President Obama ACTS! The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act is LAW!!!

He did it!

Here's the transcript of a portion of President Obama's remarks from the signing ceremony on Wednesday:

After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray, or who they are. (Applause.)

I promised Judy Shepard, when she saw me in the Oval Office, that this day would come, and I'm glad that she and her husband Dennis could join us for this event. I'm also honored to have the family of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, who fought so hard for this legislation. And Vicki and Patrick, Kara, everybody who's here, I just want you all to know how proud we are of the work that Ted did to help this day -- make this day possible. So -- and thank you for joining us here today. (Applause.)

So, with that, I'm going to sign this piece of legislation. Thank you all for doing a great job. All right.

(The Act is signed.) (Applause.)

As Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign said in their email blast about this,

This is the first time ANY federal equality measure protecting LGBT rights has become law. The very first time. And it is the first federal law to explicitly protect transgender people. It is a touchstone in our movement, a triumph of what is right. And I truly feel things will never be the same.

Joe goes on to say that:

It took twelve years, over one million emails, faxes and phone calls to Congress, and 14 separate votes on the floors of the House and the Senate to turn the hate crimes bill into law.

It took too many innocent people dying.

And it took so many people standing up for what is right - even when it was hard, or there was a cost to it.

We now have a Law that explicitly says that targeting Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender People is WRONG. A Law that proclaims that we, members of the Gay community, are legally protected.

I do think that all crime is a form of hate crime. But having the Law of this land state unequivocally that GLBTQ people are to be protected is huge.

Here's a quote from the text of the new Law:

A prominent characteristic of a violent crime motivated by bias is that it devastates not just the actual victim and the family and friends of the victim, but frequently savages the community sharing the traits that caused the victim to be selected.

And that's true.

This Law changes the MYTH of what's okay in our society. It's no longer "okay" to gay-bash.

And that is huge.

The world is changing. We finally have some solid ACTION, some results, from electing President Obama.

And we have Halloween weekend to celebrate.

And then, Monday morning, let's stand up and keep fighting for not just our equality, but for what we teach our kids that America is all about:

Equality for all. Liberty and justice for all.

I can see the future. And it's getting better.

Namaste, and Happy Halloween!

Lee

Here's the full text of the new Law on the Library Of Congress website.

Ash

By Malinda Lo

A lesbian Cinderella.

Ash's father has died, and her cruel stepmother makes her life miserable.

Ash dreams that like in the storybooks, fairies might come to steal her away. And then she meets Sidhean, a dark and dangerous fairy. And she thinks her wish might come true.

When she befriends Kaisa, the King's Huntress, Ash's heart starts to change. She starts to fall in love.

But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own.

And now Ash has to choose between fairy tale dreams and the woman she loves.

Add your review of "Ash" in comments!

Thanks to blog reader Elizabeth for reminding me that "Ash" had come out!

Luv Ya Bunches

By Lauren Myracle

Katie-Rose, Yasaman, Milla and Violet are in Fifth grade. And they were all named after flowers.

That's about all they have in common. They're certainly not friends.

See, Katie-Rose is going to be a film director. Yasaman's already a computer nerd. Milla's popular. And Violet's the new girl.

But add one "evil queen bee," Modessa, and suddenly all their worlds collide!



Lauren, the author of "Luv Ya Bunches," is one of my heroes. Here's why: She was told that if she changed Milla's two moms to be a one-mom-one-dad family, she's have her book accepted into Scholastic's School Book Fairs. That meant a LOT more sales. More money. More exposure. But Lauren stood her ground, saying

""A child having same-sex parents is not offensive, in my mind, and shouldn't be 'cleaned up.'"

She refused to make the change, and then Scholastic refused to carry her book in their school book fair.

THANK YOU, Lauren, for standing up for your artistic integrity. For standing up for all the children (like mine) who are growing up in two mom or two dad families. For standing up for all those kids who are gay, to let them know that sometimes a Prince ends up with a Prince. And a Princess ends up with a Princess. And that's just another kind of "Happily Ever After!" (Read more on this episode of censorship here.)

