"Old" Catholic vs Catholic; Gay Marriage Australia; Gay Away Pills

"Old" Catholic vs Catholic

When I owned my gallery I remember a customer mentioning to me her father was a Catholic priest and he was married. I didn't get it at time and figured she was confused about something. After twelve years of private Catholic schooling, I thought I knew Catholic priests were not allowed to marry. But there was something she left out of her story, something that I didn't know about "Old" Catholics. I know this isn't publishing related or even LGBT related, but I think it's an interesting piece of information most people don't know. And, there is an LGBT angle as well.

I was researching something last night for a book and stumbled across an article with a gay bishop and something they kept referring to as "Old" Catholic. At first I ignored it, but then it kept coming up with the search and I started reading more about Old Catholic as a religion and I went off on that proverbial tangent and wound up forgetting all about my research. As usual, the best source of information I found that made it easy was at Wiki. I'm not even going to try to explain it because it's still so new to me.

The term Old Catholic Church originated with groups which separated from the Roman Catholic Church over certain doctrines, primarily concerned with Papal authority. These churches are not in full communion with the Holy See of Rome, but their Union of Utrecht of Old Catholic Churches is in full communion with the Anglican Communion^[1] and a member of the World Council of Churches.^[2] Nevertheless, according to Roman Catholic teaching, the Old Catholic churches of the Utrecht Union have maintained apostolic succession and valid (albeit illicit) sacraments. The formation of the Old Catholic communion of Germans, Austrians and Swiss began in 1870 at a public meeting held in Nuremberg under the leadership of Ignaz von Döllinger, following the First Vatican Council. Four years later episcopal succession was established with the consecration of an Old Catholic German bishop by a prelate of the Church of Utrecht. In line with the "Declaration of Utrecht" of 1889, they accept the first seven ecumenical councils and doctrine formulated before 1054, but reject communion with the pope and a number of other Roman Catholic doctrines and practices. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church notes that since 1925 they have recognized Anglican ordinations, that they have had full communion with the Church of England since 1932 and have taken part in the ordination of Anglican bishops.

You can read more here at wiki.

There's a web site, oldcatholic.org, that says this:


The Old Catholic Church of America in expression of its global mission to preach the word of Jesus Christ as a Catholic and Apostolic Church welcomes all people, regardless of life situation, as children of God and seeks to love and serve the Christ in one another. We are committed to building supportive and loving communities of faith as guided by the Holy Spirit.

We will provide to our developing communities of faith, leadership, training, evangelization and pastoral care, for the facilitating of ministry within the community and its outreach to others.

As far as I can tell, you can be gay and become a priest, or even a bishop, if you are "Old" Catholic. According to this article, however, most traditional Catholics do not recognize "Old" Catholics or even take them seriously. And this article mentions that unless it were an absolute emergency, a Catholic would never receive sacraments from an "Old" Catholic priest.

If anyone has anything to add to this, feel free.

Gay Marriage Australia

In a not so uplifting story I read this morning, it seems that a high court struck down same-sex marriage laws in Australia yesterday and gay marriages that have been performed are now invalid.

Around 20 gay couples had tied the knot since December 7, when Australia's first same-sex marriage laws came into force in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The first ceremonies were celebrated a minute after midnight (8 a.m. ET Friday).

Aside from the obvious sadness and frustration I feel for those in Australia, and for those who were recently married only to be stabbed in the back by this high court, I've posted about how these things can be tricky and how legislation must be written carefully so same-sex marriage laws can't be challenged and overturned. In other words, before we start jumping up and down and celebrating with woots and cheers all over social media, we need to know we're going to be safe for the long term. In Australia the conservatives challenged the law based on the grounds that it conflicted with federal law. They won. It happens all the time. In this post I wrote about gay marriage in Hawaii, I mentioned Jo Jordon, a lesbian representative in Hawaii, who wasn't all that ready to rush into legalizing gay marriage in Hawaii without writing up solid legislation.

Jordon said this:

“I’m not here to protect the big churches or the little churches, I’m saying we can’t erode what’s currently out there. We don’t want to scratch at the religious protections at all, because if we don’t create a measure that’s bulletproof, or as close to bulletproof as possible, then the measure will go to the courts. And they will interpret it however that may be. A judge will make assumptions and make a ruling, and that will become the law of the land. So you really want us to create the legislation.”
I have to admit that I'm no expert in this department. But in the same respect I have seen gay marriage legalized before, and then made illegal once again thanks to a snag, weak legislation, and a different judge. I'd rather not see this happen again.

