Posts tagged Transgender

New Fiction: Chained Melody by Debbie Martin

Feb12
2013

Written by Shelly

Less than a month ago author Debbie Martin’s latest book, a work of fiction, Chained Melody was released. Talk to any male to female transgender person who has read this book and they’ll tell you that it is palpably real.

With Chained Melody, we get the story of Tom and Will, small town England boyhood best friends who grow up and then grow apart for a time. Tom joins the Army and is sent off to fight/keep the peace in Ireland and Will goes off to university. Tom is a ladies man. Will isn’t so sure what he is. He’s pretty sure he isn’t straight but he’s almost equally sure he isn’t gay. What he doesn’t know is where that leaves him. So begins his journey through the ups and downs of gender identity.

Now, you all know I hate to give spoilers to a story but, this book has been reviewed by several people on several of the major book sites already who have given away the crux of the plot so I’ll tell you that the story turns on Will discovering that he feels as though he should have been a woman all along. As the story progresses, he becomes a part of the transgender community and he, eventually, transitions. This ‘novel’ is very detailed with regard to his journey from male to female, from man to woman. As I said, it’s palpably real for a fiction accounting.

What of Tom? What of their friendship? Does it survive? Well, for that, you’ll just have to read the book! I’m not going to give everything away!

I flat out loved this story. It’s dramatic, it’s at times funny, it’s very occasionally romantic and, overall, it’s a very sensitive treatment of a very complex subject. Oh, and it has a totally surprising ending. Other readers agree; this is a good one!

Posted in Books, Fiction, Gay - Tagged Fiction, Gay, Gender Identity, LGBT, Novel, Queer, Relationships, Transition

Fiction Monday: Rainbow Plantation Blues by Robert L. Sheeley

Jan21
2013

Written by Shelly

I’ve made it a point, when it comes to fiction, to focus on reviewing true classics in the LGBT arena and more current publications. I’ve shied away from most books that were more than a couple of years old unless they still had strong reader interest. When I was contacted by a fellow Ohioan about reviewing his book, and given a synopsis of it, I was so intrigued that I wasn’t even aware it had first been published in 2008. It’s now out for the Amazon Kindle.

The book in question is the historical fiction novel Rainbow Plantation Blues by author Robert L. Sheeley. I started reading this once it slowed down last Monday night at work. It didn’t slow down until later so I only got about 50 pages in on Monday. On Tuesday, we were slow early in the day and I became totally immersed in this literary tour de force of slavery and sodomites in the old American south. A sodomite is what a homosexual was called before the terms gay or homosexual came into common usage. In the days before the civil war – and for a long time afterward – sodomy was a crime in most of the United States and men who “practiced” it were criminals. Anyway, Tuesday was the most frustrating reading day I’ve had in a very long time because, frankly, this book is great and every time I was interrupted I had to tear myself away! I didn’t get to finish it until Wednesday.

Sheeley’s tale puts the L, the G, the B, and the T in LGBT. It’s the story of Jonathan Thomas, the son of wealthy southern plantation owners used to traveling the globe and living an aristocratic lifestyle. When his father becomes ill, Thomas returns to his roots to be with the family during his father’s final days. Upon dear old dad’s death (a bit of sarcasm here you’ll totally understand when you read the book), he inherits the reins to the family business and, technically, the plantation and everything it entails too but his dear mother isn’t willing to let him have control of the household or even his own life just yet! Oh no, that would never do!

Dear old mom wants to see Thomas married and she wants grandchildren to maintain the family line. She knows just the woman for her son too! Enter sweet, loveable Mary, only Thomas has eyes for a slave named Kumi and well… it just becomes a roller coaster ride through the minefields of social class, race, slavery, sodomy, love, gender – in more ways than one – and family. A character named Stephen stirs the pot of all of the above around and around and around.

Saying any more about this book at all would give at least some of the story away. You have to read this. I can’t say that more strongly and I’ve never said that about a book before. Oh, I’ve loved many but this one, if you like historical fiction and you want a little something for every flavor that makes up our community, is the book that will sate you. It deserves a whole new crop of readers.

Robert Sheeley hasn’t published a book since this one. I hope he’s planning another soon!

