Dr. Hayes-Bohanan's Page
Revised August 26, 2010

We all get misinformation growing up about people who are different from ourselves.
    ~~ Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum
Who would Jesus hate?

Equal Marriage Flag
On June 14, 2007, Massashusetts legislators -- including my own Senator Marc Pacheco -- made me proud of my adopted home state. They blocked a misguided effort to reduce the civil liberties of gay and lesbian couples who have enjoyed three years of the same legal protection that heterosexual people take for granted. The movement is growing, albeit slowly, as reflected in the Marriage Equality Flag above.

On June 12, 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to protect Mr. and Mrs. Loving from the bigotry of marriage laws then in place in my home state of Virginia. It is very fitting that the Massachusetts legislature has moved to protect the marriages of same-sex couples near the 40th anniversary of that decision.
Blogger My environmental geography blog includes a few entries about gay rights and identity from a geographic perspective. It includes an analysis of the summer 2010 Target controversy.


Priorities
Copyright 2004 Scott Bateman. Permission pending.
See more of my thoughts on the absurdity of the Iraq war.

May 17, 2004 marked not only the 50th anniversary of the historic Brown decision in favor of human rights regardless of race, but is was also the beginning of real human rights regardless of sexual orientation. In both cases, the courts have been ahead of society as a whole, but in both cases society-wide change seems to be well underway. We will look back on this a generation from now and wonder what all of the fear was about. I am very happy for my lesbian and gay friends, some of whom have been waiting for this day for years. The first wedding took place at the headquarters of the Unitarian Universalist Association in Boston.

I have great respect for my two local legislators -- Rep. Dave Flynn and Sen. Marc Pacheco -- as they tried valiantly to be true to competing notions of justice in the Gay Marriage debate. I disagree with their recent votes, but they are honorable people, and I consider it my obligation to continue respectfully to encourage them to look at the question differently. I think my March 4, 2004 communication with Sen. Pacheco is  worth sharing. It concerns my view of the gay marriage debate in historical context.

During my second year at Bridgewater State College, I responded to an invitation to join the newly-forming Safe College Task Force, which works to promote a safe and positive environment for all members of the campus community, regardless of sexual orientation or sexual identity. 

Amazingly, people continue to face discrimination, misunderstanding, hatred, and even violence -- all because of who they are or whom they love. See my "because" page for an eloquent statement of these challenges. 

This page provides access to just a few of the many excellent web sites related to the experiences and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people. 

BSC Resources

AWARE is a non-discriminatory student organization that seeks to educate the college community and to establish a nurturing atmosphere for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and questioning persons as well as allies who support them. (See the cool  archive site, too!) 

The Safe College Coalition takes the Safe Zone concept further, by actively creating opportunities to educate the campus about GLBT concerns. Our web site includes activities at Bridgewater and links to similar efforts at other campuses. Read about the SCTF scholarship program in the BU student paper, which quotes yours truly! This is part of the amazing flood of national media coverage of our scholarship efforts here at the college. 

BSC Safe Zone stickers were developed by the BSC Counseling Center as a way to identify places and people on campus where students and others can know that they can discuss issues of sexual orientation and gender identity in a safe environment.

BSC opened the GLBTA Pride Center in October, 2006.  This link provides information was well as meeting notices.


GLBT Identity in Latin America is a presentation that Pamela Hayes-Bohanan and I made as part of the Safe College Coalition lecture series and Latin American and Caribbean Studies program in November, 2003. The bibliography we prepared is a good starting point for your own research!

Other Sites of Interest

Gay and Lesbian Families Nationwide

Thanks to Emilio Guerra for creating the custom map above. He now has his own domain at gaydemographics.org, the motto of which is "It's a big world... and we're everywhere." Congratulations on the great new site, with statistics about the geographic distribution of gay and lesbian people in the U.S. and other nations.

