Senate Bill 16 (AKA the "Sunday Sales" Bill)

As I posted on Facebook:

Below is a note I sent to each member of the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities in regards to Senate Bill 16. Feel free to copy and paste and send along.

I suggest putting in a call or fax since Wednesday is around the corner. Let's blitz the Senators with emails, calls, and faxes within the 24 hours before they meet!


On Wednesday, February 25, you have a Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee meeting. When the discussion turns to Senate Bill 16, I hope you will show your support for the bill.

I hope each Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee member realizes that support of Senate Bill 16 is not pledging support to Sunday alcohol sales. In actuality, it is allowing the people of Georgia a chance to voice their opinions through the voting process.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
David Shafer (Chairman): david.shafer@senate.ga.gov, (404) 656-0048
Eric Johnson (Vice Chairman): eric.johnson@senate.ga.gov, (404) 656-5109
Ed Harbison (Secretary): ed.harbison@senate.ga.gov, (404) 656-0074
Gloria Butler: gloria.butler@senate.ga.gov, (404) 656-0075
Steve Hensen: steve.henson@senate.ga.gov, (404) 656-0085
Jack Hill: jack.hill@senate.ga.gov, (404) 656-5038
Dan Moody: dan.moody@senate.ga.gov, (404) 463-8055
Jack Murphy: jack.murphy@senate.ga.gov, (404) 656-7127
Mitch Seabaugh: mail@mitchseabaugh.com, (404) 656-6446
Doug Stoner: doug.stoner@senate.ga.gov, (404) 463-2518
Ross Tolleson: ross.tolleson@senate.ga.gov, (404) 656-0081
Renee Unterman: renee.unterman@senate.ga.gov, (404) 463-1368
Tommie Williams: tommie.williams@senate.ga.gov, (404) 656-0089

WHY DO I WRITE ~ Ellen Steinbaum

WHY DO I WRITE ~ Ellen Steinbaum



Why do I write? Dustin has posed such an interesting question, one I was surprised not to have an immediate answer for. The title poem of my book, Container Gardening, has these lines: "apply attention/plainest form of love." I realize that this is my answer, written into some of my poems:
I write to pay attention.


When I am writing, everything around me seems to call out, "write about me!" "think about me!" "look at me!" I experience the world in a different way then--more thoughtfully and also more vividly. Instead of mindlessly walking through my day, I'm more aware of the things that interest me, please me, anger me, terrify me. Would I notice them as intensely if I weren't writing? I don't know.


I do know that the writing--even just the intent to write--gives me this gift, an extra dimension for taking it all in. It feels as if there is a kind of sacredness in this, an honoring of the time I have been given. Another one of my poems ends, "what is holy in this life/is noticing." All we have, finally, is our time and how we choose to use it, what we think about, what we notice. Writing is how I notice.

Dustin Lance Black ~ MILK: Best Original Screenplay

Here is Dustin Lance Black's acceptance speech for winning the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for MILK:

Oh my God. This was, um, this was not an easy film to make. First off, I have to thank Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg and all the real-life people who shared their stories with me. And, um, Gus Van Sant, Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco and our entire cast, my producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, everyone at Groundswell and Focus for taking on the challenge of telling this life-saving story. When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California, and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life. It gave me the hope one day I could live my life openly as who I am and then maybe even I could even fall in love and one day get married.

I wanna? I wanna thank my mom, who has always loved me for who I am even when there was pressure not to. But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally, across this great nation of ours. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, God, for giving us Harvey Milk.

