Beware the Pure Spirit, Let the Flesh Instruct the Mind

I am growing ever increasingly concerned regarding the stigma that surrounds monkeypox (MPX) as it relates to the queer community, namely MSM (men-who-have-sex-with-men). I'm getting a real "1980's HIV " vibe from what I am seeing in the news and on social media.  The following is a brief passage discussing stigma (taken lovingly from my dissertation project). This can help frame important discussions that need to be had.  Stigma. The word itself literally means “to mark, brand, or tattoo.”(Merriman-Webster’s Online Dictionary, n.d.). Ancient Greeks invented the word to describe the deliberate marking of slaves, criminals, and traitors to the State with a physical mark (e.g., cuts, burns) to designate them as being “different” and “Other.” These marks set them apart from the general public and social mores of the day required these “Others” to be avoided. (Madru, 2003). It is easy to recall Hawthorne’s literary figure, Hester Prynne and her scarlet letter, or the Star...

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/02/868025780/code-switch-a-decade-of-watching-black-people-die

I reached out to some folks that I trust, some are former co-workers, some are former students in an effort for voices to be heard regarding the current situation that we find ourselves in. I recognize my privilege, and as much as I think I understand, I KNOW that I cannot fully give voice to what is happening. Even though my heart and mind are in the right space, it's not my voice that needs to be amplified. This is my friend  Nathan Bruce . I have not edited his words in any way. Please take a moment and consider what he has to say. In my career, I do a ton of writing. I work in software and I often create material that communicates technical ideas, system architecture, documentation that reflects work that has been done or work that is to be done, and documentation that lays out how to operate custom software. This type of writing, though, is much different. It isn’t often that I get the opportunity to attempt to capture meaningful thoughts on relevant topics outside of sof...

If you were to walk into my home, you might be quite surprised to see such a plethora of religious images and figures. My house is an all opportunity home where you will see many items, some of them even conflicting. These items are comforting to me. I want to see your home altars to your various personalities.

Listen my children and you will hear of the struggles and burdens of what it was like to be Queer (before Stonewall). Before the Stonewall Inn riots, our kind were really living in “the apartheid of the closet.” Even as today, there was a concerted effort to regulate homosexuality. Before 1900, gender inversion was the focus of regulation.    The characteristic rules used to police gender nonconformity were laws prohibiting crossdressing and prostitution. Laws and ordinances prohibiting public lewdness, sexual solicitation, indecent assignation, disorderly conduct and degeneracy, lewd vagrancy, and independent exposure were adopted, by and large, to control prostitution (a type of gender inversion). Sodomy laws, originally adopted to prohibit mainly anal but transformed to cover oral sex and target “female impersonators” were also significant. There were at least three watershed moments of the early 20 th century that directly contributed to the emerg...

The following was part of an exercise that was used in a facilitator training session for SafeZone.  I may be tweaking this until I get it right, but here is what I have for now.  This is taken from Writing to Change the World. I am from Mickey and Freda, Papaw Fitzpatrick and Virginia, Roger and Judy. From Central Appalachia and mid-plateau of southern West Virginia, from old mountains and creeks / rivers full of hellbenders, bluegill, catfish, and copperheads. From dirt roads paved with "red dawg" and sprinkled with waste oil to keep down dust.From campsite stories of haints, Mothman and "The Mad Butcher of Fayette County." From pots of brown beans, onions and butter, cornbread, venison, home grown maters, cucumbers and onions floating in vinegar, and poke salit. From fiercely self sufficient stock, extreme poverty, and Jesus only with ciggies and backey spitoons made from Folgers coffee cans. From large extended families, 2nd and 3rd cousins all account...