The Telegraph: ‘Champing’ moves to Scotland as more churches offer overnight stays

Now the trust is opening the heavy wooden doors to more of its churches thanks to the popularity of “champing”, which has won celebrity endorsement from cricket ace Freddie Flintoff and television presenter Loyd Grossman, who chairs the Churches Conservation Trust. 

The trust cares for some 340 redundant churches across England, 10 of which are now available for overnight stays, and it believes “champing” could breathe new life into other empty churches across the UK. 

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Time: Transgender Men See Sexism From Both Sides

Over the last three years, transgender awareness has exploded. From Orange is the New Black to Transparent, from Janet Mock to Caitlyn Jenner, America has a growing fascination with the lives of transgender people, most recently in light of recent debates over controversial bathroom laws. But the spotlight on trans issues has mostly been focused on transgender women, and transgender men have been largely left out of the narrative. Our cultural obsession with feminine beauty contributes to the imbalance. “Women’s appearances get more attention, women’s actions are commented on and critiqued more than men, so in that world it just makes sense that people will focus more on trans women than trans men,” says Julia Serano, a transgender activist and author of Whipping Girl. (Because most surveys ask people to identify as male or female but not cisgender or transgender, the size of the transgender population in America is unclear, though one study suggests there are about 700,000 trans people in the U.S.; it’s nearly impossible to know how many of them are trans men.) [...]

Many trans men I spoke with said they had no idea how rough women at work had it until they transitioned. As soon as they came out as men, they found their missteps minimized and their successes amplified. Often, they say, their words carried more weight: They seemed to gain authority and professional respect overnight. They also saw confirmation of the sexist attitudes they had long suspected: They recalled hearing female colleagues belittled by male bosses, or female job applicants called names.

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The Huffington Post: On Bisexual Erasure in the Queer Community

I’ve had straight and queer friends assume I’ve never dated anyone but women simply because of who I’m dating right now. I’ve had lesbian friends make fun of people who like men, and I’ve had queer friends say that one day I’ll eventually “pick” a “side.” [...]

Every relationship I’ve had, whether it was a hookup, a long-term monogamous coupling, an open-dating situation or anything else, has mattered to me.

When people rather I call myself a lesbian because they don’t like the word “queer,” or get confused by bisexuality, they’re stripping me of years of relationships and connections, romantic and sexual.

But more importantly, they’re asking me to strip away different versions of myself to make them more comfortable. I was once a total boy-obsessed straight girl. I was that person for over a decade. I’m not going to just ditch that younger version of myself, or act like I was hiding some sort of queerness the entire time.

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The Huffington Post: Why The Controversy Over An Israeli General’s Holocaust Comments Matters

But Golan’s inflammatory framing may be less significant than the fact that he chose to admonish his fellow citizens so passionately on one of the country’s most solemn holidays. He is part of a growing trend of Israeli military leaders leveraging the considerable prestige they enjoy in Israeli society to condemn what they see as the reactionary excesses of the Israeli public and political class. [...]

Perhaps more surprisingly, Israel’s senior-most military figure, chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, drew right-wing condemnation after a February speech to high schoolers in which he emphasized the importance of avoiding shooting Palestinian assailants whenever possible.

And Israel’s chief of military intelligence, Maj. General Herzl Halevi, told Israel’s governing cabinet in March that the Palestinian youth trying to harm Israelis are motivated, at least in part, by despair over their poor prospects in life. The assertion contradicted Netanyahu’s position that incitement in Palestinian media, and its tolerance by Palestinian leaders, are the sole drivers of the attacks. A cabinet minister reportedly criticized Halevi during the meeting for not emphasizing incitement enough.

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Los Angeles Times: Sanders and Democratic officials are engaged in an escalating dispute over Nevada violence

Their anger spilled into public view over the weekend as Sanders supporters at the Nevada convention threw chairs, tried to shout down Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), vandalized buildings and made death threats against the state party chairwoman after Hillary Clinton won more pledged delegates than the Vermont senator. [...]

That some Sanders supporters in Nevada appear to have embraced aggressive behavior despite an earlier plea from the Vermont senator that they work with other Democrats "respectfully and constructively" shows that Sanders may not have full control of his backers, said Nevada political analyst Jon Ralston. 

“Sanders has unleashed something that I don’t think even he knew he would unleash," Ralston said. "Has he started this wildfire that he can’t put out?"

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The Washington Post: Mexican president proposes legalizing gay marriage

For a country that remains predominantly Catholic, and a region with a history of conservative social mores, Peña Nieto’s announcement marks a significant evolution. While same-sex marriage has been legal in Mexico City and some states, many parts of the country don’t allow it and have fought legal battles to protect their vision of traditional marriage between a man and a woman. [...]

Peña Nieto’s proposal would also revise the federal civil code in various ways to eliminate discriminatory or outdated provisions. Among them, the prevailing legal concept that marriage is for the preservation of the human species would be eliminated, along with a rule that prevents women from remarrying for 300 days after a divorce. Such rules, “frankly, were archaic,” said Humberto Castillejos, a legal adviser to the president.

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