Posted in Bisexual, Books, Fiction, Gay, Lesbian - Tagged Fiction, Gay, Gender Identity, History, Lesbian, LGBT, Novel, Relationships, Romance

Fiction Monday: Cold Feet by Karen Pullen

Dec10
2012

Written by Shelly

Good morning everyone!

If you’ve hung around with me for a while, then you’re well aware that I love a good Whodunit. Well, I recently had the pleasure of reading the first published mystery novel by destined to be a star author Karen Pullen, Cold Feet (A Stella Lavender Mystery). Unfortunately for those of you reading this, the book isn’t actually due out until January but, if you’re a mystery lover, jump on Amazon and reserve your copy now. They’re taking pre-orders for the hardcover at this writing. Hopefully paperback pre-orders will be available soon and a Kindle version will also come out. This one is worth the wait!

Karen Pullen has had some short stories published in the genre before, so she isn’t entirely new to this. Her experience served her well as she penned her first novel, a well turned story about the exploits of special agent (drug task force) Stella Lavender. Lavender does double duty in the story as she works her night job – posing as a drug buyer and wanna be dealer, and working with a local police force to solve the poisoning death of a bride on her wedding day… a wedding where Stella just happened to be in attendance as a guest.

Everything in this story is plausible (except maybe the not gay but gourmet drug agent partner… but, I digress). The special agent side of Stella’s work is engrossing reading all by itself. Pullen did a great job depicting the junkie/dealer scene. On the flip side, Stella is a mid-twenties or so trained cop who hasn’t gotten to use much of her training for investigative work because of the drug task force assignment. She’s eager to prove herself and she works hard to help and solve the case making both rookie mistakes and major breakthroughs along the way.

I really don’t want to give any of the plot away here because it may very well spoil the book for you. Let’s just say that there are, from this straight but obviously in tune with the LGBT community author, very specific LGBT themes that run throughout at least one of the story lines. Stick with Pullen – and Stella – and you’ll get a mix of lesbian, transgender and same sex/gay marriage themes. That’s all I’m gonna say!

Even given the whole wedding with multiple guests (and potential murder suspects) scenario, and a double plot line involving the two sides of Stella’s professional life, Pullen doesn’t make the same mistake that so many new authors do; Having too many characters in the story that add nothing to the plot. Oh, there are plenty of folks depicted here, to be sure, but they all fit nicely into the two plot lines in some way.

This really is a great first effort. I look forward to it’s release so everyone can read it and I look forward to the future adventures of Stella Lavender.

Posted in Books, Fiction, Mystery - Tagged Fiction, Gender Identity, LGBT, Mystery, Novel, Queer

Fringe: An Interview with Dr. Gayle Pitman

Sep13
2012

Written by Shelly

In December of 2011, I posted a review of the book Backdrop: The politics and personalities behind sexual orientation research by Gayle Pitman, Ph.D. for this blog. Dr. Pitman is a professor of psychology and a researcher. She’s done much research on and studies about the LGBT community and the things that affect those in the community.

Since profiling Dr. Pitman’s first book here, I’ve tried to keep up with her blog, The Active Voice: Bringing LGBTQ Science to Life. Her posts are always interesting and insightful. She spurs me to comment often! Now she’s writing a new book, Fringe, and she graciously agreed to do an interview with me about it.

Shelly: Welcome Dr. Pitman! I was very pleased to hear that you have a new book in the works. Can you give us a general overview of what Fringe is about?

Gayle: Thank you so much. I think the subtitle of the book, “On the Edges of the Mainstream Gay Community,” says it all in a nutshell. Fringe focuses on the experiences of people who are technically part of the LGBTQ community, but who aren’t embraced by them – and, as a result, they exist on the margins of the community. The argument that’s often made in the push to secure LGBTQ civil rights is that “We’re just like everyone else” – we form relationships, we have kids, we hold down regular jobs, etc. However, the reality is that many of us in the community aren’t just like everyone else, because we can’t or won’t conform to a standard that makes heterosexual people comfortable. This reality is what I’d like to delve into more deeply.

Shelly: You write a blog called The Active Voice, which brings a psychological perspective to current events and contemporary issues in the LGBTQ community. Has writing this blog had any influence on your book writing process?