In any event, same-sex marriage is a complicated issue and I hate to see things move backward like they did in Australia.

You can read more about what happened in Australia here.

Gay Away Pills

This I don't think was ever meant to be taken seriously by any means. But a novelty store in Canada was selling what were called Gay Away pills...pills to cure people from being gay...and they were removed from the shelves after a number of complaints.

The packaging for the ‘new extra strength’ pills states that they ‘stop the craving for misbehaving,’ and that Gay Away ‘cures gayness’ and are ‘for real fruit cakes.’

Instructions on the back of the packet state ‘just two pills a day will have you off the stick and in the bush in a matter of weeks.’

People took this very seriously. You can read more here.

My only comment here is to authors: watch what you write nowadays. Watch every single word and line. There's no such thing as a sense of humor anymore in these politically correct days of "yummy, lol, OMG" social media updates.

160K Respond to Christian Couple; "Looking" Fight Over Monogamy; Pope Francis on Gay Marriage, Again

160K Respond to Christian Couple

In short, a Christian couple in Australia vowed to get a divorce if gay marriage ever becomes legal in Australia. In response to that 160 thousand people responded with this:

More than 160,000 people plan to throw a massive party the day a Christian couple files for divorce if Australia adopts marriage equality later this year.

There's even been a facebook page created:

Now, a Facebook event page has been created celebrating the Jensen’s impending divorce.

The party is being hosted by one Jesse Mount, who writes: “I invite everyone who supports marriage equality to come celebrate the DIVORCE of Nick & Sarah Jensen!”

“They have decided that being married together in a country where it’s legal for a man and a man to marry, or a woman and a woman, is just too horrible,” the invitation continues. “They’d much rather be divorced and I think we should all support and celebrate in their decision when the date finally does come.”

You can read the rest here. The couple makes a statement about why they don't want gay marriage, which is the typical statement we've seen so far that only promotes ignorance and hate. One, they obviously don't know any gay couples. Two, maybe they really do want a divorce and this is the best excuse they can come up with.

In any event, it is history and I think newsworthy so that we can revisit this time twenty or thirty years from now and remember people like them.

"Looking" Fight Over Monogamy

I've seen a few posts about this lately and I'm not all that surprised. Evidently, gay men of all ages "discuss" monogamy and relationships and not everyone agrees with everyone else. That's the most delicate way I know how to put that.

In fact, I know gay couples who have been together for over thirty years and it's not uncommon to hear that one or the other was "spotted" at a local cruise area looking for afternoon sex...on the down low. I also know gay couples who've been together for many years and they are completely monogamous. The examples I could give are infinite, including one where I'm writing about two fictional characters who have an agreement where they will bring a third sex partner into their relationship every so often but they won't have sex with anyone else on their own.

Here's the statement Jonathan Groff made:

I would say probably the epic fight over monogamy I had with Russell [Tovey] in the final episode. It really hit close to home. I had the monogamy conversations a million times with boyfriends and friends. Will we? Won’t we? What would it be like? It’s just something that’s been talked about a lot in different facets of my life.”

I doubt there's a gay couple alive who hasn't at least approached the subject. I've been there and so have most of my friends.

I also think this is a good example of how gender politics isn't as important in some gay relationships as it is in straight relationships. We're talking about two men discussing open sex. Not a man and a woman.

Pope Francis On Gay Marriage, Again

Oh yeah, the Pope is at it again. 

I tend to look at this a little differently because I was raised Catholic, I know how the Catholic Church deals with things, and I'm familiar with the don't ask don't tell silent rule. In other words, I went to a religious ceremony in a Catholic Church a few months ago and I would bet money that every priest on the alter was gay. I kept poking Tony and pointing the gay priests out. I've posted before about the two gay Catholic priests I knew, and also the time we were in a gay bar and a group of Catholic priests who taught me in school walked into the bar. In fact, I could literally write a long book on what I know about gay Catholic priests who sneak and lurk in the darkness. If you notice, the Pope never addresses these things.

So when the Pope makes statements like this I don't take them to heart. I also know many Catholics who have no problem with gay marriage or anything LGBT.