Please add your review of "Luv Ya Bunches" in comments!

Registration for SCBWI's 2010 Winter Conference in NY Opens TOMORROW! SCBWI Team Blog Will Be There... Will You?

Hi everyone! I'm really excited to announce two things:

1. The 2010 Winter SCBWI (Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators) Conference is coming up in January... and registration starts tomorrow!!! Conference info (faculty, schedule, the amazing pre-conference writer and illustrator intensives) is now up on the SCBWI website, and online registration starts tomorrow: Wednesday, October 28th at 10 a.m. PST.

2. I'll be live-blogging and tweeting from the conference floor as part of the amazing SCBWI Team Blog!!! Here's the rest of the team:

• SCBWI Team Blog Captain Alice Pope! Click here to visit Alice's blog. Click here to follow Alice on Twitter.
  
• Suzanne Young. Click here to visit Suzanne's blog. Click here to follow Suzanne on Twitter.
  
• Jaime Temairik. Click here to visit CocoaStomp. Click here to follow Jaime on Twitter.
  
• Jolie Stekly. Click here to visit Cuppa Jolie. Click here to follow Jolie on Twitter.
• and ME! (and you're already here, you lovely people, you!) You can even follow me on Twitter.
  

(If it seems like we're missing one from the summer conference, you're right! The incredible Paula Yoo can't join us again on SCBWI Team Blog because she's crazy-busy writing and producing a TV show - but you can swing on by Paula's website, and her twitter place, too, and say Lee sent you.)



So stay tuned for cool announcements, exclusive pre-conference scoops, and lots and lots of great SCBWI 2010 Winter Conference moments!

Ready?

Set?

Go, SCBWI Team Blog! Go!

Scholastic School Book Fairs CENSOR Lauren Myracle's "Luv Ya Bunches" for one of the character's having GAY parents!

This is so upsetting. Lauren Myracle wrote "Luv Ya Bunches"



"Luv Ya Bunches" is about four elementary school girls who are all named after flowers. That's all they have in common. And they're not friends. At least, not yet. It's the first in a four book series.

But because one of the girls, Milla, has two moms, Scholastic won't carry it at their school book fairs. Here's more from the School Library Journal article:

The company sent a letter to Myracle's editor asking the author to omit certain words such as "geez," "crap," "sucks," and "God" (as in, "oh my God") and to alter its plotline to include a heterosexual couple. Myracle agreed to get rid of the offensive language "with the goal—as always—of making the book as available to as many readers as possible," but the deal breaker was changing Milla's two moms.

"A child having same-sex parents is not offensive, in my mind, and shouldn't be 'cleaned up.'" says Myracle, adding that the book fair subsequently decided not to take on Luv Ya Bunches because they wanted to avoid letters of complaint from parents. "I find that appalling. I understand why they would want to avoid complaint letters—no one likes getting hated on—but shouldn't they be willing to evaluate the quality of the complaint? What, exactly, are children being protected against here?"

Scholastic's response?

“Authors are often given the opportunity to make changes in the books to meet the norms of the various communities that host the fairs,”

Scholastic made a further statement, saying that they didn't really CENSOR the book because it's available via their book clubs. Um... You said you'd include it in the fairs IF the author changed the two mom family to a mom and dad family. She refused. You decided not to carry it in the fairs. That sounds like censorship to me.

And all this was becauase Scholastic was afraid of complaints? Well here's mine to Richard Robinson, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Scholastic.

Dear Richard,
I am so disappointed that Scholastic refused to carry Lauren Myracle's "Luv Ya Bunches" in your school book fairs solely due to one of the main characters having two moms.
As the child of a two dad family herself, my daughter won't have a chance to buy that book when the book fair comes to her school. She won't have that moment of affirmation, in front of her friends and peers - wow, there's a girl in this book who has two Moms, which is sort of like my two Dad family!
I am so profoundly disappointed in your company's decision. The school library journal article cited your concern that if you carried the book in the fair, then you might get parents writing you to complain.
Well please consider this unhappy parent's complaint. In effect, you are censoring out families like mine from representation in your fair, and that is very upsetting.
I hope you reconsider your position, and not only include "Love Ya Bunches" in your school book fairs, but affirm your support of ALL families - including those with two moms and two dads, like mine.
You said in an interview on the Scholastic website that Scholastic aims to "Align your talents and desires to what society needs" - well, society needs to move forward, and books can help in that. Books can help normalize the reality of kids' lives today - and the reality is that there are hundreds of thousands of children being raised by two dad and two mom families. Scholastic has a chance to be a leader on this. I hope you take it.
Sincerely,
Lee Wind

