*If you're 12 or under, it's not legal for anyone to collect your e-mail address. You can subscribe to this blog in a reader and follow me on twitter to get much of the same information, just not put together in tidy packages. But heck, if you're 11 or 12, you already know that life isn't always tidy. Thanks!
Okay, Peter's 13. He weighs over 200 pounds. And he's growing cherry sized nipples on his chest.
And now the nipples are... talking to him!
Yeah, you read that right. His nipples are talking to him. And giving him advice. And threatening to expose his secret desires...
Reality and Fantasy blur and Peter struggles to find his place and his way.
Click here to go to a cool "Canada Reads 2009" website where you can hear Brian reading from "Fruit."And add your review of "fruit" (also published as "The Secret Fruit of Peter Paddington") in comments!
You'd think the folks in West Bend, Wisconsin would have better things to do with their time than try to restrict library access to, and -failing that - BURN a book featuring a young man coming to terms with being gay.
So, in the time-honored tradition of books that are challenged having increased sales and readership due to their new visibility, I present once more for your consideration:
"H.F." stands for - don't laugh - Heavenly Faith. H.F.'s super-religious grandmother saddled her with that one. Because H.F.'s Mom left when she was a baby.
Now H.F. is 16, a budding lesbian, and she doesn't fit in anywhere. Her only friend and confidant is Bo, a gay teen boy who's also getting the rough end of living in a small religious town.
H.F. crushes on a beautiful girl, Wendy, and they actually hook up! But the next morning, Wendy freaks out.
And then H.F. finds out where her mother is - and also that her grandmother knew all along!
So H.F. and Bo hit the road to track down H.F.'s Mom. Only... things don't go the way they expect!
"Finding H.F." was the the winner of the 2001 Childrens/Young Adult Lambda Literary Award!
She's in the wrong body. The wrong family. The wrong life.
She has a crush on another girl in school - and then that girl hooks up with a boy.
Her father's violent. Her mother's crazy. And she's scared they'll find out about her.
Her lifelong dream of hiking the Appalachian Trail is destroyed. She doesn't know what's going to happen after high school.
She has to escape. So she plans the perfect fail-proof suicide. But as she goes through the ritual, she finds a savior - at last. Herself.
Add your review of "The Suicide Year" in comments!
The Trevor Project, 1-866-4-U-TREVOR (1-866-488-7386) operates the only nationwide, around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention helpline for LGBTQ youth. If you or a friend are feeling lost or alone, call The Trevor Helpline. There is hope, there is help.
Never mind that being on a see-saw made me queasy. Or that I could never read in the car without getting sick. Or that I quickly grew too tall to qualify...
I loved reading sci fi and fantasy books about life and adventures on other worlds, and you had to be an astronaut to GET to other worlds... so...
I wanted to be an astronaut. But, could I be gay, could I like other guys, and still follow that dream? There wasn't anyone gay in ANY of those books. Even the world of Star Wars was very "straight" and the multiple iterations of Star Trek (even the awesome new movie!) didn't have ANY queer people in the future!
And then I saw this message from NASA, sent out this month:
Message from the Acting Administrator -- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month
During the month of June, NASA is joining other organizations throughout the United States to observe Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month.
LGBT Pride Month commemorates the events of June 1969, when patrons at the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that was all too common for members of the LGBT community during that era. Celebrating LGBT Pride each June commemorates this act of rejecting discrimination and standing up for the American values of fairness and equality.
This month-long observance gives all of us an opportunity to appreciate the accomplishments of LGBT Americans and celebrate the many contributions members of the LGBT community make daily to the fabric of American life. Members of the LGBT community contribute to the richness of our diversity as a country, playing vital roles in all aspects of our nation, including here at NASA today and throughout the history of the space program. LGBT people like Todd Hawley, co-founder of the International Space University, and atmospheric scientist James Pollack have made important contributions that we all have benefitted from.
LGBT Pride Month is a reflection of NASA's commitment to inclusiveness across the broad spectrum of our workforce. NASA strives to be a model employer by ensuring it adheres to the principles of inclusion. These principles include fairness and respect for the many different backgrounds, perspectives and life experiences of our employees. We are committed to practicing these principles in all facets of our work.
At NASA, we value and acknowledge the many achievements and contributions of our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees in working toward the success of our agency. I encourage you to participate in the programs and activities planned at your NASA center in your community for LGBT Pride Month. If there aren't yet planned events at your center, I encourage you to organize one. Take time to learn about the contributions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans, and celebrate the diversity that has helped shape and strengthen NASA and our nation.
Christopher J. Scolese Acting Administrator
Okay, one more time. I wanna be an astronaut!
Well, actually, I still don't really like roller coasters (or see-saws). So maybe I'll let YOU be the astronauts.
Calling all Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Teens who dream of being Astronauts...
