Nathan James, Author and Activist

Exce$$ And Greed PANIC Nov. 24th At Nowhere!

2010-11-15T10:24:00.004-05:00

Ever wonder what those corporate moguls do behind closed doors...between the sheets...or in the boardroom when nobody's looking? After the mega-rich buy and sell their stocks and bonds, and get their bailouts, can money buy them the kind of experience us mere mortals can only fantasize about? On Wednesday, November 24th, at Club Nowhere, join us for a night of decadence and opulence as we present EXCE$$ and GREED PANIC! Reading their works are Penny Arcade, Nathan James, Kit Yan, Michael Hawley, Chadwick Moore, and Vinnie Bernard. So slip on your Rolex, get your finest mink stole, jump into your Maybach limo, and tell the chauffeur you are headed to the exclusive, ritzy Club Nowhere at 322 E. 14th Street, between First and Second Avenues. Our engagement begins promptly at eight o'clock in the evening. Black tie is optional. Books and other outre literature will be offered for your reading pleasure, as will fine cocktails, at market value.

You can RSVP here.

Hot stock tips are not required, but are appreciated. Start your Thanksgiving weekend off in high style! If you wish to mingle with the common folk, you can take the L train to First Avenue. See you there.

Election Day 2010

2010-11-02T04:54:00.002-04:00

Celebrating Life, Stopping The BS (Bullying and Suicides) Today & Friday In NYC

2010-10-27T15:45:00.009-04:00

In response to the tragic suicide of gay activist Joseph Jefferson over the weekend, and the recent, disturbing rash of other LGBT youth taking their lives around the country, there will be rallies and community events in NYC today and tomorrow. The first of these, a NO BS (Bullying and Suicide) rally, will begin at 5 PM today in Greenwich Village's Washington Square Park. Organized by Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD), and co-sponsored by a host of LGBT organizations, such as Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) and the Ali Forney Center, this rally will include appearances by LGBT community leaders and local elected officials. The one-hour rally is expected to draw a large turnout, in hopes of raising public awareness about the growing problem of bullying, homophobia, and suicide which are plaguing the LGBT community today.

Following the Washington Square rally, tomorrow evening will see the Celebrate Life/Stop The Madness event at the LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th Street, at 6 PM in the Kaplan 101 Auditorium. This event, honoring the lives of Jefferson and others who have recently died by suicide, seeks to remind us that there is hope and healing for our community, even in the face of tragedy and hatred. Celebrate Life/Stop The Madness is being put together by James Saunders, Laurence Pinckney, and Gay Men of African Descent. Featuring an all-star entertainment lineup, including Buttafly Soul, Tyra Allure, Jesse O, Renair Amin, Lester Greene, and many more, this event is not to be missed. There will be raffles and refreshments, and you can make a donation towards Joseph Jefferson's funeral. Grief couseling will also be available. There is lots of community support for this tribute to LGBT life, from (to name just a few) such luminaries as DJ Baker, DJ Fred Pierce, Ricky Day, Lee Soulja, Herndon Davis, GBM News, Rod 2.0, and of course, yours truly.

Both events can be reached via MTA New York City Transit.
For today's Rally in Washington Square Park, take an A, B, C, D, E, F, or M train to west 4th Street. Tomorrow, a 1, 2, 3, A, C, E, or L train to 14th Street will get you to the LGBT Center for Stop The Madness. I hope to see you at both these important functions!

WATCH: Nathan Interviews Rodney Chester On GBM TV

2010-10-16T18:24:00.005-04:00

Noah's Arc TV and movie star Rodney Chester talks with me about narrating Nefertiti Strong's For Faith, For Love, Forever, and how the Noah's Arc movie has helped to shape the dialogue on gay marriage. It's a GBM TV exclusive, and you'll only see it on the Nathan James Show!

Tenth Suspect Arrested In Brutal Bronx Torture Of Gay Men

2010-10-12T18:30:00.002-04:00

Sources within the NYPD today revealed a tenth man has been taken into custody in connection with the horrific torture and beating of three gay men in The Bronx last week. Jose Dominguez, 22, has been charged with a raft of felonies, all as hate crimes, including asssault, aggravated assault, and unlawful imprisonment. Dominguez allegedly took part with at least nine other members of the Latin King Goonies, a local street gang, in the forcible sodomy and torture of two 17-year-old and one 30-year-old-man. All three victims were gay. The atrocity, which garnered national headlines, has highlighted a recent spike in anti-gay assaults in the New York City area, including an attack on a gay patron inside the faned Stonewall Inn, birthplace of the LGBT righs movement. A source close to the investigation tells me that Dominguez' arrest is the latest, but likely not the last, as the ongoing investigation continues.