Gayle: Absolutely! Many of my posts in The Active Voice focus on reframing the problem – instead of viewing homosexuality as the problem, personal, institutional, and cultural homophobia are the true underlying problems. Instead of seeing gender nonconformity as the problem and trying to get people to conform to mainstream gender standards, we can reframe the issue and see that our discomfort with gender nonconformity is the real problem. Since I started writing my blog, which was just over a year ago, I’ve been seeing how even the gay community labels various forms of nonconformity as a problem, and in the process perpetuates various forms of marginalization and oppression. By making statements like, “We’re just as normal as everyone else,” or ”Most of us in the gay community aren’t like that,” peope in the gay community distance themselves from what makes them uncomfortable as a way of gaining acceptance. That realization has led me to use my blog to explore the experiences of people who are marginalized within the LGBTQ community.

Shelly: It’s slightly off topic, but I did want to mention that you had a very interesting blog post about the LGBT community and labels a few weeks ago certainly provoked me to do some thinking about labels and to comment. Readers; if your interested in that discussion, please click the link and give the post a read – when you’re done here, of course. Meanwhile, I’ll get back on topic.

So, what communities, specifically, will you be exploring in Fringe?

Gayle: Anyone who is not young, white, middle-class, thin, able-bodied, monogamous, bio-gendered, or vanilla is part of the fringe, in my opinion. Some examples of groups I’ll be looking at include trans or genderqueer people, elder LGTBQs, LGBTQs of color, intersex people, poor and working-class LGBTQs, LGBTQs with disabilities, non-monogamous/poly people, and people in the altsex/BDSM communities. I’ve already conducted almost a dozen interviews, with several more to go, and all of them have been fascinating.

Shelly: Of the people you’ve interviewed so far, who has had the most powerful impact on you?

Gayle: It’s hard to narrow it down, because all of them have had an impact in some way. Hida Viloria, an intersex activist who’s been profiled on Oprah and The Tyra Banks Show, was amazing to talk to. She embraces her gender fluidity, and she doesn’t apologize for it or try to conform to make other people comfortable. On the other side, I’ve heard so many horrific stories of oppression and marginalization. People have told me about how they became homeless, how they lost their children, how their career went down the tubes, how they were assaulted and became permanently disabled as a result - all because they didn’t conform. I think that’s why Hida’s story is so inspiring to me – she’s such an upbeat and energetic person, and she accepts herself completely.

Shelly: What’s the status of your project at this point? Will we be reading Fringe soon?

Gayle: My hope is to complete Fringe by the beginning of 2014. Right now, as I’m doing interviews and completing the research in preparation for writing, I’m also actively doing some fundraising to cover some of the research and interviewing costs. I’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise these funds, and so far we’ve raised over 60% of our goal. If we reach our goal, then I’ll easily be able to complete the project on schedule. On the other hand, if the goal isn’t reached, then my timeline will have to be extended, and the project will temporarily be put on hold. I feel strongly that the stories of the people in these edge communities need to be told, and the start-up funding will allow me to do the project justice – and within a reasonable time frame.

Shelly: As of this writing, you’ve met 75%+ of your funding goal of $3,500 and you have about 10 more days in the campaign. I plan to contribute what I can because I think this book project is important. I hope some of my readers feel the same. To my readers: If you’re interested in helping out, please click he Kickstarter link above. You can contribute as little as $1.00 or as much as you like!

For the benefit of my readers who may not have seen my previous post about you and about your first book, I’d like you to tell them what it is that qualifies you to write a book like Fringe?

Gayle: From a professional standpoint, I’m a professor of psychology and women’s studies at Sacramento City College. I teach courses on gender and sexual orientation, I’ve done research that focuses on the LGBTQ community, and I’ve given talks on these topics throughout the United States. I’ve also written another book (reviewed on this blog!) titled Backdrop: The Politics and Personalities behind Sexual Orientation Research. But I’m also a human rights activist, and this is what fuels my personal motivation to write this book. I think there’s a part of all of us that feels like we don’t fit in, that we’re on the fringe. The irony is that many people in mainstream culture who think that people who are genderqueer, BDSM, or poly (to name a few) are “freaks” – but the reality is that all of us have that feeling within ourselves.

