If you follow LGBT news and press at all, then you know that Bill O’Reilly recently took issue with an episode of the hit Fox television show, Glee, for airing an episode featuring a young man in full drag doing a “Boogie Shoes” song and dance number.
The clip from Glee, courtesy of YouTube:
And Bill O’Reilly’s response to it, with rebuttle, courtesy of YouTube and The David Parkman Show:
Bill O’Reilly’s opinions aside, TV doesn’t make kids gay or transgender or want to be gay or transgender any more than TV, as Parkman points out, can make queer kids straight. So, how do we help these pre-teens and young adults who, before even seeing this episode of Glee (if they saw it at all), were beginning to question their sexuality or who may have already identified to themselves that they are lesbian, gay, or transgender?
Well, one of the best resources I’ve found is actually about 10 years old. It’s a 2002 published book by Kevin Jennings and Pat Shapiro titled, Always My Child: A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Your Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered or Questioning Son or Daughter
The synopsis from Publisher’s Weekly, via Reed Business Service is pretty thorough:
Filled with real-life stories, scientific research and practical advice, Jennings’ latest (after Becoming Invisible) stresses the importance of family acceptance for a child’s self-esteem and the need to create a safe haven at home for GLBTQ teens, who often feel depressed, isolated, and harassed by peers and society at large. Drawing from countless anecdotal stories, as well as his own experiences growing up gay in a disapproving Southern Baptist atmosphere, Jennings encourages parents to understand their children’s culture (by watching movies and television, visiting Web sites, and listening to music), recognize the myths of sexual orientation, identify warning signs for drug abuse, depression, eating disorders, and suicide, and learn how they may unwittingly be perpetuating gender stereotypes by facing their own prejudices. Models for coming out, and down-to-earth tips on dealing with the various stages of acceptance are thoroughly explained, and Jennings, writing with Shapiro (A Parent’s Guide to Childhood and Adolescent Depression), includes an extensive resource section at the end of the book. He also provides sample conversations to help facilitate open lines of communication with children on every issue. Jennings’ attention to the unique religious and cultural difficulties of “double minorities” and his accessible, topic-specific chapters make this a useful guide for both parents and teachers.
The book is a great tool. Unfortunately, the resource section that is referred to in the back of the book is a bit dated after ten years. Still, it’s a great starting point to seek more information. I rate this book four stars on a five star scale but only because it really could benefit from an update. As it is though, Amazon continually restocks it!
by Bonnie Kaye M.Ed. and Doug Dittmer suggests that there are several million gay men around the world living double lives as husbands and fathers in socially accepted and expected traditional marriage situations. The book combines Kaye’s experience as a renowned relationship counselor and author and the personal experiences of a dozen men to tell this story from the husbands point of view. Dittmer is one of those men profiled but he adds significantly to the body of this work aside from his own story given his background in the areas of corporate coaching, problem resolution and human/gay rights.
, by Mildred L. Brown, Ph.D. (a clinical sexologist and therapist) and Chloe Ann Rounsley (writer, journalist, transgender researcher). It’s a nice combination of medical, clinical and personal that I found most interesting. Additionally, right at the beginning, their book has three distinct sections that are very helpful: the childhood years, the teen years and the adult years. It’s the first book I’ve seen that addresses all three phases of life in one volume for those who are transgender.
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, a book that chronicles the trials and tribulations faced in lives of 40 out gay and lesbian Americans as the grew up. That’s right, none of the 40 “voices” representedwas transgender. They really should have been. I’m going to view it as an oversight and move on.
by Irwin Krieger. Krieger is a Master’s degree’d, board certified clinical social worker who has focused his career on the LGBT community for more than 25 years. For more than 7 years he has specialized in the needs of transgender adults and teens.
. In their book, they don’t address the typical “how to make your child feel better about himself/herself” psychobabble nor do they pound on the “just wait and you’ll see that they’ll all fade away” theme. No, instead, they offer workable solutions to get the pain to stop 
. 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.
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.
featuring the separate stories of three generations of women loving women. It’s likely you watched it to see Ellen DeGeneres and maybe Sharon Stone in their sequence. It’s the first of the three stories though that’s really entrancing. In it, Vanessa Redgrave plays a widow who’s life partner of more than 50 years has died. Her obvious, racking grief alone is one thing. The terrible, closed minded attitudes of her deceased partners family are something entirely different. She loses her long time home because of it and there’s nothing she can do about it because the law does not protect her. She has no rights.
. Vicky writes from her own, personal experience as she lost her own loving partner to stomach cancer. She also shares the stories of 24 additional lesbian women who experienced the death of their mates. Their stories run the gamut of emotions. Some of the deaths were unexpected (1 after an accident), many were after long illnesses. All of the surviving partners grieved deeply and struggled to overcome their grief in many cases in the face of social indifference. They lacked support and, often faced severe legal and financial hardships.
, author Audrey Borden chronicles the full history of gays in AA, oftentimes in the voices of the participants themselves. Borden interviewed more than 30 influential LGBT AA graduates. Interestingly, this book covers not only what AA did for gays, but what gays did for AA. It’s a great story.
. Today’s book is, as the title of this post says, 
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was published by Quality of Life Publishing. The books description:
. It was published this past March. Though the reviews have been good, it’s languishing down in the book ranking doldrums due, I think only to a lack of promotion.
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