The brutal ordeal began for the three victims on the evening of October 3, when gang leaders heard rumors that one of the victims was gay. Over the course of a three hour period, the other two victims were found, and all three were stripped, beaten, forced to drink several cans of an alcohol-energy drink known as Four Loko, "confess" to being gay, and sodomized with a plunger handle and miniature baseball bat. The suspects, ranging in age from 16 to 23, and all were rounded up by the NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force over the past week.

If convicted, all the suspects, including three teens charged as adults, could face more than 25 years behind bars each. The tenth suspect, Dominguez, was arrested earlier today, and will be arraigned at Bronx Supreme Court.

WATCH: Flash Mob "Die-IN" Against Homophobia At Grand Central Terminal

2010-10-10T14:23:00.004-04:00

This past Friday evening, at the height of rush hour in the largest railroad station in the United States, I joined LGBT radio host DJ Baker and Cybersex: The Play creator Jason Duvall Hunter, in a civil-disobedience protest against gay-bashings, killings, and the deadly effects of socialized homophobia.

The protest was attended by approximately 200 demonstrators, who fell to the floor of the station's Main Concourse on a signal given just after 6 PM. The names of those who have been gay-bashed to death, or driven to suicide this year were read out, while we repeated the first names of the victims. In light of the upswing in local gay-bashing attacks here in NYC, including an utterly horrific atrocity in The Bronx last week, the need for such extreme expressions of outrage are readily apparent. I will continue to make such public statements until the day arrives when all of us in the LGBT community can live without fear.

Revival Of "The Colored Museum" Is Theatrical Tour-de-Force

2010-10-08T10:28:00.010-04:00

A revival of George C. Wolfe's satirical stage play, The Colored Museum, began a three-night engagement yesterday at the South Oxford Space in Downtown Brooklyn.

Directed by Bill Johnson, a founder of the American Theatre Of Harlem and the Act Now Foundation, which produced this play. First produced in 1986, The Colored Museum is a darkly comedic look at Black life, with references to the ideas and issues that have grown up with the Black community, and how the world at large impacts its mores and contemporary culture. With a "nothing-is-sacred" approach, Johnson and his ensemble cast deliver an often hysterically funny performance, but not without a message about what's really happening with people of color. In a series of skits, a wide range of themes are explored, from "good hair", to the need to "put away" your blackness to succeed in a world demanding homogeneity.

In The Gospel According To Miss Roj, FranCisco Vegas brings the house down with his gender-non-conforming momologue which cracks wise at the often hypocritical demands of Black life, and his mannerisms and ad-libs make it an unforgettable scene. In Symbiosis, Michael Joseph Stith and Rafael Moreno look at how people of color must become smiling, corporate robots without cultural identity in order to succeed. Sharply done, it asks pointedly whether we can ever truly divorce ourselves from our personal histories. Hair Piece, delightfully acted by Angelique Chapman, Nihara Nichelle, and Jasmine Taylor, is a tongue-in-cheek look at the hair issue which bedevils so many women of color. Rounding out this excellent cast are Bea Jaye, Soyini Crenshaw, and Melissa Gibbs.

It's not easy to produce a revival that captures the essence and flair of the original play on which it is based, but Johnson and his cast pull it off beautifully. Before a standing-room crowd, their performances were polished and lively, and the little touches, like Vegas' visual gags between scenes, added just the right amount of joie de vivre that gave the show its playful, lighthearted tone. It's readily apparent that Johnson is able to renovate a 25-year-old play, making it accessible and relevant to 21st-century audiences. I award the show four stars, as much for the caliber of its production as for the work of its cast. The Colored Museum will run two more nights, tonight and tomorrow, at the South Oxford Space, 138 South Oxford Street in Brooklyn. Tickets for this 90-minute show are $15, and the theater can be reached by taking a 2,3,4,5,B,D,N,Q, or R train to Atlantic Avenue. Performances begin at 8 PM, with the doors open at 7:15. Go spend an evening in the Museum, and you'll find it worth the trip.

Pics from last night's performance:

You Are Loved Vigil: My Name Is NOT Nathan James Today

2010-10-04T15:09:00.006-04:00

My name is not Nathan James today. It’s Tyler Clementi. It’s Asher Brown. It’s Billy Lucas. It’s Raymond Chase. It’s Seth Walsh. It’s Justin Aaberg. My name today is the name of every lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender person who has ever been ridiculed, harassed, beaten, told God hates them, ostracized, and driven to such despair they sought only the merciful relief from their torment by ending their own lives. My name today is the name of our LGBT youth, who suffer every day the apathy of a society which gives people permission to hate, permission to bully, and permission to inflict pain. When I hear that Tyler Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge, I want to say to the world, “Tyler did not jump.” He was pushed.