"The Invisible Intruder" by Katie Chaple

THE INVISIBLE INTRUDER

I always did want to be Nancy Drew—
think, to be that perfect girl with perfect titian hair,
the perfect powder-blue convertible,
to have two trust-worthy (yet not-quite-as-pretty) friends.
But then, to have the cute boyfriend, the daddy lawyer
and still to continually, with no true hesitation,
seek out the mysterious, the dangerous?
She did have everything, didn’t she? Smart, pretty.
She belonged in the best college, the best sorority,
not skulking in a moss-covered mansion or an old attic.
I think there is something dark in Drew.
I mean, a girl who, if tied, knows how to clasp her hands together
so she can free them, is a girl who has more
than a nodding acquaintance with bondage,
who knows more than she lets on.
But maybe Nancy needed a reckless man,
one with a motorcycle—not that androgynous, blonde Ned,
all chaste pecks and letterman’s jacket.
Maybe, though, Nancy really wanted to fill up the abandoned
and decaying, where she would wind up, alone,
again and again—in the caves, the towers,
or maybe, really it was all about her dead mother,
and she was trying to pull the emptiness in—
the swirl of air, dankness—by learning it,
by throwing herself into what, in actuality, terrified her.
But whatever it is, tell me
that a girl who’s always using her beautiful, slender fingers
to creak open doors, carry heavy flashlights
all to illuminate cob-webbed corners, abandoned passageways,
tell me she is happy with her life.

~ Katie Chaple

Originally published in The Antioch Review, Vol. 62, Issue 2.
Also published in the Java Monkey Speaks anthology.

A Letter to Margaret Atwood

Dear Margaret Atwood,

My love for you runs deep.

Alias Grace. The Handmaid's Tale. Morning in the Burned House.

I didn't think I could love you anymore; however, today, I found out I was wrong. You decided not to attend to the Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature in Dubai because of the banning of The Gulf Between Us, which was banned because of a storyline involving a gay character. Not only did you decide not to attend, but you shared your reasons via your website. Ms. Atwood, I love it.

On a personal note, not that you have time for me to make it personal---but if this is your assistant reading keep reading there is time. I must say, very simply, censorship sucks! I, myself, have been the victim of censorship. Last year I was recorded reading my poem "Missing Names." While the word whore was broadcast freely, the recording station bleeped out cocksucker. Ms. Atwood (or Ms. Atwood's assistant), it hurt me as well as the poetic sting that is delivered with the line containing cocksucker. I feel I must add that the use of cocksucker is not even vulgar. Cocksucker is part of the name of a shot referenced in the poem, a Cowboy Cocksucker to be exact.

I digress.

Margaret Atwood, I love you. Thank you for saying in your utmost professional and brilliant way that censorship sucks and by proxy sending a message of acceptance/tolerance/etc. toward the LGBT community.

Your fan,
Dustin Brookshire

P.S.
The Festival still has your picture on their website. If you have to open a can of Atwood-Whoop-Ass, please let me know as I'd like to bear witness.



Updates:
Atwood now hoping to attend Dubai festival 'virtually' as part of censorship panel

Dubai Festival Update: The Gulf Between Us, from English PEN

"This Poem Wants To Be Censored"

Tonight, I used my iPhone to record "I Should Write Soap Operas" for qarrtsiluni. Now, I'm sort of addicted to recording stuff and transferring it to my computer. I recorded another poem just for my blog because it makes me feel more professional over giving into an addiction. So yeah! For a limited time, here is "This Poem Wants To Be Censored."

"Sex experts speak out at Capitol"

Rep Hill to the left. Rep Byrd to the right.

A couple of weeks ago I pointed my finder at State Representative Calvin Hill because he was pointing his finger at some distinguished professors at Georgia State University.

Here is a 2/10/09 update from the AJC

Legislators back off, praise GSU experts on sex issues

Instructors testify that they have done research on HIV, teen sex attitudes
By AARON GOULD SHEININ

An expected showdown over sex experts at Georgia State University failed to materialize Tuesday after the school’s professors wowed the House Higher Education Committee and a leading legislative critic backed off.

The minor controversy had flared last week after Rep. Calvin Hill (R-Canton) e-mailed supporters lambasting the University System of Georgia for offering classes in oral sex, male prostitution and “queer theory,” which is a field of of gender studies. He later learned the document he saw was not a course listing, but rather a copy of GSU’s experts guide, which provides journalists and policy researchers access to faculty with different expertise.

