Blogs Feb 25, 2011 at 8:28 am

Comments

1
Signed. Facebook posted...and yes I have been working out does it show? Oh my god, does it really? I hate me hair right now...god I need new jeans, lets go shopping!
2
This fag always has stood firm against the very same fanatics that you face and, like us, have always faced. And I assure you, I always will. The fags you should be speaking to are the Log Cabin fags. They're the fags that think their enemies are the good guys. They betray all of us and the freedoms we hold dear.
3
By your command.
4
About 6 years ago I attended the Women's Rights March on Washington, and one of the chants that rotated through our repertoire was " Gay Rights are Reproductive Rights".

I had never thought of it that way before, but always have since. Thus, I have defended Gay rights with the same determination as I have my own. And against the same damn people.
5
Thanks for posting this, Dan.
6
I'm straight but I tried to make my signature look as gay as possible.
8
An activity is "essentially criminalized" if the government doesn't pay for it? If there is ever a bill to eliminate farm subsidies (and here's hoping!), can I expect to hear rhetoric claiming that the bill "essentially criminalizes" farming?
9
As a gal lucky to have many Gay Boyfriends, this touched me. I've been ranting & raving about the recent anti-woman legislative actions for weeks now. It's great to see women appealing to their gay allies.

SIGN THE PETITION PLZ. I turned to Planned Parenthood in my youth, & can't imagine a world without them.

My first G.B., Gay Boyfriend prime (love you Vince!) has done away with the term hag, as he wouldn't hang out with a hag, or I wasn't haglike. ;) Last time he, I & G.B. #2 were hanging out, he said we were two fruits & a fly. One of the biggest feminists I know is G.B. #3, Jody. Thanks, guys.
10
It's all part and parcel of the same thing -- gender policing goes after anyone not conforming to the heteronormative mold -- and that means women outside the control of a man (preferably a father or husband) as much as GLBT ppl are targets. As you note, it's always the same people we fight against, whether it's over GLBT or women's rights. "Funny," that...

Thanks, Dan.
11
Well Ken, I personally have met very few people that dislike slutty girls. Or maybe I just never noticed because I was too busy being slutty.
12
I'm not a fag, can I still sign the petition?
13
Thank you from the bottom of my wannabe hag heart. Maybe, It it should say from my virtual hag heart. xo, Sloggers.
14
Woop, I can't believe I'm actually seeing Dan Savage recognize the inextricable link that misogyny draws between women and male homosexuals (lesbians being women, they are doubly impacted and already onboard) and human rights.

Rebecca Traister's brother Aaron published this article at Salon from a het male perspective, and the reactions in the comments along the lines of "dude, I have no say because I can't force a woman to have my baby if I want to have it, so I don't give a shit" drive me crazy. It's hard enough to get our gay brothers to walk with us despite our genuine enthusiastic support for their rights, so what the fuck can we do for the het men? We need ALL the support we can get. And while I agree that trying to get our gay brothers to acknowledge and fight with us is important, we DO have a majority of them on board already (every one of this hag's fags stand with us)--how to get the other guys?
http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/0…

You know what. If you, as a guy, get to fuck a woman, there should be no question of your support to her right to bodily autonomy. Otherwise...did you get enthusiastic consent for that fucking? No? Not sure? You might be a rapist.
15
I prefer "fruit fly."
16
Wank, wank, Trucker Joe. Stop looking for a fucking cookie.
17
Done! I'm glad you posted this.
18
Good post.
20
Thank you for this. I thought Utah was the only state crazy enough to try criminalizing miscarriage - obviously I was wrong. I'm sending additional funds to my old PP in Flagstaff, AZ; the only place I could get decent and affordable medical care without insurance once I graduated.
21
Straight boys, you need to support Planned Parenthood too, if you have any respect for your female partners at all.

And straight girls (and bi girls, and anyone else with female reproductive organs that sleeps with men) don't date or have sex with men that don't respect your right to reproductive health services! If those bastards don't think that you should control your own vagina, show them that you DO but not letting them anywhere near it ;)
22
I don't want to discourage anyone from signing, but online petitions only do so much. Please please please consider taking the next step of throwing 20/50/100 bucks to your local center, today - right now, while you're thinking of it. Voices being heard is great, but when I volunteered we were always desperately short of cash for supplies as compared to demand.
23
Thanks so much for posting this Dan.
24
@22 seconded!
25
Agreed @22, which is why I just wrote out a check to PPAZ. (I've already sent ones for PP UT, and PP NW/WA and PP National.)
Don't forget the Walk for Choice tomorrow:
http://walkforchoice.tumblr.com/particip…
26
but gays can't have abortions...
27
Signed and reposted! Thanks!
28
@15: There used to be a Slog commenter with the handle "Drosophila". I thought it was a great sly reference.
29
Thank you so much for posting this. I don't know why it's so damn hard to stand together sometimes, but we must. We must.
30
Like @25 said, there is a Walk for Choice happening tomorrow, starting at Broadway and Pine at 12pm and continuing down Pine to Westlake Center, where they/we will rally until 4pm. I want to go, but I want to pass graduate school more and I have finals coming.
31
So who's the hag that wrote this?
32
Signed and facebook'd. This makes me sick to my stomach. Luckily, I've not needed much PP in my life - my parents keep me on their health insurance so I'm good for a few more years - but I know plenty of people who do. And not funding CANCER SCREENINGS?! Are these people insane??
33
@13.i'm a real fag you can be my real hag.. we'll drink japanese whiskey ( my newfound love ) and dish.
...
..oh and signed... like two weeks ago..and my husband gives them money. and he's done it for years. he don't even give me money.
34
@22- Excellent Advice. I went to their site and it took me less than 2 minutes to donate $25, and it felt really good. It felt like striking back!

