2 inch diagonal screen TV that was the size of a cigarette pack.)

I hope to watch this show since I haven't watched anything about the Loud Family in the last 30 years. I'll write more after I see it.

See related links:

Last military draftee retires and my draft card is still unburned

2011-07-04T12:00:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: Fourth of July front page AP story by Kimberly Hefling, "Last Vietnam-era draftee retires," Gazette-Times, Jul. 4, 2011, p. A1, A4 profiled a man drafted during the Vietnam War in 1972 who just retired in 2011 after serving 39 years. Unlike other draftees who typically stayed only the required two years, Sergeant Major Jeff Mellinger, 58, stayed in the military because he said, "I love being a soldier and I love being around soldiers." The very gay overtone of his statement is ironic given the official military policy of rejecting homosexuals from serving and classifying them as 4-F unfit for military service. The homoerotic nature of military service has been a driving force for many military forces throughout history and is a popular theme in gay pornography. Ancient Greek soldiers have been famously associated throughout history via slang terms referring to sodomy or anal sex between military men who are horny and starved for the company of women.

During the Vietnam War it became popular for young men to burn their draft cards. The laws passed to make burning draft cards illegal, despite First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech, were upheld as being constitutional by the U.S. Supreme court decision United States v. O'Brien, 391 U.S. 367 (1968), which ruled that any criminal prohibition against burning a draft card did not violate the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech.

Ironically, the compulsory military draft called me for the Vietnam War, despite policies against gays serving and my medical diagnosis of being a potential homosexual because I liked to play with dolls as a kid. One military official explained I was being called anyways because I didn't "look effeminate" and he said I was just trying to be a "draft dodger." (See previous post Asking Santa for a Barbie doll was gay 50 years ago - A Christmas Story (12/21/10))

PHOTO: (click on photo to enlarge) very homoerotic and gay still frames at a military draftee induction center is shown in the 1969 movie "Alice's Restaurant" (top) Arlo Guthrie, wearing classic white Jockey underwear briefs, in an attempt to evade the Vietnam War military draft by acting crazy, excitedly jumps up and down with an Army psychiatrist while both are yelling, "I want to kill! I want to kill!" However, instead of being rejected, the doctor declares him to be perfect for the job until the Army hears he was once arrested for littering, which raises the question of whether Arlo is moral enough to be drafted into the Army. (Middle and bottom) Arlo is asked to sit on the Group W bench with all of the other military draft rejects, including a presumably transsexual or homosexual queer guy with eyeliner and others who Arlo describes as "the meanest, nastiest, father rape-ers, sitting right on the bench next to me." (See previous post Alice's Restaurant, Jockey underwear, military draft 1969 (6/15/10))

Andrew Sullivan case for gay marriage 1989

2011-07-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: cover story by Andrew Sullivan, "The (conservative) Case for Gay Marriage," The New Republic, Aug. 28, 1989, cover, p. 20-22. See blog post by Andrew Sullivan, "Blast From The Past," andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com posted Jun. 27, 2011 that says, "TNR is reprinting the original cover-story from 22 years ago."

In the 1990s, Andrew Sullivan brought back the idea of a gay conservative that had been lost when the more liberal Stonewall generation of gay liberationists eclipsed the previous generation of Mattachine homophile activists. As I've discussed before, gay liberationists rejected the idea of gay marriage because they were fighting for sexual liberation and freedom. Early gay marriage advocates, such as Jack Baker, were ostracized by most people in the gay community, including older homophile conservatives who felt marriage was between a man and a woman. Sullivan's thesis has proven to be right that the assimilation of gay people into the heterosexual tradition of marriage is a conservative position and it is not a radical liberal position held by gay activists. (See previous post Life Magazine gay marriage 1971 (11/20/08))

See these related links:

