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Sexual Sanity Awards by Marty Klein
It is Academy Awards time. We are publishing Dr. Marty Klein’s Sexual Sanity Awards, which were originally revealed in his electronic newsletter “Sexual Intelligence” in January 2001. Back issues may be found at www.SexEd.org/sexintel.htm. Here's hoping that America and the world will experience more Sexual Intelligence in 2001.
Sexual Sanity Awards:
As promised, here are the recipients of this year's Sexual Sanity Awards. These awards honor individuals and organizations which challenge the sexual fear, unrealistic expectations, and government hypocrisy that undermine love, sex, and relationships--and political freedom--today.
Winners of the 2000 Awards are:
· NBC's Just Shoot Me
The NBC sitcom recently had Finch [David Spade]'s boyhood friend Bert visiting with surprising news--via surgery, he has become a sexy woman named Brandi. This causes problems for Finch when he becomes attracted to Brandi. "Am I a freak?" wails Finch. This comedy treated the issue of transsexualism with a human, non-condemning touch.
· Philip Roth
Mr. Roth has written dozens of novels portraying sexuality in all its confusing, contradictory, selfish, spiritual reality. "Portnoy's Complaint" scandalized some, but relieved far more people concerned about their sexual normality; subsequent works such as "The Breast," "Deception," "Counterlife," and "Sabbath's Theater" have held up an excruciatingly accurate, and often funny, mirror to our eroticism. Roth routinely describes the masturbation, fantasies, sadism, fetishes, and longings most of us think are unique to us--reducing our isolation and shame, and challenging our culture's deadly code of silence. 2000's "The Human Stain" continues Roth's fearless exploration.
· Philip Kaufman
Mr. Kaufman has written and directed films that have portrayed human sexuality as a potent political force throughout history, including "Henry & June" (depression-era France), "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (Eastern Europe under Communism), and the new "Quills" (Napoleonic Western Europe)--which questions if sexual repression is far more sadistic than the Marquis de Sade ever was.
· Peacefire & Peacefire.org
www.Peacefire.org is the pre-eminent website devoted to exposing the myths surrounding Internet filtering software ("censorware," they call it). After documenting exactly which sites were blocked by popular censorware programs--including Breast Cancer Awareness, Focus on the Family, and N.O.W.--Peacefire itself was added to Cybersitter's list of "pornographic" websites. As the Bush administration attempts to control what we may see on the Internet, Peacefire will become a key resource for attorneys and citizens everywhere.
· The Free Speech Coalition
FSC lobbyists throughout America protect the public's right to make sexual choices, as they track legislation and educate judges and legislators. FSC's legal team is a veritable who's who of First Amendment attorneys, whose most recent success helped overturn Attorney General Reno's interpretation of Internet pornography. FSC's weekly electronic newsletter, Free Speech X-press, provides weekly censorship updates from around the country.
· California & New York Departments of Health
New York and California are the first Medicaid programs to say they will cover RU-486 for poor women under all circumstances. California will cover the pill's use from state-only funds. New York officials note that all FDA-approved drugs must be covered by Medicaid, and they are interpreting RU-486 as one of these. In contrast, most states have not said to what extent they will cover RU-486 for poor women. Officials around the country are protecting their jobs while awaiting federal directive. This article appears in the following topics:
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