On the heels of Rome’s LGBT pride parade last weekend, Pope Francis immediately marched out and made some blandly offensive proclamations regarding the sanctity of marriage. “Children mature seeing their father and mother [happy],” he droned airily, to an audience of 25,000 dozy worshippers. “What great richness this diversity is, a diversity which becomes complementary, but also reciprocal. It binds them, one to the other.”

I've also known a few nuns I would swear were lesbians. So while that does make things a little more complicated due to the official Church ruling on LGBT people, it doesn't mean that all Catholics agree with, or support, everything the Pope says. He seems like a nice man, and we just pretend we do and we kiss his ring as a show of tradition and respect.

And then there's this. Now the Pope is getting into climate change. I never weigh in on this because I do believe we have to take care of the environment, but I'm also on the fence about some things because the "science" says two different things most of the time. The argument continues, and now the Pope is getting involved in this, too.

You can read about that here.

For those of you very left wing liberals who are on a crusade to save the environment from all that is wicked and evil, you might find this quote from the Pope interesting. I'm not being glib about this either, so don't shoot the messenger. I didn't say this. The Pope did. Here you go:

Within the church, many conservative Catholics have questioned the pope's heavy emphasis on the environment and climate change over other issues such as abortion and marriage.

Francis does address abortion and population issues in the encyclical, criticizing those in the environmental movement who show concern for preserving nature but not human lives.
 
I wish I could get the Pope to read this:

The Rainbow Detective Agency 

Box Set Series $5.99

You can check it all out here, on Amazon. 

Gay Hate Crimes In Madrid; Dolly Parton Supports Marriage Equality In Australia; Same Sex Marriage In Australia Could Be Legal This Year

Gay Hate Crimes In Madrid

Whenever I see something global I try to share it because I think we're all fighting the same battle everywhere.

Last Friday (13 October), a young gay man, 26, was assaulted in the Madrid subway.

He was returning home when an older man carrying a child insulted and kicked him before getting off the train. The association in defense of the group of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals (LGTBi) Arcópoli revealed the incident.

More here. And, the LGBT hate crime rate is much higher than you would expect. 

Dolly Parton Supports Marriage Equality In Australia

I've always thought Dolly Parton was one of the brightest women in show business. You can just tell the moment she starts to speak. And I'm glad to see that she's on the right side of history, too.

Australia.

Speaking on a leading breakfast news program, Parton urged Australian to vote yes in the country’s postal survey on the issue.

‘Why can’t they be as miserable as us heterosexuals in their marriages?’ she told ABC News Breakfast.

You can read this one here. For those who don't know, Australia is going to be voting on whether or not to legalize same sex marriage. I'm not fond of this kind of voting process, but at least they're working on it. I'd rather have same sex marriage decided by the courts, not the people. However, I'm also curious to see the outcome, and to see whether or not people in Australia actually do support same sex marriage.

Same Sex Marriage In Australia Could Be Legal This Year

Here's more about what's going on in Australia. It's interesting because they're doing this with some kind of postal survey vote. I've never seen anything quite like it before. 

With government insiders believing the ‘yes’ vote could be over 60%, there have been early talks on how and when to implement a bill.

Federal Brisbane MP Trevor Evans has said he is willing to keep politicians working until the vote happens.

The survey results are revealed on 15 November.

The problem is that even if the majority want same sex marriage, the vote is not legally binding and there's still more to do. According to this, if the vast majority of people vote yes, the House of Representatives will support a bill. However, isn't it interesting that the right to marry legally for every single LGBT person...the right to be considered equal...in Australia will be decided by mostly straight people. 

I just hope the majority vote yes. November 15 is not that far off.   

Here's the rest.  

Said With Care

Smashwords

Amazon

A PG Rated Gay Romance

Here's the Amazon link

Not All Gay Books Have Sex

In Their Prime by Ryan Field

Amazon

Smashwords

Men Hate Jane Austen; Paula Deen Wins in Court; Australia Gay Marriage

Men Hate Jane Austen

In Time Magazine this week writer Joel Stein wrote a humorous column titled, Stein and Sensibility. It deals with how men react to anything Jane Austen related, including the new movie, Austenland, with more than a few amusing quotes. The online link is here, but you won't get the entire piece until later this month because Time charges for fresh online content. I get a subscription, so these are quotes from the print magazine.

Listening to rich women plot out which milquetoast guy to not have sex with before marriage sounds worse than those Real Housewives shows.