But Hill also learned several other universities in the state offer classes with the word “queer” in the title. He was joined by Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Woodstock) who took the House floor to criticize universities for paying for experts in oral sex and male prostitution.

Two of those experts spoke to the House committee Tuesday. Kirk Elifson is listed as an expert in male prostitution. He said he became an expert while serving as a captain in the Army in Vietnam and later became a professor. The Centers for Disease Control, he said, sought out his expertise to help with the growing AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.

“We’ve done some cutting-edge research in HIV,” he said. “I’m proud of the work I’ve done.”

....Click here for the rest of the article......



ALSO...

Here is an AJC article from 2/11/09:

Sex experts speak out at Capitol

Legislator blames media for distorting his criticism
By Aaron Gould Sheinin

An expected showdown over sex experts at Georgia State University failed to materialize Tuesday after the school’s professors wowed the House Higher Education Committee and a leading legislative critic backed off.

The minor controversy had flared last week after Rep. Calvin Hill (R-Canton) e-mailed supporters lambasting the University System of Georgia for offering classes in oral sex, male prostitution and “queer theory,” which is a field of gender studies. He later learned the document he saw was not a course listing, but rather a copy of GSU’s experts guide, which provides journalists and policy researchers access to faculty with different expertise.

But Hill also learned several other universities in the state offer classes with the word “queer” in the title. He was joined by Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Woodstock), who took the House floor to criticize universities for paying for experts in oral sex and male prostitution.

.....Click here for the rest of the article.....

"Kept Image" by Andrew Demcak

from ZERO SUMMER


Kept Image

a childhood returned
this morning
mother dragging us
needy and feral-
haired

it's my older cousin on top
draining inside of me
yesterday's
first man
desire like pumping water

nights he sailed into me

enlisted
I was 10
pain along the shoals

but how
could I fend off
familiar skin

with what:
my almost fists
my obedient holes?

"Fourteen" by C. Dale Young

I'm in love with C. Dale Young's "Fourteen."

You can find it in OCHO #22: Dear America, Don't Be My Valentine!


FOURTEEN

Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It has been
six days since my last confession. I let a guy
cheat off of my science test because it made me
feel smarter. And I ignored my Mother telling me

to be home by 9:00 pm. I don’t really even know
why she asks such things. And I continue to have
impure thoughts, sometimes every hour. I let a
girl kiss me, a boy, too, but we all had our clothes on.

And this may not be a sin, but I knocked Mike down
on the basketball court just as he was making a jump,
just to be able to help him up, help him back
to the locker room. His knee got twisted. It swelled

until it looked like a softball. It was so swollen.
He let me hold ice to it until his folks came.
I liked holding the ice to it. But I found myself
having impure thoughts, Father, strange thoughts.

I sat there holding the ice and staring at his knee
and up the legs of his shorts. I could see
the white edge of his jockey shorts and more.
I had to look, Father. I had to look.

Forgive me, I couldn’t help it, the staring.
It was like the time last week, after the game,
when I couldn’t help but watch the soap suds
under your chin just before you washed off.

I sat on a bench in my towel and watched you, the
shape of your back, your arms, your chest. I know
this is wrong, Father, watching you in the shower.
But I only watched the soap. I only watched the water.

PROJECT VERSE: there's only room for good poetry

Project Verse update time:

(1) There are a couple of additions to the prize package for the contest winner.

(2) The deadline has been extended!

(3) Poets who have published no more than one full length collection of poetry are eligible for the contest. I received a handful of emails from people who've published one book and wanted to enter but couldn't because of the original rules. Yes, I'm a softy at heart.

Click here to review the updated contest guidelines and prize package.

