“International Business Times”

Geraldine Roman is the Philippines’ First Transgender Congresswoman

Filipina Congresswoman Geraldine Roman (CNN)

Filipina Congresswoman Geraldine Roman (CNN)

The Philippines made history earlier this month when the country’s congress elected its first transgender member.

Geraldine Roman won her seat with 62% of the vote, judging by reporting from 99% of districts, and she’ll represent the northern Bataan province’s first district.

Roman’s platform included banning any anti-LGBT discrimination and making gender changes legal.

This is a giant progressive step for a country in which divorce, abortion, and same-sex marriage are illegal. It’s also illegal for a transperson to change their name and sex. There have also not been any gay or lesbian politicians serving at the national level.

No Shit: People Who Have More Sex Are Happier

Couple in bed (Nairobi Today)

Couple in bed (Nairobi Today)

Happy Friday! Here comes a stat, courtesy of everyone’s favorite superhero Captain Obvious:

The more sex you have, the happier you’ll be.

Please tell me this is common sense and not an earth-shattering revelation.

According to a 2014 study from the University of Colorado-Boulder, led by researcher Tim Wadsworth, there’s a direct correlation between frequency of sexual activity and a person’s “happiness quotient.” And these two factors fed off each other:

“Those who reportedly had more sex were seen to be experience more happiness and vice versa.”

Since this is self-reported information, it’s hard to tell the degree to which subjects experienced more happiness. But hey, if they felt it, they felt it.

But Wadsworth has certainly done his due diligence in determining this assessment: He interviewed 15K+ subjects.

What are Common Personality Traits of Women Who’ve Read the “Fifty Shades of Grey” Trilogy?

'Fifty Shades of Grey' still (The Tipsy Verse)

‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ still (The Tipsy Verse)

Now that we’ve all seen “Fifty Shades of Grey” (or are waiting for Netflix/Redbox/not-so-legal means), we can all relax until the franchise’s next installment comes out.

Until then, you have time to catch up on the rest of the trilogy. But that might say certain things about your personality.

Last year, Michigan State University researchers found that women who had read the erotic trilogy were “more likely to have a verbally abusive partner with stalker traits and eating disorders than non-readers.” The study polled 655 women ages 18-24, and was published in the “Journal of Women’s Health.” The subjects were divided into thirds of non-readers (those who hadn’t read any of the books), one-book readers (those who’d only read the first book) and three-book readers (those who’d read the entire trilogy).

Compared to women who hadn’t read the books, women who had read them reported more abusive behavior in relationships: They were 25% more likely to have been yelled at by a partner, and 34% more likely to have had a potential stalker.

But it’s unclear whether the subjects engaged in this behavior before reading the books, so we can’t say definitively that the books influenced them.