I felt a little weird being one of the only men there, so I walked up to one of the actors, Ricky Whittle, who, unlike his character, owns a shirt. He was not an Austen fan either. "At first I was like, 'Will she be at the premiere?' And people were like, 'She's been dead for years, Ricky.' But I'm a fan now," he said. When I asked which novel he liked best, Whittle said, "I've still not gotten through the books. But I've made more of an effort on the films."

It's a funny article meant to be taken with a proverbial grain of salt...you know, a sense of humor, bloggers. But what I do find interesting is that there is a clear difference between how women relate to Austen and how men relate to her. And I don't think that has anything to do with emotion. The other night while watching a reality show on TV where something emotional happened, the women were out for blood because they wanted to win the money and the men were emotional wrecks. I often see this in the m/m romance genre, where gay men and women react differently to m/m romance novels, especially when it comes to sex.

Paula Deen Wins in Court

A federal judge on Monday ruled that a white former employee had no standing to bring claims of racial discrimination in a lawsuit against Paula Deen, the celebrity chef who was the target of criticism this summer after she acknowledged using a racial epithet.

This case with Deen has seemed to rule the news all summer, and I think it's partly because racial tensions run so high in the US now. Unfortunately, what we don't have are leaders on either side that are working to bring people together. I think what Deen said was awful and I honestly don't ever use that word, but I don't think deep down Deen is a racist at heart. She may be a product of her generation, and her background, but that doesn't mean she's the worst human on the planet. If anything, I think Deen has a platform to help racial tension in the US by bringing it out in the open, in ways no one else seems to be brave enough to do. Whether or not she will do this remains to be seen, though.

Australia Gay Marriage

You have to understand that when you're a gay person, articles like this just hit you in the face and they are very hard to understand. I know it's a positive thing, but in the same respect, it makes you feel so isolated and peculiar.

This part is fine:

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Monday it was time to end the "acrimonious" debate on gay marriage, after he vowed to introduce a bill legalising same-sex unions if returned to office.

But this part is what I don't get:

"Frankly, in 2013, I think the time has come to put this acrimonious debate behind us," the leader, who has previously been against gay marriage, told reporters on Monday.

Rudd, who is trailing conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott in opinion polls, said it was a reform millions of Australians had waited a long time to see become law.

"I've been thinking about the meaning of marriage for a long time - and I won't hide the fact that this has been a journey for me," he said.

"It is a difficult discussion, and I won't force this on anyone. It will be a free vote for members of the Labor party.

For something that has always seemed so natural and normal to me, I find it hard to process comments like that, especially the part where it's been such a long journey for him. Frankly, I don't get a lot of things about the straight community, but I don't think those things should be illegal, and I don't think anyone in the straight community should be discriminated against because of them. And why this even has to be a difficult decision passes me by.

In any event, at least it's another step forward for gay people in Australia...unlike gays here in Pennsylvania where gay marriage is still illegal just about 70 miles from NY where it is legal.

Richard Simmons Sues Over Trans Comments; Justice Department Gets Sued Over Transgender Student Documents; Protesters Want Justice For Trans Woman In St. Louis; Chris Hemsworth Backs Marriage Equality In Australia

Richard Simmons Sues Over Trans Comments

This is going to be an interesting case to follow because as far as I know, and from what I've always been led to believe, truth is an absolute defense in any defamation suit.

The National Enquirer claims Richard Simmons can’t sue it for claiming he’s transitioning because there’s no harm in saying someone is transgender. But the fitness guru counters that transphobia is alive and well in America—and he cites Donald Trump’s ban on trans service members as a key example.

Here's the rest. 

Justice Department Gets Sued Over Transgender Student Documents

Lambda Legal is now suing Trump's Justice Department. There are a lot of legal details here and I don't want to screw it up.

‘This is an action under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) … to enforce the public’s right to information about Defendants’ withdrawal of guidance relating to Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 (“Title IX”) and transgender students. Lambda Legal seeks injunctive and other appropriate relief with respect to Defendants’ unlawful withholding of this information.’

You can read this in full, here. I'm glad someone's protecting trans kids, because I don't see that happening with the Trump administration.

Protesters Want Justice For Trans Woman In St Louis

I don't know much about this one...yet. It only happened a few days ago.

A trans woman was shot and killed by police in St. Louis after they were called in regarding some kind of domestic dispute between neighbors. And people are outraged over the shooting.

We demand that the violence against transgender people and especially transgender women of color come to an immediate end.

