The book is the 2005 (believe it or not) Pantheon publication, The Riddle of Gender: Science, Activism, and Transgender Rights authored by journalist and science writer (Johns Hopkins University) Deborah Rudacill. Rudacill began her research all because a friend had decided to transition and she wanted to know more. As a science writer she take a look at the detailed science behind gender make up but, as an investigative journalist she also looks at the very real human emotional issues. She accomplishes the latter by, among other things, interview six transgender “subjects” in depth about their lives and experience. It’s pretty compelling stuff.

Rudacill, like the best journalists, comes at her subject with open, unbiased eyes. She’s not personally transgender and only took up her study out of her own, innate curiosity. She’s objective. There’s no slant and no bias here. You’ll get some history, you’ll get a feel for the past and (fairly) present religious influence on the debate of gender topics – remember this was written in 2005. You’ll get the results of modern science (circa, again, 2005) and you’ll get personal stories from 6 very real people whom she skillfully drew out.

I learned quite a bit from this book. I have better understanding now of what it means to be transgender and what effects social policies and influences have on those who are.

Susan Adams was what the LGBT community terms a “late bloomer”. So too was her partner, Mary. They met in 2004 after having both led more traditional lives as seemingly heterosexual women. The combined households in 2006 and started a life and family (with foster children) together. In 2009, that all changed when Mary died very unexpectedly.

This book, Always Kiss Me Goodnight, describes the life Susan and Mary were building together and then, after Mary’s death, the next two years of tumult, turmoil and coping for Susan. It was her “tornado” as she calls it. It’s about family, friends, coming out, loving and loss. It’s about putting all the pieces back together and, while never forgetting, getting on with living.

I admit it. I cried reading both this book and the book from three weeks ago. Actually, with this one – which was so much more in depth with one woman’s story – I bawled. That said, please don’t think this book is all sad. It’s not. There’s love here and there’s hope here. Susan is making it through one day at a time. She’s strong. Now president of an organization dedicated to preserving the backgrounds and family histories of children in the foster care system, she’s taking things as they come and doing good things.

Stay with me here for a moment, please. The 2009 book Hero by Perry Moore, at first glance has a little bit in common with the 2005 Disney movie Sky High where high school students are superheros. Maybe the late, very famous Mr. Moore (screenwriter, director and executive producer of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe movie series) got a bit of inspiration for his award winning (Lambda Literary Award) book from that movie. He just took the premise several steps further if that was, in fact, the case. Maybe I’m way of base.

Regardless of the inspiration to write Hero, the story has an appealing premise and a great plot that will appeal not only to teens but also to comic book style super heros…if they can put down the comics long enough to read a novel, that is!

The synopsis:

Thom is a high school basketball star who realizes he has a special power to heal. He and his father, now a factory worker (and a disgraced former superhero), don’t see eye to eye. Imagine that, a teenager at odds with a parent…but, I digress. Thom gets to a point where he can’t deny his powers any longer and he joins “The League” and begins learning the ways of the hero. One problem though; Thom is gay. When he comes out, the league doesn’t want him anymore. The thing is, there are dark things going on within the league. Thom gets tangled up in the mess and works with the other lesser type heroes on his team to solve the mystery and save the world.

Don’t let the initial “high school” setting of this book, or the age of the main character dissuade you from reading this if you’re over 17. This is a great story with some teen angst themes and some very adult themes.

Being gay or lesbian and being Christian are not mutually exclusive. Not to me, not to many people I know including my pastor, straight and gay members of my church, and not to Pastor R. D. Weekly. Pastor Weekly coined the word “Homosexianity” and defines what it means in his 2009 book, Homosexianity: Letting Truth Win The Devastating War Between Scripture, Faith & Sexual Orientation.

Pastor Weekly is the founder and pastor of New Revelation Christian Church and founder and president of Judah First Ministries, in St. Louis. He is also the host and moderator of an internet ministry for what he terms the HBIT (Homosexual, Bisexual, Intersexual, and Transsexual) community.

His book, though nearly three years old, is as timely as they come given the politically charged American national debate regarding gay marriage with those on the religious right associating being lesbian or gay with being of no Christian morals or values and being condemned in the Bible and LGBT identified people and their supporters taking an opposite viewpoint. No, it’s not just another “Gay Christian” book. Pastor Weekly’s book, rather than only examining the Bible passages that are commonly used to condemn gays (also known as the “clobber passages”), or offering alternate interpretations of those same verses, examines those with fresh perspective and also examines what he terms the “Proof Texts”.