Andrew Sullivan, "A President, Not A Governor," posted Jun. 29, 2011
Andrew Harmon, "Obama Talks Marriage at WH News Conference," Advocate.com posted Jun. 29, 2011 -- but Obama still opposes gay marriage even though his views are "evolving."
Andrew Harmon, "Dustin Lance Black Takes On Obama's Marriage," Advocate.com posted Jun. 29, 2011
Arthur S. Leonard, "Marriage Equality in New York - A Triumph of Political Will," posted Jun. 27, 2011 -- a detailed legal analysis
Dan Savage, "President Asked About New York and Marriage Equality at Press Conference," posted Jun. 29, 2011 -- Dan was invited to the White House where he wore his "evolve already" button.
Andrew Harmon, "Senators to Obama: Time to Evolve," Advocate.com posted Jun. 23, 2011 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, lead sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, said, "I support marriage equality -- this is an issue of fundamental fairness. I hope that President Obama will endorse that view and voice his support for equality for all." -- Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.); statement issued from Deputy Chief of Staff Jennifer I. Hoelzer: "The Senator believes that no one has any business telling consenting adults who they can and can't marry as he has been saying publicly since 1996. Since then, he has been gratified to see politicians on both sides of the aisle recognize that simple truth. It is Senator Wyden's hope that all of our political leaders will understand the limits of their authority and carry out their obligation to extend equal protection and the full faith and credit of the law to every American."
Andrew Sullivan, "Kramer vs Sullivan?" posted Jun. 29, 2011

Howard Cruse Dirty Old Lovers in Gay Comix 1982

2011-07-02T12:22:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: the timeless caricature of two older gay male lovers was drawn by Howard Cruse in the Dec. 1982 underground comic book Gay Comix (Wikipedia) published by Denis Kitchen, founder of Kitchen Sink Press (KSP) in 1969 and Kitchen Sink Comix.

The term "lover" was commonly used in the 1970s to refer to a gay male's domestic partner. Today the terms partner, spouse or husband have become more popular. A stereotype of that time was that older gay men would happily shack up together as an old gay couple just like lesbians did. The idea of a long term relationship was foreign to the younger gay liberationists who felt they were fighting for their right to be sexually promiscuous and heave sex with many men instead of being tied down like their heterosexual parents. Every young gay man could recall being scared by the sight of a pair of "dirty old lovers" because they didn't like the future it suggested. Of course, it was a better alternative than the one presented by ant-gay educators who told young gay men that they would grow up dissipated and lonely when they grew too old to attract other men for sex.

Bitchy Butch World's Angriest Dyke by Roberta Gregory

2011-07-02T12:07:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: Roberta Gregory's cartoon character Bitchy Butch, the World's Angriest Dyke, vented on the cover of Gay Comix No. 21, Winter 1993. (See Roberta Gregory (Wikipedia) and www.robertagregory.com)

PHOTO: cover of the book by Roberta Gregory, "Bitchy Butch (World's Angriest Dyke)," Fantagraphics Books, 1999 collected stories from the underground comic books Naughty Bits NB 21,23,26,and from the "Gay Comix" comic book.

The Bitchy Butch cartoon character is politically incorrect and no doubt it angers real life Bitchy Butch lesbians, but it is such a perfect caricature of the real life "angry dyke" who I first met decades ago. Of course, not all lesbians are angry and some heterosexual women are angry just like Bitchy Butch, but the stereotype is funny nonetheless. (I am sure this disclaimer is not enough to stop me from being beat up the next time I meet a lesbian!)

Once again, I see this as a good example of minority gender identities that do not necessarily correlate with sexual orientation. Masculine women and effeminate men are part of the human spectrum.

Futurama Bender gender bending animated cartoon show

2011-07-02T11:56:00.001-07:00

PHOTO: Futurama animated cartoon characters' gender bending episode is mentioned in an article by Rich Sands, "The Futurama looks bright," TV Guide, Jun. 20 - Jul. 3, 2011, p. 45. The article notes the crew crash lands and encounters a being who has never heard of the concept of gender. The crew meets a strange alien with the ability to alter their gender identities. The cable TV guide listing called it "gender neutopia." (See video clip at Futurama, "Neutopia," Season 6, Episode 20, comedycentral.com Airdate 6/23/2011 -- Despite the peace of gender neutrality, the humans want their genitals returned. TV Guide search Futurama Neutopia.)

