Bonus Saturday Post: "Why My Son Still Won't Join The Boy Scouts" - An Excellent Article In The Atlantic by Kathy Zonana

I loved this article.

It said it so eloquently, as kids' actions often do.

Character.  Something Kathy's son has in abundance.  And something the Boy Scout still need to learn.
 
Namaste,
Lee

ps - and if you want to read more about why the no-gay adult rule is so terrible - in large part because it reinforces the stereotype that LGBTQ adults are dangerous to children - read this piece by Michelangelo Signorile at Huffington Post, The Boy Scouts: Demonizing Gay Men, Empowering Bashers on the Streets

The Thousand Natural Shocks - 13 Year Old Charles (Who's Secretly Gay) Doesn't Fit In At His High School... So He Goes To Military School, and It's Even Worse... at First

The Thousand Natural Shocks by Michael Sáenz

Thirteen-year-old Charles Siskin is not like other boys. He doesn't like sports, he reads all the time and by the time he is ready to enter high school, he doesn't have a single friend. But it is more than these things that separate him from kids his own age. For as long as he can remember, Charles Siskin has liked boys.

Set apart from everyone by his odd disposition and what his schoolmates see as a distinctly feminine way of speaking and walking, he has become an outcast. In his search for a better education, and because of his need to get away from the daily torments of his peers, he talks his parents into letting him attend St. Ignatius Loyola High School, an all boys, military private school. He quickly discovers that he has removed himself from one bad situation, only to find himself in an even worse one. As he tries to navigate his way through his freshman year, he finds some protection with a group of misfit friends, in his creative writing class, and eventually begins to find some acceptance with the help of two of his teachers. But when he auditions for the spring play, he sets a series of events into motion that lead to a crushing and humiliating catastrophe.

This book was published by the author.  Add your review of "The Thousand Natural Shocks" in comments!

Whistle Pass - The 1950s, Homophobia, and Gay Romance

Whistle Pass by KevaD (a.k.a. David Kentner)

On the battlefields of WWII Europe, Charlie Harris fell in love, and after the war, Roger marched home without a glance back. Ten years later, Charlie receives a cryptic summons and quickly departs for his former lover’s hometown of Whistle Pass.

But Roger Black isn’t the lover of Charlie’s dreams anymore. He’s a married, hard-bitten political schemer who wants to secure his future by destroying evidence of his indiscreet past. Open homosexuality is practically a death sentence, and that photo would ruin Roger and all his wife’s nefarious plans.

Caught up in foggy, tangled events, Charlie turns to hotel manager Gabe Kasper for help, and Gabe is intrigued by the haunted soldier who so desperately desires peace. When helping his new lover places Gabe in danger, the old warrior in Charlie will have to take drastic action to protect him... or condemn them both.

Add your review of "Whistle Pass" in comments!

Rin!: A Gay Romance on the High School Archery Team

Rin! by Satoru Kannagi

Since he was little, sweet and anxious Katsura has soothed his fears and insecurities by asking for a tight hug from Sou, his older brother’s best friend. Now shooting together for their high school’s archery team, Katsura is ridiculed by homophobic peers for clinging to another man, and Sou’s gruff complaints about the touching indicate he’s growing tired of it. Dramatic moments of growth occur as Katsura and Sou explore their true feelings for each other and find the strength in themselves to love in a healthy way.

This manga holds fascinating insight into relationship dynamics. Both Katsura and Sou explore their issues with co-dependency and seek to discover whether love is about needing someone or simply wanting them by your side. The story realistically portrays the subtle but persistent reality of heterosexism in a modern high school. Often, the characters react in realistic ways by expressing embarrassment about same-sex affections. This may not be the most empowering manga, but it is highly relatable.

My largest concern with the first volume involves a scene in the bonus episode at the very end. In these pages, two characters share a sexual experience where consent is never given. It is not very graphic, but it is disturbing. In addition, it seems the author threw this scene in for erotic effect, which makes me concerned about the direction she will choose for the rest of the story.

Because of the sexual content discussed above, I would have been ready to read this at sixteen.

