Apparently my straight FTM cousin doesn't tell his dates early on that he's trans. I have no idea how I'd deal. I think the whiplash of expectations would be a big deal--is it easier to come to terms with that up front, or to already fall for someone and then process it later?

Then again, I think he's a fairly religious Jew (and, obviously, black), so the whole dating thing is massively complicated.

Also I think the media (in least in this country) has gotten lax about trying to report actual facts, preferring to cover the debate instead.

Also I think the media (in least in this country) has gotten lax about trying to report actual facts, preferring to cover the debate instead.

Yeah, that's a definite problem. Especially when you have two sides to an issue, where one side is mostly right and the other side is insane.

Paul Krugman once wrote that if Republicans came out saying the world is flat and Democrats said it was round, the headlines would read: "Shape of the World: Two Opposing Views"

Also, I see this more and more: "Everyone has a right to their opinion."

Oh, that one! Grrrr.

I mean, can you imagine that census question? LGBTQI, for starters.

I find the LGBTQI (which also tends to include asexual, now) umbrella interesting because of the way it conflates sexuality (LGBQ and A for asexual) with gender (TI, and Q if you want to add genderqueer).

Someone on LiveJournal said that that abbreviation should have U added for "unsure," and then the letters can be rearranged to spell QUILTBAG. Which is AWESOME.

I don't like any of the labels.

I fall in love with, and have sex with, people - not organs.

Yes, but -- for the purposes of this discussion only, not sexuality in general -- we've been talking about people's sexualities, which are *not* based on their organs/genitals.

I totally get what you're saying, and it's the most sensible approach, IMO.

But I just wanted to clarify that, since we were talking about straight/bi/gay, those categories of sexuality aren't about genitals.

So is the sky in fact falling, or are comment sections just so full of stupid that smart people (obviously, I'm not smart) just ignore them?

That all said--teppy, your thing with queer made me smile remembering a convo had with a friend re another friend who is a transguy, dating a girl who IDs as straight. And we were all "yes, not to invalidate his male identity, but there's something fairly queer about being willing to date a trans guy".

Heh. Yeah, I totally get that. There's so many gradations of trans*, though, that dating a crossdresser (actually, he identifies as genderqueer) makes me "feel" less queer than if I were dating someone trans* who was living fulltime as their gender. (Mine is more of a date one, get one free kind of dealie.)

I mostly ignore comments sections, unless I actively want to see what the crazy-flavor of the day is. Sometimes the attempts to argue with the crazies is educational.

Plus, it helps for writing research when you can't get your mind around people who are really that stupid.

Also, I see this more and more: "Everyone has a right to their opinion."

Oh, that one! Grrrr.

They left out a word: everyone has a right to their INFORMED opinion. Big difference, one which is (very unfortunately) lost on many, many people.

Allyson, "Never read the comments section" is the only safe and wise policy. Maybe read the NYT comments section, sometimes (the stupid is still present, but it's usually outnumbered), but other than that AVOID AVOID AVOID.

Also, completely OT, but there has never been one single time that I've read your tagline without feeling a thrill of pure ridiculous joy.