Comments for Lambda Literary

Comment on David Wojnarowicz’s Writing Offers a Call to Action by URL

URL — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 13:17:23 +0000

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Comment on The First Drag Queen…and More! by Gerard Koskovich

Gerard Koskovich — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 16:10:54 +0000

Channing Gerard Joseph’s discovery of a lost story from 19th-century black queer history is fantastic. One major hitch, however: The Nation uses an unrelated photo as an illustration — picked up at the top of this page — and fails to provide any caption information, leaving readers to imagine the image represents William Dorsey Swann, the subject of the Joseph’s research.

The photograph in fact shows Gregory and Brown, an American vaudeville duo who caused a sensation when they introduced the cake walk to Paris in 1902. Film pioneer Louis Lumière even made a short of their act.

I have handled a scarce vintage French postcard portraying the pair. It’s now in the holdings of the Human Sexuality Collection at the Cornell University Library Rare and Manuscript Collections. Another postcard of the pair is preserved at the Wellcome Library in London.

I’d like to see further research done on the story of Gregory and Brown themselves as pioneering African American stage performers. At this point, we don’t even know Brown’s first name. They merit recognition in their own right.

Comment on Call for Submissions: Erotic Flash Fiction by William Johnson

William Johnson — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 16:51:12 +0000

In reply to gordon blitz. newsmutproject(at)gmail.com

Comment on Call for Submissions: Erotic Flash Fiction by gordon blitz

gordon blitz — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 16:33:20 +0000

what is the e-mail address to submit a story to erotic-flash-fiction-New Smut Project-thanks

Comment on Spider Love Song and Other Stories by Nancy Au by April Beker Steinbach

April Beker Steinbach — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 00:23:08 +0000

This is a stunning review of Nancy Au .s

book Spider Love Song

It is as good , as the book.

Comment on The Importance of Novels in Preserving Queer History by Steven Kerry

Steven Kerry — Sat, 01 Feb 2020 05:05:31 +0000

I couldn’t agree more with Alan Lessick’s point regarding documenting and preserving our stories and our history.
There was one detail in this article that bewildered me but I assume it falls under the category of “private information”. Mr. Lessick states that his partner died of a “terminal mental illness” in 2012. I have rarely heard this term used and it made me ponder “What is a terminal mental illness?” Other than Alzheimers I am stumped. None of my business, just curious…
I also want to ask a question and I’m not trying to be critical of any specific organization: If it is so important we write our stories is it not time we admit that those stories are not the sole domain or singular products of traditional book publishers? Why are self-published books still assumed to be less credible, of poorer quality, or less commercially viable than those published by mostly small independent presses? Not every gay writer rises swiftly to the level of a John Boylan or Christopher Rice; most in fact don’t even get close.. Self-published books are not necessarily lacking in quality compared to those released by traditional publishers. A qualified editor can be found and hired; so can book designers, etc.
If the question being asked is “Where are all the gay voices documenting our history?” the answer is this: not the usual places. Just as most current new artists in music attain their success on platforms like You Tube and soundcloud may I suggest that many gay voices are self=published projects. Where is the recognition in our community for the truly independent voices? When will it be acknowledged that the current crop of firebrand writers may not exactly be enamored with book publishers who take 50% of their royalties while doing no promotion or marketing to help these writers find an audience?
It is 2020. Like it or hate it this is the new(ish) frontier of DIY, but you’d never know that by looking at the book reviews in our glossy gay magazines and other enterprises whose mission is to expose and promote fresh voices and new faces who are actively writing but alienated by the trendy niche demands of traditional publishers. May I suggest that rather than increasing the visibility of gay writers who are indeed preserving our past we are instead releasing yet more”Twilight”-inspired stories about gay vampires and werewolves or more “steamy romance” books whose sole purpose is starry-eyed romance or sexual titillation? Yes, there is a place for such entertainment but such efforts seem to perennially dominate the vista of gay-themed books published by small or medium size gay publishing houses.
If it’s that important why not acknowledge that many of our writers ARE telling our stories but you won’t find them in The Advocate or Out, etc. Self-publishing in 2020 is not necessarily the equivalent of bad writing and books assumed to be of lesser quality than those released by traditional publishers. Currently popular singer Billie Eilish was discovered and gained her current fame by gaining a huge fan base online; may I suggest that many authors choose a similar non-traditional strategy with their original manuscripts? The history is being documented; maybe we’re just looking the wrong place.

Comment on Walt Odets on Sex, Pleasure, and Reimagining Gay Men’s Lives by Steven Kerry

Steven Kerry — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 01:30:39 +0000

