Texas Women Going to Mexico for Misoprostol

Misoprostol, brand name Cytotec.

And why not? According to a report in the Nation:

For most women in the United States, this would mean a trip to a doctor or abortion clinic. But where Diana lives, in Brownsville, Texas, just north of the border, Mexican pharmacies are only a few miles away. Items said to be abortifacients—including pills, teas and shots—are well-known to be cheap and accessible just across the bridge. Misoprostol, a pill that makes up half of the two-drug combination prescribed for medical abortions in the United States, is easy to purchase over the counter in Mexico because of its effectiveness in treating ulcers. When used alone and taken correctly, it will produce a miscarriage between 80 and 85 percent of the time.

Sounds like our "open borders" aren't all bad after all. According to Managing Contraception, Early Medical Abortion with Misoprostol Alone:

Misoprostol, when used without mifepristone or MTX, can cause abortion after 1-3 doses in women up to 56 days gestation. Treatment regimens typically include MIS 800 mcg vaginally at intervals ranging from every 8 hours to every 24 hours. Efficacy rates are generally around 70% with one dose of misoprostol, 80% after two doses and near 90% after three doses. Given the existence and availability of safe alternative regimens, MIS alone is generally not recommended for medical abortion. However, in situations where mifepristone is not unavailable, MIS alone is an option." (p. 36, 2010-2012 edition)

Surely the authors didn't think that south Texas would be such a good market for MIS, but here we are. If one were to get their hands on a prescription for Cytotec or Misoprostol, that's how you'd use it. And how interesting that it's significantly cheaper when presumptively prescribed for "ulcers" instead of "medical abortion." You can buy a bottle of 60 200 mcg tablets of generic MIS from drugstore.com for a mere $56.99; a "medical abortion" at a clinic will cost you about $500. There is evidence that home use of misoprostol, with instructions from a physician, is safe and effective.

As the old saying goes, if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem will look like a nail.

Texas AG Abbott Joins other AGs in Demanding Craigslist Remove Adult Services

Via the Houston Chronicle. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott joined with his good pal Ken Cuccinelli (R-VA) and 15 other attorneys general in signing a letter to Craigslist demanding the site eliminate its "adult services" category. The letter said, among other things,

"No amount of money [referring to the revenue CL receives from AS ads], however, can justify the scourge of illegal prostitution and the suffering of the women and children who will continue to be victimized, in the market and trafficking provided by Craigslist," the letter said.

I couldn't agree more. Illegal prostitution is definitely the problem. But I would encourage these attorneys general to try digging around in the W4M sections of their local Craigslist and notice that a significant proportion of the ads in the "legit" personals sections are also subtly (or, in some cases, clearly) soliciting money for sex. So eliminating the Adult Services section, which has actual humans review the ads before publishing, would just open up the regular personals sections to an unregulated free-for-all for sex workers and those who may be exploiting illegally trafficked/enslaved women and girls.

But as the poster on my office wall says, "If the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem will look like a nail." If Craigslist's "legitimate" prostitution ads are eliminated, sex workers and those who exploit women will find other ways to drum up business. So maybe it's time to try something really novel and legalize prostitution so sex workers can be protected by the law in a real way.

The Other Victims of Homophobia: Children of LGBT Parents

Jesus Christmas. According to the Associated Press, St. Vincent's School in Bedford, Texas, a school in the "Anglican (read: anti-gay) tradition," accepted and then turned down the 4 year-old child of lesbian parents.

The school officials clearly failed to read the child's application before cashing the tuition check, because the one mom, Jill, crossed out "father" on the application and wrote in the name of the other mom, Tracy. But the school didn't put "mom" and "mom" together until both women showed up for a meeting:

Foster says the school is trying to protect children from being exposed to culture wars and stand up for its theological position. Its website, says: "Educating Mind, Body and Spirit in the Anglican Tradition."

Riiight. Here's the school's "nondiscrimination" policy that conveniently leaves room for discrimination against children of LGBT parents: "The admissions policy of St. Vincent's Cathedral School is non-discriminatory as to race, color, religion, and national or ethnic origin, with all students enjoying equal rights to the programs and activities available."

It gets better.

