A Walk in the Dust Clouds 
… the ever adventurous Field put his fears aside and embarked on a trip that produced Kabuli Days: Travels in Old Afghanistan, one of the most interesting travel diaries I’ve read.
MoreBrowsing: November-December 2009
November-December 2009
Blog Posts
A Walk in the Dust Clouds
California Split
… White’s diligent research reveals that, in addition to publishing a magazine, ONE, Inc. also held an annual institute for 25 years in which volunteer faculty taught courses, sometimes to only three or four students, that were the precursors of queer studies. …
MoreKirby Dick: Documenting Religious Hypocrisy
ONE of the freshest documentaries of 2009 was Kirby Dick’s Outrage, which brings to light how some of the most homophobic politicians in the U.S. are themselves deeply closeted gay men. Politicians such as Idaho senator Larry Craig, Florida governor Charlie Crist, former New York mayor Ed Koch, and others have done their damnedest to block GLBT equality while engaging in same-sex activities on the sly.
It is Dick’s contention that these politicians are able to remain in the closet thanks to the unwillingness of the mainstream media to talk about their sexuality.
MoreAndrew Epstein: Tom of Finland’s Eye in the Sky
PHOTOGRAPHER, artist, and designer Andrew J. Epstein has had behind-the-scenes access to some of the most important and influential gay artists of the last forty years, and fortunately he has had his camera in hand to record much of it. In the 1970’s, living in New York City’s West Village, he met artist Tom of Finland and photographed many of the artist’s gallery shows. Epstein’s photos are featured in Taschen’s recent, massive tribute to the artist titled Tom of Finland XXL.
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Tamotsu Yato’s Nude Male Warriors of Japan
IN 1972, the Rho-Delta Press of Los Angeles published Tamotsu Yato’s book Otoko: Photo-Studies of the Young Japanese Male. The book has long been out of print, and it usually commands a hefty price from rare book dealers. But the story of its origins and eventual publication is notable-and ultimately poignant-because it intersects with the life of one of Japan’s most complex and fascinating literary figures.
MoreGUEST OPINION: Blacks Lack Standing on Marriage Question
FOLLOWING THE PASSAGE of Proposition 8 in California last November, the battleground for marriage equality has now shifted to the nation’s capital as efforts are under way to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (or DOMA), which precludes the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage even in states where it is legal. One group that strongly supported Proposition 8-with seventy percent voting yes, according to some exit polls-was African-American voters.
MoreLavender Women
TOGETHER, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers form the Indigo Girls, the Grammy-winning folk-rock act whose new album, Poseidon and the Bitter Bug, marks the pair’s return to an independent label-their own, in fact, which they dubbed IG Records-after releasing eleven, major-label studio albums since their debut in 1987 (with Strange Fire). The homecoming must have been catalyzing, because they recorded Poseidon in just three weeks inside an Atlanta studio.
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Short Reviews
Reviews of the novel, Inferno Heights, by John Mitzel, and the movie, Taking Woodstock.
MoreThe Young and the Bi
IN SEVERAL DECADES of books published with bisexual themes, there has only been one to my knowledge for and about teenagers or young adults. This year, there were three in the first six months alone. All three present bisexuality in a positive light, even though it may cause confusion for the protagonist until she gets a handle on it. In all three books the protagonist is a girl, two of whom have transgender issues. All three books are written in the first person, a voice designed to draw the reader into the story in a personal way.
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Narrative Strains
NOT UNLIKE his other novels, William Mann’s latest centers on gay midlife. The protagonist, Danny Fortunato, grapples with the usual concerns of the male midlife crisis with the requisite questioning of life, love, and work. However, in Object of Desire, Mann mirrors this conflict with a haunting concern from the protagonist’s past, and the result is a mystery that leaves Fortunato seeking the answers to three questions: how did I get here, how do I move on, and what happened to my sister?
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