Tyler was pushed off that bridge by two people who thought it would be funny to publicly humiliate this gifted young man by splattering his sexual intimacies all over the Internet. They thought it would be funny to torment Tyler by making a vile mockery out of his sexual orientation. Tyler’s abusers were aided and abetted by society, which too often still considers the LGBT community to be deserving of all the hate it receives and all the pain it suffers. But, you know something? When I talk about society, I’m also saying, “that’s us.” We are still a part of the society that ridicules us, still part of the society that legislates against us, still a part of the society that says we are not normal. Because we are still part of this society, when our LGBT youth are pushed to the point of suicide, we don’t have to stand idly by and watch it happen. We can push back.

We can push back by voting for candidates who will enact anti-bullying measures with teeth. We can push back by working to make sure our schools and universities make it clear to everyone that bullying is unacceptable, period. We can push back by supporting all of our LGBT youth, and letting them know there is help, support, guidance, and love. We can push back by making a stand, today, that every life is precious, and that no gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender person should die because they just couldn’t take it any more. No, my name today is the name of everyone here. My name today is the name of every gay person who died by their own hand when the cruelty of those around them became too much to bear. My name is your name, and together, we will make sure no one ever forgets or ridicules our name again. God rest the souls of our departed friends, and God grant us the courage to do what we must to make sure our youth get the love and support they need.

The whole Long, tragic affair

2010-09-29T09:53:00.010-04:00

By now, the ongoing story of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Bishop Eddie Long has spread like wildfire across the Internet and mainstream media. The founder and senior pastor of New Birth has preached that homosexuality is deserving of death, and the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil-rights organization, has characterized Bishop Long as "one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement". For twenty-five and more years, as Long built New Birth from a 300-member community church into the 25,000-member megachurch it is today, he has used hate as the mortar that holds the church's bricks together, fear as its rafters, and homophobia as its altar.

Almost predictably for a man who'd used such open and frank evil (to paraphrase Whitley Streiber), it seemed inevitable that Long would one day be exposed as the very thing he'd railed against from his pulpit all of his career. In the picture above, right out of A4A or BGC, is a very different Eddie Long from the much-lionized, public face of one of the most influential televangelists in America. As lawsuits from young, male parishioners of New Birth pile up, all charging the Bishop with using his wealth, position, and power to have sexual relationships with them, it's easy to say this is just another case of a hypocrite trying to hide his true self from the world by damning others like him. But church-sanctioned homophobia is a much deeper, more intractable problem than merely that of a self-loathing preacher. To start off with, Bishop Long doesn't run the church by himself. New Birth has a Board Of Directors, as any church of its size ought to. In a large corporation, one of the responsibilities of the Board is to perform oversight of the organization and its executives. As Senior Pastor, Bishop Long ostensibly served at the pleasure of the Board. I cannot fathom how the Board of Directors could have permitted Long to preach evil--in the form of constantly condemning gays and lesbians--unless the Board condoned and approved such vitriolic rantings. In other words, the entire management structure at New Birth aided and abetted Long in the damage he did throughout his eccelesiastical career.

Look at 13-year-old Asher Brown. He's a young man who was bullied to the point of suicide, after the constant abuse he suffered over being gay. He went home yesterday, picked up a gun, and shot himself in the head. This is the kind of damage people like Bishop Long do, when, as authority figures, they give their charges permission to hate. Parishioners at New Birth hear Long tell them that gays are immoral, abominable, and should be killed. How many of them then take that as God's official blessing to go out and harass, beat, or even kill gays and lesbians? How many get driven to such deep depression upon hearing that God hates them for what they are? How much blood stains Long's hands, and those of every single Board member who knew what Long was preaching, yet did not put a stop to it. The Rev. Irene Monroe, in a challenging thesis on homophobia in churches such as Long's, also makes the point that the hatred clergypersons like Long advocate, will return to visit them personally. Much as the revelations of Long's activities with vulnerable, fatherless young men of New Birth are teaching us, those who ask the most severe treatment for gays and lesbians often feel such punishments are for lesser souls than themselves, that their advocacy of hate is merely a smokescreen for their own frighful insecurities.

Here are Long's wages of hate. For filling his congregation with the spirit of intolerance, he is rewarded with wealth, privilege, and social status, which he then used to satisfy his true self--a frightened, closeted gay man, always watchful lest his "abominable nature" be shown to the world in detail. Perhaps it's true that Bishop Long is, himself, a victim of our homophobic society and culture, that he made, as many do, a decision to be on the "down-low", for the sake of his career and perqs. But to be closeted is one thing. To preach death to people just like yourself, and to compound that atrocity by seeking out the most vulnerable of your flock, and craftily waiting, grooming these young men all the while, and as soon as they reach the age of consent, pouncing on them with every resounce available to you, is truly beneath contempt. Even if all these young parishioners were gay, even if they accepted Long's gifts, trips, and all the other enticements with which Long drew them into his web, none of this relieves Long from his obligation as a church leader and an adult, to refrain from ANY inappropriate activities with them. All these men are now corrupted in their sexual thinking, because their encounters with Long occurred in a situation arising out of a gross imbalance of power.