Every school day our students encounter the Good News of Jesus Christ in morning chapel. While participating in chapel, students hear readings from Holy Scripture, sing hymns of praise to God, receive religious instruction from our clergy and lay ministers, and develop a custom of daily prayer.

But spiritual development at St. Vincent's does not stop at the doors of the chapel. Our faculty strives to model love and care in their interactions with students and each other; and students are encouraged to strive for the highest ethical standards in the classroom. As a result, in addition to receiving an education of the mind and body of the finest quality, SVCS students also develop the spiritual and moral character one expects of society's future leaders. (emphasis mine)

I think this school could use a reminder about the Good News of Jesus Christ: it is available to everyone without regard to their race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, ability or disability, and even to jerk Anglicans who go out of their way to discriminate against gay people as a way of making a statement against the American Episcopal Church which, you know, is actually making the Good News available to all comers. And willingly accepting tuition money from all parents for chrissakes.

Texas needs a Quaker school like what.



And by the way, Free to Be...You And Me has been remastered and re-released on DVD! Buy a copy or donate to the Foundation. This makes the bleeding hearts of people like me totally gush.

Sisyphean Progress: 2 Texas Districts to Dump Abstinence-Only This Year

Two central Texas school districts (neither one of which contains Austin) are dumping abstinence-only education this year. For those of you not from Texas, you might not realize what sex education is like in many districts. Here is a brief refresher:



No, really! The text in the video above is taken verbatim from the "public school" version of Pam Stenzel's popular talk, "Sex Still Has a Price Tag." If you're a glutton for punishment, you can watch the whole thing on YouTube. Texas is, and has been, the #1 recipient of federal funding for abstinence education. And no, abstinence education doesn't work. Texas doesn't have its sterling reputation for teen pregnancy, teen birth, repeat teen birth, and STI rates for naught.

But things are looking up! As reported by KUT this morning, San Marcos and Dripping Springs Independent School Districts (ISDs) have decided to implement Big Decisions, a medically accurate sex education curriculum that....drumroll please....teaches about contraception and condoms!

If you have a hard time imagining what a sex education class that doesn't teach about birth control and condoms would spend its time on, you're not alone. Mostly, the programs in use in Texas go out of their way to present wildly inflated information about the consequences of STIs (cancer! death! social banishment! suicide!!!), vague lessons on self-esteem (e.g., sluts who have sex don't have it), and a little bit of anti-gay propaganda (gay = suicide) just for good measure. Basically, if you're not straight and married, sex is GONNA KILL YOU (and you would deserve it, you dirty slut/fag). So any change is good.

But Austin ISD, which we reported earlier this year had 375 pregnant students in case management by the middle of the year, is changing, sortof. They plan to implement a program that teaches about STI prevention and birth control, but they won't do any condom demonstration or distribution. Why not?

“We don’t distribute and we don’t demonstrate,” [AISD Health Education Coordinator Tracy] Lunoff said. “We don’t talk about how students should put on a condom, and we don’t demonstrate that, certainly. Personally, I think that should be a parent or a doctor demonstrating that. That is not the role of the school district.”

Tell that to your 375 pregnant girls, Tracy.

But still! This is progress. Let's celebrate the small successes.

Austin's Seton Hospital Refuses High-Risk Women due to "Catholic Teaching"

File this under "OMFG." As reported in the Austin-American Statesman, the "Seton Family of Hospitals," a Catholic hospital operating organization that runs Brackenridge, Austin's public, safety-net hospital, is refusing to continue operating a clinic that sees "high risk" pregnant women who need birth control after pregnancy to keep them, you know, alive. Jesus Christmas.

If this sounds irritatingly familiar, it is:

In 2001 and 2002, before Central Health was created, University Medical Center, then called Brackenridge Hospital, was the site of a prolonged battle over sterilization services for women, resulting in the city agreeing to create a "hospital within a hospital" to satisfy the Vatican. Vatican officials said that sterilizations could not be performed in a Catholic-operated hospital, even one that is publicly owned.

Seton also has a contract to provide nurse services to the Austin Independent School District, and nurses under Seton's employ, even if they are seeing students in Austin's public schools, are prohibited from discussing birth control with students.