WHY DO I WRITE ~ Paul Lisicky

WHY DO I WRITE ~ Paul Lisicky




I was walking down the street one night last fall when I had a thought about an actress who lives on the block behind us. Not so much a thought exactly, but a sense of her physicality, an arm or her face: a face from one of her roles. It occurred to me I hadn’t seen her in a while; had she left the neighborhood? And just as I’d had that thought, I was looking into her face, her actual face, not three feet away, moving toward me. I didn’t say, hey, I'd just had a thought of you. I didn't want to break the code of privacy that makes New York possible for us. But my brain might have been jolted alive with current. The fact that she was famous matters little to me, though I admire her work. I’d have felt wrenched awake if the same thing had happened with the mailman. Whatever you want to call it—intuition, premonition, awareness—is also beside the point. I went into the supermarket, both humbled and awake to myself, as if I’d been sent a reminder that said, we don’t know the half of it when it comes to understanding what consciousness is.


Which felt more like a promise, finally, than a warning.


I walked back to the apartment. I opened the mailbox in the vestibule. Inside the single envelope in the mailbox was a letter from my gym telling me I owed an additional penalty for a charge I’d taken care of months back, even after I’d been assured that I’d never have to worry about it ever again.


My face burned. You can guess which incident shadowed the other.


I write because my life would be taken over by second incidents if I didn’t have the means to make order of the randomness—the revelation on the sidewalk next to the annoying, the absurd. I’d be flotsam, done to, a feather flying around on a current of air. Nothing makes me feel more solid, or present, than when I’m sitting at my laptop, even when it’s slow, and the sentences strain against the contours of my speaking voice. At least I am making something. At least I am listening--or trying to. Looking at moments, the dimensions inside moments. Thinking. It’s as necessary to me as food or sex. It’s prayer. And I couldn’t imagine the day without that act of attention being a part of it.

Exhausted + Project Verse + Blushing

Sunday, I woke up to what sounded like projectile vomiting. When I opened the door to the bathroom, I discovered I knew the sound of projectile vomiting. (See Linda Blair in The Exorcist if you need a visual of projectile vomiting.)

Paul didn't get better as the day progressed. Around 7pm his fever spiked to 103, so I decided to take him to the ER.

Long story short: He was admitted. He wasn't put in a room until 6am. I didn't sleep for almost 30 hours. The doctors couldn't pinpoint what was wrong, so they pumped him full of so many antibiotics I am currently using his breath instead Purell Hand Sanitizer.

I am still exhausted. I wanted to go to a poetry reading at Outwrite; however, I don't think anyone would appreciate my falling asleep throughout the reading very poetic.

***************************************

I have a couple items to add to the Project Verse prize list, and I am still waiting for responses to a couple of emails.

I am almost 85% certain that I will extend the deadline for Project Verse and open the competition to people who have published no more than one full-length poetry collection. I received a number of emails from people who want to participate but can't because of the book publication rule. I guess I'm a softy at heart.

When Project Verse kicks off, I will dedicate Mondays and Wednesdays to only blogging about Project Verse during the ten-week competition. Tuesday will most likely be a day of rest, and I'll keep personal blogging to Thursday through Sunday.

Stay tuned for more details.

***************************************

Today, I received a lovely compliment from an editor who enjoyed my poems. I blushed after reading the email.

More with the Atl Pride Committee Open Letter

A week or so ago, I posted an open letter from the Atlanta Pride Committee. Two people left comments that I felt deserved responses. I asked Deirdre Heffernan, the Atlanta Pride Board Chair, to respond to the comments. Within a few days of receiving the comments, Deirdre sent her responses. Now, that is all kinds of fabulous! Without anymore of rambling, here are the comments with Deirdre's responses.

from Jess:
I wonder how 2 major events (AIDS Walk and Pride) both asking for money only weeks apart is going to work in the best interest of both, especially in our financial climate. They're quite important events, and deserve our money, but I can't help but think that people are going to pick one or the other to donate to.