If Long had his dalliances with older men, men in their thirties or so, who weren't barely out of childhood or adolescence (Long himself is 57), I might be inclined to say he was just another sad example of a man so fearfully filled with self-hate that a "down low" affair might be understandable. But the depth and scope of what Long has done here, is so beyond that, it staggers me. When the lawsuits go to court (if they ever do--I think these cases will all end in settlements, complete with gag orders), no person will be able to truly judge Bishop Long. No court of public opinion can adequately try him. for preaching the Devil's word--hatred--from his pulpit, while himself being an object of that same homophobia that pervades so many churches, Long will have to come before God's bar, and to God explain himself.

Nathan Talks With Author Aaron Powell

2010-09-17T22:56:00.002-04:00

My Day At Jersey City Pride!

2010-09-03T13:03:00.003-04:00

Great weather, performers, and interviews! Enjoy.

Fire Island Will Never Be The Same Again!

2010-08-09T09:47:00.009-04:00

Beginning this Friday, Fire Island Black Out returns to Cherry Grove for the eighth awesome year. This time, the beach will sizzle with hot new events, the incomparable Bump & Dip Dance/Pool Party, and many notables from the LGBT community! FIBO 2010 kicks off on Friday with a grand Cocktail Reception at the Hilton Garden Inn of Ronkonkoma, Long Island. Then it's off to Sunny Cherry Grove, Fire Island, for the first of two Days At The Beach.

You'll stop first at the FIBO Hospitality Tent, for your official admission bracelet, and you can even get a temporary, but stylish FIBO tattoo! There's a Beach volleyball tournament from 2-4 PM, with VERY cool prizes for the winning six-person team. At 4, look for GAY-lebrity and creator of the Christopher Street TV series, Dwight Allen O'Neal as he scours the beach for the most fabulous and ornate tent setup! The Tent-Judging contest is fierce, so do your tent up right and win the prize!

It wouldn't be a day at the beach without a good book, so FIBO didn't just bring books, their authors will be there, too! The Writers Panel will melt the Ice Palace beginning at 4:30. Hosted by me, Nathan James, the Panel brings together some of today's finest gay authors: Delvon Johnson, Taylor Siluwe, and J. Omarr. Join us for a provocative discussion about our work, the issues we explore in our books, and how they relate to you, and of course, we'll be signing all of our books for YOU!

After the Writers' Panel at 6:30, the incomparable ButtaFly Soul hosts the FIBO Poetry Slam and Spoken word Contest, featuring FIBO's own Dani. The audience picks the winners, so register to perform, and show us what you've got! Then , it's time to get your dancing and diving on at the Pool Party, beginning at 9, when DJ Calvin gets things pumping. But wait--there's more! Gospel and R&B sensation Tonex will do a "coming out" performance you won't soon forget!

On Sunday, when you wake up, get your grub on at the Hilton Garden with a "real" breakfast--all you can eat--for about $12, then head back to the beach for a relaxing Sunday by the waves. FIBO will conclude with a Sunset party, TBA. I'll be waiting for you in Cherry Grove!

The MTA Long Island Rail Road offers special one-day getaway packages to Cherry Grove from NYC's Penn Station. This includes round-trip train, taxi, and ferry fare. Click here for more details.

Don't Miss: Fire Island Black Out/EMBRACE Writers Panel, August 14!

2010-08-01T14:39:00.005-04:00

The Ice Palace on Fire Island will melt, when the Fire Island Black Out /EMBRACE TV Writers Panel comes to Cherry Grove on Saturday, August 14th! Nathan joins acclaimed gay authors Delvon Johnson, Taylor Siluwe, and J. Omarr in a deep, provocative event that will leave you spellbound! We'll discuss our books and the important issues facing us which they explore. Of course, we'll also be selling and signing our books, the hottest reads in gay lit today! It all begins at 5 PM, only at FIBO! See you on the beach.

Between The Prides: Meet Authors Delvon Johnson and J. Omarr At Chi Chiz!

2010-06-20T09:48:00.006-04:00

My good friends and fellow authors Delvon Johnson, writer of the critically-acclaimed novel, Love Yourself First, and J. Omarr, author of Masai and Justus, are coming to famous gay hangout Chi Chiz for a "Meet The Authors" book signing this Saturday.

