Thanksgiving Cheer

Hi all,

Hope your having a nice Thanksgiving Holiday. I just completed my course on musculoskeletal physical therapy and can finally relax and have a nice holiday with the family. Sorry for neglecting this blog. I'm headed back for more desert and snuggling up for a movie with the honey. But not to leave you empty-handed I found this gem of a story on line....worthy of sharing.

David L. Wylie shares his story titled "My First Gay Thanksgiving: Trading Indians & Pilgrims for Drag Queens & Lesbians". Check it out, it really is touching. http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/view_press_release.php?rID=36501


Happy Thanksgiving,

Island Dyke

UN panel talks international GLBT discrimination issues

Last month the United Nations hosted a panel discussion to explore GLBT issues of discrimination. The event was co-sponsored by Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. The event was scheduled to discuss the Yogyakarta Principles. (Grew, 2007)

I have been busy the past month, surviving personal and family illnesses and amongst a pile of doctoral studies that I have not kept up on the latest GLBT news. I have to admit I had not heard of the Yogyakarta Principles. Please take some time to follow the link in the references and read them. These individuals from 29 different countries are real heroes for human rights in my book.


"Q. What are the Yogyakarta Principles? The Yogyakarta Principles are a set of principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity. The Principles affirm binding international legal standards with which all States must comply. They promise a different future where all people born free and equal in dignity and rights can fulfil that precious birthright." (PRINCIPLES, 2007)

Island Dyke

Reference:

Grew, T. (2007) United Nations hosts LGBT rights panel. pinknews.co.uk. Retrieved on November 7, 2007 from http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5987.html.

PRINCIPLES (2007) WWW The Yogyakarta Principles: The Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Retrieved on November 7, 2007 from http://www.yogyakartaprinciples.org/principles_en.htm.

Monthly poll results: Is it nobodies business?

Ok, so the monthly poll tallies are in AND....(drum roll please) results for: Should prominent community figures in Saipan be held accountable to be honest about their sexual orientation?

• 75% say it's really no ones business
• 15% say no
• 10% say not sure

Well, one thing you can be sure of is that over on www.saipanmiddleroad.com there is a heated debate as to whether Nahal, a teacher/actor resident here in Saipan, has scruples as she did an acting job for a local political parties television advertisement. Nahal, after being railed, responds that she didn't get paid and that she did it to add credits to her resume which needed some bolstering up for when she sheds this island in search of future employment.

My question is: Would these individuals, who are pointing out and accusing Nahal of having no scruples, continue on if they learned she actually does support that political party? And would these individuals be in agreement with the 75% above saying it really is no ones business when it comes to sharing one's sexuality? Is there a double standard for something's? I feel like I'm starting to sound a little like Harry B. in sharing "some food for thought". (LOL)

Thanks to the writers over at saipanmiddleroad for spotlighting my site this week.

Island Dyke

GLBT Teenagers

So did any of you read the GLBT History Month's presentation of Virginia Uribe on day 15? Some of you, who may be school teachers, may have heard of Project 10. Virgina was a science teacher and school counselor in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She founded Project 10, a drop-out prevention program for the GLBT teens, after seeing the problems that these students endure. Since the 1984 birth of Project 10 many of the aspects of Project 10 have been incorporated in high schools across the nation. She received the National Education Association's Annual Human and Civil Rights Award for Creative Leadership in Human Rights in 1992. Currently she is the Executive Director of Friends of Project 10, Inc. This is a nonprofit program that assists with lobbying for educational issues and assisting with gay and lesbian proms. Her famous quote is: "As long as I have a breath in me, I will continue to fight for the rights of gay and lesbian students." (GLBTHISTORYMONTH, 22nd)

After reading about the gay and lesbian prom, it took me back to some memories of living in San Diego. I use to volunteer at the North County Gay and Lesbian Center from time to time and an opportunity came up to volunteer as a chaperone at a gay and lesbian prom down in San Diego's Hillcrest community. Now some of you may be thinking why does there need to be a gay and lesbian prom? I have to say until you have walked in another's shoes please don't judge. The happiness that these teens had was evident on their faces. The individuality they all shared openly I could only imagine felt safe and satisfying. Until society is more excepting of the GLBT individuals within our communities then perhaps these events are needed.

Island Dyke


Reference:

GLBTHISTORYMONTH 22nd WWW 2007. Retrieved on October 22, 2007 from
http://www.glbthistorymonth.com/glbthistorymonth/2007/icon.cfm?LeaderID=15&tab=bio

Celebrating Coming Out Day

The PT's from CHC celebrated "Coming Out Day" last week together in the colors of the rainbow. Can you guess which one is coming out? (HINT) You have seen her on this blog site before.

Island Dyke

OK Men Here are Your Facts!

After my last posting I started to think about you men. Last month, September, was National Prostate Cancer Awareness month. If lesbians are at greater risk I was wondering if the same is true for gay men. Johnson (2007) shares with us that the American Cancer Society thinks gay men ARE at an increased risk for prostate cancer as well as skin, colon and lung cancer. The ACS attributes this increased risk to:

• Lack of health coverage
• Healthcare discrimination and negative experiences
• Gay men and smoking

According to one citation gays that smoke are 36% of LGBT adults compared to 25% of all adults.

For a PDF file copy of Cancer Facts for Gay and Bisexual Men follow this link: http://gaylife.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=gaylife&cdn=people&tm=1209&gps=297_914_1276_640&f=00&tt=2&bt=0&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.cancer.org/downloads/COM/Gay%2520Men%2520CF%2520Brochure.pdf

Island Dyke

Reference:

Johnson, R. (2007) Gays Have Higher Cancer Risk. About.com: Gay Life. Retrieved on October 8, 2007 from http://gaylife.about.com/od/healthfitness/a/smokingcancer.htm

Lesbian's Risk of Breast Cancer

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in which the month is dedicated to increasing awareness of the importance of early breast cancer detection. I found a web site that gives a simple test to calculate your risk of developing breast cancer. Follow this link I found it very informative (even men are at risk for breast cancer and can take this quiz):

http://www.divine.ca/en/breast-cancer-corner/breast-cancer-risk-calculator/c_244/

So are lesbians at a greater risk of developing breast cancer? Well I found a site on lesbian life and Kathy Belge answers this question for us. She tells us that lesbians as a group do have higher incidence of certain risk factors that are known to be associated with developing breast cancer. These risk factors are:

• obesity
• smoking
• alcohol use
• having never birthed a child

In addition to these increased risk factors on the whole there is also the factor that lesbians are less likely to visit a doctor for fear of homophobia or being uncomfortable with answering questions that would have them coming out. Another noted factor is that lesbians are less likely to have health insurance which is partially due to plans not offering domestic partner benefits. The interesting information I found though, according to Dr. Hudson, is that lesbians are less likely to perform self-breast exams. (Belge, 2007) Hmmmm.

Island Dyke

Reference:

Belge, K. (2007) Are Lesbians More at Risk? About.com.: Lesbian Life. Retrieved on October 5, 2007 from http://lesbianlife.about.com/cs/healthconcerns/a/brcancer.htm