@Ken Mehlman- I would never! haha
35
The Homo Army is here to support you, ladies!
36
This really made my day. From one longtime hag to another: Thank you for writing this!
37
Signed and donated. Been meaning to do both for a while now, so thanks for the reminder!
38
Thank you Dan!
39
@ 26, I know you're trying to be funny, but I just wanted to point out that lesbians can have abortions and probably have in the case of rape or incest (and really, isn't incest always rape of some kind?)

Anyway, I love how unselfish the left usually is. As a straight woman I've always firmly supported equal rights for all regardless of race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc. And I am 100% pro-choice even though at this point in my life, I'm actually TTC and will welcome pregnancy! And I don't say that as self-promotion. My point is that I don't think I'm at all unique as a liberal. I think we all do it. I love this letter -- if we stand together and do our part to protect each other's rights, then the republicans don't stand a chance! :) I don't know if I can really call myself a hag -- most of my gay friends are lesbians. But on behalf of women everywhere, thank you gays and thank you Dan for sharing this letter!! <3
40
Signed! And @28: I've seen them (well, her, presumably), and now I feel like an idiot for not having gotten the joke.
41
What is really sickening to me is that Cathy McMorris Rodgers who is a Washington State 5th District House of Representatives voted for H.R. 614.
42
@8: no, an activity is "essentially criminalized" if the government makes it so that it is almost impossible for a person to do said activity due to the number of restrictions placed on it. For many women, it is almost impossible to get a LEGAL abortion, due to the fact that there are ridiculous zoning requirements for setting up any institution that provides abortions in many states. Further, the right to get an abortion is being quickly diminished. already, in many states, a girl who is under 18 must inform both her parents, look at an ultrasound, go through "counseling" and wait a few days before getting an abortion. all this if she is even able to find a center that can provide her with one (there might not be one without 100s of miles, so let's hope she has access to a car! and if she's older, let's hope she can take that time off work/caring for her other kids/whatever).

second @22. I am a college student so I don't have much extra cash, but I do try to donate to PP at least once a year. Please donate. they need it now more than ever. even if you don't care about abortion rights, please care about women's health.
43
Riz @ 33,
Sounds divine, count me in. I've never tried any whisky from Japan, but have read about Shinjiro Torii, Masataka Taketsuru and the making of Yamazaki.
44
Pretty disingenuous. Republicans do indeed have it out for Planned Parenthood in a spit-flecked rage-y kind of way, but taxpayer support of such services doesn't make a lot of sense. People should have health insurance to pay for those things, which is an issue the health reform act is supposed to address. The disappearance of PP wouldn't be the end of the world. People need to woman up and quit whining when govt support is taken away. Women aren't damsels in distress. They can handle things.
45
Thanks Dan!
46
You know, I hope, that PP isn't just for women, nor is it just for heterosexuals. Anyone can go, and be honest about their sexual history, and they will treat you with respect AND take care of any specific health care needs you may have because of that. Also, they have a comprehensive sex ed program they offer to schools and community groups that teach safer sex for ALL. Not just PIV sex. I also go when I can for healthcare, to support them financially (they take insurance) and morally. Go in there with my head held high, just like any other health care provider I might find myself needing.
47
Reiterating what was already posted in comments in the hope that more folks will see it. Yes, please sign the petition and consider a donation to Planned Parenthood BUT ALSO please join us for our march THIS SATURDAY.
We're meeting at noon at Broadway and Pine.
Here's the link to the FB event:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=15…
Spread the word, bring your friends, bring a sign, wear orange but most importantly show up!
This is about more then just funding for PP. The women in your life are under attack by the same evil asshats that challenge your right to life, liberty and happiness.
48
Those online petitions are fine, but those of us outside the US who support our American friends can't sign them. It would be useful sometimes to include addresses so we can write "the world is watching" letters.