Review by Aaron Walsh.  Add your review of "Rin!" in comments!

A Life of Experience - A Gay Teen Grows Up

A Life Of Experience by Alan Phillips

Abused by his father, Michael Parker leaves home at sixteen and becomes embroiled in the gay prostitution scene on the streets of London. From there he then finds himself involved in gay pornography and is quite successful and in demand. Wishing to get away from that world, he manages to escape and become a male model. His good looks and natural ability in front of a camera lead him into television as a legitimate actor but at the pinnacle of his career his early life is exposed in the press and he confronts his nemesis with disastrous consequences. Ten years after winning a BAFTA award for best newcomer Michael has to start rebuilding his life all over again.

This book was published through a subsidy publisher.  My thanks to Lis for letting me know about "A Life Of Experiene."  Add your review in comments!

Letters From The Closet - A Girl's Memoir About Her Relationship With Her Gay Teacher

Letters From the Closet by Amy Hollingsworth

It was an improbable relationship from the start—a high school English teacher, still in the closet, and his best student. From the confines—and protection—of his closet, Amy’s teacher wrote these letters, letters that were read, cherished, answered, and then locked away for years.

Now Amy looks back at the decade of intimate letters that preceded her teacher’s untimely death, collects the shards left by their clumsy, sometimes violent attempts to unmask each other, and counts again the cost of knowing and being known. 

Recommended for older teens.  Add your review of "Letters From The Closet" in comments!

W.N.B.A. Top Draft Pick Brittney Griner's Awesome Coming Out Essay (And "It Gets Better Video")

Brittney Griner, photo from NY Times, Matt York/Associated Press

Brittney Griner, a senior at Baylor University, was the top selection in the W.N.B.A. draft, and will be playing for the Phoenix Mercury. She won the Naismith Trophy as the outstanding women’s basketball player in 2012 and 2013. Last week, she wrote this essay that was published in the New York Times.

It includes these profound words:

It’s taken me a long time to figure out exactly where I fit. During that journey, I realized that everyone has a unique place in this world. I also discovered that the more open I was with my family and friends, the more I embraced others, and the more committed I became to doing the things I love, like basketball, skating and, of course, eating bacon (the greatest food of all time), the more love and confidence I received in return.

I just had to hang in there and be myself.

Hurray for Brittney! You are a light.

And here's Brittney's "It Gets Better" Video:

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket - a middle grade book about being different... (with a lesbian balloonist couple)

The Terrible Thing That Happened To Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne

Barnaby Brocket is an ordinary 8-year-old boy in most ways, but he was born different in one important way: he floats. Unlike everyone else, Barnaby does not obey the law of gravity. His parents, who have a horror of being noticed, want desperately for Barnaby to be normal, but he can't help who he is. And when the unthinkable happens, Barnaby finds himself on a journey that takes him all over the world. From Brazil to New York, Canada to Ireland, and even to space, the floating boy meets all sorts of different people — including a lesbian hot air balloonist couple - and discovers who he really is along the way.

Add your review of "The Terrible Thing That Happened To Barnaby Brocket" in comments!

Maiden Rose - An Unsettling Study of Power, War, and Sexual Assault

Maiden Rose by Fusanosuke Inariya

Maiden Rose is a military-action-romance about commander Taki Reizen and his loyal knight, Claus von Wolfstadt. Set in an alternate Japan in the year 1928, Taki and his soldiers defend their nation from foreign invaders in a seemingly endless war. For mysterious reasons, Taki refuses to pursue his affections for Claus, but remembering bygone days when Taki expressed his love, Claus continually forces himself upon Taki in hopes of arousing repressed feelings. Between moments of brutal intimacy, these two men fight side-by-side to hold their forces together and protect their people.

This manga delves deeply into the sacrifices that come with leadership, the pain of war, and the damaging effects of unequal power dynamics in relationships. The pages hold a sinister atmosphere augmented by the setting, style of dress, and weaponry, all of which point to the forerunners of the Imperial Japanese and Nazi armies of World War II. Theoretically, Taki and Claus are good guys in the story, but their resemblance to real life war criminals is disturbing.