After you've visited Harlem Pride, come down to the Village to meet Delvon and the cast of Love Yourself First: The Series, currently being developed for TV on the EMBRACE Network. Love Yourself First has enjoyed excellent reviews, and there are sequels on the way. It's Pride Week in NYC, and a visit to see Delvon and J. Omarr at Chi-Chiz is part of the rainbow of fun! The signing begins at 3 PM, this Saturday, June 26th. Chi-Chiz is on Greenwich Village's notorious Christopher Street, between Greenwich and Hudson. The PATH train stops right next door, or take a (1) train to Christopher Street. Fabulous!

CyberSex: The Play Comes To Broadway's Producers' Club July 10

2010-06-20T08:30:00.004-04:00

CyberSex, a unique conceptual theatrical experience, will be showcased in a one-night only presentation at Broadway's Producers' Club. Directed by Jason Duvall Hunter and Bill Johnson, from Hunter's script, associate produced by Nathan James, and choroegraphed by FranCisco Vegas, this provocative stage play stars Harmonica Sunbeam, the irrepressible DJ Baker, and Alton Alburo. In Cyberspace, you can be anyone you want, except yourself! Tickets go on sale soon, stay tuned.

CineMatiQ Magazine Launches!

2010-06-20T07:55:00.004-04:00

Here's a fresh new look at LGBT film and television, at a time when exciting new developments are occurring in these fields. CineMatiQ Magazine has officially launched with the Summer Online Preview Issue, featuring in-depth articles and interviews with LGBT luminaries such as filmmaker Rodney Evans, Roger Omeus, director of Finding Me: Truth, and DJ Baker, host of the upcoming late-night TV talk show Da Doo-Dirty Show LIVE. There's also an article by me, about gay marriage and the silver screen. Edited and published by Queer Black Cinema's Angel Brown, CineMatiQ is sure to be the go-to journal of all things on the big and small LGBT screens!

WATCH: 3LWTV's Lonnell Williams Visits The EMBRACE Family!

2010-06-20T07:46:00.004-04:00

3LWTV's Lonnell Williams came to Brooklyn one rainy Sunday to meet and interview the EMBRACE TV Family. Watch the video and discover some of the people and programs of the new LGBT network, coming to cable TV on October 10!

EMBRACE Our Place!

2010-06-20T07:11:00.007-04:00

A brand-new cable television network for and about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning and Intersexed (LGBTQQI) community is coming this fall, and things will never be the same! EMBRACE TV will feature all-original programming, a wide range of shows for everyone from ages 16-60, and will show our community to America, and the world, as we really are. Created by CEO Seanmichael Rodgers, the new network will launch all across the United States on October 10. Among the 26 shows in the starting lineup are Queendom, starring RuPaul's Drag Race winner BeBe Zahara Benet, DeMarco Majors' Living Your Truth On EMBRACE (LYTE), the late-night version of DJ Baker's popular Da Doo-Dirty Show, and the first-ever LGBT political roundup on television, EMBRACE Politics with Will & Nate (EPWN), which I host with Wilfredo Florentino.

Since late in December, the EMBRACE TV Family has been working extra-hard to make the new network the place on television for LGBTs and their allies. More than just a network, CEO Rodgers envisions EMBRACE as a community resource, in a time when the LGBT community faces profound life issues, ranging from coming out, to marriage, to HIV/AIDS, and serving in our country's armed forces, just to name a few. Long foreclosed from meaningful participation in contemporary American media, the LGBT community now has a new voice and face on TV. It's EMBRACE...Our Place!

TOMORROW: See Screening Of Marriage Equality Film At LGBT Center

2010-04-20T10:02:00.004-04:00

Tomorow night, at NYC's LGBT Center, you can enjoy the advance screening of a groundbreaking new film about same-sex marriage. Entitled For Faith, For Love, Forever, the film focuses on the progress (or lack thereof) in marriage-equality legislation before, during, and after the 2008 Presidential election. Directed by the acclaimed filmmaker Nefertiti Strong, and narrated by Rodney Chester, who played Alex Kirby on the unforgettable LOGO TV series Noah's Arc, the film takes a close look at how politics, homophobia, the church, and the LGBT community at large have all shaped the struggle for same-sex marriage.

The film screening will be followed by a panel discussion on Marriage Equality And The Black Church, moderated by Rodney Chester. The entire event is a collaborative effort between director Strong, FACES NY, and entertainment mogul Rick Pelzer. It begins at 6:30 PM in the Kaplan Auditorium 101 at the LGBT Center, 208 W. 13th Street in NYC. A donation of $10 is requested. Take a 1,2,3,or F train to 14th Street.