This show gives new meaning to the concept of minority gender identities. Futurama has always been subversive with sophisticated humor. The Neutopia episode was funny as expected, but I didn't hear any quotable lines about gender bending. The irony of Bender the robot (who specializes in bending things) participating in gender bending seemed to be ignored, perhaps because the joke is too obvious.

Ken doll turns 50 in Sunday newspaper story

2011-07-02T11:44:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: The ken doll's 50th birthday is celebrated in article by Nancy C. Bilyeau, "Ken Turns 50," Parade Magazine Sunday newspaper insert Mar. 13, 2011, p. 5. Also see online extra, "The History of the Ken Doll," Parade.com (accessed Jul. 2, 2011). Note that the description in the slide show section Ken in 1961 omits the fact that Ken's hair was originally painted on with black flocking that made it look like a crew cut haircut. What was revolutionary about the Barbie and Ken dolls were the fact they were molded out of plastic in realistic proportions, unlike previous dolls marketed to girls. Precision plastic molding had only recently become economical on a mass production scale and so prior dolls were made out of other materials, including sewn cloth, wooden or porcelain heads, etc.

PHOTO: left to right, Billy doll dressed in leather and ready for the gay S&M bar scene, Tropical Splash scented Ken doll in white underwear briefs and a Hanes t-shirt, an original 1960s Ken doll with his swimsuit pulled down exposing neutered genitals, and a Baywatch Ken doll. The closet case Ken doll is the sometimes boyfriend of Barbie. I wonder if Billy is the top and Ken the bottom when they get together? See my previous posts Asking Santa for a Barbie doll was gay 50 years ago - A Christmas Story (12/21/10), Billy and Ken dolls are gay friends of Barbie (1/12/09) and Barbie doll is gay, G.I. Joe doll not gay (7/24/10)

Drag queen benefit for Steven Leider OSU Foundation scholarship fund

2011-06-26T11:27:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: the legalization of gay marriage in New York was bumped to page two of the hard news A section of the Sunday newspaper, but the front page of the D section featured a large color photo of the Portland drag queen Poison Waters, a.k.a. Kevin Cook, hosting a Drag Bingo fund raiser at the First Methodist Church in Corvallis for the Steven Leider OSU Foundation Scholarship fund. Drag performances have historically been a part of gay culture for centuries, but it became politically incorrect to many post-Stonewall gay liberationists who felt it pandered to societies' psychoanalytical stereotype that gay men were all effeminate wannabe girls. Fortunately, drag did not become a lost art and it appears to be making a respectable comeback. (See articles by Emily Gillespie, "Drag Bingo, Event raised money for new OSU scholarship for LGBTQ students," Gazette-Times, Jun. 26, 2011, p. D1, Posted in Local on Sunday, June 26, 2011 9:00 am Updated: 11:43 pm and Gail Cole, "New LGBTQ scholarship honors departing staffer," Gazette-Times, posted Jun. 22, 2011) Some other interesting OSU news:

