Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Justin Mikita announce their engagment... and a new marriage equality organziation!

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (from TV's Modern Family) is Funny.

And what he says here is True.

And Funny!




Man, this line cracked me up:

"Who wouldn't want to see us get married?  We're as cute as puppies—puppies with bowties!"

Find out more about Tie The Knot, and cheer Jesse and Justin on!

Namaste,
Lee


ps - extra love and thanks to my husband, who shared this with me so I could share it with all of you!

Goldenhead: Or Bodies Or Avatars - A Fantasy Where The Imaginary Becomes Real

Goldenhead: Or Bodies Or Avatars by Annalinde Matichei

Goldenhead is a girl from an earth-like (male/female) world who never felt at home there.  She lived most of her life with an “imaginary” pixie companion, frequently visiting the “imaginary” city-sized spacecraft called the Imperial Princess.

While Goldenhead is trying desperately to “grow up” and leave her “fantasies” behind, her body falls into a coma and she finds herself fully among the people and places she believed she had imagined.

She also finds her new real world threatened by dark, demonic forces and becomes one of the three Little Knights determined to protect the Motherland.


The author plays a prominent role in the small press that published this book.  Add your review of "Goldenhead: Or Bodies Or Avatars" in comments!

OBAMA WINS!!!

YES!

Huffington Post Announces Obama's Win

YES!!

CNN says "It's Obama"

YES!!!

Yahoo calls it for Obama!

Thank you, America!

Advocate.com celebrate, saying Obama's reelection changes the politics of marriage equality forever!

Obama's second term means progress towards true equality for all - including we gay, lesbian, bi, trans and queer people - will move forward!!!

And in Maine, voters APPROVED GAY MARRIAGE, reversing a 2009 ban.

Gay marriage also won in Maryland!

Despite the unfairness of voting on anyone's equality, winning these referendums in Maine and Maryland changes the conversation nationwide.  LOVE - our gay love - won!

Oh, and Tammy Baldwin won her election to become our nation's first out GLBTQ Senator!

For all this, I am so grateful.

Lee

Collide - a Bi Teen Novel

Collide by J. R. Lenk

Being bisexual is cool now—unless you’re a boy. Or so it seems to invisible fifteen-year-old Hazard James. But when he falls in with bad apple Jesse Wesley, Hazard is suddenly shoved into the spotlight. Jesse and his friends introduce him to the underworld of teenage life: house parties, hangovers, the advantages of empty homes, and reputation by association. So what if his old friends don’t get it? So what if some people love to hate him? Screw gossip and high school’s secret rules. There’s just something about walking into a room and having all eyes on him when just last year nobody noticed him at all.

For a while Hazard basks in the attention, and before he realizes the depth of the waters he’s wading, he and Jesse strike up a “friends with benefits” routine. It could be something more, but what self-respecting teenage boy would admit it? Not Jesse—and so not Hazard, either. Not until it’s too late. Hazard and Jesse have collided, and Hazard’s life will never be the same.

My thanks to the reader who recommended this book, saying "Have you, or would you, review Collide by J R Lenk?  I read it twice since getting it a couple of months ago and I love it.  The E-reader edition does have a few typo's but it's a beautiful story."

Add your review of "Collide" in comments!  

Three Quarters Of A Million Hits!

I've been blogging here for over five years.

More than 1,400 posts.

And we've just achieved a milestone: blasting past 750,000 page loads!

Knowing the blog is being read and appreciated means so much.

So thanks and cheers to you, my readers!

Namaste,
Lee

#WhyIVote!

Voting in the USA takes place on Tuesday November 6, 2012.

We'll be voting for President, but there are lots of other contests across the country that are important.

If you're old enough to vote and a citizen, VOTE!

If you can't vote yourself, help someone else get to the polls.  Can you babysit for a half hour to let an adult have the time to vote?  Can you help get an older person to their voting place?

Most important - and everyone can do this - talk to people.  Talk to your parents, your grandparents, your friends.  Let them know the issues that matter for you, and share with them your hopes (and even your fears) for the future.  Let them know how every vote counts.

In particular, as GLBTQ and allied people, there is a lot at stake in this election, and I join my Kid Lit colleagues on blogs across the web in urging everyone to take part in this election and participate!

