Pride & Opinions

Queercents has an interesting article today on the gendering of money - the ways in which money is spent and valued differently based on whether you’re feminine or masculine. In general, I’m suspicious of claims that all men spend money in one way and all women spend it in another, and I liked the article’s take on the subject:

I’ve also often heard the generalization that, in investing, “men are more confident, while women are more realistic.” And then, of course, there are the stereotypes that young men are walking, talking, video-game-playing Judd Apatow movies who live in their momma’s basements and refuse to grow up until they turn 45, and young women are vapid consumerist zombies with too many shoes. I tend to hugely resent generalizations and stereotypes based on gender difference, especially those offered without a lot of critical awareness. I know young (and older) people of a wide variety of genders who are on top of their money—and who are not.

A critical conversation about gender difference can be interesting and productive, though. Gender difference doesn’t just happen–from little girls’ toys to grown women’s office dress code, gender is created and re-created all the time. Money is–as usual–a interesting lens to see into this part of our lives.

But though it’s certainly implied through a discussion of Suze Orman, the article doesn’t explicitly discuss the relationship between the gendered money of men and women to the gendered money of GLBT men and women - so I’d like to expand the conversation. How do you think the gendering of money affects GLBT individuals? Setting aside the stereotypes about rich gay men for a moment, are there real ways that money is gendered to affect the GLBT community? I think there are definitely some situations brought on by a lack of fair access to traditional structures, like mortgage incentives and tax breaks, that force GLBT people to spend differently in order to have the same things, but do you think it affects the reasons people spend? I’m not sure, but I think a discussion could be interesting.

GLBT, Finance, Gendered Money, Queercents

GLBT, Finance, Gendered Money, Queercents

AfterElton has a well-done, if depressing, look at gay-baiting in election coverage. I feel like it should surprise me that mainstream news folks feel it’s totally appropriate to make sexist, racist and homophobic comments about nominees, but it doesn’t, and that seems even sadder.

GLBT, Elections, Campaign 2008, Politics

GLBT, Elections, Campaign 2008, Politics

It is currently absolutely freezing in Minnesota, so I thought an all-Minnesota GLBT roundup was in order. I’m going to a debate tournament in Illinois this weekend, so I can only hope that the freezing wind chill doesn’t bring in a blizzard to boot.

* 365 Gay: “Transsexual Seeks GOP Nomination For Minnesota Legislature,” - “The re-election in 2006 of Sen. Paul Koering, the state’s first openly gay member of the legislature and fellow Republican has served as an inspiration she said.” I love Minnesota.
* Lavender: “Making Choices,” - I need to read Minnesota’s GLBT Magazine more often.
* Eleventh Avenue South: “GLBT Friendly Workplaces in Minnesota,” - Minnesota has more GLBT friendly businesses than any Midwestern State than Illinois.
* Phlamer: “Midwestern College Named Most Gay Friendly School In America,” - Not new, but I’m an alum, so yay Macalester!

Have a good weekend, and stay warm!

I know it’s been all politics all the time around here, so I have a question for everyone.

Does anyone not like Project Rungay?

I mean, don’t get me wrong. Project Runway is not my favorite television show. I like it, but like many cable shows, it can never be appointment television, since they show it like 203948203948 times during any given week and I can always catch up later if I miss it, which isn’t the case for prime time network TV. I get excited for new seasons, and I care about the contestants, but I don’t scour the web for cast spoilers.

That being said, I like Project Rungay’s coverage almost as much as the TV show. Take this entry, about Chris March’s latest dress. It’s funny, and snarky, and I only wish these folks were there to watch the show with me.

If you watch Project Runway, and you’re not reading the Rungay version, you should be.

[tags] GLBT, Pop Culture, Project Runway, Project Rungay [/tag]

As Mombian notes, the new year is not only a time that many use to reflect on financial goals and upcoming situations, but also one when many states have laws that go into effect. New Hampshire, as I’m sure many are aware, passed a civil union law, the first one to do so without any legal challenge. As she says, “That’s progress, much as many of us still hope for full marriage. All of New England now has some form of relationship recognition for same-sex couples, except for Rhode Island.”

In addition to having civil unions, though, Mombian points out a good article from The Washington Post about same sex divorce, which points out the pitfalls of different and overlapping legal jurisdictions when it comes to legal status for GLBT relationships. One example of how divorce settlements differently affect GLBT couples is the case of alimony and tax payments:

For same-sex couples, divorce can be financially ruinous. Heterosexual couples claim a tax deduction for alimony payments, but that benefit is not available to gay and lesbian spouses because the Internal Revenue Service does not recognize their marriages.

Divorce lawyers say that, while gay people making alimony payments are hurt the most by the IRS policy, their ex-spouses are also affected, because a tax deduction often provides an incentive for larger payments.

“In a straight context, alimony is an income stream from one person to another and tax-deductible to the person who is paying it,” said David W. Eppley, a divorce lawyer with lesbian clients. “But in a gay divorce, there aren’t two parties, there are three, and that third party is Uncle Sam.”

Even though it seems weird to go into a relationship thinking about its dissolution, this article makes clear that the assumptions held by heterosexual couples about the right that is divorce often simply don’t apply to gay couples. As one person quoted in the story says, “Current tax law allows only $12,000 to be transferred from one gay spouse to another without being subject to a gift tax. “Federal law looks at gay divorcees as strangers,” Eppley said. “Bob can’t transfer property to Steve without it counting as a taxable transfer, whether in capital gains or a gift and potentially both.”"

That, to me is sad. The article is good, though, and worth a read, especially if the change in New Hampshire’s laws have you considering a run to the border.

Link to The Washington Post via Mombian.