The world IS watching. Those of us who have, for example, money to invest in American companies are paying attention to who is or is not hateful. We obviously have no say politically, as we can't vote, but we do have a choice as to where our investment and tourism dollars go, and it can't hurt to let governments know that.
50
Signed, FB'ed and donated. This fag has always felt that a woman's right to choose what happens to her body has a direct correlation to my right to choose what I do with my body and, by extension, my right to choose who I marry. Women's health issues, including reproductive rights and breast cancer, are as close to my heart as gay rights issues. I wouldn't be who I am today without the love and support of a number of amazing women (starting with my sainted mother), gay and straight, and anything I can do to advance causes that help them and their sisters I'm thrilled to do.
51
Thank you Dan for posting this!! I know you are solidly on the side of choice of all kinds, and I'm grateful you're alerting your (apparently vast!) readership to the latest round of scary shit the Republican wingnuts are pulling...

@44 - agreed that we should all have health coverage and not need Planned Parenthood. But we don't, and one of the many challenges the Republicans are mounting to the health care plan is removing tax incentives or rebates from any health insurance plan that covers abortion, even the kind of plan that just lets you save your own money (before taxes) and spend it on medical care. So I'm not exactly holding my breath for health insurance to step in and fill Planned Parenthood's place. Also, there are and will still be plenty of people who don't have health insurance, since they or their employers can't afford it, and those people still may need access to the birth control, cancer screenings, etc. that PP provides.
52
Also, the sex education that Planned Parenthood offers is extraordinary. I've had 3 friends who have enrolled themselves/their daughters in the classes PP offers and they just rave about the information that was presented and the types of conversations they can now have with their kids. They feel much more secure about sending their daughters out into the world.
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/ppgnw/w…
53
I'm tearing up here with all the support for our right to control our own bodies, plus all the great medical services that PP provides to all comers (ha!). When I "give at the office", I make sure it all goes to PP--I support in equal amounts the PP National, PP of SW Ohio (cuz, let's face it, nobody needs it more than us in Boner territory), and PP's international program. Remember you can also volunteer as an escort if, like me, you live in a city where your PP clinic is under siege from protestors.
54
That's a keeper, Dan; THANKS!!
55
Thank you Dan!!!!
56
I wished I could sign the petition, but, not being an American citizen and not living in America, I can't. If there's something else I can do, please let me know.
57
@49: Functional Atheist Guy. It's just an acronym, you fag.
58
@44: Performing abortions is DANGEROUS work. RIP Dr. Tillman. Did it ever occur to you that a large organization such as PP might be better equipped to deal with these threats?

And I'm so going to hold my breath waiting for 2014 when I can get my yeast infection treated by any doctor I fancy, thanks to the shinny new health care reform. 'Cause it's totally my fault I'm poor and don't have health insurance. I AM womaning up by demanding women's health be allotted as much federal funding as goddamn NASCAR. Kiss my ass, while your at it.
59
Ankylosaur and Agony.

You could check out PP International (Emma's Bee has a link in her post) a quick check suggest that they accept donations from outside the US. Or you could go to www.house.gov and click the link for Boehner, you might be able to express yourself on his Facebook page,etc. Sorry, I'm not a lot of help.
60
#8: Let me clarify on the "essentially" criminalizing.

The GA bill *would*--look it up--require the criminal investigation of miscarriages to ensure that they weren't induced (i.e. intentional abortions). This "essentially" criminalizes miscarriages, as every one of them would be legally suspect.

Putting aside that abortion is a supposedly legal medical procedure, can you imagine the waste of law enforcement's time not to mention the mayhem of lawsuits if this law was actually implemented?

Imagine, for just one horrific example, a woman hospitalized for an ectopic pregnancy (a life or death situation) having to "answer" to police to prove that it was not an abortion?

The bottom line of this batshit fucking crazy legislation proposed in GA is that no. single. woman. can be trusted with her own sex life. Every potential pregnancy must be monitored... by the state... by people who claim to represent "small government" for everyone except fertile women.

I doubt this will pass, but it's important because it exposes how much a pathological mistrust of women/fear of male inadequacy undergirds these so-called pro-lifers. Which is a fancy way of saying that they're fucking insane.

I think we should flood Bobby Franklin's office with either pregnancy test sticks or photos of used pads/tampons. This damaged dude wants to monitor all of us? FINE, let's give him all the data he could possibly want.
61
@46 is right. Planned Parenthood can and does support sexual health care for women AND men. When you cast support for PP as a "women's issue" you're making it very easy for a big chunk of the country to ignore it and demonize it...a huge marketing error. It allows the right to split us all up and defund each group one at a time.
PP supports sexual health for all. Teenaged boys should know that they can get condoms there in places where the pharmacy won't sell to them, they can get STD tests there when they are afraid to go their family doctor. PP's family planning services have prevented more abortions than has any other organization on earth. PP supports sexual health for all, and deserves support from all.
62
The recent debates over federal funding for Planned Parenthood make me sick to my stomach. Watching the coverage of this issue by Fox News makes me want to bang my head against a wall repeatedly.

