Queering The Blogosphere

Tomorrow I'll be participating in a panel discussion at the NYC LGBT Community Center titled "Queering The Blogosphere: Reflections On LGBT Blogging."

Gay blogging has recently experienced a meteoric rise in popularity and now serves as a major new resource for information and entertainment for the LGBTQ community. In fact, a recent study has shown that LGBT adults are now spending more time on the internet and visiting web blogs than their straight counterparts. How important then is gay blogging as an alternate means of communication, and what specifically has been its impact, both positive and negative, on the LGBTQ community? Is its potential to give voice to underrepresented members of our community being fulfilled, or is gay blogging proving itself to be just another medium through which mainstream LGBTQ ideas & images are disseminated. Our panelists will address these questions, as well as share their experiences as bloggers and the contributions they feel they are making to further the interests of the LGBTQ community through this new medium.

Panel members include: Oriol Gutierrez, Jr., Deputy Editor of POZ Magazine and former President of the NY chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association; Bradford Shellhammer, a pioneering gay blogger and founding editor of Queerty.com; Joe My God, 2007 weblog award winner for best lgbt blog; and Erin Mulrooney, Research and Planning Associate at NYC’s LGBT Center.

Wednesday, May, 13, Reception 6PM, Program 7PM, $10.

Queering The 2010 Census

Via Change.org:

Since 1990, gay and lesbian couples have been provided an unintentional outlet to categorize their relationship, by self-identifying as married or unmarried partners. Even though the results aren’t officially reported, the raw numbers reveal that 145,000 same-sex couples identified as married or “unmarried partners” in 1990 (before any legal recognition in the U.S. even existed) and close to 600,000 same-sex couples self-reported in 2000. The Obama administration has reversed a Bush-era policy, so in the 2010 Census, a report will be released that outlines official information about same-sex couples. Here are some quick instructions on how to make sure your family is reported correctly.

What Box Do You Check?
If you are in a relationship and you live together, you have two choices. First, one of you will be designated as “Person 1.” If there is no clear favorite for who should be the head of household, perhaps you could flip a coin, wrestle for it or hold a lip-synching competition. Whoever doesn’t win will be designated as “Person 2.” This person is asked how they are related to Person 1. There are 16 choices, but the two that concern you are “husband or wife” and “unmarried partner.”

This is the important part: You do not answer based on the actual legal status of your relationship, you answer based on how you personally categorize your relationship. If you are legally married, you will probably mark down “husband or wife,” though if you are in a civil union or domestic partnership, yet you still feel married, than you should also mark “husband or wife.” If there is no legal recognition of your relationship where you live, but you still consider yourself married, it’s also important that you mark “husband or wife.”

For more information on how to fill out the 2010 Census and how to order a free Queer The Census sticker for your packet, please click here.