And here's my letter to the author:

Dear Lauren,
I am so deeply deeply proud of you for not backing down to the pressure to change Milla's parents to a straight couple in order to get "Love Ya Bunches" accepted into the Scholastic School Book Fairs.
My daughter has two Dads, and the thought of her excitement at being able to buy your book at the book fair - a book where there's a character who has two moms, which is pretty close to her having two dads, in that it's different from what most of her peer's families look like - is heady. What a shame that Scholastic is so concerned with offending people, and are afraid of the truth of the "norm" shifting. Because they have surely offended me and hundreds of thousands of parents like me.
Again, congratulations on leading with your heart and your conscience. With your standing your ground for families like mine, you have made many new fans - including me!

Namaste,
Lee

Wanna write scholastic a letter, and share with them what YOU think?

You can send it from their customer service website.

Want to support the author?

Buy her book, "Luv Ya Bunches"





and write her here.

And if you do write letters of complaint and support, I'd love for you to copy your letters here in comments!

Namaste,
Lee

Boys & Book Cover Shame: Will e-books get boys reading more?

So recently on the amazing twitter #kidlitchat that's on Tuesday nights (6pm west coast time), a discussion of e-books came up, and it was mentioned that Romance is the biggest selling category of e-books.

The theory was Book Cover Shame. The idea that it's embarrassing walking around with a book whose cover is pretty much the equivalent of you SCREAMING:

"I'm reading a bodice-ripping romance novel because I need more passion in my life!"

In contrast, an e-book is completely anonymous. You could be reading about Proust's remembering his pastry (Remembrance Of Things Past) or Orwell's dystopia (1984) - nobody knows what you're reading except you.

And I think that there's an amazing upside to this idea.

See, there's this parallel concept in Children's and especially Teen publishing that boys won't read books that they don't want to be seen with. Hence, boys won't read any books that "look" girly. And thus most of the marketing and promotion of Teen books - especially any books with female protagonists - skews towards girls, because they are the "readers." This makes "girl book" covers look even MORE girly, to appeal to girl readers.

Boys, if they read, are seen as reluctant, and only willing to read about boy protagonists on "manly" adventures. Boy book covers are macho.

Much of the time the cover art pretty much conveys to everyone if the book is considered a "girl book" or a "boy book." Look for yourself:

Girl covers:

Boy Covers:

But enter e-books. If I'm a 15 year old guy, I may LOVE vampire stories, but I don't necessarily want the other kids at school seeing me walking around carrying "Twilight." Especially after the movie and all those sparkly-in-the-sunlight Edward moments. Now I can read it. If I want to read "Wintergirls" or "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" - well, now I can. And nobody has to know, unless I tell them.

Think about what this means for GAY books. Boys AND girls can now carry around and read the amazing GLBTQ titles here on this blog anonymously.

Nobody will know if you're reading "The God Box" or "Gravity." Nobody will know if you're thinking about "can I be Gay and believe in God?" or if you're thinking about which Jonas Brother is cutest... err, most talented. If it's on your e-book, you could be reading ANYthing, and no one across the cafeteria would know.

E-books allow everyone access to stories and information in a way that's private. And there are moments as a teenager when I would have LOVED that level of privacy (After all, I read Anne McCaffrey's fantasy novels with girl protagonists!)

So while I love paper books (or as I recently heard someone call them, "the dead tree versions of books") I think there's quite an upside to this whole e-book transition.