‘Our demands extend to holding President Trump accountable to acknowledging and apologizing for fueling the violence against transgender people.

There's a great deal more here.

Chris Hemsworth Backs Marriage Equality In Australia

It's always bothered me that some places allow people to decide these things. I think issues like marriage equality should be decided by the courts, according to whether or not it's constitutional, not according to some private person's religious beliefs or lack of knowledge. Shortly before SCOTUS ruled on same sex marriage in the US, it was Judge Jones who ruled on it in PA, not the public.

With that said, Chris Hemsworth is offering  his support to legalized gay marriage in Australia.

The Thor star took to Instagram to show his support for the cause. It comes ahead of the government’s planned $122 million (€82,281 £75,191) postal survey on the issue.

Depending on the results of the non-binding, voluntary public survey, the government may then legislate on marriage equality.

Here's more.   It looks as if gay marriage is all over the place in Australia, and if you click the link above you can see a full run down of what's been happening lately.

Ryan Field Books

Said With Care

Smashwords

Amazon

A PG Rated Gay Romance

Here's the Amazon link

Not All Gay Books Have Sex

In Their Prime by Ryan Field

Amazon

Smashwords

Gay Winner of The Voice Australia Releases Marriage Song; Anti-Gay Crackdown In Egypt; Gay Hollywood Agent and Sex Abuse

Gay Winner of The Voice Australia Releases Marriage Song

It's coming down to the wire with legalized gay marriage in Australia, and Alfie Arcuri, winner of The Voice Australia, wrote a song to celebrate love.

“The time has come for our voices to be heard,” Alfie said. “This is much greater than just marriage, this is about acceptance and human rights.”

The message of the song urges Australians to see the world through a child’s eyes where equality and love reigns.

There's more here. If you haven't been following gay marriage in Australia, here is a link to some of my previous posts. The reason why everyone is urging Australians is because they are putting this to a public vote, through the mail.

Anti-Gay Crackdown In Egypt

In global news, this isn't encouraging. It sounds almost as bad as Chechnya.

Homosexuality isn’t illegal in Egypt, but gay men are being charged with debauchery, immorality or blasphemy.

What’s more, authorities in Egypt don’t deny the fact they are specifically targeting LGBT+ people, with state media and the religious establishment claiming that it’s a public duty to tackle the spread of homosexuality.

More here. It always seems to come down to religion.

Gay Hollywood Agent and Sex Abuse

This doesn't seem to want to end. Lately it seems as though there's a Hollywood sex abuse story at least once a day.

Now less than two weeks after the drama unfolded, Grasham faces even more accusations of sexual assault. And this time the LAPD is involved.

The LA Times reports that Tyler Cornell, a 20-year-old actor, has filed a complaint with the Los Angeles Police Department, alleging sexual assault against Grasham.

Here's the rest. 

Altered Parts

You can check this out here at Smashwords.

And here's the Amazon link. 

Kendle's Fire

A PG Rated Gay Romance

Here's the Amazon link

Said With Care

Smashwords

Amazon

Kevin Spacey, AGAIN; Conor McGregor, F#ggot Slur, and His Many Gay Friends; Jamie Dornan Strips In Fifty Shades of Grey Trailer; Muslim Fashion Company Creates Rainbow Hijab

Kevin Spacey, AGAIN

Two more guys have come out with allegations of sexual harassment by Kevin Spacey. I found this quote interesting because I know from personal experience that's exactly the way you feel when something like this happens.

“I was completely bewildered. I didn’t walk away thinking, ‘I’ve just been sexually assaulted.’ It was more a case of ‘That was an incredibly weird thing to happen’. Then, the more I thought about it, the more I came to realize ‘He just grabbed my -—-. That just really happened. What the hell do I do with this information?'” Nixon says.

Most of us just don't talk about these assaults. Men aren't supposed to talk about them.

You can read more, here. 

Conor McGregor, F#ggot Slur, and His Many Gay Friends

This is one of those times when you know the straight guy knows absolutely nothing about gay men or gay culture. Because he wouldn't have used that word if he did know. And in spite of Conor's "many gay friends," if he did have a clue, good old Conor would know that word is mainly used by straight men just like him who are looking for a pejorative when they are just too privileged to know any better.

The pro mixed martial arts fighter and UFC champion came under fire last month after he referred to Andre Fili, who had just beaten his teammate Artem Lobov during a fight, as a “faggot”.