Gail Cole, "New LGBTQ scholarship honors departing staffer," Gazette-Times, posted Jun. 22, 2011 says, "Steven Leider will be leaving his post as Oregon State University's director of LGBT Services and Outreach, but the community won't have to say good-bye to him anytime soon. Leider, 54, will begin graduate courses at OSU this fall. A new scholarship in his name, aimed at assisting lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) youth, is being created in his name. Facilitated by the Valley AIDS Information Network Inc., the scholarship will provide funds for an OSU student whose family has financially cut him or her off due to their sexual identity. Leider hopes his forthcoming master&'s degree in interdisciplinary studies will allow him to keep working as an agent of change. He'll work as a teaching assistant for women studies and ethnic studies classes, and though he's not sure if he'll move on to another university or remain at OSU -- ranked among the top 20 LGBT friendly campuses by Campus Pride -- Leider wants to continue working with LGBT students in terms of identity development after he completes the two-year program." (See previous post Four gay Facebook friends outs you as being gay at MIT (6/18/11))
Kayla Harr, "OSU alumnus named vice president of University Relations and Marketing," Barometer, posted Jun. 3, 2011 and Mark Floyd, "University hires publisher as new VP," Gazette-Times, posted Jun. 1, 2011 -- Steve Clark, president and publisher of Portland's Community Newspapers and the Portland Tribune, has been appointed vice president for University Relations and Marketing at Oregon State University, President Ed Ray announced Wednesday. . . Since the position was vacated almost one year ago, Todd Simmons has served as interim vice president of University Relations and Marketing. Simmons, Ray stated in a press release, is being promoted to associate vice president of University Relations and Marketing and will work with Clark to further university goals. (Todd Simmons is an openly gay leader on campus) Clark graduated from OSU in 1975 with a degree in journalism and also served as editor of the student newspaper, The Daily Barometer.
"Editorial: Could tuition bills create another 'lost generation'?" Gazette-Times, posted Jun. 7, 2011 -- Oregon University System officials talk about a "lost generation" - potential students in the early 1990s who found themselves suddenly priced out of higher education after the passage of Measure 5.
"Editorial: Senate passage of university bill a good move," Gazette-Times, posted Jun. 21, 2011 -- essentially restructures the Oregon University System as a public university system rather than a state agency.

OSU naked streaking in 1975 vs. nearly naked run in 2011

2011-06-26T11:20:00.001-07:00

PHOTO: Students run in the second annual Undie Run on the Oregon State University campus at the end of the school year. Of course, it was organized through Facebook. (Photo by Jesse Skoubo ran in the newspaper article by Nancy Raskauskas, "Nearly naked runners race through campus," Gazette-TImes, posted Jun. 3, 2011)

PHOTO: OSU students streaking on Halloween night in 1975 as shown on the front page of the student newspaper The Barometer Nov. 3, 1975. (See previous posts Thomas Kraemer, "Corvallis, Oregon State University gay activism 1969-2004," OutHistory.org posted April 30, 2010, OSU gay student group history (5/3/06) and OSU queer history month speech (3/30/06)

Apparently, today at Oregon State University students are only willing to run nearly naked in their underwear, but they are not willing to run totally naked streaking as they did in the 1970s. Of course, today, unlike decades ago when OSU women did not participate, it appears that a number of female OSU students are participating in the nearly naked "undie run." This increase in clothing for such a run is a culturally significant shift because, decades ago, most heterosexual male students didn't worry about being seen naked because most men held the sexist assumption that only women were sex objects. Back then, most men could not conceive how anybody could find a male body sexy. However, after men became conscious of the women's liberation movement and gay rights movement, many men started to realize that their naked bodies could also be viewed as a sex object by both women and gay men. In my experience, this realization by men caused a homophobic reaction that has led to the elimination in many places of the traditional male locker room where men used to unashamedly walk about naked. I bet the shift from naked streaking at OSU in 1975 to the merely nearly-naked undie run in 2011 has nothing to do with students becoming more conservative, but it has everything due to the homophobic fear of men who do not want queers getting sexually turned on by their naked body.

Are some ex-gays truly asexual and chose to be gay like Chaz Bono did

2011-06-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: (click photo to enlarge) Michael Glatze (shown in inset) in 1999 as assistant editor of XY magazine and the covers of XY magazines he edited with the headlines 'straight, antigay, wacko,' numbers 15, 22 and 24 (Dec 1998-Jan 1999, Oct-Nov 1999, and April 2000). See previous post Michael Glatze straight antigay wacko XY editor (7/5/07).