In addition, the manga features several rape scenes which technically pertain to the story but are largely erotic episodes for readers that fantasize about such things. Whether literarily necessary or not, these graphic scenes are very unsettling and often denigrate the idea that sex shared between men can be tender, loving, and meaningful. Interspersed between these traumatic experiences are moments of tenderness between Taki and Claus. This addition to the motif that rapists are actually lovers tragically reinforces a culture that accepts rape. Let it be stated here clearly: sexual contact between people should always be mutually consensual; when it is not consensual, that is rape; rape is never okay. Not ever.

Maiden Rose is composed of four volumes. With all the graphic and violent sexual content, I would not have read this manga before being eighteen-years-old. In fact, were it not necessary to write this review, I probably would not have finished the first volume.


Review by Aaron Walsh. Add your review of "Maiden Rose" in comments.

Department Of Magic - A Fantasy series with Queer Characters

Department of Magic series by Brian Dockins

Book 1 – Betrayal of Magic

Cadan Johnson lived a seemingly ordinary life. He was on the soccer and cross country teams and had a loving family. But one thing about the Johnsons made them very unordinary- they could perform magic.

When a mysterious spell on his school counselor backfires, Cadan is faced with the realization that everything he thought he knew about his family has been a lie. He leaves his home to search out the identities of his real parents, but before he can discover the truth, he is tracked down by another group of magic-wielders, this time sent by the government.

The top-secret Department of Magic was set up in the 1930s when the U.S. government became aware of the existence of mages and fantastical creatures. For the last eighty years, the agency has been commissioned with searching out and detaining these magical beings, and making sure everyone else believes they are no more than myth.

Now a detainee within the Department, Cadan quickly realizes the truth – that not everything in this world is quite as it seems. The Femme Fatales, a world famous all-female pop group is actually a troupe of fairies. And Tyler Knox, the teen heartthrob, is secretly an elf who has had to alter his ears before appearing in movies.

Now a rookie agent, Cadan begins to train with his new team of misfit operatives, among them one boy with four arms who is afraid of the dark, another with black wings, and an elf with anger management issues. The group fights constantly, their training sessions are disasters, and to top it off, the leader of the team hates him. But when one of the leaders initiates a plan to destroy the Department, the only thing that stands in his way is Cadan and his ragtag band. With the fate of the Department at stake, will they be able to stop the rogue agent and his forces?

What's queer about it?  The author writes:

The main character Cadan spends a good deal of the first book “feeling different”. Part of that feeling stems from the fact that he can perform magic, but there is another underlying layer behind his feelings. He forms a close friendship with his roommate and best friend, and I have written it in a way that a careful reader (or one who reads LGBT fiction) can pick up on something more between them.

In the second book, Cadan slowly learns that he is attracted to his roommate and expresses those feelings at the end of the book. His roommate, Jude, shoots him down, claiming that he isn’t attracted to men, and in the third book Jude slowly comes to grips with the fact that he is indeed attracted to Cadan. The rest of the series will feature the boys dealing with bumps in their relationship as they work to take down the Department of Magic (DOMA).

I also have several supporting characters, including the flamboyant fairy Gabe, a lesbian named Tess Lennox, and a bi-sexual heartthrob named Luca Ricci. There are numerous other LGBT characters that I introduce throughout the series The seventh book introduces Donella Devine, the first transsexual character in the series.

The descriptions on Amazon don’t explicitly state the queer content of the books mainly because I didn’t want to pigeonhole them as merely “gay fiction”. My hope is that any teenager (or even adult) would read the books as I feel the message of diversity and acceptance is a larger one that transcends sexual preference, gender identity, and all other forms of “differences”.

Book 2 – Shrouded Island

The Department of Magic prepares to counter the rogue Administrator Nolan Burrell and his ever growing army of rebels. The Facilities come together to begin formulating plans to stop the spread of insurrection, but a new threat looming in the distance forces them to put those plans on hold.