Deirdre's Response:
Good question. Couple of thoughts on that.... First, typically businesses earmark the amount of sponsorship dollars in their annual budget. So it does not significantly matter when the event happens. For example, if a business decides they are interested in sponsoring Aids Walk and Pride during the upcoming fiscal year, the dollars are added to the budget, and events will get supported without much relevance on the timing of the two events. In other words, they do not make decisions on how much and who to give it to on a month to month bases. Secondly, I would say there is certainly overlap in our demographics, but the two events do have different audiences. There are many folks that support the Aids Walk that are not patrons of the Pride Festival, and vice versa. I am not saying that there won't be any single instance where an individual or a small business may not chose to support both events, where in the previous years they did, but I do not think this is something we can't overcome. And again, I would like to reiterate that our option came down to the Civic Center in June or Piedmont November 1st. We chose the best one for our future. And we will fight like hell to get back to Piedmont in June (if that is what our patrons want) for 2010.



from David:
I find it interesting that the Peachtree Road Race and the Dogwood Festival are able to operate at Piedmont Park on their normal dates, however Pride is forced to change. Hmmmm...2 events that cater predominately to straight people are allowed to proceed, but an event geared toward gay people is treated quite different. It would be interesting to know which event contributes more to the local economy - think, disposable income, out-of-town visitors. I'm wondering how many other people are seeing the inconsistency? There seems to be other factors going on that are not being brought to light - at least not yet. The "grass" excuse has worn thin. I live near the park and go there often, there is nothing wrong with the grass. I would love to ask the Powers-that-be "What's REALLY going on with this?" and actually get an honest answer. Too many things aren't making sense with this situation. What's the real reason they don't want Pride in the park during the normal time? Like I've stated previously, the "grass needing to grow" excuse has worn thin.

Deirdre's Response:
Great comment, because I think a lot of folks may feel the same way. Over the last six months, I have been in multiple meetings with various city representatives, and I can honestly tell you I do NOT believe there is any sort of conspiracy against the LGBTQ community by the city. I can't comment on other folks events since I do not have any inside information. (I would suggest you contact either their event manager directly or the Parks Department for details on the other festivals.) However I do feel comfortable stating there was certainly no malice intent that led us to our Oct 30 - Nov 1 weekend. The city WORKED with us to come up with a way to get us back to Piedmont after we came back and told them Central would not work.

To your point about what our event brings in... the city has estimated in the past that our event generates $30 million for the city. That is why Lisa Borders (President, City Council) stepped in to help. She clearly recognized our worth, knew the value to the city, and was instrumental in getting us back to Piedmont. I do not think we would have been back there without her support and I sincerely appreciate it.

Litter Critters

"237 More Reasons To Have Sex"

Click here to get your purchase on!

House votes to leave in March, return in June

House votes to leave in March, return in June

By Aaron Gould Sheinin | Friday, February 6, 2009, 09:50 AM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The state House just voted unanimously to split the 40-day legislative session into two parts, which lawmakers hope will give them flexibility to deal with whatever economic stimulus package comes from Washington.

The House voted 165-0 to meet three days a week through March 25 and then return in late June. The General Assembly is constitutionally required to meet for no more than 40 days a year, although those 40 days do not have to run consecutively.

House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons) said Senate leaders have also agreed to the change, although that body must approve the adjournment resolution before it takes effect.

This, Keen said, allows the Legislature to be “responsive to things that may or may not come down from Washington.”

Congress is debating a $800 billion to $900 billion economic stimulus package, which by some estimates could send $5.6 billion in additional federal dollars to Georgia for education, Medicaid, infrastructure and more.

State lawmakers, meanwhile, are consider an amended budget for the current fiscal year that must find $2 billion in savings, as well as a budget for the year that begins July 1 that seeks even deeper cuts.

Going to a three-day work week — the House and Senate would convene Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday — slows down the clock and allows budget writers and Congress more time to figure out what money is available.

“All of us see the news and read the newspaper,” Keen said. “We have worked very hard with the Senate to craft a schedule to let you know where we are but at the same time allow us enough flexibility to respond to what may or may not happen in Washington.”

Committees, especially budget-writing panels, would likely continue to meet on Mondays and Fridays, Keen said.

