Sex and Gender Fluidity versus ‘Born This Way’ 
THE “BORN THIS WAY” narrative of sexual orientation and gender identity suggests that these traits are innate and immutable. However, many in the LGBT community do not identify with…More
Browsing: July-August 2018
July-August 2018
Blog Posts
Sex and Gender Fluidity versus ‘Born This Way’
When Is a Gang Not a ‘Gang’?
[It] was with a sense of wry nostalgia that I anticipated reading Vanessa Panfil’s The Gang’s All Queer: The Lives of Gay Gang Members. Unless inner-city gay youth are vastly different in Columbus, Ohio, from those in Los Angeles, I expected to hear some familiar stories.
MoreThe Outing of Pop Music, 1907-2018
MARTIN ASTON is the author of the recently published book Breaking Down the Walls of Heartache: How Music Came Out (Backbeat Books), a 600-page compen-dium of popular music history from 1907 to the present, specifically the presence and influence of LGBT singers, songwriters, producers, and entertainers across this century. The book is organized chronologically and offers a brisk tour of popular music and its gay movers and shakers for each decade starting in the 1920s.
MoreChoral Singing as Personal and Political
SOCIAL CHANGE does not come easily. We can pass laws, win court battles, and even gain greater social recognition, but for every gain there is an anti-LGBT backlash from…More
For the Love of Billy Budd
BENJAMIN BRITTEN’S OPERA Billy Budd is based on a famous, sexually ambiguous novella by Herman Melville (written in 1891 but not published until 1924). The opera focuses on the…More
Proust’s Sources
Caroline Weber’s new book, Proust’s Duchess, is about the three real women who were the models for the Duchess of Guermantes.
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