The Bermuda Triangle has been one of the biggest mysteries of the century, and even the magical specialists within the Department are clueless to reality that lies beyond the mists. After an entire Paladin team disappears in the Atlantic, a new larger force is assembled – one that includes Hannah Cooper, a young prodigy doctor with an extreme knack for magical healing, and Caira Ogden, a Paladin leader from New York who has just met her twin brother.

Meanwhile, Cadan Ogden finds himself the head of this team. While taking on the responsibilities of leadership, he must also juggle his own secrets, a sister that he hardly knows, and a surprising, blossoming love.

But how will any of that compare to what he finds in the mists of the Bermuda Triangle.

Book 3 – Rise of the Witch

Cadan had hoped that one day his life in the Department would slow down long enough that he could find more information about his parents. On a routine mission, he encounters a voodoo priestess Madame LaDonna who reveals that she knew his parents, and more importantly, she prophecies that Cadan will meet his death soon if he does not make the right choices in the coming day.

Just weeks after defeating Nolan Burrell in the Bermuda Triangle, the rogue Administrator initiates a new plan, this one with more far reaching ramifications for the Department. Cadan and his allies in DOMA race to figure out what their enemy is up to.

One of his teammates, Natalie Gibson, struggles with feelings towards her boyfriend Bryce, who constantly steps in her way in the name of protecting her. She knows she’s strong, but when she is constantly pushed aside, it’s hard to show just what she’s capable of.

In the ranks of the rogue Administrators forces, Cody Cooke struggles to find his place among the others. After seeing the vision of a potential future where he murders one of his own allies, Cody begins to question everything he knows. Will he be able to determine the reason for the strange vision, and when the time comes to make that choice, will he have the courage?

Book 4 – Magic of Heroes

With Nolan Burrell’s forces defeated and on the run, Cadan Ogden and the Department of Magic believe they can finally rest. However, a new threat looms on the horizon. Superheroes straight from a popular comic book appear, and their super powers are not only accurate to the characters, but oddly familiar to Cadan and the Department.

In the midst of the struggle to figure out the secret behind the superheroes, Cadan’s sister Caira struggles with the memory losses she has suffered over the past few months. When she discovers a lost little girl in the forest of Central Park, she is surprised to learn that the girl has the gift of ruhk-magic. Is it mere coincidence that Caira found her, or is there more to the girl’s identity that DOMA doesn’t know?

Tess Lennox is the Paladin leader at the Facility commonly referred to as the Nursery. The students under her care are her top priority and when a new faculty member begins to threaten their safety and well being, Tess is determined to put a stop to it. But when Caira delivers the mysterious young girl from Central Park, Tess makes it her mission to figure out where the girl came from and the identity of her mysterious friend ‘Elf’.

Darius Gibson returned to the Florida Facility, home of the seraphs, elves who have grown wings and can fly. With both black skin and black wings, he finds himself singled out in a sea of blonde haired, blue-eyed elves who spend every waking moment making his life difficult. He can’t escape the feeling that his sister Natalie needs him, but he is determined to gain the acceptance of the other seraphs. Will he return to his friends and sister when they might be in trouble, or will he fulfill his pledge as a member of the Florida team?

Book 5 – Hounds of the Himalayas

Karan Tovar is an agent of the Department of Magic in the Himalayan Reserve, where dragons, griffins, trolls, and the other unsightly magical creatures are housed. When he uncovers an external plot to undermine their security and break into the Facility, will he be able to find the culprits in time to stop them?

Back in the US, Cadan has reached an ethical breaking point in his life within the Department. Tyler Knox, the elf who has been posing as a teen heartthrob, has been keeping a secret from the Department since before Cadan first joined, and now that secret is exposed. Cadan must choose whether or not to help his friend escape, or to take him into custody as his superiors have ordered.

Meanwhile, the Department plans to hold a conference of all agents in Oklahoma, on a campground across the river from a hidden haunted castle. When Cadan decides to enter the dark fortress, he will learn more than he bargained for, and when Nolan Burrell decides to resume his war against the Department, the darkness that haunts its walls may be their only hope.