Of particular interest to me was the discussion in chapter 4, “Is Anything Holy About Gay Matrimony”. I think you’ll find his position, based on his research and study, to be enlightening whether you support or oppose same sex marriage. I also found Chapter 6 to be very interesting; “Reexamining the Culture of the Church.

Pastor Weekly takes a very loving approach to everything he says in his book. He ends the book with some of his own background and how his decision to become a gay affirming pastor affected himself, his traditional marriage, and his family.

People around the world, many for the first time, could say they knew someone living with AIDS. As an out gay man and an AIDS educator being on The Real World gave Zamora a platform to educate millions and to raise awareness about the disease. He took full advantage. He subtly taught his housemates and, later, when he would go out and teach in schools and at public events, a couple would even go with him.

Pedro Zamora’s roommate in the set house in San Francisco was Judd Winick. Judd, an aspiring comic book creator and a self described libral, was – at first – uncomfortable rooming with a man with AIDS. As time went on, and Pedro subtly educated him, the two became close friends. In 2000, Judd published the then ground breaking graphic novel about their friendship, Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned. The book was re-released in 2009 with a new cover and an all new forward by Judd. It is a tribute to their friendship, a stark reminder of the scourge of AIDS, and a bow to the dynamic Pedro and it’s still highly regarded 12 years after its initial publication.

In 2009 the movie, Pedro was released by Wolfe Video, the LGBT powerhouse video distributor. It stars Alex Loynaz as Zamora and and other notables as his family and friends. It was penned by “Milk” screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and directed by Nick Oceano. The movie chronicles Pedro’s life and lessons. While it does cover his time in The Real World 3 San Francisco house, it’s about much, much more than that. It doesn’t dwell for an extended length on a time when his life (and the lives of his other housemates) was dominated by “Puck”, another Season 3 cast member/housemate.

The housemates moved out of The Real World house in June of 1994. Episodes began airing immediately after they left. Pedro Zamora died in November of 1994, the day after the last episode of The Real World 3 aired. May he rest forever in peace.

MTV.com episodes of the Real World 3 – San Francisco

Due to a scheduling snafu created between my two jobs, I’m working a weird mid-morning into evening shift today. I won’t get a thing done at home and, when I’m come sliding in around 7:30ish, all I’ll be thinking about is dinner for me and “The Boy”. My wife will be off to the night shift. Oh well…maybe The Boy will cook…NOT!

My wife had to work the evening of Valentines day too and that’s the day I was off instead of today. We went out last weekend to celebrate a few days early. Tuesday night, home alone, I watched the now hit on video 2011 Indie film Judas Kiss starring  Brent Corrigan, Charlie David, Richard Harmon, Timo Descamps and Julia Morizawa. The movie was directed by J.T. Tepnapa.

The basic premise of the movie: Washed up film maker Zach Wells (Charlie David) goes back to his film making school alma mater to judge a scholarship competition. Past, present and future collide as Zach first beds and then later meets at the competition one of the modern day contestants, Danny Reyes playing the role representing Zach’s past (before he changed his name). Zach has has to convince Danny to change his current path and, thus change his future life.

There’s a bit of a need to accept the science fiction element of this film but not too much. It does involve an odd sort of time travel after all. There’s a bit of romance and there’s a lot of fine drama and emotion by all concerned. This is a very well plotted film with a great “what if” story line. What if we could go back in time and change the course of our lives? What if we could be our young selves again? Would we see things differently? Would we change anything?

One of the things I really enjoyed about this movie was that it’s one of the few “gay” films out there that isn’t about being gay or some aspect of the gay experience. It’s a drama where the lead character happens to be gay, period. How totally refreshing! And, it’s no wonder the movie is doing so well with mainstream audiences!

I really watched this movie intently. It’s not a movie that invokes a stressful, edge of your seat sort of deal though. It’s just a bit over 90 minutes of drama and emotion that keeps your eyes glued and your mind spinning. What if we could go back in time as ourselves and meet our young selves? What would we do?

For now however, we’re not going to talk about her fiction. Since you all know my love of biographies, we’re going to talk about Rita Mae herself and her 1999 autobiography, Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser.