The board that supervises the hospital is holding its first public hearing on the budget Sept. 1 at 5:30 p.m. at Central Health headquarters, 1111 E. Cesar Chavez St.

Raffi

We saw this guy as the pissed off Coffee Bucks customer.
Goes right for the muff. Cool, but with headphones? And texting?
This is the fantasy of every hipster on the L train going back to Williamsburg at 4am.
iPhone was on Facebook right at the beginning. A nice touch.

The Perfect Follow-Up: Ducky!

I love that one second she's on the dancefloor and the very next minute she's on the floor. I want to go to that dance club. She brings the Duck Fucker up onstage--look at this fucking love connection.
This is the magic of Air Sex: she's the Gatekeeper and he's the Keymaster.

Simon the Duck Fucker

Things are getting a big Deliverance up in here.
Beastiality: is that legal in Texas? I don't know...I'm not from here.
Did he make this audio track himself with the hip hop and orgiastic duck sounds.
I love that sometimes you can tell that guys are wearing tighty whities under their costume underwear and sometimes you can tell that...they're definitely not.

Add that Up: 40 toes

Friend of judge Bjorn to Fuck, Cum Dumpling, brings it.
Blow job. Bringing a friend?
This is like "Double Up" by R. Kelly but with 4 people. Tripling up, I guess. As Snoop would say: Add that up: 40 toes.

4: Coffee Cream

Wearing Coffee Bucks uniform: what movie is this from?
Red "XOXOXOXO" boxers! Everybody's wearing their fuck me underwear tonight. It's awkward when you think you recognize someone performing at Air Sex. Take your t-shirt off.
Rubbing sex juices in the customer's coffee cup: a nice touch.

Third Up: Secret Admirer Returns!

Secret Admirer premiered at the last show and I'm so glad he came back for another go.
"I'll Cover You" from Rent. Proposal w/ring. Seriously, I can't hear the "525600 minutes" without starting to tear up. I don't know how vulnerable this is going to make me feel!
For all the times I listened to this in my intense high school days, I never envisioned serious fucking to this song.
I liked the tongue and finger combination. Very nice. Glad to see he wore his underwear this time. This is the sex high school girls dream about.
Missed the lube on the transition to anal, though.

Second: Girant

Girant. Two guys. Shoelace belts. Long, luscious hair. Blond guy has rose tattoo on torso.
This is the first duo I've seen!
Thunder Road is the song.
Blowjob, handjob, rimjob, all in 5 seconds. Spanking.
Very nouveau Brokeback Mountain.
But watch some gay porn, seriously.

First up: Lipstick Lez

our first competitor, lipstick lez!
drew #1
love the vinyl
very sexy, but are we looking for striptease?
condom in the vinyl shorts
2 condoms is so key! who wants to have sex just once?
7 foot bullwhip. 'nuff.

Air Sex Update 1

I'm sitting with Morgan, owner of the sadly now-closed Sinsations, and Bjorn to Fuck, one of the winners from last time's performance. Lookin' good.

Tonight: Air Sex Preliminaries!

Last sextravaganza's winner, Slut Truffle

Tonight is exciting for two reasons. First, tonight is the second night of the come one, come all Air Sex Preliminaries! Second, I'll be there as a guest judge! After tonight Air Sex goes on the road to New Orleans, Dallas, Atlanta, my hometown of DC and more on its nation-crossing tour. Tonight's show is sold out so if you haven't gotten your tickets, the sextravaganza comes back to Austin for two nights on September 22 and 29 before the big time championships later this fall.

FDA Approves ella, 5 Day Emergency Contraceptive

The New York Times reported this morning that the FDA approved ella, a 5-day post-sex emergency contraceptive long available in Europe, for use in the United States.

I love thinking about how they put together this research study:

In a head-to-head trial between the two drugs, women who took ella had a 1.8 percent chance of becoming pregnant, while women who took Plan B had a 2.6 percent chance. Experts tracked nearly 1,700 women who randomly received one of the two pills within three to five days of having unprotected sex.

What, did they use Facebook ads? Considering the 5 day window this is a pretty quick recruitment turnaround. Or did they just recruit women who reported that the chances they would have unprotected sex in the next 6 months were good, and gave them ella to have on hand?


