Noah, Lotsa Water, an Angry God, Gay Guys, and Ignorant Pastors

Gotta admit, the whole rainbow thing is pretty gay.

You learn something new everyday.  Turns out not only did gay people cause the utter collapse of Ancient Greece and Rome, but they also brought about the biblical "Great Flood" of Noah's day.

As if the earth needed any more insanity and fact-twisting from our good friends on the Religious Right, a conservative pastor in Alabama USA (arguably the most conservative state in the union), is claiming that same-sex marriage was the true cause of the Great Flood described in Genesis.

On the radio station American Family Radio, the broadcasting arm of the American Family Association (WTF?), Aaron Fruh, pastor of Knollwood Assembly of God Church in Mobile, AL, went on a rant against marriage equality, saying:

"Find any society in human history that ever tried that experiment [i.e. same-sex marriage] and lived to tell about it; they've all been destroyed."

Straight Folks, the Shame is Ours

As I write this it is a new year, and 2012 promises to be another good one for the gay and lesbian community, particularly in the West.

2011 was a banner year on which to build.  From the removal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the U.S. military, to the Australian Labour Party changing its platform to support marriage equality.  From same-sex marriage becoming legal in New York state, to Denmark announcing that it will be upgrading its partnership law to full marriage equality.  From civil unions being instated in the biggest Catholic-majority country on the planet (Brazil), to the U.K.'s Prime Minister announcing that British foreign aid will be greatly reduced to those countries which fail to protect and guarantee the rights of LGBTs.  And from the swearing-in of the world's first openly gay male head of state (the new Prime Minister of Belgium), to the Psychological Association of the Philippines (finally!) announcing its support for the Anti-Discrimination Bill.

Now we await the good news to come in 2012:

• Washington state's governor has endorsed marriage equality and pledged to make her state the next to have same-sex marriage;

• The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California will issue a ruling in the Prop 8 case by May, which legal analysts are 99.99% sure will make marriage equality legal once again in America's most populous state (a broadened case may even end up in the U.S. Supreme Court by 2013);

• Both Germany and Finland have marriage equality upgrade bills in the legislative docket (both already have partnership laws in place);

• and France's president Sarkozy is expected to endorse marriage equality before the April 22nd national elections (the opposition socialists, who have included same-sex marriage in their platform, have made the issue a cornerstone of the campaign, promising to bring marriage equality to France if they win a majority.  Their candidate, Francois Hollande, is currently polling at least 10 points ahead of Sarkozy, by the way).

The Cultural & Historical Importance of the Third Gender

Kathoeys:  Thailand's third gender

The concept of the third gender is one that I find fascinating, both in the field of anthropology, and as a biologist.  History is filled with depictions and mentions of the third gender, and practically every culture around the globe has -- or at one time had -- a gender that was seen as being neither fully male nor fully female.  The Philippines is no exception in this regard.

The blurring of the terms 'third gender' and 'third sex' can be confusing, however, as well as inaccurate.  The two are not the same and should not be used synonymously.  This is something we will take a look at here.  There is also a table at the bottom of the article reviewing several of the many cultures that openly recognize a third gender.

(Non-)Conversations with Fundamentalists

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Gay Marriage Destroyed Ancient Rome! (Serio??)

» For a more detailed look at this topic, please see my more recent post:  We've Been Warned (Again): Gayness Destroyed Rome!  

The following post is in reply to an anonymous comment received on 1 July.  The comment can be viewed here.

"The gays did this!  It's all because of the gays!"

One of my pet peeves is historical inaccuracy, and I'm sorry but your comment on the Roman Empire simply isn't true.  The decline of Rome encompassed a period of about 300 years, during which time many factors contributed to its gradual dissolve.  Same-sex marriage, however, was not one of them.

At the time of the Empire's end in 476AD, same-sex marriage was actually illegal.  It had been banned since the year 342, and the penalty for entering into such a marriage was death.  By the year 390 the emperor Theodosius decreed that same-sex acts of any kind were illegal.  The punishment:  burning at the stake.

In its early days, Roman society had been more tolerant of same-sex relationships, and same-sex marriages were performed among the upper class and aristocracy.*  As the Christian Church gained more acceptance and favor in the 4th-century, however, the views of certain very strict bishops became influential -- especially after emperor Theodosius declared Christianity to be the state religion, in 380.