Why I Vote?

To Make Things Better for Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans and Queer Youth and their Allies!

Be sure to check out the master list of kid lit bloggers sharing their #WhyIVote stories at Colleen Mondor's blog, Chasing Ray.

Some resources for you:

An insightful article by Jonathan Rauch on Salon, GOP: Gays Out of the Party, about the stark difference between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama in terms of gay rights.

The League of Women Voters

Stonewall Democrats

Log Cabin Republicans 

Mitt Romney was a High School Bully... Does That Matter?

The ACLU's "Get Ready To Vote" resource


Electorially Yours,
Lee

Will Your Book Be Considered For The 2013 Lambda Literary Awards? You have one month to submit it!

The Lammys are The Lambda Literary Foundation's annual awards to recognize the best LGBT literature from the past year.

Two dueling opinion pieces at advocate.com have recently debated the Lammy Awards.  On the one hand, writer, editor and publisher of Lethe Press Steve Berman talked about problems with the awards and how the selection process works.  And on the other, Tony Valenzuela (the Lambda Literary Foundation's executive director) countered with his take on the process' integrity and the continuing importance of the Lammy awards.

It's worth noting that Steve Berman has Lethe titles submitted so far in six Lammy categories for the 2013 awards, which confirms what isn't up for debate: 

The Lammy Awards are significant and increasingly important as publishing changes and we all try to find the best LGBT books out there.

Check out the Lammy guidelines and submission details here at Lambda Literary's website.

Note:  December 1, 2012 is the deadline to have your 2012 book considered!  (And if your book is being released in December, they have a way to accommodate that.)

Here's the list as of last week of the books submitted in the LGBT Children’s/Young Adult category:

Andy Squared, Jennifer Lavoie, Bold Strokes Books

Between You & Me, Marisa Calin, Bloomsbury Children’s Books

Boys of Summer, Steve Berman, ed., Bold Strokes Books

Confessions of a Teenage Hermaphrodite, Lianne Simon, Faie Miss Press

Fangs and Stilettos, Anthony DiFiore, inGroup Press

In Stone: A Grotesque Faerie Tale, Jeremy Jordan King, Bold Strokes Books

Kiss the Morning Star, Elissa Janine Hoole, Amazon Children’s Publishing

me@you.com, KE Payne, Bold Strokes Books

The Miseducation of Cameron Post, emily m. danforth, Balzer + Bray

Northern Lights, James Matthew Green, Create Space

October Mourning: A Song For Matthew Shepard, Lesléa Newman, Candlewick Press

OMGqueer, eds. Radclyffe and Katherine E. Lynch, PhD., Bold Strokes Books

Personal Effects, E.M. Kokie, Candlewick Press

The Prospect, Jason Glaser, Darby Creek

Sara, Greg Herren, Bold Strokes Books

Secret of Othello: A Fisher Key Adventure, Sam Cameron, Bold Strokes Books

Silhouette of a Sparrow, Molly Beth Griffin, Milkweed Editions

Starting from Here, Lisa Jenn Bigelow, Amazon Children’s Publishing

Street Dreams, Tama Wise, Bold Strokes Books

Timothy, Greg Herren, Bold Strokes Books

Way to Go, Tom Ryan, Orca Book Publishers

The You Know Who Girls: Freshman Year, Annameekee Hesik, Bold Strokes Books

Sounds like a great reading list!

Namaste,
Lee

Halloween Costumes and the Gender Line

This image from online retailer Halloweenexpress.com is pretty typical in how it presents the categories of costumes: Men: Creepy, Women: Sexy, Boys: Aggressive, Girls: Girly

Have you noticed the aisles of "boy" costumes separate from the "girl" costumes? 

In our culture that sees gender as binary, it's challenging to find a Halloween costume idea that transcends the boundaries of gender.

Last week, Fandango surveyed 1,000 people who were going to dress up for Halloween, and among the top 20 costumes - divided, of course, by top ten for men and top ten for women -  only ONE Halloween get-up bent gender at all:  For women, the fifth most popular classic character costume was The Mad Hatter.

There was a good discussion thread over at genderfork about Gender Neutral costumes, which brought up the frustration of how to be gender-neutral without being an object - like an undersea fiberoptic cable, or a bunch of grapes.