Ford At Stonewall Dems: 'Like A Deer In The Headlights'

2010-02-25T06:16:00.007-05:00

Update: Harold Ford, Jr., has announced he's not running for senate after all. I wonder why...read below about his Sarah Palin moment at last week's Stonewall Democrats meeting, and draw your own conclusions:

Former Tennesee Rep. Harold Ford, Jr.(D-Tenn.), seeking to run this fall for Secretary Of state Hillary Clinton's old U.S. Senate seat, (currently held by Kirsten Gillibrand (D-Hudson), addressed the Stonewall Democrats last night. Ford, long known for his anti-gay voting record and policies, came to the NYC LGBT Center to attempt to gain support for his Senate run, and tell us how he'd "changed his mind" on key issues relevant to the LGBT community. It didn't go as planned for the Congressman at all.

Ford was asked questions on a wide range of topics, including one from gay Army Lt. Dan Choi, who remarked that electing the homophobic Ford "would be asking him to fire [LGBT rights supporter] Gillibrand, the same way the Army tried to fire me [as a gay soldier]". Ford admitted he was "wrong" to believe that gay marriage was "equitable" with civil unions, but during his sometimes rambling remarks (he lectured us on his wife's decision-making which brought him to New York), he did not state clear positions on key issues like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), or Don't Ask/Don't Tell (DADT). The audience was, at times, boisterous and vocal in its disapproval of Ford and his transparent attempt to win support from the approximately 250 people in the hall. Cries of "Liar!" and "Snake-Oil Ford!" could be heard throughout Ford's address.

Stonewall Democrats President Joe Hagelmann moderated the question-and-anser portion of the meeting, in which audience members gave him written questions for Ford to answer. Ford stumbled through queries on his voting record and poor HRC ratings on gay reights, and frequently said things like "you may not choose to vote for me". Yup. The final straw that broke the camel's back (and brought the house down, as Stonewall Dem VP Yetta Kurland later said to me), was my question to Rep. Ford. I asked him if he agreed with the 2003 Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas, a landmark ruling which said that "sodomy laws" making homosexuality illegal were unconstitutional. I felt that question on a key moment in the LGBT rights struggle was important, because Supreme Court justices are nominated by the President, but confirmed by the Senate. As a Senator, Ford might have to consider a Supreme Court nominee or two, and his thinking on Lawrence would be a good indicator of what kind of jurist he might (or might not) approve. Ford's response to my question? "Tell me what that decision is...I don't know that decision."

In the above video, the final segment of the meeting, (see the entire meeting's video here) watch beginning around 3:00, when Hagelmann reads my question to Ford. Ford has his "deer in the headlights" moment, then tells Hagelmann he doesn't know that decision. I'm the guy in the red shirt and ponytail, center screen, who jumps up, stunned, and calls Ford out on his ignorance as the audience gasps at this astonishing "Sarah Palin/Bush Doctrine" (as NCR's blog put it) display by Ford. After Corey Johnson from gay blog Towleroad explained the decision to Ford, Hagelmann tried to move to the next question (after I called Ford out AGAIN, my arm outstretched to drive my point home) but the audience had seen enough. Ford was hustled off the stage as pandemonium ensued, culminating in some fool running up to the front of the room and shooting off a "party popper".

After the political theater was over, I was interviewed by New York 1 News and several other media, about my question and Ford's dumbstruck response. (The NY1 footage aired last night on Inside City Hall, and yes, I missed it, too.) As I have jusat been picked up, along with my co-host Wilfredo Florentino, for a new political program on the EMBRACE TV Network, this dramatic exchange between me and Ford was a good start to my tenure with the network. It's not every day you get to catch a Congressman unprepared and tongue-tied. I daresay Rep. Ford will not be getting any LGBT votes--if he even decides to run after last night's fiasco. The truck has hit the deer.

(Photos: Advocate.com, New Civil Rights Movement)
(Video, David Badash)

Nathan James At SPEAK YOUR MYNE!

2010-02-19T09:30:00.005-05:00

Last night, I performed selections from my books, Muscle Worshipers (featuring my short story Enchanted Morning, and The Devil's Details. Hosted by the incomparable Renair Amin, it was "All Erotica Night", and Billie's Black Restaurant was packed! I always love performing at Billie's, because the staff are welcoming, the food is excellent, and it's a place where they accept you as you are! The audiences there always show me much love, and it's a privilege to come up to 119th Street and join other wonderful, talented people in putting on a show that rocks the house.

(Apologies for the low light!)

Renair and co-hostess Essence Woodard kept things popping all night long! There were so many fantastic artists on stage, and I do believe last night's show was among the best Renair has ever put on. We celebrated Billie's Black bartender Malik Baldwin's birthday, and re-affirmed our lives and loves as proud LGBT artists. Big ups to Pmyner for making it all happen!