Despite the obstacles posed by the mis-named 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, the U.S. Census Bureau has collected some rather impressive statistics about gay and lesbian couples in the U.S. Over 600,000 gay or lesbian families were found nationwide, in 97 percent of all census tracts. For more maps, detailed statistics, and articles about the political and technical issues surrounding this count, see Emilio Guerra's incredible Census 2000 page, which is much easier to navigate than the Census Bureau web site.

Human Rights Campaign - Working for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights Although this organization has been faulted for inadequate attention to the needs of transgendered persons, it continues to be an important (and well-financed) force in the political arena. 

Planet Out offers "a vibrant, welcoming and safe [online] community for all gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people as well as their family and friends." It has 600,000 registered members, and includes news, entertainment, travel, and more. 

The American Psychological Association's Healthy, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students Project is working to strengthen the capacity of the nation's schools to prevent risky behaviors and improve health outcomes of lesbian, gay and bisexual youth. 

For more regional information, including politics, the arts, and special events, Bay Windows is New England's largest gay and lesbian newspaper. Look for it on campus or visit Bay Windows online. 

The Human Rights Campaign now has a page about Religion and GLBT Americans that refutes the notion that one has to be homophobic to be religious.

OBGLTC The Office of Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgendered Concerns at the Unitarian Universalist Association coordinates GLBT-related programs in the UU denomination. With the support of the OBGLTC office, my own congregation in Bridgewater has voted overwhelmingly to become an official Welcoming Congregation. The church's online book store includes several relevant titles. 

Soulforce Is a non-denominational Christian organization promoting GLBT human rights through non-violent means. I include this link to demonstrate that not all Christians are against gay rights. In fact, many mainstream denominations are actively discussing such issues as gay marriage and gay clergy. Equal Partners in Faith is a similar group, whose mission also includes inter-racial religious unity. Whosoever.org is an online magazine for GLBT Christians.

The Gender and Sexuality page at Beliefnet.com includes many articles on continuing developments related to progress on GLBT concerns in various Christian denominations and other religions. 

Just as it may surprise some to see that not all religious people are anti-gay, many assume that all gay people are politically liberal. For years the only "out" member of Congress was liberal Democrat Barney Frank (whose district office is a block from my house). Since I left Arizona, my Congress member there, conservative Republican Jim Kolbe, has also come out. Proof that he is not unique is the existence and growth of the Log Cabin Republicans, an organization of gay and lesbian Republicans. 

Issues of sexual orientation and sexual identity are global, of course. The November 2000 issue of the New Internationalist is entitled Sexual Minorities, and includes maps, photos and stories from throughout the world. The site includes a fascinating world map entitled Love, Hate, and the Law. 

SEXUALITY and SPACE is an official specialty group of the Association of American Geographers. Its purpose is "to promote and facilitate scholarly and geographic inquiry into human sexualities." Whatever your academic discipline or profession, it is likely that a comparable group exists in your field; ask around or check your professional association's web site. 

Homophobia As a Health Hazard is a well-documented medical report describing the health risks faced by gay and lesbian patients as a result of homophobia in the medical community and in the larger population. 

Lynn Conway is an accomplished computer scientist who has made significant contributions to the development of Internet protocols, among other endeavors. She is also openly transgendered, and her story has received significant media attention in recent months. 


In the Dr. Laura debate, I was a bit torn between my commitment to free speech and my disgust with "Dr." Laura's hateful ideas. It seems that her views have not won in the court of public opinion. Funding for the show dried up, as many main-stream corporations decided they did not want to be associated with her pseudo-science and hate. The activists of Stop Dr. Laura deserve the credit. (Full disclosure: My doctorate is in geography; so like "Dr." Laura, my views on homosexuality are personal, not professional, except to the extent that I am a professional educator.)

This is a pride page, and nobody is prouder than RuPaul. He is best known for his success in the music, film, and entertainment industries, and is the first drag queen to become a spokesmodel for a major cosmetics company.

JustinSpace Design is a quirky site that includes very funny critiques of gay-related design issues. Click on "Theme Pink" for a very interesting take on Disney World. 


Unitarians and BSA -- Boy Scouts of America



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