We finally have a President who is talking the talk:
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.
Now we need him to walk the walk.
We're waiting, President Obama. We've been waiting for YEARS. NOW is the time. Do it.
Lincoln didn't wait to sign the Emancipation Proclamation until his second term - he did it in his first, and still got re-elected. (Oh, and the country was at war, then, too. With itself! I guess he could do it even though his plate was full!) He was a man of his convictions. He was right, and history lauds him.
NOW is the time to stand up for what you say you stand for. What we voted you in for.
Change the laws of this nation so we can truly be a GREAT nation with equality for ALL - including us Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender citizens!
A Proclamation (click here for the full text) is nice, but ACTION - repealing DOMA, eliminating "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", federal recognition of same-gender civil marriages - is what changes the world.
And while your "Presidential Memorandum" this week, extending domestic partner benefits to federal employees, is nice, it's only a small step forward. (It's not a new LAW, and will only be in effect while you're in office.)
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization, said, “I cannot overstate the pain that we feel as human beings and as families when we read an argument, presented in federal court, implying that our own marriages have no more constitutional standing than incestuous ones.”
Come on, President Obama! Give us the change you promised. We bought into your vision of a Country that lives up to its ideals. Show us that vision becoming REALITY!
David does everything he can think of to bury how he feels. He dates a girl. He avoids his former best friend who has come out as gay. He even tries snapping a rubber band on his wrist when he has "inappropriate" urges.
Then Sean says what David's been trying to keep hidden.
And everything gets really complicated...
Add your review of "David Inside Out" in comments!
Boy Penguin hero meets Boy Penguin hero. They fall in love. They live in a town with two other Boy Penguin couples. They have parties. Life is good.
Anti-gay activists bring in three girl penguins to set the gay penguins on the "straight" path. The girls are nice, but the Boy Penguin Hero couple, and all the other Boy Penguin couples, stay true to their hearts, and stay gay.
The Boy Penguin Hero couple want to have a baby penguin, to love and raise.
An egg, rejected by it's opposite sex penguin parents, is given to the Boy Penguin Hero couple.
They hatch the egg, and raise the baby penguin as their own.
American Idol champ Kris Allen says he is "flattered" that runner-up and former Idol roommate Adam Lambert found his good looks "distracting."
"I'm flattered," Allen told People. "And think it's hilarious."
In the same Rolling Stone interview in which he said he's gay, Lambert described his reaction to the news that he would be rooming with Allen: "I was like, 'Oh, s--t, they put me with the cute guy.' Distracting!" Lambert said. "He's the one guy that I found attractive in the whole group on the show: nice, nonchalant, pretty and totally my type — except that he has a wife. I mean, he's open-minded and liberal, but he's definitely 100 percent straight."
This is how the world changes, people! When a straight guy realizes that a gay guy finding him attractive isn't threatening, but a compliment!
Kris, in this simple comment, you've become a huge Ally to the GLBTQ community.
Misha Belfer and Mitchel Kibel did a Samba together as their audition for Season 5 of "So You Think You Can Dance."
It's not the fact that it took the show 5 seasons to have the first two guy couple audition.
What I hate isn't that the two guys fell during their routine.
Or that one of them had to make a point to assure us viewers that he's straight.
It's not even that Misha and Mitchel were all puffed up about how "masculine" their dance was going to be (as they had double the masculine energy) while they stood there with their flowing hip scarves and plunging necklines.
What I hate is how UNCOMFORTABLE a romantic same-gender dance made the judges.
Check it out:
Oh, and that line of Nigel Lythgoe's
"I think you probably alienate a lot of our audience."
WHO does Nigel think is watching his show??? It made him uncomfortable, and the only cover he could come up with for his own homophobia was to try to put it off on saying 'oh, America's not ready for this...'
Argh!!!
And he continued...
"I'm certainly one of those people who like to see guys be guys and girls be girls on stage. I don't think I liked it. To be frank."
Oh, it made him (and all the judges) squirm!
And then, that final line of Nigel's:
"You know what, I'd like to see you both dance with a girl."
And then the other two judges agreed!!!
When they saw them dance with women (in the choreography section) shockingly enough, neither Misha or Mitchel got to go to Vegas.
While the judges were polite on the surface, their VAST discomfort with the whole notion of two men being romantic with each other SCREAMED out. Nigel even had to cover his eyes at one point during the audition! He couldn't even look.
Ugh.
How do you spell homophobic?
S-o-Y-o-u-T-h-i-n-k-Y-o-u-C-a-n-D-a-n-c-e
I don't know if I can watch the show again. Someone let me know if a gay dancer makes it into the top 20, okay?
Orphea's 17, and this book is her performance at a poetry club.
She tells about being Black, and orphaned.
About being raised by her homophobic older brother.