Through all of this, Cadan must make a decision that could affect him and everyone he knows and loves, changing their lives forever, to send them down a path from which they might never be able to return.

Book 6 – Second Exodus

Cadan Ogden has never had it worse. Wrongfully imprisoned by the Department, he lies in his uncle’s office, awaiting serious punishment that could result in his death. Those of his team that have not been detained or incapacitated are unable to see him, much less rescue him and leave the Department as they had been planning. Is there any hope of escaping his imprisonment? And what will the fate of his teammates be now that they are forced to remain in the Department?

Meanwhile, unrest among the other Facilities begins to reach a boiling point. While outside forces plot to bring DOMA down, there are those who work in secret against these dark powers.

Will Cadan survive his imprisonment? And if he does somehow manage to escape, will he be trading one perilous fate for another?

Book 7 – Hidden Relics

After the death of their loved one, Cadan’s allies flounder to find their way in the midst of Josiah’s encroaching assault.

Tess Lennox tracks Max Ogden and his fictitious super heroes across the country to rescue Cadan’s little brother, Tanner. She knows Max’s plans for the boy, and that his very life hangs in the balance.

Just as Jackson Keyes discovered the location of the Torch and the Southern Order of European mages, the Relic was stolen by a rival group of magic-wielders. Suspecting Jackson as a conspirator, the Order has taken his team captive. Will he be able to convince his jailers that he isn’t responsible before it’s too late? And who is really behind the theft?

Caira Ogden and her Paladins have teamed up with the enigmatic Levi Braun to track down the mages who kidnapped Raney. She has no idea whether or not she can trust him, but she knows that he holds the key to finding both Raney and the Bow of Kaberani, another of the seven Relics needed to ultimately destroy the pretend witch, Nerina.

Back in the US, Natalie must hold her team together following a great tragedy. A spontaneous trip unveils more than they could have imagined, and could also provide another key to defeating the witch. Upon returning from their trip, they learn a staggering truth, one that could lead them all down a dark path, and possibly to their deaths. Will she and her team risk everything they have fought so hard for to rescue someone they all love dearly?

Will this be the end of all of Cadan’s carefully laid plans?

These seven books have been published by the author in his planned 12-book series.  Add your reviews of the books in the Department of Magic series in comments!

ANT: Bullied, Bashed, But Not Broken

The comedian ANT speaks out in this video about the power of comedy... and the power of being your authentic self.




I loved the idea of each of us tapping into the "infinite power" and "infinite potential" inside us!

Namaste,
Lee

Representations of Gender in Advertising

This under five minute video is excellent, with some shocking statistics and thought-provoking images, and it is a great entry point to talk about how men and women are "supposed" to be, and how we need to break free of that mind trap...





Created for

"a Women and Gender Studies class at the University of Saskatchewan by Sarah Zelinski, Kayla Hatzel and Dylan Lambi-Raine [who] wanted to show how ridiculous media portrays gender roles and stereotypes in advertising through presenting gender roll reversals."

It was also interesting that in the "real" ads, all the women conformed to the thin and buxom stereotype of beauty, while in the role reversal ads, there were many different kinds of men portrayed.

What do you think?

How To Repair A Mechanical Heart - An Epic Road Trip, Six Sci-Fi Conventions, and Gay Teen Romance

How To Repair A Mechanical Heart by J.C. Lillis

Eighteen-year-old Castaway Planet fans Brandon and Abel hate bad fan fiction—especially when it pairs their number-one TV crushes of all time, dashing space captain Cadmus and dapper android Sim. As co-runners of the Internet’s third most popular Castaway Planet vlog, they love to spar with the “Cadsim” fangirls who think Cadmus will melt Sim’s mechanical heart by the Season 5 finale. This summer, Brandon and Abel have a mission: hit the road in an RV to follow the traveling Castaway Planet convention, interview the actors and showrunner, and uncover proof that a legit Cadsim romance will NEVER, EVER HAPPEN.