Thank you very much Dr. Pitman. It’s been a pleasure! I’m looking forward to profiling your book here, when it’s published.

Posted in Books, Gay, Lesbian, Nonfiction, Sexuality, Social Sciences - Tagged Bisexual, Gay, Gender Identity, GLBT, Lesbian, LGBT, Queer, Sexual Orientation

The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard

Aug28
2012

Written by Shelly

I had the privilege recently of reviewing the soon to be released (October 16th, 2012) compilation from Topside Press, “The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard“. It’s comprised of works by 28 authors, some of who are newer voices in literary fiction and some who have been around just a bit longer and who, in my opinion, are destined for long careers, should they so desire.

The book was compiled and edited by Tom Leger and Riley MacLeod for Topside. Topside itself made it’s commercial debut in 2011. The stated goal of the company is “publishing authentic transgender narratives”. This book, when released, will be their inaugural publication. Judging from what I’ve seen, they’re very excited about the book and, quite frankly, they should be. It’s excellent! They’ve done an amazing job bringing together 28 very different writers with 28 very different tales to weave.

There are short stories here about transitioning and specifically about being transgender, yes but, more than that, there are many, many stories that cover several genres of fiction that feature a main character (or characters) who happen to be transgender. In many of these tales, being transgender is just a fact about the protagonist(s) and not the crux of the story. There’s room for both themes here and neither overpowers the other. I love that!

I really enjoyed stories like “The Cafe” by R. Drew, “Other Women” by Casey Plett, “Tammy Faye” by A. Raymond Johnson (does that date me?!), “A Roman Inciden”t by Red Durkin, ”To Do List for Morning” by Stephen Ira, and several more. On the other hand, I admit, there were a couple of stories here that were totally “not my thing.” The story, “Malediction and Pee Play” by Sherilyn Connelly springs vividly to mind. Still, others may love that story and a couple of the others that weren’t for me. To each his own!

I’m looking forward to seeing ”The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard” available for sale. I expect that it will do very well.

Posted in Books, Fiction - Tagged Fiction, Gender Identity

Gay and Lesbian Kindle Fiction – Updated August 13th, 2012

Aug13
2012

Written by Shelly

Usually, Monday is reserved for fiction and dubbed “Fiction Monday”. Well, frankly, on Friday, I started reading what, so far, has been a truly excellent – though older – book that was recently made into a movie, 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous, by Graeme Aitkin. I intended to finish it over the weekend and give you a full report today but, that wasn’t to be. Both family needs and, of course, my personal obsession over the Olympics won out. We’ll get to Graeme’s book later in the week. Sorry Graeme!

For today, I’ve gone ahead and updated the gay and lesbian Kindle Fiction page which you can find by clicking that link. Amazingly, we’ve finally had some changes in “Highly Reader Rated” Gay fiction for the Kindle. In fact, we have not one, but two, complete and total newcomers to that list. These new books (both out for a few months) were not ever even on the trending popular list! They just earned a lot of positive attention from readers and jumped right into the regular top 10!

Speaking of the “Trending Popular” portion of the list; four out of five in gay fiction are brand new to the list. The guys have seriously been running through some new fiction this summer! Please be sure to scroll all the way down on the Kindle page to see those titles.

We also have a brand new title on the lesbian fiction “Highly Reader Rated” list. That list has stayed pretty stable over the last few months with only one newcomer before today. And, surprise, there are also two new entrants on the lesbian “Trending Popular” top five at numbers 4 and 5. Enjoy!

Posted in Books, Fiction, Gay, Lesbian - Tagged Fiction, Gay, Kindle, Lesbian, Mystery, Novel, Queer, Relationships, Romance

Columbus Ohio Pride Festival & Parade 2012 in Words and Pictures

Jun17
2012

Written by Shelly

Wow, what a Pride weekend! Congratulations Columbus. I want to start this off by showing you a Columbus Dispatch photo that really, really says it all:

Columbus, OH 2012 Pride Parade Photo - Credit The Columbus Dispatch

A view of the Pride Parade courtesy of the Columbus Dispatch.