PHOTO: cover of XY magazine Feb-Mar 1997 issue, number 6, featured models that appeal to gay teens and ephebophiles (lovers of adolescent boys). (See my previous posts New gay ephebophile magazine by former XY editor (4/18/11) and Kyle XY Magazine and ABC Family Channel (6/27/06))

The ideas surrounding the common dismissal of ex-gays as not being truly gay and the theology of queer theory and social constructionists is discussed in a post by Wayne Dynes, "Faux gay?" posted Jun. 18, 2011. Dynes notes how the former assistant editor of XY magazine, Michael Glatze, who now claims to be ex-gay, has been challenged by his former boss at XY magazine who wonders if Glatze was ever truly gay:

I told Michael about a recent conversation I had with our former boss at XY, Peter Ian Cummings, who surprised me by wondering aloud if Michael was ever truly gay. "In retrospect, more than you or me or anyone else who worked at the magazine, his sexuality almost felt more theoretical than real to me," Peter told me. "At a very young age, he had all these very well thought out theories about identity and sexuality. Maybe this gay or queer identity that fascinated him, and that he had taken on, wasn't really true for him. It doesn't explain why he says such ridiculous things about gay people now, but maybe, just maybe, he's not in denial about his own sexuality."
(Quoted from Benoit Denizet-Lewis, "My Ex-Gay Friend," New York Times Magazine, Jun. 16, 2011)

Although I believe sexual orientation is determined biologically, the cases of Michael Glatze and Chaz Bono make me ask the question, are some ex-gays truly asexual, bisexual or transgendered and did they chose to be gay like Chaz Bono admitted to having done? (Chaz thought she was a lesbian until realizing he was a man who was sexually attracted to women.) Likewise, a bisexual could easily choose to behave as gay or straight. Additionally, asexuals, which Kinsey data measured to be 2 percent of the population, might easily feel coerced by society to choose a sexual orientation, similar to how Chaz Bono felt she had to pick one. (Note: Gay sheep researchers at Oregon State University found approximately 2 percent of sheep are asexual in addition to 3 to 10 percent homosexual sheep (source: personal communication). This is similar to what Kinsery found in humans. See my previous posts Kinsey scale and asexuality 1948 (9/16/06), Face recognition vs. sexual orientation, handedness, and sex (1/15/11) and "A Boi's Life" and "Chaz Bono" (6/14/09))

What broadened my viewpoint nearly a half-century ago was a Catholic priest who introduced me to the three types of Catholic priests: first was the rare heterosexual priest who struggled with his vow of celibacy, second was the gay priest who chose the priesthood to avoid having to explain to mom why he wasn't married. I quickly discovered that many gay priests regularly had gay sex with consenting adults, post-pubescent males or more rarely pre-adolescent males. During this time, I also got to know the third type of priest, the truly asexual priest, who felt his asexual sexual orientation was a gift from God that allowed him to better execute his mission from God. Many Catholic priests I knew believed asexual priests had been among the most important leaders of the Catholic Church throughout history.

More recently, as part of gay history research efforts, I got to know several leaders of the early gay rights movement who privately admitted to me that they were visually asexual (i.e. they were not sexually aroused by the visual images of gay sex or straight sex) and this permitted them to devote more energy to the gay rights movement instead of "wasting time" cruising for sex as most out and proud gay men were doing in the early days of the gay rights movement.

Perhaps, the ability of asexual men to lead, because they are not distracted by sex, is the basis of the Catholic Church's theology of celibate priesthood and also part of the early gay liberation movement. The fact that the priesthood attracted many gay men makes sense to me, but I bet it was asexual priests who really drove the Catholic Church throughout history. Likewise, it makes sense that asexual men would be attracted to the gay rights and queer theory movement because they wanted to free themselves from the societal norm that every man must marry a woman and have children.

As a longtime gay rights advocate, I was always skeptical whether bisexual or asexual men existed or if they were just confused about their sexual orientation. My mind was firmly changed after I recently had an ischemic stroke in a very small part of the right visual area of my brain that left me asexual, but not impotent -- all of my sexual plumbing still works via mechanical action. (The ischemic stroke diagnosis and the specific location of the stroke in my brain were not determined just by a doctor's experience and knowledge, but by a hospital's 3 Tesla magnetic field functional MRI machine that showed reduced blow flow around some recently dead tissue in my brain.) See my previous posts New 3 Tesla MRI used on me (7/3/10) and Stroke-related Blindness slows me down more (2/5/11).