A Brandon and Abel romance: also not happening. Brandon’s sick of his struggle to make “gay and Catholic” compute, so it’s safer to love a TV android. Plus Abel’s got a hot new boyfriend with a phoenix tattoo, and how can Brandon compete with that? But when mysterious messages about them start popping up in the fan community, they make a shocking discovery that slowly forces their real feelings to the surface. Before they get to the last Castaway Planet convention, Brandon’s going to find out the truth: can a mechanical heart be reprogrammed, or will his first shot at love be a full system failure?

This book was published by the author.  Add your review of "How To Repair A Mechanical Heart" in comments!

Hero Heel - A Raw Exploration of Desperation, Objectifying Others, and Losing Oneself

Hero Heel by Makoto Tateno

At the beginning of Hero Heel, Minami Masaki is a young actor who lands his first lead role as a superhero on a children’s television show. At first, he feels far too cool for the part, but he soon finds himself trying his best to impress Sawada Kauomi, the experienced actor who plays the villain. Minami soon discovers that Sawada is secretly gay and spends his nights with various lovers. Over time, Minami becomes more aware of his own sexual orientation and grows more and more obsessed with Sawada. The story follows the two men as they alternate between hurting and clinging to each other in a twisted game of attraction and rejection.

This manga is very painful to read. Both Minami and Sawada hurt each other and themselves as they struggle with haunting desires and internal brokenness. Minami lacks the self-esteem to pursue a relationship where he is treated with tenderness and affection. Rather, he acts out of desperation, begging and threatening Sawada into providing scraps of attention that lack any real intimacy.

There is little of anything having to do with love in this manga. Rather, it is a sad portrait of the suffering that results when we lose respect for ourselves and others, when sex becomes something we do to feel good rather than show love, and when people are seen as objects for our satisfaction rather than human beings of infinite value. Minami and Sawada’s relationship is marked by insults, judgment, intimidation, and violence. The idea that these characters are playing out their dysfunctional relationship while acting in a children’s t.v. show highlights Minami’s continual loss of innocence. This story is tragic and awful and, saddest of all, incredibly real. It lays out almost everything one should avoid in a romantic relationship and proves that it’s worth waiting for the right person to come along, because no love is better than bad love.

Hero Heel is composed of three volumes. The series contains lots of explicit and graphic sexual content. In her liner notes, Makoto very clearly states that she wrote this manga for adults. I would not have felt comfortable reading it before being eighteen-years-old.

Review by Aaron Walsh. Add your review of "Hero Heel" in comments!

Prelude To An Empire - A Questioning Twenty-Something Agonizes Over His Life (With Characters of Color)

Prelude To An Empire by Terry J. Benton

“At 23, how the hell did I get to this point?” Russell Wright asks himself as he sits in his car with a handful of pills, ready to commit suicide. Russell’s life has been a roller coaster ride for as long as he can remember and today he wants to get off – forever.

While growing up in rural Georgia, Russell shares an unusual friendship with his mother, Charlene Wright. Charlene and Russell bond over their private struggle with Russell’s abusive father – a situation that climaxes the night that Russell’s father tries to murder their entire family.

As if things weren’t bad enough with his family issues, Russell has to endure relentless bullying surrounding suspicions about his sexuality – something he has yet to determine for himself. As a result of bullying and conflict with his spirituality, Russell’s personal growth is hindered and he struggles to find himself and his place in the world.

The one bright spot in Russell’s life is his best friend, Mercedes. She is beautiful, a diva, and sometimes a bit too ghetto – but most importantly, she provides comedic relief, strength, and support for Russell… and she’s also a lesbian. Russell and Mercedes’ relationship strengthens over her struggle for acceptance of her lifestyle and they vow to be best friends forever – until they leave for college and their friendship takes a dramatic turn for the worst.

As Russell’s story progresses, he fights to understand himself and the motives of the people in his life, as he experiences the lows and highs of friendships and relationships. In the end, this powerful and dramatic journey comes full circle to resolve the issue of whether he will indeed end his life.

This book is published by the author.  Add your review of "Prelude To An Empire" in comments!

And remember, if you or someone you know is feeling desperate or you just need someone to talk to, there's always someone you can talk to at the Trevor Project's lifeline at 1-866-488-7386.