Local journalist, Jon Ralston, sparks national conversation with ode to trans son

Last week, Jon Ralston showed us his rarely seen softer side when he published The child I love to his Ralston Reports blog. The post served as a love letter to his child, who legally transitioned from female Maddy to male Jake that same day. When Maddy Ralston came into this world almost 21 years…

Exploring girlhood, Part 2: Different for girls

Editor’s note: This is the second in a four-part series with the question, “What does it mean to be a girl?” In the series we have explored the way society defines and confines girlhood, as well as gender in general. (Click here for part 1.) (Trigger Warning) All week I’ve been thinking about De’Liza’s post…

AB230 testimony: I speak for the unwanted and abused

For those of you who did not attend and/or watch the marathon Nevada State Senate committee hearing on the comprehensive sex education bill (AB230) yesterday… I don’t even know where to begin. A lot of it was pretty much like the April 1 Assembly hearing, but the fierce factor was definitely dialed up a notch…

An open letter to the Anti Sex Ed crowd

Dear Anti Sex Ed Crowd: Greetings and salutations! I bet you’re surprised to hear from me. After all, you’ve spent some time lately calling me a terrible mother (on television no less) because I advocate for a much-needed update to Nevada’s sex education standards — originally passed at the height of the AIDS-panic-1980s — that…

Lower Ed: The absurdist theater at the NV Leg sex ed hearing

Although it was April 1, the hearing on the comprehensive sex education bill (AB230), was no joke. Except when it was hilarious — in a decidedly macabre, nihilistic, dark-comedy sort of way. I sat through four-and-a-half hours of discussion and testimony on AB230 — which seeks to amend and update existing sex ed curriculum, passed…