1) Abortion is not federally funded. There has been a prohibition against any federal funding of abortion since 1976.

2) The federal funding received by PP pays for pap smears, mammograms, cancer screenings, STI testing, birth control, male sterility testing, pregnancy tests, etc.

3) The people most adamantly demanding the elimination of these funds also overwhelming support the overturning of Roe v. Wade. They don't want anyone to have the right to get an abortion.

4) If you're against abortion, march out into the streets and protest abortion. Don't protest the funding of pap smears and cancer screenings. People need pap smears and cancer screenings. *Human beings* need those things to maintain a certain quality of life. You know -- human life? The cause you're soooo passionate about? Close your eyes and try REALLY hard to imagine all those people who need pap smears and cancer screenings as fetuses. Don't forget THEY WERE PRECIOUS FETUSES TOO ONCE. ALL THE FETUSES WHO ARE CARRIED TO TERM AND BORN GROW UP INTO PEOPLE WHO NEED PAP SMEARS AND CANCER SCREENINGS.

5) It's shit like this that makes me want to pack my bags and move back to Canada.

63
Amen. Totally awesome
64
Thanks for that, Kim - I think I could come up with a letter or two.

A point that I think needs to be emphasized in these discussions is that organizations such as PP, which provide sex education and birth control, PREVENT abortions. If all pregnancies were wanted pregnancies, the number of abortions performed would drop to almost nil.

So - any abortion protester who is actually sincere in the belief that abortion is murder, and who really wants the process to stop, should be handing out condoms left and right. If they aren't, they're fucking hypocrites, and need to be exposed as such. Legislators who seek to deny funds to PP are promoting abortion.
65
J ust recently miscarried, and if some idiot came in, in the midst of all we all we were going through and said they had to conduct an investigation to see if I was intentionally miscarrying or aborting my child, that person/moron woulod have gotten hit. This is an outrage. I have mixed feelings on the whole of the situation, but to take away a woman's right to do what she wants when she wants with her body, is like enslaving us. I can't beleive they would be so low. Thank you for posting this.
66
signatures do matter. When DADT was up the first time, in 1993, Barney Frank, no dummy for sure, said in an interview that people who can mobilize a lot of letters are taken by Congress to represent people who can mobilize a lot of voters.
ps
the prohibition on federal funding we call the Hyde Amendment was not for women who can afford health insurance. It eliminated payments for abortions from MEDICAID. Making life miserable for the neediest.
67
I always preferred the term "Ribbon Clerk," myself... I started to write a rant about all of this, got about halfway through, and was just too sad to continue. Please, if you are financially able, donate to PPWW. <3
68
Signed and passed on. Kudos Dan.
69
I don't want any of my tax dollars going to any special interest groups, including Planned Parenthood. I thought with Obamacare, everyone will be covered, right? The poor are already covered by Medicaid. So why will any woman need to obtain "free" (paid by the taxpayer) health services from Planned Parenthood?
70
@69
In some states, Medicaid cannot be used for any reproductive health services, and Medicaid cannot be used for abortions due to the Hyde Amendment. So no, the poor are not already covered. Not all of PP's services are free - most are on a sliding scale where you pay depending on your income.
If you have issues with your tax dollars going to special interest groups, perhaps you should write to your Congress person about the tax dollars going to NASCAR and other frivolous crap. Having access to PP's services can be a matter of life and death Additionally, you save your tax dollars by paying for preventative care and reproductive health services via PP (this includes sex education, birth control, vasectomies, abortions, STD screenings, etc.) rather than paying for full-blown hospitalizations via Medicaid, or foster care, special ed services, and/or prison costs for unwanted/abused/neglected/drug-addicted/FAS children.
71
No quarrel with the cause, but I find it hard to believe that the author actually knows any of the people claims to be addressing. How much more insulting could she have been if she'd tried? If someone with such a thoroughly condescending attitude towards me were part of my life in a supposedly supportive role, I'd be grateful for this piece for bringing about the end of that little association.
72
You sound like an asshole calling it Obamacare.
73
"Durr, durr, durr. Durrrrrr, durr, durr. Duh. Duh. Duuuuuuuhhhh. Dur duh.

Posted by GymGoth on February 27, 2011 at 9:07 AM"

I disagree with your position.
74
How are women, who are not only 50% of the population, but who are also the ones giving birth to each and every person in existence, a "special interest group"?
75
Invoking Obamacare is like mentioning Hitler. Instant troll fail.
76
Signed, donated, re-posted.
Pass it on.
77
Met some young men at a rally to support PP who took your advice Dan - thanks!

- Another Grateful Hag

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