Either way, the drug should be out in the 4th quarter of this year, just in time for New Years.

Q & A: When is Bareback Sex Okay?

The cure for what ails you: the condom pocket boxer.

Dear Ms. Sunday,

I had an interesting week. I met a woman online and went out for drinks with her. We hit it off just fine and had sex into the wee hours. I wasn't prepared for it, condom-wise, mostly because I didn't think it would get that far on a second date. We were ready to go for round two, and she informed me that she did not have another condom. She informed me that she was clean and had an IUD so pregnancy seemed out of range. She told me she had been tested after her last sexual partner and was good to go.

I couldn't let myself have unprotected sex with someone I had just met. It ended up fine because she rummaged around and found a condom. Now, I'm not looking for a pat on the head for being responsible or a wag of the finger for not doing my male duty and having my own protection (I'll be ready next time). I am wondering how do you decide when/if to have unprotected sex with someone?

Thanks,

Scott

Dear Scott,

When I talk to college students about using condoms, I always tell them that the first step to successful condom use is having a fucking condom. And better yet, have two or three, because what if one breaks and, as your situation demonstrates, who only wants to have sex once?

Since I have approximately 1,500 condoms laying around my apartment I can't imagine what it's like to really only have just one condom--what a terrible thought. If I were you, I would get a few dozen condoms and distribute them to all of your wallets, backpacks, man-purses, tighty-whities, and whatever else you regularly wear that has pockets just in case. And put them around your apartment within arm's reach of surfaces on which you might have sex, like your bed, the shower/bathtub, the kitchen counter, the dining room table, the patio, and so on.

I think a second date is far too soon to say, "Don't worry about condoms, I'm on the pill/have an IUD/am sterile." Sure, assuming she's using her method correctly, the risk of pregnancy is low. But preventing pregnancy is up to both partners, and if you want to avoid the possibility of having a child you're not prepared to raise then you are responsible for wrapping up your junk.

Maybe this woman really did get a "clean" STI test recently and she really does have an IUD, but that's a lot of "if"s to be fucking under. Even if your partner was tested for STIs recently, were you? Do you have any idea what your STI status is beyond a vague feeling of "If I had something, I'd know"? (you probably wouldn't, by the way)

In sum, when negotiating condomless sex with a new partner, there are three things that need to be dealt with: STI risk, pregnancy prevention method, and "what if pregnancy?" The time to negotiate these things is not when you're under the fuckluence but after you've already shown up to the party ready to jam several times. Most of the time, sex does not result in pregnancy or STI transmission. But the possibility is always there so you have to decide when you're comfortable facing that risk together with a partner because if she gets pregnant, you could be on the hook for 18 years of child-rearing with someone you barely know. If your dick is still hard after thinking about that, for fuck's sake: just wrap it up.

Love,
Julie

432 Year Old Man Arrested for Abducting Girl in Splendora, Outliving All Humans

432 years old? Splendora? This sounds so biblical. From the Houston Chronicle, verbatim:

Terry Dale Carnes, 432, wanted in connection with the abduction of a 14-year-old Splendora girl, has been arrested, according to Montgomery County Sheriff Tommy Gage’s office.
Carnes surrendered to deputies at the sheriff’s substation in New Caney and was taken to jail in Conroe.
Around 2:15 p.m. Sunday, sheriff's deputies and detectives responded to the Cleveland Hospital Emergency Room.
The victim told investigators that she was walking on Diamond T Drive in east Montgomery County when a bluish green Mazda Protege or Honda Civic pulled up and stopped behind her. The driver got out and introduced himself as “Terry”** and asked if she would like a ride.
The victim declined and told investigators the suspect then grabbed her and forced her into his car and drove to a secluded area on East River Drive in Splendora, where he attempted to sexually assault her, officials said.
The victim was able to get away and ran into the woods, then to a nearby roadway where she flagged down a passing motorist for help.

**probably not a good idea to use your REAL NAME when picking up victims, Terry.

Can Trans People Marry under Texas Law? Don't Ask AG Abbott; He's Busy Right Now

Apparently Attorney General Greg Abbott is so busy suing the federal government that he can't be bothered to answer questions about Texas law from practicing attorneys in Texas which one might think is, you know, his job.

