Nigel
Hometown: Wichita
Favorite writer: Edgar Allen Poe is my guilty pleasure
Favorite sex scene from a movie/TV/book: Donna and Max's first encounter in Obvious Child because it's super realistic and not one of those 'steamy-bumping-into-all-the-
Hidden Talent: Being able to lip sync Bohemian Rhapsody almost perfectly
Posts By: Nigel Morton
Kansas Gambles with Tax Money to Punish Planned Parenthood
For a state that is struggling with a historically significant budget crisis, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback and his supporters in the legislature sure do know how to gamble tax dollars on actions and legislation that are federally prohibited. In his state address last week, Governor Brownback announced that he was going to follow through on his promise to remove Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri (PPKM). According to his letter to the Kansas Secretary of Health and Environment, Governor Brownback’s direction to end Medicare funding to PPKM was “based on their affiliation with the national Planned Parenthood Federation of America and other information provided by [the department].” While the letter is vague in what exactly that information was, it is presumed that the information was that the… Read more »
These are the Characters You’re Looking For
Warning: mild SPOILERS for the newest Star Wars film ahead When it was announced that Disney made a deal with George Lucas to buy out the Star Wars series, I was worried. I expected Disney to warp it into the common princess/damsel in distress trope, but Disney and J.J. Abrams came through and created a female character with more depth than many major film franchises are afraid to give to their female leads, including the original Star Wars trilogy. Not only that, but the cast chosen for Star Wars: The Force Awakens’s central trio is basically perfect and handle dumb questions like the one’s about BB-8’s gender (more correctly, lack thereof) with such grace. I also have high hopes for an open and repeatedly recognized gay relationship between a former… Read more »
5 Victories of 2015
2015 has been a turbulent year to say the least. Activists continue to work fearlessly through media attacks and very real violent attacks. There is still work to do, but I want to take a moment here to reflect on some of 2015’s social justice victories for women’s rights, the LGBTQcommunity, and #BlackLivesMatter movement. Transgender Homecoming Queen In a surge of moving supporting of the trans girl they voted in as homecoming queen, high school students in the Kansas City area staged a successful counter protest to the Westboro Baptist Church. Mizzou Mixed results came out the student movement at the University of Missouri. Student activists, joined by some faculty members, were able to oust their racist president, Tim Wolfe. Their success was met by strong opposition from white supremacists,… Read more »
The Reproductive Justice Case for Taking in Refugees
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” These words come from a statue given to the United States as a gift from our oldest ally, who just experienced a horrific tragedy. People should stand with France, but people need to be also aware of the tragedies that happened in Beirut and Baghdad and the on-going violent turmoil in Syria. Unfortunately, these attacks that have been claimed by ISIL have further reinforced islamaphobic and xenophobic rhetoric that further threatens the lives of refugees, two-thirds of which are women and children. Saying that refugees have no place in the United States misses a few… Read more »
What Student Activists Should Take Away From Mizzou
The University of Missouri is having a historic fall semester of immense social change. A series of student and faculty demonstrations against systematic racism at the university just forced their president to step down. Happening at the same time, graduate students protested health care cuts the university had made. This resulted in the unionization of graduate workers and direct action taken by the faculty council to fix it. The momentum built by the student efforts is influencing colleges across state boarders including in my home state, Kansas. Kansans and Missourians have a rivalry that dates back to Bleeding Kansas, when towns burned over the slavery debate. Missourians and citizens of the then Kansas-Nebraska territory battled over whether or not slavery would be part of the Kansas economy. The Kansan abolitionists… Read more »
The Consequences of Poor Sex-Ed
Recently, I stumbled on a sample of the abstinence book we used in my freshman health class in high school. Beside the fact it has not changed a single bit of content since 2003, its content is completely inaccurate. It hasn’t even changed the legal definition of marriage. It also provides small glimpse into the heteronormative conditioning that our inconsistent sex-education standards brings out. Starting with issue of even receiving some type of education, only 22 states require some type of sex-education curricula. Of those, 12 cover sexual orientation, and 9 have “no promo homo” laws that require open discrimination against queer youth. There are many school districts that also discriminate without help from their government. This fosters a hostile school and community environment for a teen who is out,… Read more »
Political Representation or the Lack Thereof
Hillary Clinton, Ben Carson, Bobby Jindal, and Carly Fiorina are the only people running for a presidential nomination who are not white men.* That’s 4 of 21. That’s 19%. There are 2 women running for president. That’s not even 10%. A recent photo series by British Elle awesomely illustrates the gender disparity in politics by taking pictures from different political happenings and taking all the men out. So often I hear people asking why it’s taking too long to make long term change in how our country deals with racism and sexism. I just want to show people these numbers. White men seem to continue benefit under the laws because they are the ones writing the laws. They wouldn’t even consider passing laws banning erectile dysfunction medication under the same… Read more »
Debunking Some Misconceptions Around Islam
Recent statements by conservative presidential hopeful Ben Carson on Islam, actions by University of Missouri students, and the controversy started by some alumni of Wichita State University over a chapel were just small reminders that this country has a problem with bigotry against Islam that has barely changed since right after 9/11. In response to the increasingly islamaphobic rhetoric, I wanted to debunk a few common myths. (Note: I am not an expert in the religion but I did consult with some devout Muslim friends of mine to avoid perpetuating any misconceptions of my own. So please, after reading this article I encourage you to do some research of your own.) 1. All Muslims are Arab Somehow people have come to believe Islam is only an Arab practice. This might be… Read more »
Female Genital Mutilation as a Domestic Issue
Recently my URGE chapter at Wichita State hosted the president and founder of the Keep Girls Safe Foundation Sien Lengeju. Keep Girls Safe’s work is focused on ending female genital mutilation (FGM) in Kenya and here in the States. Before hosting the presentation, I was slightly aware of the issue across the Atlantic but completely ignorant to the problem in our own country, and I know many others are just like me in this. So I want to share a little bit of what I learned to help spread awareness for Keep Girls Safe’s cause. There are three common terms for FGM which are female genital mutilation, female circumcision, and female genital cutting. Each term carries its own respective connotation that give a different meaning to the human rights violation…. Read more »
Bisexuality and Queer Policing
This Saturday kicked off my town’s week long pride festival. It was a small outdoor concert and variety show at our town’s Native American center. It was full of great organizational tables, good local food, and good music. The MC was a black trans woman who was fabulous; the whole event was pretty fabulous. Overall, it was a super inclusive community event that even included a couple of drag kings. There was one point with a call and answer part where they would call out an orientation or gender and that respective group would cheer back. It was a great way to pep up the crowd, and it worked. Unfortunately one group was left out. No, not straight allies. They were recognized, too. Bisexual men and women didn’t even get… Read more »