Given my experiences, I have come to see sexual orientation and gender identity as being continuous variables that have a skewed statistical distribution -- i.e. there are more people on the heterosexual end of the scale than the homosexual end. Likewise, there are very few individuals on the scale in-between male and female. In my view, this skewed statistical distribution creates a small number of humans or animals with a minority sexual orientation or gender identity. The issue should not be deciding how to dichotomize things into gay or straight, male or female, but the issue should be how to reduce prejudice against a minority.

Also see these links:

See previous posts:

Four gay Facebook friends outs you as being gay at MIT

2011-06-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: Scott Adams, "Dilbert Comic," dated Mar. 10, 1993 notes that fingernail computers violate privacy by keeping track of where your fingers have been, just like Facebook violates privacy today!

PHOTO: Scott Adams, "Dilbert comic," dated Jan. 11, 1996 -- Dilbert's worry about the privacy of putting his credit card number out on the internet is shown to be futile when he unconcernedly hands his credit card number over to a waitress.

Let's say that someday technology will allow anybody to find out every possible thing about my life. I can compensate by being so uninteresting that nobody could survive the process of snooping on me without lapsing into a coma. Judging from my friends, I don't think I'm the only person who has discovered this sophisticated privacy technique.
(Quoted from Scott Adams, "The Dilbert future: thriving on stupidity in the 21st century," HarperCollins, 1997 (p. 208))

Seriously, on a similar track, I have known some Web surfing engineers at work who ran robot programs to randomly surf the Web so that their corporate bosses would have meaningless history data to snoop on to see where they were Web surfing during working hours. Of course, they cloaked these robots as being part of a software testing project.

With the advent of Facebook, it has become common for friends to violate the privacy of friends and friends of friends who might not realize where personal information can be seen that they have posted. Worse, Facebook is tracking everything you do and selling this information to third-parties so that they can better market to you and sell you things at best, or at worst find information that can be used to discriminate against you, such as the government or an employer who doesn't like hiring gay guys.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg pooh-poohs the privacy concerns, because he has no morals and is making tons of money by violating people's privacy, or perhaps he doesn't fully understand the negative implications and will regret what he is doing when he becomes wiser in the future.

I hadn't spent much time thinking about privacy on the internet because I have always considered my cyberspace presence to be similar to being out in public. Therefore, I have always only done things online that I would do in the real world. Of course, I realized the issue is that something I do on a so-called anonymous sex site could be attached to my real name and the images or bits of information could be put together and used against me, such as what just happened to Congressman Anthony Weiner who had to resign over some photos he posted of himself in underwear briefs.

I had assumed any privacy violation would happen just like the old days of outing gay politicians before the internet was a factor. Michelangelo Signorile and others created the idea of "outing" closeted gay politicians by gathering together shreds of information that would expose the anti-gay politician as being gay. Although some people decried this as being an immoral violation of privacy, most people thought it was morally acceptable provided the politician was a hypocrite, for example, by having gay sex while simultaneously trying to outlaw it in Congress for political gain.

Prior to the internet the concept of gaydar was well-established and people would often infer that somebody was gay if they hung out at gay bars and with other gay people. For example, see my previous posts Oregonian on 1912 gay panic arrests (4/25/10) and OSU gay football player 1908 (6/19/08) who is presumed to be gay because he associated with gay men who were arrested in a Portland, Oregon vice scandal that resulted in the arrests of many gay men who he was hanging out with.

What I hadn't thought about before is how this type of outing could be automated by computer technology and the advent of social networking. My thinking was further sharpened after reading the article by Cassandra Willyard, "Separating Work, Friends, and Family on Facebook Isn't Easy, What happens when Facebook's notion of openness runs afoul of the desire for a private life," IEEE Spectrum, June 2011, which says, "Even the most careful users may unintentionally give away sensitive information. As part of a class project, two engineering graduate students at MIT found that they could predict which Facebook users were gay just by looking at the sexual orientation of their online friends. "You could be completely in the closet," says sociologist Jason Kaufman, a researcher at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. "But a savvy marketer, advertiser, blackmailer -- what have you -- could deduce with reasonable certainty that you're gay simply by the behavior of your friends in your network."" (Note: the article that referenced the MIT study was part of a group of articles in a professional electrical engineering society magazine IEEE Spectrum cover story special reports, "Super Socialize Me," June, 2011 )

I did a quick Google search and found the above referenced MIT study by Carter Jernigan, Behram F.T. Mistree, "Gaydar: Facebook friendships expose sexual orientation," First Monday, Peer-reviewed Journal on the Internet, University of Illinois at Chicago University Library, Volume 14, Number 10 - 5 October 2009 .

