Archive for the ‘Alabama’ Category

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1st Annual Gay Pride Parade, Huntsville, AL

Friday, June 25th, 2010

Huntsville, Alabama is planning a first ever Gay Pride Parade and cookout to be held on Sunday, June 27, at 1:00 PM outside the Vieux Carré bar and dance club near University and Memorial Parkway.

Why does this warrant a post?  Because Huntsville is a pocket of conservatism in a conservative state in the conservative Bible Belt.  If sex hysteria were a cash crop, Alabama would be one of the richest states in the union.  And, this blogger may very well attend the festivities to take pictures (with actual film) since they are encouraging costumes and signs in a city where social conformity is worshiped nearly as enthusiastically as god.

Also, I thought they could use a little more advertising since I had some serious trouble finding out more about it after hearing bits and pieces of an interview with one of the organizers, Wesley Summers, on a local public radio station.  On the other hand, since this site doesn’t cover many LGBT issues, I doubt I have many followers from the local gay community.  Maybe they will spot it on the search engines.  The interview referred listeners to an Equality Crew Facebook page, which I couldn’t find.   I only include the name here in case others do a search for it as I did.

[Update]  I went, I saw, I photographed.  They had a pretty good turn out.  I may post a few pictures when I get them printed, but that could be a while since they are kind of far down on the list of pictures I need to print.  I do traditional darkroom photography, so it’s not like I can just upload jpegs right from the camera.

Posted in Alabama, LGBT | Comments Off

Anti-sex rescue industry infects Alabama

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

This week, the FBI and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute  conducted a conference in Birmingham on human trafficking.  From myfoxal.com:

“We realized there were a lot of myths around human trafficking, the biggest being that it really doesn’t affect people in Birmingham and Alabama,” said Patricia Cooper, a staff member at the BCRI.

Yeah, my guess is that’s because it’s only recently been renamed “human trafficking” because it makes for better press.  Notice how the story uses the typical strategy of conflating labor trafficking and sex work:

“Agricultural regions are another area where labor trafficking is starting to raise its head,” said FBI Special Agent Dana Gillis. “And you see a lot of trafficking in the sex industry in areas both rural and in the city.”

Whether it’s migrant workers in the country illegally or children forced to work as prostitutes, the FBI and Civil Rights Institute are trying to shine a light on the problem in the hope that more attention can get more action from the community.

While most legal definitions of trafficking require coercion, the definition of coercion can be very broad.  Coercion can mean one is forced to do something by economic circumstances, which simply means they need the money to live (as is the case for almost everyone who has a job).

Another favorite key word is exploitation.  Exploitation is often defined as someone else making a profit off of your labor (as is the case for almost everyone who is employed by someone else).

Ultimately, these broad definitions are used to inflate statistics and paint a picture that suggests all migrant labor is forced, that it is almost all sex work, and almost all the victims are children.  This image is usually what is promoted by anti-prostitution crusaders to garner support from the public and permit politicians to capitalize on the resulting emotions much the way baby seals were used to inflame attitudes against the fur industry.

In the best Orwellian tradition, the article goes on to encourage people to report neighbors who seem to be suspicious.

If you see signs that someone in your area could be running a human trafficking ring, the FBI wants to hear from you at (205)326-6166.

A new state law was signed 2 weeks ago that makes human trafficking a felony in Alabama.

Posted in Alabama, Prostitution, Trafficking | Comments Off

World’s oldest known sex toy

Friday, May 14th, 2010

A 28,000 year old dildo found near Ulm, Germany is being studied at the University of Tubingen.

28,000 year old sex toy

28,000 year old sex toy

Oddly enough, the eight inch phallus was apparently also used to light fires, which makes me speculate that they might have had a law against devices “designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs” as is the case in Alabama and seven other states.  Because it serves to light fires, it has a legitimate purpose other than merely pleasure which is often associated with immorality and  sin in many southern states.

But, despite the best efforts of many religious crusaders, sex toys still abound, except today they use batteries.

Posted in Alabama, Germany, Sex Toys and Paraphernalia, United States | Comments Off

Prostitution and the course of history

Monday, May 10th, 2010

I went to Scottsboro Alabama on Saturday and visited the Scottsboro Boys Museum which is a fledgling project to bring attention and knowledge of some Civil Rights Era history to folks living in and passing through The South.

The Scottsboro Boys were a group of nine boys aged 12-19 convicted of raping two white girls on a freight train in northern Alabama in 1931.  Eight of the defendants were sentenced to death.