Attendance

A local television station reported there were a few hundred in attendance. I think they missed the mark just a little bit. The unofficial Stonewall Columbus count for the 2 day Festival and for Parade attendance was over 300,000. Columbus Dispatch officials estimated the parade crowd at 206,000. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and yes, many thousands of our straight allies were in attendance at both the festival and along the parade route. More importantly, dozens of corporate Allies were well represented in the parade. You see Best Buy in the photo above. Our group was followed by more than 50 marchers from Huntington National Bank, mostly straight. Other local banks were represented and many other corporations. Some companies do get it right.

Protesters

There were less than 2 dozen protesters this time around. Each year, as the parade and the attendance grow, the protest group gets smaller. This time, we were treated to all males, seemingly in their mid to late 20s, mostly Hispanic, wearing very militant attire with offensive signs that proclaimed that anyone marching was going to hell…gay or straight it didn’t matter to them. When they screamed at me that I was a degenerate and my God was going to condemn me to hell, I answered simply, “My God is a loving God” to which the shouted reply was, and I quote “Your God is Shit”. My response? “My God is the same as God as your God.” They proclaimed their God to be different. Satan perhaps? How can they judge me and think “their God” will not judge them for it?

Anyway, enough of what was bad about the whole thing and on to all things that were good.

Columbus Pride Festival – Friday, June 15th 2012

On Friday evening we got to the festival around 6:00, in time to catch the band “The August“. They were a talented bunch that we enjoyed immensely.

The August

They were followed by 2 forgettable acts but then, at 9:00pm, the act the crowd was waiting for took the stage, Beverly McClellan. She was well worth the wait!

Sound Check for Beverly McClellan

Dave Emerson Introduces Beverly McClellan to the Crowd

Singer/Songwriter Beverly McClellan

Now, I’m not a professional photographer and I didn’t bother to cart my camera to the festival. I took those with my phone. I apologize for the quality, especially of the closeup/3rd photo. Just know that she was phenomenal. She broke a guitar string about 3 songs in and didn’t miss a beat as she switched to the keyboard. She also introduced a new song that is scheduled to be released, in a couple of weeks.

The only detractor from her one woman show was the drunk blond that wouldn’t leave the stage after a song where McClellan had asked members of the audience to join her. In fact most that joined her stayed entirely too long but the blond was the worst and began ticking the audience off. A cheer when up when security finally sent her on her way.

We parted ways with a couple friends of mine and the 3 of us headed home after her performance. “The boy” and I had to get an early start for the parade the next day.

Columbus Pride Parade 2012

Saturday morning I got quite a pleasant surprise when my wife got up with me and told me she wanted to spend the day with me regardless of what I was doing. My intent had been to drive her truck in the Pride Parade representing the church I work for part time. My son was walking the parade route with us. My wife actually drove so I could walk with my son. It was quite an experience for all of us to say the least!

Some truck prep photos I took of her and the boy:

Columbus Pride 2012 Preparations – Photo 1

Columbus Pride 2012 Preparations – Photo 2

The signs we made…that my wife said no one would read. I quit counting the people that photographed it after the first dozen before the parade even started.

A slogan of the United Church of Christ

Sitting back waiting to do balloons, checking out the neighbors:

Fellow Marching Units, MCC and Huntington Bank

Our fellow marching units, Metropolitan Community Church and Huntington Bank

Some drag queens heading for their float:

Drag Queens in the Parade Staging Area

Looking down the street, units were lined up 3 lanes wide for more than 1/4 mile. Here are 2 of the 3 lanes.

A view down Front Street, the parade staging area T-1.5 hours

The Capitol Pride Band warming up:

Capitol Pride Band Photo 1

Capitol Pride Band Photo 2

The Planned Parenthood crew waiting to go in the staging area. Keep fighting the good fight for women’s heath and rights ladies and gentlemen! Note: On the back of many of their shirts was, “And I Vote“.

Planned Parenthood Parade Unit

Part of the 50 plus person group from Huntington Bank that would actually follow us in the parade and boost our spirits with their cheers whenever they seemed to think we could use a lift. There were a LOT of straight allies walking with Huntington.

Huntington Bank Parade Unit

Some of our crew waiting to go…In the picture are “Shane” and his golden retriever. “They” would be the photographers for the group shot that follows. Also missing from the group shot are a couple of our group that joined us at the entry to the parade route. We were an almost even mix of gay and straight but the overall crew leaned straight…imagine that!

