The XX Factor: What women really think.

Girls Love Vampires Because We Want To Have Sex With Gay Guys?

The real root of the vampire trend, according to Stephen Marche at Esquire, is that straight women want to have sex with gay guys. It’s an interesting thesis, but I’m not buying it ... (Read more in DoubleX.)

A New Day for New Delhi's Gays

Good news to wake up to: New Delhi's highest court has decriminalized homosexuality—for New Delhians, at least.

The law overturns Section 377 of India's penal code, a colonial-era statute that prohibits "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal" ... (Read more at DoubleX.com.)

Obama's Move on Gay Rights: Not Really a "First Step"

The talking point about Obama’s memo on domestic partnerships is that “It’s a first step.” Obama said it, and John Berry, the openly gay head of the Office of Personnel Management, has been repeating it all day. The implication is that the administration is ready to march proudly down the path of ever more gay freedom and equality. This strikes me as only half believable, as Emily pointed out yesterday. All the administration did was scan the existing law and see where they could apply it without violating the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). That counts as barely a step at all... (To read the rest of this post, visit our new website DoubleX.com!)

The Obama Straddle, in Three Acts

As riveting images and stories pour out of Iran, the Obama administration's lack of moral clarity today is getting to me. As in:

The State Department asked Twitter to defer maintenance so that Iranians could keep using the site to organize and inform, but Obama could only bring himself to say that he found the violence "deeply troubling," a muted response in the circumstances, as my colleague John Dickerson pointed out.

The administration will announce some benefits for the partners of gay federal employees today, but not full health insurance... (To read the rest of this post, visit our new website DoubleX.com!)