And sure, I look forward to the day when anyone can carry around ANY book and not be embarrassed or made to feel bad about themselves because of what that book is. But for right here, right now? E-books mean that boys and girls are going to read more. Without fear of Book Cover Shame.

And that's a great thing.

What do you think? Have you ever experienced or seen Book Cover Shame in action? Do you think e-books might change that?

Namaste,
Lee

Into This World We're Thrown

By Mark Kendrick

The sequel to "Desert Sons," in this book Scott and Ryan's relationship becomes public knowledge - and amid that tension, Ryan's grandmother dies.

Suddenly, Ryan is questioning everything, even their being together.

And at school, Scott finds out that he has a secret admirer who won't let anything stop him from making Scott his.


This book is a work of passion that the author self-published. Add your review of "Into This World We're Thrown" in comments!

The Drowning of Stephan Jones

By Bette Greene

In a small town in Arkansas, 16 year old Carla is pretty liberal.

So when a gay couple (Stephan Jones and Frank Montgomery) relocate there from Boston, she's not too freaked out.

But when her boyfriend, Andy, begins harassing the couple, Carla doesn't say anything. And then the harassment ends in Stephan's murder.

Only then does Carla finally find the strength to speak up... and fight for justice.


Add your review of "The Drowning of Stephan Jones" in comments!

Desert Sons

By Mark Kendrick


1990. Yucca Valley, California.

Scott's 16. He's part of a small town rock band. He's out to a few people.

Ryan moves to town, and he and Scott become friends. Ryan keeps telling everyone he's straight, but Scott isn't so sure of that...

It turns out Scott is right, and their friendship becomes a real relationship.

And then Ryan's secret past threatens everything.


This book is a work of passion that the author self-published. Add your review of "Desert Sons" in comments!

GSA Monday Topic: Watch This Amazing Video... and Discuss

Okay, so for this week I'm loving the idea of everyone finding great video clips of movies or shorts or TV shows on DVD or youtube, sharing them with your GSA, and discussing them.

There's so much great stuff OUT there (in both senses of the word) that can springboard conversation.

My contribution, here at our virtual Gay-Straight Alliance? Two brief videos (the first is under 2 minutes, the second, under 3 1/2 minutes long.) They're both from the TV show Dawson's Creek, which I never watched, but had I known it had stuff like this in it...





I am now, officially, a HUGE fan of this show!

Thanks to Greg Hernandez, who's blogging now at Greg In Hollywood, for highlighting these video clips on his old daily news blog.

Enjoy discussing!

Namaste,
Lee

Governor Schwarzenegger, Harvey Milk Day, And the POWER of a story well-told

Harvey Milk in 1978

Big news this week was that our California Governor signed the law setting aside May 22 as "Harvey Milk Day" - a special day of recognition to honor the trailblazing Gay politician.

Here's more:

While it will not be a state holiday, schools will be encouraged to hold lessons "remembering the life of Harvey Milk, recognising his accomplishments and familiarising pupils with the contributions he made to this state".

What is so fascinating is that last year, Schwarzenegger VETOED this exact same bill.

So, what changed?

The decision by President Barack Obama to award Milk the presidential medal of freedom and an Academy award-winning film about Milk's life, starring Sean Penn, persuaded Schwarzenegger to change his mind, his spokesman, Aaron McLear, said.

"Harvey Milk symbolises the importance of the gay community in California," said McClear. "And the governor wanted to honour that community. A well-known film brought awareness of him."

Mark Leno, a Democratic state senator, who wrote the bill to honour Milk, said he was pleased about the governor's decision. "In light of his veto message on the same bill last year," he said, "he clearly evolved in his thinking."

It isn't that our Governor didn't know about Harvey Milk last year. He just thought Harvey Milk wasn't that important outside of San Francisco. And it wasn't like there were no gay people last year in the state, when he vetoed it.

But now, with the movie "MILK" and everything else that's going on in our society, the stories we tell, and the stories others tell about us, are changing. Now our stories are about parenthood (gay penguins can be good daddies, too). Our stories are about fighting for marriage, a pretty "conservative" goal. Our stories are about fighting for our country without lying about ourselves - about how we're honest, and brave, and loyal. And our stories are about our ANGER at being treated as second class citizens. Our Anger over Prop 8, which took away the rights of any new gay couples to legally marry in California.