Rita Mae is now the bestselling author of the Sister Jane novels and the Sneaky Pie Brown mysteries (a personal favorite of mine…even though I’m a dog person). She’s also penned  a well regarded writer’s manual. She’s a talented writer who writes with both humor and passion. Her autobiography is no different. I laughed out loud and then I laughed even harder.

No punches are pulled here. She tells it like it is/was! You’ll hear about her “former” loves retired tennis star Martina Navratilova and author and actress Fannie Flagg. You’ll hear about her birth, her adoption, her family, her cat and everything surrounding all of it. It’s quite a tale and it’s a tale that will keep you turning pages until the end.

Quite honestly, I hope she writes an update and continues her story soon! I’d be very interested in hearing what she’s been up to – besides writing best sellers – for the past 12 years.

Kennedy’s book documents the the first known female to male transition of Laura Dillon to Michael Dillon…later Dr. Michael Dillon. This is a complex story not only of a transition but also of the first efforts of gender reassignment surgery, a bit of romance, and a constant search for self. Dillon struggled all his life to find happiness. Despite published formal reviews of the book, he never really did.

The synopsis of the book:

Born into a wealthy family near the beginning of the 20th century, Laura Dillon attended Oxford University and went on to become a doctor, a published author, and, eventually, a man named Michael. At Oxford, she tried to identify as a homosexual, but that didn’t quite fit; it would be years before the words transsexual or transgendered were coined. In 1939, Dillon began to experiment with a new drug, testosterone. Her life changed after meeting Dr. Gillies, a practitioner in the emerging field of plastic surgery, who performed several operations to reconfigure Dillon’s anatomy. Upon meeting Roberta Crowell in 1949, Michael believed that he had found his soul mate. Born and raised as a man, Crowell was in the process of transforming into a woman. Following a failed love affair, Dillon traveled to India to study Buddhism. He died a pauper after finally discovering happiness among monks in Tibet. He left a legacy of notebooks, memoirs, and a groundbreaking treatise on the nature of sex and gender. These form the basis of Kennedy’s narrative, which leapfrogs back and forth across Dillon’s life. Kennedy traces the emotional isolation and triumphs throughout Dillon’s struggle to define himself according to his own rules. The author peppers the text with historical details of early-20th-century medicine and evolving notions of gender in Western society. This story is fascinating to modern readers whether or not they have personal questions about gender.—Heidi Dolamore, San Mateo County Library, CA

Reviewers either love or hate this book. Many seem to love to hate it. My opinion? I think Kennedy did a very credible job researching and presenting an unbiased report of a man, really of two people, at the dawn of our understanding of what it means to be transgender and of one man at the forefront of gender reassignment surgery. Don’t read this to get at Dillons emotions. Read this for the incredible history lesson that it is.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all of my LGBT brothers and sisters everywhere, around the world! I hope that you get to spend the day with someone that you love or, if that’s not possible, thinking good thoughts about all of those in your life who make you smile and who make it all worthwhile.

I’m working a 12 hour day today between my part time and full time jobs and my wife works a 12 hour overnight shift tonight after coming off of one last night. We’ll be two ships passing this morning when she stumbles through the door tired in the next hour or so. Oh well! We spent a nice evening together this past weekend and we’re planning a long weekend road trip in the early part of Spring.

So far, this year has gotten off to a great start for my wife and I. Also, I see the economy beginning to improve and jobs are starting to trickle – slowly – back.  I see some road bumps ahead for the country as we swing into the full on mud slinging political onslaught that is the presidential campaign trail. While we must be cognizant of who the future leader of this country is, we must remain involved in the issues that already surround us and affect our lives right here, right now.

We’ve come so far. We still have so far to go. Witness what’s happening in California. A second high court (a 3 judge panel from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals)  has declared Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage, to be unconstitutional. This is based on the argument that a group of Californian’s were granted a specific right and then it was taken away from them. This lessens the applicability of the ruling having any impact on a national scale however, Prop 8 backers have the right to appeal the ruling to a larger circuit panel or to the Supreme Court. In either case, the argument would be “reframed” to have applicability to the marriage laws in all states. We could well see this issue go before the Supreme Court in the next year and have a Supreme Court decision that grants us equal marriage rights once and for all.

