Remembering Taylor Siluwé

Author: William Johnson

June 20, 2011

On Sunday, June 19, 2011, Taylor Siluwé, popular writer, blogger and activist died from lung cancer in his home in New Jersey. He was 43 years old.

Taylor was born January 27, 1966, in Jersey City, where he lived most of his adult life. He studied creative writing at New York University, fulfilling what he considered “a burning passion to write.” Known for his darkly erotic and humorous story telling style, Taylor’s writing has been featured in numerous publications including Details, Venus, Literary New York, Out IN Jersey, FlavaLIFE, and the E-zine Velvet Mafia. His short stories appeared in the anthologies Law of Desire (Alyson Books) and Best Gay Erotica 2008 (Cleis Press). In addition, Taylor published two sexually charged short story collections, Dancing With the Devil (SGL Café Press) and Cheesy Porn…and other Fairy Tales (SGL Café Press).

Taylor’s writing reached new heights of popularity on his blog, SGL Café.Com, which combined a canny combination of the personal and political. Taylor’s blog served has a fiery, and often hilarious, platform for the rights of same gender loving men, while also providing insightful and candid asides on his personal life, popular culture and his struggle with cancer.

Fellow writer and friend, Nathan James said of Taylor, “ [He] was one of the most beautiful human beings I’ve ever known. He was one of my best friends, and a gifted writer, as well. Like me, Taylor was a passionate LGBT activist and political junkie. We used to sit up for hours and hours at his house, talking about issues of the day. Taylor’s writing was darkly provocative, exploring a different side of LGBT life…”