St. Paul UCC crew waiting for the parade to start St Paul UCC walking team minus 3 and a 4 legged pal

St Paul UCC walking team minus 3 and a 4 legged pal

The parade steps off. We would round the corner thats just in front of our banner bearers in this photo and we would encounter the 2 small groups of protesters that I mentioned before. After that, we would turn onto the main avenue of the parade route, High Street, and enter an amazing world of cheering crowds and a high level of support from most everyone we encountered. While many are not followers of the Christian faith or even believers in any manifestation of God, NO ONE was rude. It was an incredible experience.

Stepping Off

Columbus Pride Festival – Saturday, June 16th

We were close to the front of the Pride Parade. When we finished, we dropped walkers back at the church, stopped at home to let the dogs out and then we headed back to the festival. We got there in time to see singer/songwriter Diana Chittester. She bills herself as “She’s the Chitt”. She is. We enjoyed her performance. Check her website out…she has some great videos posted.

Though my son liked Winslow, my wife and I were not so easily swayed and so she and I went in search of food before the billed main event, a performance by Kristine W. Since we don’t go to dance clubs, we were totally underwhelmed when she did perform. She sang very little and danced even less but the gay male under 30 club crowd went ga-ga for her, totally crowding the stage. To each his own!

Unfortunately, things got a little out of order after that and instead of the Cher impersonator who was supposed to take the stage, the Chicago Spirit Brigade did a routine we wanted to see next…to the right of the stage. We were all the way to the left. We saw very little through the thick crowd. We stayed for 2 songs when Wayne Smith took the stage as Cher and then we headed home to relax for a couple of hours.

We joined a few friends for a brew at a very lesbian crowded Slammers Saturday night about 9:00. When they decided to move on to a club…that typically has a line to get in…we decided to head for home.

Our intent was to attend Bat -N- Rouge today but, unfortunately, the first pitch was at 3:00 and it’s been doing more raining than not since 3:00 today. Oh well, it was a great Pride Weekend regardless with 200,000+ of our closest friends!

Posted in General Life Posts - Tagged Gay, Lesbian, LGBT, PRIDE

Columbus Pride 2012 – Allies and Equality

Jun12
2012

Written by Shelly

It’s Pride week in Columbus, Ohio!

Columbus Pride 2012 - Allies and Equality

There have been events scheduled for the last couple of weeks leading up to Columbus Pride, but the main event takes place this Friday and Saturday, June 15th and 16th. All Pride events are managed and sponsored by Stonewall Columbus with, as always, lots of support from both the corporate and private community.

There’s a lot of excitement for Pride this year both at home and at my “job” (the quotes are because it really never feels like a job). My wife got a mohawk…yes, she did. It’s her “Pride Haircut”. That, and temps in the summertime well exceed 100 degrees where she works and, since she has thick hair, the combination is a recipe for sweat and suffering. She’s also been wearing ALL of her past Pride bracelets and dog tags the past few days.

There are events all day Friday at Festival central at Goodale Park capped off by a concert by “The Voice” semifinalist, out lesbian rocker, Beverly McClellan. Beverly can channel Melissa Etheridge on que and I’m not the only one who thinks that!

My wife will be watching the Pride Parade on Saturday. It steps off at noon near the Columbus Statehouse and proceeds up High Street toward Goodale Park. The church I work for part-time, St Paul United Church of Christ (an open and affirming church, in every sense) is participating in the parade. I’ll be driving my wife’s decorated truck transporting some members of the congregation – both gay and straight – who cannot walk the distance of the parade route. We’ll also have a mixed LGBT and straight walking unit that will include my straight and very excited to be participating for the first time, son whom you all know as “The Boy”. We’ll be handing out those always coveted silicone bracelets so watch for us!

After I drop my passengers back off at the church, my son and I will meet up with my wife at Goodale Park to enjoy time with our friends and some good music and festivities at the Pride Festival, day two. If you see me, stop and say hi. I’ll be the non-descript one with the woman with a mohawk and a wide eyed teenage boy!