March 25 would represent the 35th day of the session, under the adopted resolution, and returning June 27 would give lawmakers five full days before the beginning of the next fiscal year July 1.

“If we leave and things change, this will allow us to come back in a five-day period,” he said. “It gives us a lot of flexibility and options in terms of what we do.”

OCHO #22 is OUT & I have a Poem in it

OCHO #22: Dear America Don't Be My Valentine , guest edited by Miguel Murphy, is out. I am thrilled to have my poem "Meeting Judy Bloom" in the issue. I am also very thrilled to be among such talented writers as Brent Goodman, C. Dale Young, Matthew Hittinger, Charles Jensen, RJ Gibson, Jeremy Halinen, and Blas Falconer.


OCHO #22: DEAR AMERICA DON'T BE MY VALENTINE

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Poetry Creative Writing poetry gay

Update on LW Limited Edition Chapbook

Exciting and fun news regarding Limp Wrist's limited edition chapbook.

Karen Chase, Ellen Bass, and Dorianne Laux have all agreed to write a blurb for the chapbook. I'm stoked.

Limp Wrist Raffle Extended

Donate to Limp Wrist before 3/30/09, and you are automatically entered to win some of the items you see above. (Items will be given away in groups of three.) All donations are TAX-DEDUCTIBLE and fund the Limp Wrist scholarship.

Here's the donation breakdown:
$5 = 1 Chance
$10 = 3 Chances
$20 = 5 Chances
$45 = 10 Chances
$200 or More = You pick the three items you want. Plus, you'll receive a mention in Limp Wrist.


AND for fun:
If I raise $1,000 by 3/30/09, I will create a Youtube video of me doing Dolly drag. Silence to the peanut gallery-- even though I am crazy for Dolly, I don't spend my weekends in Dolly drag.

CLICK HERE TO MAKE YOUR TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION!

WHY DO I WRITE ~ Virgil Suárez

WHY DO I WRITE ~ Virgil Suárez



For the last decade I have been writing a failed novel in which the main character dies and then comes back. The book is so hoaky that I could hardly contain my laughter and self-ridicule . . . but every morning I try another attempt, and when that doesn't work, I jump on my Yamaha 1100 Classic cruiser and head into the woods of South Georgia, just to clear my head, but for years now, every morning, I write a couple of good poems on the way over and back, so upon my return, I simply unwind by writing a few new poems. I have been doing this for years now. The bike has thousands of miles and I have to say I have seen more of South Georgia than I have of the god foresakened city in which I work, I love small, country town. I love open air drive ins build over the roofs of country stores. I love trailer parks from Hell. I love the junk yards. It is the junk yards that call me everytime I pass one and I have to stop. MUST stop and I take pictures of these old cars, and rusty machines: tractors, towing machines, bulldozers, cheery pickers, camp mules, etc . . . .

Looking at junk, at refuse, inspires me to write more poetry. I am currently working on a book of new poems about the Open Road, about the mulching (as Harry Crews would call it) of America, the desolation, the waste, the gargantuan consumption . . . it's all there between cheap beer and Twinkies. The dough of the cupcake is the Devil's soft, gooey insides . . . the poems keep coming. It's as if I suffer from a leaky spiggot of words . . . and suddenly, during a riding break yesterday, I am stopped under some oak trees watching a woman and a little boy crossing the street that it hits me: What Else Is There? What is better than this life of words? Nothing, says the horny male wren that's perched on a STOP sign at the crossroads of this fucking town!

You live, you fuck, you write. And then you DIE. Cheerful thoughts all, but it sure does help to keep the machinery of writing poetry truly well-oiled. As for the in-progress fiction, well that's it's own 7th Level Hell.
What was that Ishmael Reed line: oh yeah, WRITIN' IS FIGHTIN'!!!

State Representative Calvin Hill is Pointing His Finger

I'm going on mini-tirade. I ask that you read all the way through. Please and thanks!

A powerful state lawmaker believes Georgia’s university system must not be too bad off financially if it can afford to employ experts in such subjects as oral sex and male prostitution.