Our stories are changing, and that is creating a shift in our culture. A shift in how we perceive ourselves, and in how others perceive us. The new story is that:

It's no longer "cool" to slam the Gays.

We're standing up, marching, and demanding some respect.

And this week, happily, we got some.

We got Harvey Milk Day.

And in another wonderful stroke of his pen, our Governor also signed a law that makes California recognize the legality of Gay marriages from other states and countries!

So, Hurray for us in California! Hurray for our Governor, who got these two laws right. And Hurray for what Harvey Milk continues to teach us: Come Out. Stand Up. Be Empowered!

Listen to Harvey - he says it beautifully:

Namaste,

Lee

ps: The quotes above are from this article here.

pps: Also, check out the amazing Academy Award Winning documentary"The Times Of Harvey Milk," from back in 1984.

The Rose Of Versailles, a.k.a. Lady Oscar

By Riyoko Ikeda

France. The late 1780s.

This yuri (girl-love) manga tells the story of Oscar, a girl who dresses as a man and is groomed to be the leader of Marie Antoinette's Palace Guards.

The women of the court are jealous of Oscar's attention to other women, in particular her relationship with Rosalie.

But as the French Revolution explodes around her, Oscar is torn between her class loyalty and her sense of justice, as well as between being a woman and her role as a military fighter.


In addition to being a series of 10 manga books, "The Rose Of Versailles" was adapted for the theater, an anime TV show, a live action movie and even a ballet!

Add your review of "The Rose Of Versailles" in comments!

The Gay Marriage Proposal at Mariah Carey's Concert

This made me all teary eyed. Our World is changing, for the better!

Enjoy,



I'm gonna go listen to some Mariah now. I feel like a born-again fan!

Namaste,
Lee

Peter

By Kate Walker

Peter is 15, and trying hard to be macho. 'Cause that's what everyone wants him to be.

So he's pretty freaked out when he realizes he's attracted to his brother's friend, David.

'Cause David is, uh, gay. And that makes Peter...


Add your review of "Peter" in comments!

GSA Monday Topic: Who's Gay? Who's OUT? History, Herstory, Our story... Gay people Past and Present

One of the really fun things to do as a GSA (or heck, just as an individual) is to find out about historical figures who were Gay, or Bi, or Lesbian, or Transgender, or Questioning. And yeah, I know that these words for same-gender and same-sex love are new, but there is a lot of history (and herstory) that tells us that a guy falling in love with another guy, and a girl falling in love with another girl, is NOT so new.

So I encourage you to take some time this week and challenge your GSA members (and yourself) to find and share info about historical figures - and current day figures - who are part of our GLBTQ community.

And since it's a game of sorts, allow me to play first. My category: MUSIC.

Famous Gay Historical Figure from the Past:

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
(Here he is as a Teenager)

Tchaikovsky composed the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and the 1812 Overture... One of the world's greatest classical composers, he was gay.

And check out this quick look at the Gay version of "Swan Lake," by Matthew Bourne - it's set to Tchaikovsky's famous music, and the entire ballet was amazing! (The swans in it are MEN - not a group of ballerinas in tutus!)



(You can also check out this summary of Tchaikovsky's male loves and his disastrous "friendship" marriage to a woman of only a few months here.)


Famous Gay Historical Figure From the Present:

Mika,
an international Pop star, who recently came out as Bisexual.

Check out Mika's video "Blame It On The Girls." The next line is "Blame it on the boys," but the best (or is it just the "gayest" line in it - is when he sings "he has a face that makes you fall on your knees."





History. OUR history. What a fun way to celebrate yesterday's "National Coming Out Day", and of course, October being GLBT History Month.




Another way to celebrate is to check out this cool website with a new Historical GLBT Figure every day for the whole Month of October!


Enjoy, and Namaste,
Lee

ps: My thanks to loyal reader Adrienne for the Tchaikovsky info!