It is interesting that the entire case was built on the testimony of two girls who were most likely attempting to avoid prostitution charges after they were unsuccessful in evading the police who were rounding up the black youths on a complaint from a group of white boys.

Ultimately the boys’ convictions were overturned, but the fact remains that nary a mention of the part played by prostitution laws is ever highlighted as a contributing factor to one of the most well known cases of racial injustice in the South.

One of the better on-line accounts of the case can be found on Douglas Linder’s Famous Trials website.

Posted in Alabama, Prostitution, Rape, Rights of the Accused | Comments Off

Is govmt coming between you and your doctor?

Monday, April 5th, 2010

The answer is yes if you live in Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas or Virginia.

According to blackbookmag.com:

Manhattan’s East Side gynecologist, Dr. Scheinfeld, is the first American doctor to sell sex toys in his office.

Even aside from whether patients appreciate it, selling sex toys is illegal in the eight states listed.

I know what you were thinking when you saw the title of this post, though.  You probably thought I was going to talk about the federal ban on medical marijuana.  And, you’re absolutely right, of course.

Posted in Alabama, Big Brother is Watching You, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Sex Toys and Paraphernalia, Texas, United States, Virginia | Comments Off

Women having wilder sex, watching more porn

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

According to a survey of 4200 women, they are having sex less often, but getting crazier when they do have it.

But, even more interesting is this:

For instance, around 76 per cent of women now admit to using porn – a ten per cent rise on the two-thirds of girls who admitted to watching porn with their partners in a survey last year.

I’ll bet the anti-porn crusaders would be disappointed to hear that.  And given their contention that increased use of porn results in relationship problems, they might be even more disappointed to hear that just the opposite is happening:

Last year’s survey, by website Netmums, showed more than half weren’t happy in the bedroom, but this year more than 60 per cent claimed to enjoy fulfilling sex.

And finally:

More than half of the women surveyed used sex toys in the bedroom to add a buzz of excitement.

I wonder how many of those surveyed live in states stuck in the Dark Ages where sex toys are illegal (Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia).

Posted in Alabama, Consensual Sex, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Virginia | 2 Comments »

Sex at 14 makes you a victim, but murder makes you an adult.

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Last week a 14 year old boy at a Madison, Alabama middle school shot and killed a classmate.  Of course, they’re withholding the name of the shooter because of his age.  And while they are carefully protecting his juvenile rights, they are busy deciding whether he should have any juvenile rights.

A judge will determine at a hearing Monday whether a Discovery Middle School student accused in the shooting death of a classmate will be charged as an adult, officials said Saturday.

So, how is it that a fourteen year old boy can be considered capable of adult responsibility for murder, but bears no responsibility if he has sex with someone a few years older than him?

Posted in Alabama, Consensual Sex, statutory rape | Comments Off

Saturday Links

Saturday, January 9th, 2010
  • Don’t forget, tomorrow (Jan. 10th) is No Pants Subway Day.  According to Carnal Nation, “Last year’s trouser-eschewing event took place on New York’s MTA, with 1,200 casually pantsless, plus 22 other cities, including Warsaw, Adelaide and Amsterdam.”
  • Canada joins Britain in it’s concern that airport body scans on children constitute child porn.
  • A new nonprofit Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health in Pawtucket, RI, is under attack by a leading anti-prostitution and anti-sex trafficking advocate.  Oddly, a more traditional adult business would probably face fewer obstacles.

Posted in Alabama, Art, Canada, Censorship, Child Pornography, Consensual Sex, District of Columbia, Finland, Germany, Nevada, New York, Prostitution, Rhode Island | Comments Off

The Hall of Shame Welcomes Tom Butler

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

In 1998, Tom Butler accidentally sponsored Alabama’s infamous sex toy ban while trying to close down strip clubs.  According to Nerve, “In what proved to be a crucial oversight, none of the legislators (including the bill’s sponsor, Tom Butler) read the bill before voting unanimously to pass it.”    While there has been some interest in repealing the ban, those efforts have been actively opposed by Christian groups interested in criminalizing sexual nonconformity.

Tom Butler, is a Democratic Alabama state senator from Huntsville, which might help to dispel the common assertion that right wing republicans are the only politicians who reserve the right to dictate what happens in your bedroom.  The law has been challenged repeatedly and has been upheld at both the state and federal level since commercial activity has been largely excluded from any Constitutional promise of freedom, thereby permitting state control of any human activity touched by a commercial enterprise (which includes almost all human activity, of course).

Some time ago, I created my own little tribute to the sex toy ban.

Posted in Alabama, Consensual Sex, Persecution, Relgious Zealotry | Comments Off

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