Famous And Fabulous: Delvon Johnson's B-Day Bash At Escuelita's

2010-01-20T10:16:00.004-05:00

This Valentine's day, join all the famous and fabulous people who will grace Escuelita's for Love Yourself First author Delvon Johnson's 32nd Birthday Bash! Hosted by the incomparable Harmonica Sunbeam and featuring the Bleu Magazine Hotboyz, this is a party you won't soon forget. Escuelita's is located at 301 W. 39th Street between 8th and 9th Aves. in Midtown Manhattan. Beautiful people should plan to arrive beginning at 9 PM, take A,C,or E trains to 42 St/PABT. You can RSVP via Facebook here! Dress with class and style. Admission to Escuelita's is $10, but you can get in free by signing up for daily text messages from the club. See you there!

Nathan Reads "Thickness" LIVE at Double Pride Panic!

2010-01-20T09:48:00.004-05:00

This is video of my live reading of my novella Thickness, from the Zane/Lee Hayes anthology Flesh To Flesh. Lee is developing this anthology into Flesh To Flesh: The Series. Enjoy this little glimpse into the "unapologetically raw" look at the lives and loves of gay men of color!

"Finding Me: Truth" Coming This Summer

2010-01-04T09:28:00.004-05:00

Last spring, I joined several friends in participating as extras for the making of director Roger Omeus' movie, Finding Me: Truth. This is the sequel to Finding Me, the 2008 coming-of-age picture that introduces characters Faybien Allen, his friends and lover. In Finding Me: Truth, the story picks up once again, with the return of Faybien, Greg, Amera, and a few new faces as well. The continuing story is a welcome follow-on to the original movie, and it was a moving experience to see director (also writer and producer) Omeus and the cast working so hard to create a movie for and about our community. The Truth cast includes such fine actors as Ray Martell-Moore, Eric Joppy, Maurice Murrell, and Bry'Nt, and my day with them at Pier 59 Studios was a fascinating experience. Joining me in supporting the film as extras were DJ Baker of Da Doo-Dirty Show, NYC Socialites promoter Eric Parker, Maurice Runea Show host Maurice Runea, and model Corey Holder. Below, check out the movie trailer for the upcoming release of Finding Me: Truth this summer!

See you on the silver screen!

Hardy, Clay, Dean Pay Tribute To E. Lynn Harris

2010-01-04T07:30:00.006-05:00

Gay-literature pioneer and acclaimed author E. Lynn Harris passed away last summer at age 54 of undiagnosed heart disease. Harris, who wrote groundbreaking novels which opened up the modern gay-literature genre, is widely considered to be an American literary icon. His sudden death shocked us all, as a genuine human treasure was removed from within our midst. Everette Lynn Harris was my own great literary influence, who encouraged me and befriended me, and made it possible for me to write and get published, when I had my own doubts about being able to do so. He often recalled his own difficulties in getting his very first book, Invisible Life, published in a time when American publishers shunned "gay-lit". He originally self-published that first book as a result, selling copies out of his car trunk, until someone noticed its stellar quality and persuaded publishers to take another look.

So began Harris' literary career, which spanned fifteen novels, eleven of which made the New York Times bestseller list. Now, in tribute to his life and career, three noted black gay authors, James Earl Hardy, Stanley Bennett Clay, and Terrance Dean have composed Visible Lives, three stories in homage to the gay-lit giant. It is fitting and proper that E. Lynn Harris be paid respect with a book written by his contemporaries, and all of us who write gay literature today are certainly indebted to Harris for opening the doors for us. Each of Visible Lives' three authors is accomplished in their own right as a wordsmith of the gay genre. James Earl Hardy is the author of the unforgettable B-Boy Blues series, Stanley Bennet Clay has given us In Search Of Pretty Young Black Men and Looker, and Terrance Dean penned the tell-all of gay life in L.A.'s music industry, Hiding In Hip Hop. These distinguished authors have created a fine salute to E. Lynn Harris, and I highly recommend you pick up a copy when it releases in May. You can pre-order one here.

"Paparazzi" Party Highlights O'Neal Appeal

2009-12-29T14:12:00.008-05:00

After the Christmas/New Year's partying is done, and you've had a full week to recover, you can come out to the first mega-fabulous party of 2010, Paparazzi: The Dwight Allen O'Neal Birthday Experience, at NYC's swank and fashionable Madame X Lounge in Mahattean's NoHo section. The over-the-top gathering headlines actor, model, producer, and Christopher Street TV series creator Dwight Allen O'Neal, who's celebrating his 26th birthday with a talk-of-the-town bash. To chase away the January chill, fashionistas Nico and Adrian will be premiering their new underwear collection during Paparazzi, and the guest list for this event reads like a who's who of the gay entertainment community!