Rep. Calvin Hill (pictured to the left) (R-Canton) said the university system has resisted accepting the budget cuts that nearly every other part of state government has absorbed as lawmakers fill a $2 billion hole in the budget.

Meanwhile, he said, Georgia State University is touting its faculty as experts on issues that are outside what he believes to be the university’s mission.

“I’m saying we all need to pull together and when we have things that are extraneous and outrages, which I don’t think should be discussed with our tax dollars, maybe some of this will come to mind when we have to make budget cuts,” said Hill, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Click here to read the rest of the AJC article. I owe a thank you to friend, poet, and blogger Robin Kemp for sending this info my way.


Dr. Mindy Stombler is one of the professors who has Senator Hill pointing his fingers. I checked out Dr. Stombler's course offering for Fall '08 and Spring '09, and I am here to tell you that she did not teach Blow Jobs 1101 as the AJC article would make it seem; however, Dr. Stombler did teach multiple classes of SOCI 3156: Sexuality and Society.

What is this Sexuality and Society course? I'm glad you ask. Here is GSU course listing for Sexuality and Society:

Social construction and social control of sexuality. Examining trends in sexual attitudes and behaviors across the life course and how they are influenced by social interaction and social institutions. Topics may include sex research methods, representations of sexuality, sex education, sexual health and infection, sexual violence, and the commodification of sex.

I think people from the 700 Club would even admit that course description sparks some interest. I also know, as student who attended Georgia State University, that Sexuality and Society is a very popular class, and it fills quickly. I have only heard positive reviews of the course. If Rep Hill wants to talk money, I hope he realizes a class that fills each semester equals money. I think Dr. Stombler should invite Rep Hill to audit one of her classes, since Rep Hill wants to criticize. The Capitol is only a couple of blocks from GSU, so it isn't like it would be out of his way.


I want to share information on Dr. Stombler's research because I find it interesting.

"Her latest research project involves unraveling the power dynamic embedded in the practices of oral sex, particularly cunnilingus, and connecting conceptualizations of cunnilingus to public discourse (particularly messages about oral sex sent through music and other media). Key questions include how people view cunnilingus and how individual and public conceptualizations of cunnilingus are mitigated by race, gender, class, and sexual orientation," and I have pulled this from her faculty page at GSU.

Also, according to her faculty page, Dr. Stombler did a three-year study of Black and White Fraternity Little Sister programs that focused on the different ways that men exploited women in these organizations and the different ways the women resisted exploitation. All thanks to Google for your being able to read an article titled Resistance in Sweetheart and Little Sister Programs, which was written by Stombler and Padavic. Maybe I should mail a copy to Rep Hill; however, I doubt it would be do any good, and I'd rather use my stamp to send the article to someone who would actually read it and have an intellectual conversation about it.

I want to read what Dr. Stombler is currently writing up. Her current project is writing up her results from a second three-year study of gay fraternities that focuses on how men in gay fraternities negotiate the dual identities of being Gay and being Greek. Now, I think it would be stupid to question if Senator Hill wants to know about this study. I'm not a betting man; however, I would bet that Senator Hill doesn't even know that gay fraternities exist. OHHHHH....... maybe we could talk a gay fraternity into asking Senator Hill to pledge. Or, here is an even better thought: a gay fraternity could name Rep Hill a honorary member.


Rep Hill needs to turn his finger to the Governor's recommended continued cuts to the QBE education formula that go to operate schools, the elimination of 10 conservation rangers and 18 staffers at the Environmental Protection Division, cuts for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime labs and arson investigators at the Georgia Forestry Commission, reduction of case workers at the Child Protective Services Division, the closing of four prisons, and elimination of nurses in Georgia's schools. And that, my friends, is just the beginning of what I think are important issues.

Representative, quick wasting taxpayer's money by spending time "investigating" and talking about distinguished GSU professors when you could be working on some of the issues I listed above and many other.

Sunday Eye Candy ~ Jessie Pavelka