Some suggestions were fascinating, and androgynous:

An Angel

Dr. Seuss' Thing One and Thing Two

Genderbending burlesque Zombie

A Lord Of The Rings Elf

and, of course,

a Zombie Apocalypse Rescue Team member.

What about YOUR costume? How gender-conforming, or non-conforming is it?

Let me know in comments - and if you send me a picture (as long as it's appropriate) I'll share it here!

Happy Halloween!

Lee

Rainy Day Recess: The Complete Steven’s Comics

Rainy Day Recess: The Complete Steven’s Comics by David Kelly

From 1995 to 1998, David Kelly’s “Steven’s Comics” ran in LGBT and alternative newspapers around the country. This comic strip explored the world of a sensitive boy coming of age in the seventies, with all its joys, quirks, and heartbreaks. Rainy Day Recess: The Complete Steven’s Comics collects the entire Xeric-Award-winning series with additional material created specially for this collection. The book also includes a foreword by advice columnist and It Gets Better Project founder Dan Savage.

Northwest Press will be making a donation to the It Gets Better Project with every copy sold.  You can add your review of "Rainy Day Recess: The Complete Steven’s Comics" in comments!

 

Gender Lesson for K-5

A blog reader shared this Gender Lesson from Darlene Tando's Gender Blog with me, and it's awesome!

I especially like the list of rules teachers can post in their classrooms:

In Our Classroom…

We are kind to each other.

All toys are for all children.

Colors are for everyone.

Everyone gets to pick their own style.

Being different is OK.

We stand up for others.

Namaste,
Lee

The US Presidential Election: The Pro-GLBTQ Choice is Clear

We'll be voting in the USA for our next president... one more term for Barack Obama, or bringing in Mitt Romney.

I liked this video - I thought it said it very well.



Vote.

It makes a difference!

Namaste,
Lee

The Flight of the Silver Vixen - An All-Girl Swashbuckling Sci Fi Adventure

Flight of the Silver Vixen by Annalinde Matichei


A gang of seven teenage hoverbikers.

They're all girls, which is not unusual because there are only females on their planet – or rather feminine beings of two sexes: melini (“brunette”) and chelani (“blonde”).

Rather than steal a car to joy-ride, they steal an experimental space-craft.  And when they're about to be caught by the Navy, they enter a space-warp, leading them to an unknown galaxy.

The teen girls are crazy and irresponsible at first, but the very danger into which their recklessness leads them forces them to learn responsibility, loyalty, and a courage that is not just bravado.


The author plays a prominent role in the small press that published this book.  Add your review of "The Flight of the Silver Vixen" in comments!

Hank Green Explains Human Sexuality

This is rather brilliant.



I love the idea of an infinite number of shiny boxes, enough for every one of us!


Namaste,
Lee

ps - and my thanks to Karol for sharing!

Kamikaze Boys - Two Teen Guys Fall in Love... and Fight Back Against their Bullies

 Kamikaze Boys by Jay Bell

If the world is against you, don’t give up. Find yourself a kindred spirit.  Then you can start fighting back.

They say Connor, the one with the crazy eyes and creepy scar, tried to kill his old man. Lately he’s been seen hanging out with David, the gay guy who always eats lunch alone. They make an odd pair, the loser and the psychopath, and bad things happen to people who mess with them. Not that Connor and David are looking for trouble. Even when taking on the world, they seem more interested in each other than fighting.

Kamikaze Boys is a story about breaking the chains that bind you and using them to beat down anyone that gets in your way. Better yet, it’s about holding hands with the guy you love while doing so.

"Kamikaze Boys" is self-published by the author.  Add your review in comments!

Rainbow Chronicle - A Resource For Gay-Friendliness

It's something GLBTQ people and our allies want to know - just how friendly is that box store, or that Cafe, or even that cable company?

Travis Lowry (a straight ally, originally from an "evangelical Texan household") started Rainbow Chronicle

"which allows users to rate any person, business or event according to its gay friendliness..."  

The site

"highlights those acting in an open and accepting manner and calls out those who are acting out of bigotry."

It's a cool idea, and similar to Yelp, the more people contribute, the better resource it will become. 

Namaste,
Lee