The most telling part of this interview was that little bump in the road the interviewer and the author hit in regards to sexual practices. The therapist seemed to not want to upset anyone by avoiding any discussion of anal sex but the interviewer boldly asserted his own experience, although he stopped short of being blunt. What he seemed to be saying was that he was not yet participating in receptive anal sex due to his age and inexperience. There was a certain discomfort or glitch in the interview at that point but the therapist seemed to sort of back-pedal and acknowledged “It depends on what you’re doing”. That too, is being a little cloudy-vague and avoiding the still uneasy truth about how HIV is transmitted. An interview is not necessarily a “teaching moment” but there was an opportunity to clearly state the aspect of AIDS that is most discomfiting to many gay men: that it has always been transmitted in one of two ways: anal sex (the receptive person being the one at primary risk) and sharing tainted syringes. Why is it so hard to just say this openly rather than acting as if there are other mysterious ways it is transmitted? There are not. And we have known that for years. But as soon as we had some meds that were successful at turning a fatal diagnosis into a manageable condition all of a sudden there was this re-emergence of bare-backing and anal sex. This singular activity is what killed thousands and thousands of gay men, yet to look at most on-line hook-up sites you’d never even know all the god-awful suffering it caused in the ’80s and ’90s. Now it’s all back to fun ‘n games of the top/bottom variety. So why is this question not asked : what if there is another super-bug coming down the pike that doesn’t respond to PREP? The safety margin between anal sex and other safe or safer types of sex is not a small margin; it is very considerable. Sometimes it seems like everyone wants to talk about the emotional damage, the sustained grief, the anxiety that HIV has caused. Why not baldly acknowledge that it is specific sexual activity that transmits HIV and also acknowledge what segment of the community are the most likely carriers? (guys who won’t or don’t get tested regularly or at all; guys who are poz but “taking vacations” from their meds or being non-compliant due to denial or impaired judgment due to substance use; people still sharing needles). The whole top/bottom mind-set puts us, as usual, right in line for the next virus, yet the impression one gets is that “HIV is over now that it’s ‘treatable’ and now that it has become a massive cash cow for big pharmacy. (Ask a pharmacist how much a single pill to treat HIV costs if paid for out-of-pocket; you will be blown away.) 38 years later and there is still no generic medication for HIV! The gay community is so busy trying to be PC and not step on anyone’s toes that they do a disservice by failing to provide simple and blunt information as to how one sero-converts to poz status. The level of denial and overly polite “education” is what’s behind the latest statistics of new infections. I’m not saying anal sex is bad; hell, I’ve been around long enough to remember when there was no HIV and I was no angel but it is still currently minimized or glossed over in discussions and articles about HIV. By all means a book like this therapist’s is important and should be read but addressing our brokenness and grief, etc. is only part of the healing process. The young men reading books like this need to have transmission information spelled out in simple and direct language. Otherwise the denial and fantasy that “HIV is no longer a thing” will lead to more of the same stats we are still seeing today.

This book reminds me of .. I may have forgotten the title, “The Violet Curtain”, or something like that.. it sounds like a book we need at this point in which we are so reluctant to “offend” we practically encourage ignorance.

Comment on Walt Odets on Sex, Pleasure, and Reimagining Gay Men’s Lives by Paul

Paul — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 19:03:27 +0000

Interesting Interview. The distinction between being homosexual and gay seems a bit blurred to me, but I suppose I will have to read the book to understand that. I have always considered myself homosexual but not necessarily gay–although I enjoy gay bars for the camaraderie but not the “circus.”
That said, I was with the same man for 35 years of my life until he died suddenly of a heart attack four years ago. Luckily we were legally married and even more fortunately I got to hold him as he took his last breath.
I have only recently re-entered the “gay world” and I’m amazed how much it’s changed since I was a “marketable” young gay man. As Mr. Odets implies, the 30-something crowd seems to equate “sport sex” with relationships. Unfortunately, those types of “relationships” do not lead to fulfillment. Therefore I wonder if the current generation of gay/homosexual men will ever become self actualized.

Comment on Walt Odets on Sex, Pleasure, and Reimagining Gay Men’s Lives by Richard Atwood

Richard Atwood — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 17:59:05 +0000

I don’t find much of this very sensical. I’m 76, and in a lifetime have yet to meet a str8 type male, Christian, creative, built, endowed, interested in other males, with any character or integrity that I know of — much less a blatantly gay one. So, I remain in the closet, because I have no desire to be part of the gay circus and all that that entails; and find nothing to be proud about: men prancing through the streets in a jock strap (or less), or fat men in wigs and boas. I’m a man and want to “act” — shit no, that’s the way I AM, in conduct and demeanor; but no mountain climber, auto mechanic, or outdoorsman, who hates sports, prefers the library — and be known as, not some swish who calls his friends “she.” That’s ludicrous. I also don’t get it that most gay men treat sex as some kind of recreation, or that they have some special privilege to act without decency or jump in bed as often as they want with whoever will say yes. This again is ludicrous. Want to yammer about equal rights and respect, then live and act that way, it might mean something. But, the problem is: how do str8 type men identify each other as being interested, if not in very close contact somehow? A true problem, no where to go, or relate to each other comfortably, without some sort of stigma. And if one is not inclined to bars, dark alleyways, bushes in the park, or dating sites where men are more willing to extend their cocks than themselves… it’s a very rough go. But I’m a person, not an animal, so I do without. And have for over 30 years. It’s a living hell — but so is the other alternative, if you don’t belong with the strange queers and the wolves.

Comment on Adam Rippon on Skating, Writing and Boundary Pushing by Joku

Joku — Sat, 28 Dec 2019 14:08:12 +0000

It’s sad to see that the previous comments on this article actually tell nothing about Adam Rippon but are instead about the commenters’ issues with themselves. I hope you all feel better soon. Adam will continue living his best life and doing things that matter to him – you should do the same.