When the MIT study paper was published it stated the author's biographies: "Carter Jernigan received his B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2008, with additional studies in psychology and management. Behram F.T. Mistree received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 2007 and his M.Eng. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 2008 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. Behram's work was indirectly supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Fellowship no. 2007050798. (See the Web pages of sociologist Jason Kaufman, a researcher at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society and Jason Kaufman at jasonkaufman.net )

The MIT paper literally describes a complicated graduate level mathematical and statistical analysis that is probably impossible to understand by most people. I have the required graduate-level training in statistics and it still took me hours to read and decipher the gestalt of their findings. Such obfuscation is often the result of young researchers who are unsure of themselves and they are trying to compensate by being very rigorous or it is a sign that that the researchers don't fully understand it all themselves. More than once, I've met distinguished and more mature researchers who understand their subject so well that they are able to explain it to anybody including kindergarten students.

My gross simplification of the MIT gaydar Facebook study's findings is that if more than 1.89 percent of your Facebook friends' profiles state they are gay, then it is more than 80 percent likely that you are gay too. Given that the average Facebook user typically has more than 200 friends, this would mean that somebody with approximately four or more Facebook friends who are openly gay in their profile will also probably be gay too, at least amongst MIT students which the study is based on. In the other direction, having less than 1 gay Facebook friend probably means you are straight.

The study's authors use the gaydar Facebook example as a way to demonstrate how privacy violations can occur in unexpected ways when computer tracking is involved. That is why they reference the Dilbert cartoon joke about compensating by being boring. Clearly, an MIT student who doesn't want his parents to know he is gay would need to de-friend his gay buddies on Facebook to prevent his parents from finding out he is gay. (Blocking his parents might not work because they could open or access the information through another friend or a fake account they created to spy on their child.)

Of course, as an old-time gay activist supporter of everyone coming out and also a supporter of outing hypocritical closeted gay politicians, I was disconcerted by the author's premise that outing somebody is a privacy violation, because I believe all college-student-aged or older people should come out to their parents. Of course, my idealistic belief that all students should come out is sobered by the fact that some students are immediately cutoff financially by their parents and end up having to drop out of school. This is why one former OSU official Steven Leider is trying to fund a scholarship for such students. Likewise, students must be concerened that many employers discriminate against gay people and they are increasingly checking student's Facebook pages as part of the hiring process.

UPDATE 6/22/11: Gail Cole, "New LGBTQ scholarship honors departing staffer," Gazette-Times, posted Jun. 22, 2011 says, "Steven Leider will be leaving his post as Oregon State University’s director of LGBT Services and Outreach, but the community won’t have to say good-bye to him anytime soon. Leider, 54, will begin graduate courses at OSU this fall. A new scholarship in his name, aimed at assisting lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) youth, is being created in his name. Facilitated by the Valley AIDS Information Network Inc., the scholarship will provide funds for an OSU student whose family has financially cut him or her off due to their sexual identity. Leider hopes his forthcoming master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies will allow him to keep working as an agent of change. He’ll work as a teaching assistant for women studies and ethnic studies classes, and though he’s not sure if he’ll move on to another university or remain at OSU — ranked among the top 20 LGBT friendly campuses by Campus Pride — Leider wants to continue working with LGBT students in terms of identity development after he completes the two-year program."

The bottom line is that in cyberspace it appears that the old adage "birds of feather flock together" remains true, but it is much easier for the town snoop to find out about who you are hanging out with. It is also true that social networking in cyberspace probably has similar issues to those experienced through human history. It can be used for either good or evil. It can also be mindless fun.

See my previous posts: