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Honoring Those Who Left Us in 2019 AS WE DO every year at this time, we remember some of the LGBT activists, writers, performers, educators, and artists who made a difference and who passed away over the past year. Their lifespans ranged from 24 to 87 years. Jackie Shane (pictured at left), rhythm-and-blues singer, died on February 21st at age 78.
Edward Gorey’s Gothic Nonsense L’Heure Bleue is a nocturne on love and loneliness, a reverie about all that could have been, confected from what was. Yet despite its blue mood, Gorey’s book has given heart to gay men
At Home with Quentin Crisp The Greek painter and photographer Dimitris Yeros, a friend during Crisp’s New York years, wrote the following (translated by Nick Lingris) in his memory. He took a series of photos during a 1998 visit to New York.
A Mystery Calls, and Rios Answers Carved in Bone begins as eighteen-year-old Bill Ryan is dumped at a Midwestern bus station, cruelly discarded by homophobic parents. Naïve and bewildered, Ryan becomes part of the 1970s tidal wave of gay immigrants to San Francisco.
The Art of Living in the Past McDermott and McGough signed their work with two dates: the year in which the work was produced, and the year that the work embodies. David and Peter became famous not only for dressing in the clothes of the 1930s or the1890s, but also for trying to live in the past.
We Want the Funk AFTER MORE than a decade as the frontwoman for the rock ’n’ soul band Alabama Shakes, Brittany Howard has struck out on her own and released her first solo album, titled simply Jaime. The timing is surprising, because Alabama Shakes remains on an upward trajectory.

In Santiago, Chile

By Dale Corvino
THIS PAST NOVEMBER, I found myself with some wonderment wandering through daily life in Santiago, Chile, in the midst of one of the largest populist uprisings in the world.

December 16, 2019

Rock Hudson: A Tragedy of the Closet

By Rafaelito Sy
The 1950s hunk was all about the American outdoors. In Giant (1956), Hudson is the quintessential cowboy, a strapping figure who races on horseback across the Texas plains amid a panorama of mountains and sky.

December 9, 2019

The Science of Silencing Hate

A while back we reported (Sept.-Oct. 2018) on a clever device to stop the serial incineration of a gay flag in a Warsaw square—a “water rainbow” that couldn’t be ignited.…More

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January 21, 2020

There is Something Called Sin. It’s Called Masculinity.

By Samir El Mouti
I was that boy whose body was shackled by toxic masculinity. I was that boy, wearing a mask on a stage performing for a too large audience that I could handle, called society. In that experience, I punished my body, and it punished me in return. The social mirror where I could see myself was cracked and distorted. …I was a sinner. …

January 16, 2020

Portholes

By Jonathan Zepeda
If you were to encounter Carson Russell and his husband walking down the street in downtown Seattle, you’d find yourself in a pleasant exchange with a charming man. If you caught him in uniform, you’d likely thank him for his service and …

January 14, 2020

A Tale of Two Armbands

By Martha Shelley
My wife Sylvia and I moved into our house in Portland in 2005. We met our neighbors, Don and Sarah, who are Pentecostal Christians. When Sarah said she believed that God created the universe about 6,000-10,000 years ago, I said I go with the astronomers …

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Essays

At Home with Quentin Crisp

The Greek painter and photographer Dimitris Yeros, a friend during Crisp’s New York years, wrote the following (translated by Nick Lingris) in his memory. He took a series of photos during a 1998 visit to New York.

Essays

The Sexual Economy of Revolution

THE “PHYSIQUE” photographers and periodicals of the 1950s and ’60s were not just a byproduct of the Homophile movement of this era, but were a catalyst for it. This in a nutshell is the thesis of a new book by David K. Johnson titled Buying Gay: How Physique Entrepreneurs Sparked a Movement. These entrepreneurs, argues Johnson, supported the movement financially and fought the legal battles that got it going.

Book Review

In the Beginning Was Little Richard

Traveling back through the history of pop music with “the Queer Quartet” is a reminder, or a discovery, of these musical figures, depending upon your age.

Art

Edward Gorey’s Gothic Nonsense

L’Heure Bleue is a nocturne on love and loneliness, a reverie about all that could have been, confected from what was. Yet despite its blue mood, Gorey’s book has given heart to gay men
Blog
1. December 23, 2019 In Santiago, Chile
2. December 16, 2019 Rock Hudson: A Tragedy of the Closet
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