But either way, those of us who work in sex education and as allies and advocates for LGBTQ rights are often vexed by the questions that can bubble up around sex reassignment surgery, like if a bio-man is reassigned to female, could he marry another man as a woman? Or could he marry a woman, as a man?

Just such a case came up in El Paso County this year when a born-male transwoman requested a marriage license to marry her female partner by presenting her birth certificate, which said, of course, that she was male but presented a driver's license that said she was female. The County District Attorney wrote to Abbott for guidance, and was rebuffed pending another lawsuit in the state trying to answer the same question.

So...if a person meets the legal criteria for a marriage license, it would seem to me that they ought to be given the license. Even if they have documents that certify that they're either (or both) male or female, if the County is supposed to grant a license based on supporting documents, I don't see how they can turn down this woman's request.

The football team got good seats

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Shout out to Mr. Jefferson!

You should not have to have a phd to apply for financial aid

Yesss favorite word: boondoggle

We know what works...were just not doing it.

"if were concerned about making sure america stays no 1...we need to make sure everyon has the best education america has to offer." wrong state pal

I want us to produce 8 mil more college graduates by 2012

"Like the texas longhorns you play for first we (america) play for first." confidential to obama: we came in 2nd :(

Woot!

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I am 50 feet from the president

I'm the only one in orange and blue (wahoowah!) in this sea of burnt orange. It's a bit hot for boots and hats but this Texas

New Message

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Lloyd doggett!

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OMG ticket to Obama

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I will be live blogging Obama's speech at UT today. This is a test.

Guys: How to Be Better at Sex

With apologies to my pals at How Players Do It (really? really?), college health colleague Emily Nagoski has written a fantastic treatment of how guys can be better at sex. Read. Learn. Fuck.

Texas Guv'nah Race In Play: Obama to Speak at UT Monday

OMG POTUS @ UT!! This must mean that the DNC believes Bill White actually has a shot at winning and that a well-timed visit from Teh Prez will help. Yours truly has RSVP'd for a press pass so keep your fingers crossed.

In other news, both of our dear senators voted nay on Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court.

Also, neither Rick Perry, who was in San Francisco yesterday, nor White has said anything about the Prop 8 ruling. Confidential to RP: going on vacay to San Fran will not help dispel rumors that you are really gay. Just sayin'.

Video: Dallas Police Chief Saying Exactly What We Said He Said

Via the Dallas Morning News. There's even more here than originally reported--Dallas Police Chief David Brown (the guy responsible for enforcing the law and punishing the offenders, just like they say in "Law & Order") suggesting that the message about drinking and safety needs to be communicated to the victims because, you know, they should have prevented their rape by not drinking and taking a gaggle of other women on their date with them.

I watched this video repeatedly so you don't have to. Here's exactly what he said:

It's relating back to, at least from my preliminary analysis so far this year, a little bit of known offenders, date rape primarily, alcohol is involved, and we're needing to create a message to the victims of these types of crimes on a prevention kind of component related to you know a first date, second date, someone you don't know that well, but you're at a club, you have a little bit too much to drink, having friends or someone help watch you or maybe have someone who doesn't drink in the group...[Reporter: So are we finding more of the victims are reporting the crimes, or...?]...No ma'am, we thought that initially, earlier in the year, but we're finding that these are people that you may go out on a date with and have too much to drink, you don't know them that well, and it ends in a sexual assault. So we're needing to do quite a bit of awareness, education campaign to that victim's group. It's causing the spike. [Reporter: I think it's timely with school going back into session, especially the colleges]...Yes, definitely."

So, sexual assault victims, keep in mind for next time that if drink too much or go on a date alone, you might get raped.

I'm all for educating people about how to stay safe--you know, lock your car, take your keys, don't leave your iPad in the backseat and you reduce your risk of car theft. Watch your drink, don't get hammered, and don't date rapists and you reduce your risk of getting raped.