And about falling in love with her best friend, Lissa, a white girl.
And then about how the day after their first kiss, Lissa was killed in an accident.
Welcome to a stage, where a soaring painting takes shape before your eyes, a big-booty poet stands at the mike, and there’s a seat right in front, just for you.
This is a place where wise old ladies live and boys act like horses.
This is a vision of love that was crushed and brought back to life.
And this is my story. I’m Orphea Proud. Welcome to the show.
I heard that his mother revealed that there was a contractual agreement with the producers of American Idol that they wouldn't discuss Adam's being gay during the run of the show, but in this article it sounds like he's saying it was his decision...
And what is up with the SNAKE (photoshopped in or not) in the cover photo??? That is an interesting... um, CHOICE. What the heck? Is the snake by Adam's crotch some sort of commentary on the dangers of coming out? being gay? Or is it supposed to be sexy, in a straight-culture kind of way? Or is it a nod to the purported "choice" in being gay - saying being gay is a kind of garden of Eden temptation?
One more time, everyone. There is NO CHOICE in whom your body and spirit find attractive. The CHOICE is whether or not you're going to be honest about who you are attracted to.
I want to thank you all for coming along with me on this string of Mondays, and for participating and letting me be part of sparking discussions in your Gay Straight Alliance Club meetings all over the country (and the world...)
In the "real" world, I have gained so much from an entire year of volunteering as an out gay adult adviser to a local high schools' GSA club.
In the "on-line" world, I feel we are creating a virtual GSA club from the readers of this blog. That sense of community is something I truly value, and for which I am very grateful!
Thank you.
As for this summer, I'll be:
writing my books,
posting about other people's awesome gay books and ranting about stuff I care about here on this blog,
live-blogging the amazing SCBWI summer conference,
and planning out some new and very cool GSA projects for the fall...
As for YOUR Summer...
You might want to grab a great book with a gay character... But where could you find out about such a book?
Check out the lists of books here, and think of this blogsite as your for-fun summer reading list source!
Happy reading! Have a wonderful Summer. And thank you for being part of THIS community!
No matter what his sexuality, you gotta love a guy who's THIS self-confident. Who's willing to look a bit ridiculous, a bit sexy, and a bit gender-bending. And he doesn't actually fall down dancing in those heels!
Yes, the world is changing for the better. And Joe Jonas just got himself a new fan... ME!
"A lot of New Hampshire families have come to know people in their families who are gay -- co-workers, former classmates -- and that's what really made this difference. We are no longer talking about an issue. We are talking about people."
Gwen is in the 8th grade. Her mother ran off five years ago. To somewhere in France. Gwen knows she doesn't have to bother making friends, because any day now she's going to be leaving to join her mom... Until then, she'll just be alone.
But Clara is new in Gwen's class. And Clara is funny. She sings to herself. And she's determined to be friends with Gwen.
Gwen likes Clara, and wants to invite her over. But here's her problem: How can she invite Clara over for dinner with her, her Dad, and Leon, her Dad's boyfriend?
I know that as a culture we're really rigid in our view of gender roles, and I think it's awesome that a gay student could get that much support from classmates, but I do have some questions...
Should Sergio have gone for Prom King rather than Prom Queen, if he really identifies as a guy?
Was it fair to the girls who might have wanted to be Prom Queen?
Is this yet another reason for Carrie Prejean to be against same-gender marriage?
And... What song should be Sergio's "first dance" with the Prom King on Prom night?
Disclosure: As of July 5, 2020, if you click on a book here on this blog and it takes you to bookshop.org, there is an affiliate relationship in place where 10% of that book order will come back to me, Lee Wind. I hope that works for you. And if it doesn't, no worries. I hope you buy your books somewhere that feels good to you. Thanks!
What if you knew a secret from history that could change the world?
“Get Balanced with Dr. Marissa Pei” Talk Radio show - Lee booked as featured guest on September 25
October 2018 - Publish Date of Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill: Oct 2, 2018
Lambda Literary Festival - panel on Crowdfunding Queer Lit and reading - online Oct 1. Register here.
Star Style Radio Show with Cynthia Brian - Lee featured guest on October 3 program. Listen here.
Pasadena Fall Art Night - YA panel on Oct 12 in Pasadena
West Hollywood Library Teen Read Week - 10:30am October 13
San Gabriel Valley Pride - Authors Tent presentation, 1:00 pm on Oct 13 in Pasadena
Launch Party at Highways - 7:00pm in Santa Monica
Models of Pride - present "Discover our LGBTQ History" and give out free copies of Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill from the Camp Brave Trails booth on Oct 20 in Los Angeles
November 2018
Book Baby Independent Authors Conference - lead networking session "How do you measure success?" in Philadelphia, PA
Presentation and Reading at Palm Springs Public Library on Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill on Nov 7
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