For the evening hours, we may head over to Slammers (lesbian central) where my wife’s best friend works or maybe off to Inn Rehab for their Pride celebration. We’ll tip a few with a few with our friends before calling it a night.

Events will be capped off on Sunday with the annual all-drag softball game, Bat -N- Rouge at Dodge Park (667 Sullivant Ave, Columbus, OH 43215) sponsored by the Columbus Gay and Lesbian Softball Association which bills itself among the top 10 largest GLBT softball leagues in the nation. The gates open at noon. The first pitch goes out at 3:00. The special guest host for the event is Latrice Royale from RuPaul’s Drag Race. We’ll be there. We hope to see you there too!

Watch this space for recaps and pictures as the week goes on!

Posted in General Life Posts - Tagged Gay, GLBT, Lesbian, LGBT, PRIDE, Queer, Religion

Finding Great LGBT Non-Fiction Books to Review

May31
2012

Written by Shelly

As an LGBT book reviewer, I find that there is no lack of of great material out there to review in the fiction arena. I find great fiction on my own, of course, but I also get requests from authors and publishers to review quite a bit of it across a wide spectrum of fiction genres. I get sent a lot of books. For every non-fiction book I get, I get 5-6 fiction books.

Some of the fiction that I’ve been requested to review is excellent and my review reflects that. Those works come from both established and, yes, new authors. I’ve been working on this site for just over a year now. I’ve reviewed really great works of fiction from fast rising stars like Brandon Shire and Kergan Edwards-Stout and so many more. Most of of the fiction I get is at least above average (“decent” as my son would say) and I do recommend it, but I always mention the things about it that I struggled with. I don’t want to mislead my readers. I’m trying to be a trustworthy source of reviews, after all.

Now, let’s switch gears. Did you know that 1/3rd or more of all the books on Amazon.com in the “Gay and Lesbian” category (which includes books that are themed bisexual and transgender) are actually non-fiction and that, when you include biographies and memoirs, that jumps to nearly half? Yet, a non-fiction book is far less likely to receive a review from an Amazon reader than a fiction book. Less reviews mean less purchasers. It’s a vicious cycle.

When I write reviews, if I go my typical 6 days per week, 3-4 of those reviews usually are non-fiction books. There’s some really great stuff out there about our history, our culture, our families, our people in transition and so much more. But, I too am guilty of looking for things that someone has already given a positive review to before I order it to read or borrow it from my local library. Remember; I only get one non-fiction request for every 5-6 fiction requests and I only currently review one work of fiction per week.

We must get better at promoting each other. LGBT non-fiction works need our support and the authors need our encouragement too. Think about that the next time your perusing Amazon or your local bookseller for something new to read.

As for me, non-fiction authors, I’m giving you a platform. Send me your work!

Posted in Bisexual, Books, Gay, Lesbian, Nonfiction - Tagged Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, LGBT

Friday Movie Review: The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert

May25
2012

Written by Shelly

I know, I know; what took me so long?! People have been asking me when I was going to review “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” since I started reviewing movies for this blog. I always tell them, I can’t review all the “fun” stuff up front! I mix the funny up with the dramas and the documentaries for a reason. It gives the blog balance and it keeps readers coming back for more. They simply don’t care!

So, without further ado, here you (boys) all go, my review of the smash hit cross dressing, trans, musical comedy, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert starring Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Terence Stamp, Rebel Penfold-Russell and John Casey. Happy now?! LOL!

If you haven’t already figured it out, I’ll say it out loud: I love the movie. Oh, the dialog is so bad, it’s good, but you can’t beat the camp of the whole thing. The plot involves a transsexual (Stamp) traveling to the Australian Outback with two drag queens (Weaving and Pearce) to stage a lip syncing show to bewildered natives who just don’t get it. Frankly, bewildered natives or not, there’s just no topping these boys…err…girls when they start singing and vamping. Now, honestly, it doesn’t hurt my impression of the whole thing that I grew up with groups like Abba as part of my so called “formative years”. Their music has quite a bit of influence in the movie.

For those of you reading this who are young enough to have no clue who Abba is, think retro 70s Swedish “rock”pop music group and just trust me on this. This movie is over the top funny, camp (in case you didn’t catch that before), fun and games. You’re going to love it. I’ve already given too much away so I’ll shut up!