Now, during an interview with Sky News, Conor has admitted that he was wrong to use the slur, but also attempted to defend his actions with an excuse that will sound all too familiar to minorities…

“I have many gay friends,” he said. “When we were campaigning for gay marriage, to legalise it, I was a big campaigner for it, so I am not against that at all.

Here's more. It gets even worse...and to be totally honest I actually don't hold anything against the guy and I really don't think he meant to offend anyone. When you're coming from a place of such white straight male privilege there's no way you can ever know just how much that one word stings and cuts. 

 Jaime Dornan Strips In Fifty Shades of Grey Trailer

Even though I did read the books, I have to admit that I didn't see either of the Fifty Shades of Grey movies, and I don't plan to see this last one. I had nothing against the books, but the movies just didn't do it for me. But I know a lot of people did like them so this should make a lot of people smile.

As the Fifty Shades trilogy comes to an end, we’re having difficulty accepting that we’ll no longer be seeing Mr Grey on our screens… but the final trailer for finale Fifty Shades Freed is making us feel a little better.

Jamie Dornan, who plays the sadistic and kinda problematic – but also really hot and rich – Christian Grey, can be seen doing his best ‘Daniel Craig as James Bond’ in the teaser as he emerges from the ocean dripping wet.

You can check this out here.   

Muslim Fashion Company Creates Rainbow Hijab

This is interesting. A Muslim owned company in Australia is making rainbow hijabs to support gay marriage in this ongoing postal vote Australia's been doing in order to get gay marriage legalized. People can also wear it as a scarf, in many different ways.  

The vote has ignited a debate that’s brought out the worst in homophobes, with priests declaring ‘all gays should be shot’ and MPs telling LGBT+ people to “stop being delicate little flowers” despite their rights being on the line.

“During one of the most critical and important times in our nation’s history, we at MOGA are proud to voice our support for marriage equality in Australia,” the company said in a statement.

I hope it helps. I hope the citizens of Australia support gay marriage. That's always my bottom line. 

You can check that out here. The photos are very nice. 

Altered Parts

You can check this out here at Smashwords.

And here's the Amazon link. 

Kendle's Fire

A PG Rated Gay Romance

Here's the Amazon link

Said With Care

Smashwords

Amazon

Jeffrey Tambor From "Transparent" Denies Sexual Harassment Allegations; Three Quarters of the Gay Community Dislike Extremely Feminine Gay Men; Australia's Marriage Equality Results

Jeffrey Tambor From Transparent Denies Sexual Harassment Allegations

I vowed I wasn't going to post about Hollywood sexual assault/harassment anymore, and not because I'm trying to avoid it or ignore it. Everyone else is talking it and I think people come here to read about other aspects of pop culture. But as the allegations against more people in places of power continue to expand, we can't avoid the topic altogether.

This bothered me because Transparent is one of my all time favorite TV shows to binge watch. I love all the characters, not just one in particular, and that's rare for me.

In any event...

Amazon is investigating claims Jeffrey Tambor sexually harassed his former assistant.

Jeffrey Tambor is "adamantly" denying all allegations.

He said in a statement: ‘I am aware that a former disgruntled assistant of mine has made a private post implying that I had acted in an improper manner towards her.

‘I adamantly and vehemently reject and deny any and all implication and allegation that I have ever engaged in any improper behavior toward this person or any other person I have ever worked with.

‘I am appalled and distressed by this baseless allegation.’

You can check this out here. I also believe it's important to remember that in the US people are innocent until proven guilty. 

Three Quarters of the Gay Community Dislike Extremely Feminine Gay Men

I don't want to get into a rant here about book reviews, but I have seen this happen many times as a fiction writer. Book reviewers will slam feminine gay male characters without thinking twice about the overall discriminatory (or moral) implications. If I even dare to write a character who has feminine tendencies there will be readers who will review the book and slam the gay feminine character, in public. They'll even accuse me of pushing gay stereotypes. Here's an example with Kevin Loves Cowboys.  

 Kevin is/was too feminine as far as I'm concerned. I like more masculine men (like cowboys!) and I was very disappointed in the book.

There is a very masculine gay character in that particular book, too, but that reviewer chose to focus on the feminine gay character, which is interesting.  I've written a lot more rough masculine gay characters than feminine in my time. The same book got a great review, which I'm very thankful for because that review balanced out the discriminatory one for other readers. 