GLBT, gay marriage, gay divorce, New Hampshire

GLBT, gay marriage, gay divorce, New Hampshire

The New Year provides a built in mechanism for people to reconsider their financial position, taking into account both past mistakes and perceived future challenges or changes. If you’re gay and live in New Hampshire, now might be an especially good time to take stock of your finances as you make big changes.

Nina at Queercents has written an excellent round-up of resources for going about creating that list of financial goals. These types of resources are especially important, I think, because although a lot of folks know that they want to have goals, they don’t know how to implement them. Starting by what counts as a financial goal is a good idea, and Nina quotes a good definition:

Erin Huffstetler, the Frugal Living guide at About.com explains what a financial goal should look like. A financial goal states:

what you plan to accomplish
what resources you’ll need to make it happen
how much time you’ll need to make it happen
how you plan to make your goal fit into your overall budget and life

Her link to the Frugal Living Guide provides access to much more information, and a Financial Goals Worksheet that you can use to list and organize your goals.

Read the whole article; it has much more information and many more links. Good luck with your financial goals for 2008!

finance, GLBT finance, New Year’s resolutions, financial goals

finance, GLBT finance, New Year’s resolutions, financial goals

I’ll be back tomorrrow with more financial information, but in the mean time, here’s our holiday picture of me and the cats, which was obtained after 70 pictures, most of them trying to get the cats to sit together without a person in the photo and failing miserably. No one told me when I got a second cat that it would be so impossible to get everyone to sit together politely.

Happy Holidays!
Row 1: Katie
Row 2 (L-R): Hippopotameow, Rhinocepuss
Not Pictured: Mike

After a long hiatus, I’ve been asked to start writing on this blog, so I thought I might take a minute to give a little background about myself and what I hope to accomplish by writing here.

My name is Kate. I keep a personal blog here, and have been participating in online writing and reading since sometime in 2004. I’m married to a man, and am 16 weeks pregnant with our first, to be born sometime in May. I went to an incredibly progressive liberal arts college for my undergraduate education, a place without a homecoming dance, where the only big social occasion of the year was the Queer Union dance, put on by our GLBT organization. I am incredibly interested in progressive politics, especially the way that different identity issues are used in relation to both other issues and each other to cause rifts within identity movements.

I am excited about the prospect of blogging about GLBT issues because, while I do not identify as GLBT, I have both a sister and a mother-in-law who do, and think that such a perspective makes a good addition to the already present stable of GLBT blogs. A lot of politically progressive people find themselves in the position of trying to figure out how best to align themselves with GLBT issues, but without a lot of knowledge of how best to do that. A lot of situations impact the GLBT movement besides those that receive mainstream media coverage, which tends to consist of a race to see which politicians can be more against gay marriage and the Republican scandal du jour. Considering how many political issues intersect with the GLBT community that people don’t know about, a blog that deals with both this news and how to approach it from a progressive perspective seems timely and interesting. After all, as the saying goes, one can be “straight but not narrow.”

Some types of content that I’m planning on featuring, probably in a regular rotation:
- Politics coverage, especially relating to election rhetoric and the way that GLBT news is portrayed in relation to other “mainstream” causes
- Gender issues, especially how issues considered terribly important to feminist causes, relate to GLBT issues
- Other online sources of information on GLBT issues
- Celebrity news, especially my undying love for Rosie O’Donnell and my increasing frustration with Ellen Degeneres and her inability to respect the writer’s strike
- Media coverage, such as advertisements and magazine articles, and their coverage of GLBT issues

Are there other things you think I should include? I am always looking for feedback, want this blog to be as inclusive and interactive as possible, and would love your suggestions or comments. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.

Welcome to the new Pride and Opinions!

GLBT, GLBT Issues, New GLBT Blog

GLBT, GLBT Issues, New GLBT Blog

As we have taken on the role of this blog together, we thought we’d introduce ourselves to all of you together. We are the new writers for Pride & Opinions, Dominick & Ashtyn. We both currently write for 451 Press on our own separate blogs (Ashtyn has Watching Food TV, Dominick has All Sport Report), but wanted to take on another blog together. We both have been involved in the GLBT communities for years and feel our knowledge of the subject material, personal experiences, and skill for writing would make us the perfect choice to take over Pride & Opinions.

Dominick came out at the age of 16. Though he seldom discusses his private life, he is an FTM transgendered individual who identifies as male. He began transitioning at the age of 21 after five years of misunderstanding of who he was and how he identified in terms of gender and sexuality. The journey has been long for Dominick, filled with pain and loss, but well worth it, in his quest to become the person he sees himself as. Luckily, he has a strong support system behind him, including his life partner, Ashtyn, and their 12 year old son.

Ashtyn, who is bisexual, is in college studying Psychology. Her long term goal is to become a sex therapist, working with those in the GLBT communities. She started dating Dominick around the time he first started transitioning from female to male, so she’s been on the entire journey with him, as his loving and supporting partner in life, love and business.

(more…)

‘lo, kids. Just wanted to let you know that if you’re looking for me, I - and all of the P&O content - have moved over to DarksideRainbow.net. Daily updates will continue there in the same vein; the only difference is a change in name and in color scheme. After a little talking with the editors and a bit of persuasion (translated: begging) they decided to let me have a domain name a bit more in keeping with my cynically pessimistic, doom-and-gloom, my-god-Adri-take-a-Prozac personality…no, we’re not talking about an affinity for Pink Floyd. If you’ve been around here for even a few posts you know I’m not your Momma’s happy pink fairy; I don’t do cheerful and shiny, and I may have attitude and class but I’m not exactly about being sparkly and fab. I live on the darker side of the gay rainbow, babes, where there’s cigarette-smoke stains on the ceiling and watered-down whiskey on the bar.

So come on over to my side, eh?