The Influential Essay

     Last year I was wondering if there had been any studies done on the LGBT community in engineering.  After some searching I found an thesis paper titled "Navigating the Heteronormativity of Engineering: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students"  By Erin A. Cech.  It's a lengthy read, but very insightful on how a number of LGBT people tend to stay closeted in engineering through a majority of their college lives.  I thank you Erin, you helped me realize that I can help people understand that LGBT are in every field.
     Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving weekend.  Finals are around the corner, wish me luck!
Here's the link to the paper:  http://crgp.ucsd.edu/documents/CechandWaidzunasNavigatingHeteronormativityofEngring.pdf

And good luck to those who are also heading towards finals week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

      I hope you all had a delicious and wonderful Thanksgiving!  Drive safely, I know there are a lot of accidents that can happen on Black Friday shopping.  I won't be going, too much of a hassle.  Well, I'll write more later, have an awesome long weekend!  Enjoy the warm weather while it lasts!

Ethical Dilemma

        A while ago I worked at a children's summer camp.  It was there that arose an ethical dilemma, one that could be an interesting court case.  One of the camper's had been diagnosed with autism, that was severe enough that he had to accompanied by an aide.  Over the course of the camp the counselor's realized that he was raised in an evangelical Christian family, and was homophobic.  There was another kid who attended the camp who was openly gay.  I found myself wondering what the legal outcome would be if they ever physically fought,  in the end it's a gay child verses one with a developmental disorder.  What are some of your thoughts?

Observations

        The other day I was eating lunch with two of my engineering friends, both straight and female.  They brought up the interesting point on how all the guys they like in the engineering department have been with their girlfriends for years.  They then compared this to themselves, who were both dating guys for eight months to a year, and then their boyfriends broke up with them.  So why is it that male engineers have the ability to date someone for years, and female engineers can't?
       I realize that the length of a relationship does depend on various factors.  One thing that I've noticed is that most engineers who are already in a relationship go to a different school than their partner.  I know distance can have a strain on relationships.  It could be that the two people were just never meant to be together.  However, I've always wondered if some guys think that women in engineering are intimidating.  I know that we take difficult classes, which force us to study from Sunday through Thursday on a good week.  Or is it that women are the minority and that men are afraid that they might cheat?  Any thoughts you guys have on the topic are welcome.  I understand that I am somewhat of an outsider on this, being gay and all.  Welp, have an awesome weekend!

Obama, 4 more years

    I now have the chance of marrying the one that I love; of getting hospital visitation rights; of everything!  Also, now if one(or more) of the Supreme Court Justices steps down we will have a court that accepts that there are gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transsexuals in our society deserve rights.  Will be celebrating!!!

The Election

     The election terrifies me.  So far it's been really close, and as of Oct. 28th are:  48% to 48% Obama and Romney respectively (Gallup).  It terrifies me as an LGBT member.  I'm afraid that DADT will be put back into place, afraid that I will not be able to marry the one I love.  Back home they are having an amendment on the ballot that could ban gay marriage.  That one is close to half for, and half against.  We say that our government is a separation of church and state, yet this clearly isn't the case.
     One thing that I find interesting is that we only seem to hear Christians speaking to ban gay marriage.  I have always wanted to know how the Muslims, Hindus, Jewish, etc. communities feel about the LGBT community.  If anyone knows comment or email me.