However, my main point is that the dislike for extremely feminine gay men seems to run a lot deeper than even I thought it did. 

Feminine gay men turned off almost three quarters of the gay community, according to a new survey.

In Attitude magazine’s Masculinity Survey, 71% of the over 5,000 respondents admitted they were actively turned off by a partner with typically feminine attributes.

You can check out the rest here. The comments are very rough with this article. Be prepared to be shocked with a great deal of ignorance. I just hope feminine gay men know that we don't all feel this way.  

Australia's Marriage Equality Results

I think most of the world is curious about this by now. I know I am. I'm as excited for gay people in Australia as I was here in the US. I want gay people in Australia to know what it's like to be able to legally marry just like straight people. I want them to know how it feels* to finally understand the magnitude of it all. 

With less than a week to go until Australians find out the results of the postal survey on marriage equality, hundreds of ‘results parties‘ are being planned around the country.

The Equality Campaign is hosting Australia’s biggest event in Sydney and will feature live performances from leading entertainers.

You can check this out here. This is going to be a huge event. 

Altered Parts

You can check this out here at Smashwords.

And here's the Amazon link. 

Kendle's Fire

A PG Rated Gay Romance

Here's the Amazon link

Said With Care

Smashwords

Amazon

DOJ Fights Marriage Ban; Gay Torso Pics; Amazon's "Transparent"; Small Town Romance Writer by Ryan Field

DOJ Fights Marriage Ban

According to recent comments by Attorney General, Eric Holder, the DOJ plans to urge SCOTUS to uphold a lower court ruling that keeps states from banning game sex marriage. This all stems from what's been happening in Utah...attempts to keep the bans on same sex marriage in place.

Last month, a federal appeals court ruled that a state ban on gay marriage, approved by Utah voters in 2004, was unconstitutional, finding that states cannot keep two people from marrying simply because they are of the same sex.
 

Now the state of Utah is asking the Supreme Court to weigh in, as several other federal appeals courts across the nation consider similar cases that could make their way to the Supreme Court.

 

If SCOTUS takes these cases the DOJ will actively support same sex marriage.

 

There's more here.

 

Gay Torso Pics

 

There's a documentary by Tim Marshall called, Torso. It is focused on the dynamics behind gay online dating through how gay men reveal themselves with photos of their torsos. It goes much deeper, though.  Marshall will also get into breaking body image stereotypes.

 

TORSO" started in Sydney, Australia in 2013 and continued shooting throughout 2014 in Reykjavik, Iceland and, recently, Los Angeles. The Sydney series is available for viewing online and the Los Angeles series will premiere as an interactive installation in July as part of Outfest Los Angeles.

 

There is a full interview with Marshall about the project here. One of the things I found interesting is how he went from being a snob about online connections to understanding how so many men these days actually form lasting online relationships and life long friendships. It's significant simply because so many who don't understand the Internet are always so quick to judge online friendships, and discard them as if they mean nothing. Those of us who have been working online for years now understand how important online connections can be.

 

This was interesting, too.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by the honesty of the individuals I interviewed. People were willing to be so candid with me about their experiences. I think the anonymity of the project helped with this.

 

Amazon's Transparent

 

For those who don't know, Amazon has been creating streaming TV. One of the pilots that they claim stands out the most is a show called Transparent. It's created, directed, and written by Jim Soloway who did Six Feet Under (one of my all time favorite TV shows.)

 

I thought this was interesting.

 

 Soloway wants to subvert the Disney trope of a parent dying.

 The death of a parent is a big theme in Disney movies, but Soloway's idea for "Transparent" was driven from her desire to subvert this with a new concept: the birth of a new parent. "The idea of replacing a wounded father by blossoming femininity would be an interesting source of comedy," Soloway said.

 

In this case, the parent is transgender...hence the title. Wiki...

 

Transparent is an American comedy-drama web video series created by Amazon Studios that debuted on February 6, 2014.^[1] The series was created and directed by Jill Soloway. The story revolves around a Los Angeles family and their lives following the discovery that their father (Jeffrey Tambor) is transgender.^[2] It was picked for a full season by Amazon Studios on March 12, 2014.^[3]

 

There's more here.  We're going to seriously have to rethink how we are watching TV now...Tony and I. This one looks interesting.

 

Small Town Romance Writer

 

 

by Ryan Field

 

 

Amazon Link