By John Mack Freeman Magic: The Gathering, the long-running trading card game, added its first trans character with an expansion pack that released at the end of January. Part of her character story reads as follows (the full story can be found here): She had been so different—only sixteen, a boy in everyone’s eyes but her […]
Year: 2015
Poll: 50 percent of young people believe in gender spectrum
By John Mack Freeman Fusion magazine’s “Massive Millennial Poll” surveyed 1,000 18-34 year olds. Via Advocate.com: 50 percent of the 1,000 peoplebetween the ages of 18 and 34 who were interviewed by telephone agreed with the statement “Gender is a spectrum, and some people fall outside conventional categories.” Before answering, interviewees were informed, “Some countries, including India, recognize […]
Jeopardy! Question Pokes Fun At Same-Sex Marriage Opponents
A recent question on Jeopardy! may have snuck a bit of political discourse into the game show. The $800 clue for a category called “Civil” was, “Some opponents of same-sex marriage say, hey gay folks, how about these? Wouldn’t these be good enough?” The answer – or question, rather – was “civil unions.” According […]
Facebook Censoring Gay Images?
By Ashley R. Lierman Michael Stokes, a photographer whose work focuses on male homoeroticism, is one of a growing number of Facebook users to report censorship of gay-themed images on the site. According to Stokes, Facebook has been opaque about the process of removing images and it is difficult to establish a pattern or reason […]
Slovak referendum against gay marriage, adoption fails to pass
By John Mack Freeman Slovakia has failed to pass a referendum that would have blocked LGB marriage and adoption in that country. While over 95% of those voting supported the referendum, Slovak law requires that 50 percent of eligible voters turnout for a referendum to pass a legitimacy threshold. Since fewer than 25 percent actually […]
New Transgender Sitcom Forthcoming From BBC
A new comedy series with a trans actress as one of its romantic leads, named Boy Meets Girl, will air on BBC2 later this year. The new series is particularly notable in contrast with Amazon’s trans-focused series Transparent, which has faced criticism for casting a cisgender actor in its leading trans role. The series “revolves […]
2015 Stonewall Book Awards announced
By Peter Coyl The 2015 Stonewall Book Awards were announced yesterday and today by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Round Table (GLBTRT) of the American Library Association (ALA), during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Chicago. The Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award, part of the ALA Youth Media Awards, […]
Attention Membership: Proposed Bylaws Changes
By John Mack Freeman The Executive Board of the GLBTRT has proposed several changes to the bylaws of the organization. Comments are welcomed on the GLBTRT listserv or via direct comment to the Board. The documents are also available in the ALA Connect space for GLBTRT. The proposed changes can be seen below: A special […]
Meet David Isaak!: An RT member profile
By Tess Goldwasser David is the Chair of the GLBTRT Web Committee. The RT’s web presence is spread over many platforms: Drupal (main website), WordPress (4 blogs), Twitter, Facebook, and LibraryThing. David coordinates all the content and technological updates to these various platforms. He has been a member of GLBTRT since joining ALA nine years […]
GLBTRT Events at ALA Midwinter 2015
By Peter Coyl Fellow RT Members: If you will be at ALA MW this coming week, please note the following RT events taking place. Of particular note is our panel discussion Sunday morning about blood donations. Our Executive Board meeting is open to all and we encourage members to come see how the Round Table […]