This week in LGBTQ news… read more

“I find that the way I define and feel happiness keeps changing. Going through the worst time of my life definitely lowered the bar, which is actually a good thing.”… read more

Aside from the lgbt books that crossed my path recently, one book, The Lives of Angels by Emanuel Swedenborg, caused me to look twice. … read more

Since the major religious festivals of the Spring Equinox cycle are underway I thought I’d take a look at two romance writers whose Christian faith informs their writing. G. K. Chesterton wrote, “The very word ‘romance’ has in it the mystery and ancient meaning of Rome.” But this mystery can have a sinister aspect as… read more

An atheist might be said to believe in everything that can be seen. Perhaps one could add a belief in the betterment of humankind, in improving the planet, and in an agreed upon ethical system of right and wrong: Do not kill, steal, cheat, discriminate, etc. Disregard for the ethical code and the offender (in… read more

“It is my hope that my work forces us to face our fears of HIV/AIDS. Life has brought me intimately close to facing my own, and I hope Sacrilegion gives readers their own sublime experience in the mirror.” Sylvia Plath once remarked, “I think writers are the most narcissistic people. Well, I mustn’t say this, I like… read more

While reading Salman Rushdie’s Joseph Anton, the story of Rushdie’s life in hiding after he was “sentenced to death” by the Ayatollah Khomeini on February 14, 1989—a book that I am still reading, but slowly, because I am not all that enamored with Rushdie’s style—I came across a reference to English writer Bruce Chatwin. Chatwin, born… read more

What happens to the legacy of lgbt leaders when they are no longer in the spotlight? I ask this question because on Facebook recently somebody posted a YouTube video of the 1989 Philadelphia Pride march and rally.  I remember arriving at that march somewhat late and attended the events near the LOVE sculpture near City… read more

Many of these poems seem interested in the embodiment of the spiritual, finding God (or something like it) through the human body, and sometimes non-human. … read more

Sweet Like Sugar (Kensington Books) is a charming novel that describes the convergence of a young man’s openly gay identity with his previously pushed aside Jewish beliefs. Benji Steiner is a 26-year-old secular Jew. Benji was raised in a Conservative Jewish family. As a young man, he attended Hebrew school and had a Bar Mitzvah…. read more