Posted in Comedy, Movies - Tagged Comedy, Film, Movie, Music

Queers in History: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Historical Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals

May24
2012

Written by Shelly

If you’re a fan of celebrity biographical/personal websites then you’ve, no doubt, seen some of the work of Keith Stern. He’s the man behind the site for some pretty big names in the entertainment industry like one he’s currently doing for the actor Sir Ian McKellen and the ones for Sean Astin, Spinal Tap and the late actress Lynn Redgrave, to name a few.

Stern took his considerable experience creating these sites and, in fact, all of his experience in various facets of the entertainment industry and he used that knowledge and his considerable research skills to write the book, Queers in History: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Historical Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals. He first self published this as a book as Queers in History using LuLu press in 2006. It was a whopping 494 pages. This version (first printing in 2009), is now 608 pages and it contains an amazing 850 biographies of famous people throughout history that were either gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. Now, famous includes not only the entertainment industry people he knows well, but people from all fields across a vast stretch of time. You see, it all started, as his introduction will tell you, while he was reading an article about Leonardo da Vinci…

Keith Stern is openly gay. He’s admittedly fascinated every time he picks up a new article or book that mentions that some historical figure was thought to have been gay or known to have been gay. He states in his intro (I’m paraphrasing) that while he feels these people may have become famous regardless of the LGBT background, once he, himself realizes their sexual orientation he can often see, in retrospect, how it influenced the arc of their careers.

The initial layout of the book is alphabetical but it’s also fully indexed to help you find notables by profession, by birthplace and/or by year of birth. Many of the people profiled have a photograph as well to give the reader a bit more perspective.

This book is fascinating both from a GLBT historical standpoint but from an overall history standpoint. If you like history and you love biographies, you’re going to love this. It will be something you’ll refer to again and again over time. I already do.

Posted in Biography, Bisexual, Books, Gay, History, Lesbian, Nonfiction - Tagged Biography, Bisexual, Gay, GLBT, History, Lesbian, LGBT, Queer

A Queer and Pleasant Danger… by Kate Bornstein

May12
2012

Written by Shelly

I have a confession to make. I’m a speed reader and a skimmer. Oh, I don’t skim fiction because you really can’t. A fiction plot can turn completely on a sentence. With non-fiction though, and even with some of the biographies and memoirs I love so much, I’m often guilty of skimming.

In my defense, I do 4-5 book reviews a week for this site. Typically, only one is fiction. That’s a lot of books. Additionally, I do other book reviews that have nothing to do with this site, as I have the time. Skimming and speed reading are the only ways to get through it all.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because I just read a non-fiction book, an autobiography actually, that I couldn’t skim. I had to read every single, blessed word. It was so engrossing, so interesting that I had to absorb all of it and I just couldn’t put it down. The book was A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The true story of a nice Jewish boy who joins the Church of Scientology and leaves twelve years later to become the lovely lady she is today by Kate Bornstein.

You’ll remember Kate if you’ve been visiting my ramblings for a while. She’s the author of the wildly popular Gender Outlaw Books, Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us (1995) and Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation (2010). Kate has defined for the world what it’s like and what it means to be transgender.

This latest book, A Queer and Pleasant Danger for short, gets us into the nitty gritty of her personal story. We got bits and pieces of it before but this is the wide open, sometimes raw, completely uncensored version. Kate began life as a young Jewish boy, Albert, with a prominent doctor father. She knew at a young age (4, she says) that she was meant to be a girl. This book takes you through her formative years pretending to be a boy and doing a great job of it, through the free love 60s where she thrived because she loved women (yes, a trans lesbian), through her 12 years with Scientology where she was attracted because she was initially instructed that all believers – Thetans – have no gender and on through excommunication and through her transition from male to female. It’s quite a ride and quite a story. And, for the record there are more than a few stomach turning bumps along the way. You’ve been warned!

If you want to read a review that will give you a lot of the down and dirty details about this book, go to Amazon and read the ones that are posted. My opinion? Ignore those. If you’re interest is already piqued, just read the book. With this one, you’ll miss too much good stuff by skimming!

Posted in Biography, Books, Lesbian, Memoir, Nonfiction - Tagged Biography, Lesbian, LGBT, Queer

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