But women can only be responsible for so much--rapists not raping is the key component of rape prevention that no woman can control. And the reason people go on dates with rapists is not because the perp introduces himself by saying, "Hi, I'm David, I'm a date rapist and I would love to take you out next week." It's because they seem normal until you get to the point at which they won't take no for an answer. Which is what makes them a rapist. Not how much the woman has had to drink .
Suggesting that this message needs to be communicated to victims of sexual assault? Police FAIL.

But damn this man looks good in a uniform.

Update: Dallas Police Chief Totally Didn't Mean It, Ladies!

Via the Dallas Morning News: What Dallas Police Chief "Really" Said.

"I absolutely did not state that the victims are to blame for sexual assault," Brown said. "I do want to continue to emphasize that women be aware of their surroundings and, when possible, travel in pairs or in a group to enhance security around sexual assault," Brown said. "I just think it's irresponsible for bloggers to put inaccurate information in reports to excite or to create this uproar that is not consistent with my statement," Brown said. "They're being irresponsible. This is a very sensitive issue and we really do want to make victims aware of how to protect themselves from these predators."

I think what's irresponsible is that this guy thinks that he can make comments like this at a public meeting with reporters in the audience and think his comments aren't going to, you know, be reported on.

Sorry, Chief Brown--the Texas Legislature hasn't passed any laws (yet) that lets police off the hook for protecting women when they're drinking. But hey, January is a whole new session.

Cornyn to Gay Republicans: "I will do anything you want for $500"

Via the Abilene Reporter News, 100% anti-gay Texas Senator John Cornyn has agreed to attend the Log Cabin Republicans fall fundraiser in Washington this September. From the Senator's own mouth:

“I don’t want people to misunderstand and think that I don’t respect the dignity of every human being regardless of sexual orientation,” Cornyn said.

As in, let's don't talk about the gay stuff and focus on the important things like how many checks y'all can write to the GOP campaign treasure chest, and we can all totally get along! But not like Larry Craig airport bathroom get along though, kay? I think I get what you mean here, Senator, but let's work on those double negatives.

Log Cabin Republians executive director R. Clarke Cooper defended thusly his self-flagellating willingness to engage with politicians who totally hate gay people:

“So our role within the party is to help educate current elected leaders and also educate candidates as to how they can be still true to themselves as far as issues, as far as core conservative, back-to-basics issues without using the gay and lesbian community as a target,” he said.

Yeah...good luck with that. But more importantly, Julie Sunday heartthrob Tucker Carlson is the actual headliner at the September fundraiser. I don't want any person, republican or otherwise, to misunderstand that I don't respect the dignity of and also totally want to bone TC.

Dallas Police Chief to Ladies of Dallas: If you Are Raped in Dallas, It's Probably Your Fault

via Jezebel.

File this under "Oh, for fuck's sake."

Someone hilarious in Dallas is liveblogging the Public Safety Committee Meeting (note to self: congratulations on not becoming a beat reporter, seriously) and the chief of police, David Brown, has a lot of good news to share: murder is down, car theft is down, and robbery is down. Hooray, Dallas! If I ever feel remotely interested in coming to Dallas again (after a brief stopover at Taco Cabana on my road trip back from the East coast) I'll feel safer knowing that, as long as I'm sober, the police probably won't blame me for being the victim of crime.

Unfortunately, rape is up a staggering 23% in the Metroplex this year, and the chief had the following suggestion as to why:

"We're needing to create a message to the victims of this type of crime, related to, you know, someone you don't know that well, you having a little bit too much to drink," explains Chief Brown, suggesting women, "have your friends watch you" if you intend to drink in front of a man.

Sigh. To review: rapists cause rape, not women drinking. Not women dressing in a sexy way, either. Women walking alone on the streets late at night? Also not responsible for rape. Rapists are responsible for rape. They understand this in Scotland--why not Dallas? If you want to call the Police Department's Review Board and suggest that their Chief get a clue about sexual assault, here's their number: 214-670-3246.

Julie Sunday to Judge Air Sex 8/18

For real! My fave student, Mary Lingwall, and I went to the first round of Air Sex at the Alamo Drafthouse last week and have successfully arm-wrestled our way into judging the next round.

So come out Wednesday, August 18th at 10pm, to the Alamo Ritz in Downtown Austin and do your best Air Sex performance. There could be prizes. Beyond a movie theater of people dying to have sex with you, that is.