Valentine’s Day, a day that traditionally is marked with professions of love and devotion and, often, a day of marriage proposals and of weddings, is the perfect day to think about our rights to marry our same sex partners. Love is love! Please consider organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and Freedom To Marry as you go about your life today. What one thing can you do, big or small, to further the cause of love?

And, this just in from the It Gets Better campaign:

I recently had the pleasure of receiving an advance copy to read and review of the soon to be published science fiction novel Slipstream by new author Michael Offutt. The book will be released in May of this year by Double Dragon Publishing. At this point, the cover art isn’t even done so I don’t have that to show you. While I know it’s hardly fair to present you with a recommendation for a book you can’t visualize or get yet, I can promise you that this one will be worth the wait.

Author Michael Offutt

I could attempt to give you all of Michael’s background here but I think that’s better left for him to tell: Michael Offutt Blog. I’ve included a link to his blog in the blog roll on the right and I’ve also added him to the “Author” page.

If you’re a sci-fi fan already (I’m admittedly not much of one), then you know that finding good sci-fi with lesbian or gay characters is difficult. For some reason trans or androgynous characters seem to abound in the genre but, I digress. This book fills that void from a gay male perspective but it does it in a way that being gay isn’t central to the story. It’s just one part of what makes a main character tick. That’s as it should be. This book should have broad appeal to a mainstream audience looking for some good sci-fi with a “different” twist where that twist isn’t all about the science.

First, the publisher’s synopsis of the book:

Jordan is crazy good at fixing situations that have gone bad. It’s a talent prized by his high school ice hockey team. However, when a car accident puts Jordan in the hospital, he wakes up with more than just an amazing slapshot in his toolbox. Jordan can manipulate space-time and in just a few weeks, he’ll depend on it to save his life.

When earthlings detonated the first atomic bomb in 1945, something incredible happened. The detonation triggered an extinction level event on a parallel world. A computer program saved humanity and became the ruler of this place. However, its brilliant mind fragmented and became insane.

Jordan’s power strands him in this nightmare universe. To get home, he becomes a professional in a sport where athletes are killed to boost network ratings. To survive, he discovers that the most broken among us can be fixed and that love is unpredictable. Near the end, he also learns a startling truth about his own birth. If he fails to fix the computer’s insanity, both Earth and this sister world are doomed.

That’s an accurate, though very brief, overview of the story. Offutt did an incredible job developing the character of Jordan, his twin sister Kathy and another key character, Kolin. You get a real sense of who these characters are, how they look, how they feel and how they think as you wind through the story.

The science and the fiction employed here were drawn as skillfully as the characters. The entire “slipstream” aspect was completely believable. Some of the other actual science, I’m sorry to say, went over my head but – again – Sci-Fi is not a genre I normally reach for. Avid readers should be just fine.

The fiction elements that make up the other half of the genre were, in one case, genius. The whole concept of “life green” is fascinating. I tried to find other instances where a sci-fi writer – or any writer for that matter – used a similar plot device and I failed. Maybe someone has done something similar but I couldn’t find it!

I did have a couple of small bones to pick with the book which, I’m happy to say, the author explained away quite well. I felt there was some missing information in the early pages with regards to Jordan and his twin and the life situation they’re in on earth. I had a few nagging questions that never got answered by the story. I also felt the ending was a bit rushed. After 385 pages, I wanted a bit more detail! Michael tells me his that his first draft of the book exceeded 170,000 words (wow!). Publishers look for works that max out at 100,000. He says he managed to cut 50,000 words out of the text (mostly description) without losing any of the true story. He still had a hard time finding a publisher willing to take him on at 120,000 words!

I expressed to Michael that, while I felt all of his characters were necessary, I experienced some confusion regarding who was who and their relationships to each other. There’s quite a hierarchy of key players in the parallel world. Since the book has not been printed yet, Michael felt he might be able to convince the publisher to stick a “cast of characters” page in it.

The final reveal in this book, though hinted at throughout, is quite a surprise. And, of course, in true sci-fi tradition, the ending is quite the cliffhanger. This is already set up as Book One in the series; A Crisis of Two Worlds. The lack of total resolution drives a mystery/whodunnit lover like me crazy but I’ll manage until Book Two comes out!

P.S.: You can read a “snippet” from the 2nd book here to get a taste of Jordan.