Category: Op-Eds

Bisexuality is not a fad

Posted by | Mar 2, 2024

Historically, queer people have feared coming out because of the societal and physical abuse that those who had the courage to embrace their true identities faced; currently, bisexual individuals fear society will invalidate their identity. In some situations, bisexuality is something people fetishize as new or hip. Bisexuality is neither a meme nor a sham, and while I am grateful that as a society we are not shaming people for their queerness, it is also inhumane to fetishize someone for their identity.

Read More

Proposed pornography ban threatens American right to degeneracy

Posted by | Feb 21, 2024

Senator and evangelical Christian Dusty Deevers (R-Okla.) proposed a bill on Feb. 5 that would make creating or viewing pornography a felony. Oklahoma Senate Bill 1976 attempts to ban all materials portraying “sexual conduct,” including not only depictions of sexual intercourse but also “deviate” sexual acts such as sodomy and “sadomasochistic abuse.” Deever’s proposed law is an abhorrent violation of privacy and another unfortunate example of American conservatism’s oppressive nature. The proposition is emblematic of a long tradition of regressive ideals that strip individuals of their freedom of sexual expression. Degeneracy is an arbitrary, subjective and deeply reactionary measure of morality that condemns non-conformity and creates social stigma against already oppressed groups. The concept of degeneracy does not condemn actual harmful practices, such as rape and assault. Degeneracy is a socially constructed tool used to suppress the voices of sexual minorities by labeling them as deviant and unnatural.

Read More

Peace: A response beyond retaliation in the Middle East

Posted by | Feb 20, 2024

“We shall respond,” said President Joe Biden after the strike — and he did so in an unproductive and violent manner. I fear what this response will look like and how it will hurt people who have already been harmed by self-indulgent nations like the United States, which evidently considers the lives of its people to be more valuable than others across the world. The United States could have responded with grace and compassion. Instead of responding with bombing or inhumane economic sanctions, governments should send in non-governmental organizations or nonprofits into regions where extremism runs rampant. Give people of other nationalities the gift of order and sanctuary by meeting people’s basic needs for food, shelter and water before losing all sympathy and devastating the land surrounding their homes and livelihoods.

Read More