There will be a customary gala Red Carpet, sponsored by The FUTURE, a multimedia experience for and about the LGBT community of color. This star-studded prelude will be hosted by pop-culture blogger Skorpion, who always dishes the latest from the celebrity universe. The evening's music will be powered by Likwuid (Queen Of The Queendom) Stylez and DJ Raydar Ellis of the hip-hop sensation Rebel Starr. Lynne Rene of Royalty Media Group, one of the many Paparazzi sponsors, has announced in a Press Release yesterday, that "this event will be the buzz of Page Six!"

The festivities begin at 7 PM in the unforgettable Madame X Lounge, 94 W. Houston Street, NYC, on Saturday, January 9th. It will be covered by plenty of media including BBOP of the World Pridecast, who will be covering Paparazzi LIVE! Don't miss your chance to hobnob with the "socialites, superstars, galebrities, and who's who", just one week from this Saturday! Take a A,B,C,D,E or F train to west 4th, or 1 train to Houston Street. Your "Inner tabloid" wants to go. Really, it does.

Come To The LIVE Doo-Dirty Show Broadcast Benefitting C2EA, Dec.19!

2009-12-11T13:10:00.005-05:00

New York City's incomparable Billie's Black Restaurant is hosting a live benefit broadcast of DJ Baker's Da Doo-Dirty Show to support the Campaign To End AIDS. This star-studded event is sure to chase away winter's chill as I join DJ and a veritable who's who gathering of luminaries from the LGBT community. The Campaign To End AIDS is working hard every day to prevent the preventable and bring the modern-day plague of HIV/AIDS to a close forever. As the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) reports, the epidemic is devastating minorities--gay, straight, male and female alike--at a rate previously unknown in the modern world. The crisis is worsening, and the time to act is now. You can purchase your tickets to this fabulous event here, and make a difference in a struggle that affects us all. See you there on December 19th. Billie's Black is located at 271 W.119th Street, take a B or C train to 116th Street. The shows begin at 7 and 9 PM.

Nathan, Delvon And DJ Critique The OMA's!

2009-12-11T10:17:00.003-05:00

The 2009 Out Music Awards were a blast, but true to form, DJ Baker's Da Doo-Dirty Show was ready with a critique of the evening's goings-on. There was drama, variety, and tea to be dished, and I sat down with DJ Baker and fellow author Delvon Johnson to critique the night when the LGBT stars came out to shine. Here's a special video presentation of Da Doo-Dirty Show. Enjoy!

Da Doo-Dirty Show Critiques 2009 Out Music Awards (I) from Nathan James on Vimeo.

Da Doo-Dirty Show Critiques 2009 Out Music Awards (II) from Nathan James on Vimeo.

Da Doo-Dirty Show Critiques 2009 Out Music Awards (III) from Nathan James on Vimeo.

An Evening With Nathan James

2009-12-11T01:13:00.003-05:00

Nathan James Live At GMHC from Nathan James on Vimeo.

Reading from my novel The Devil's Details (Worldwide Publications, 2009) and engaging the audience in a lively discussion on its merits and the book's relevance to the issues facing the LGBT community today. I had a blast, and the GMHC staff worked hard to make An Evening With Nathan James a great success!

TONIGHT: The Out Music Awards!

2009-12-08T06:03:00.008-05:00

Tonight, the LGBT Recording Academy hosts the annual Out Music Awards, honoring achievements by gay and lesbian entertainers and musicians over the past year. Held at NYC's legendary Webster Hall and hosted by Rodney Chester ("Alex" of Noah's Arc fame) and political humorist Kate Clinton. Out Music Executive director Diedra Meredith (Deepa Soul) says, "It is my hope to create an equivalent presence in the music industry for these amazing artists and performers through the OUTMusic Awards. I've been waiting all my life for this moment to arrive!" With LGBT cable network LOGO set to televise the gala ceremony, and a star-studded ensemble of awardees and presenters, the Out Music awards is one of gay New York's not-to-be-missed events. Kicking everything off, super-hot Shirts And Skins star DeMarco Majors and comedienne Julie Goldman are hosting the Pre-Show festivities. Look for a whole galaxy of stars tonight, including Kevin Aviance, R & B singer Nhojj, unforgettable rapper Baron, the incomparable San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus (the oldest and largest in the world), and perennial LGBT favorite Deborah Harry.

Among the many notable presenters are Da Doo-Dirty Show host DJ Baker, actor, singer, and Christopher Street TV creator Dwight O'Neal, World Pridecast host BBOP, performance artist Lee Soulja, and accomplished comedian and actor Reginald L. Barnes.

The OMA's are the way we in the LGBT community recognize the works of our own great musicians, singers, and entertainers. Nothing else in today's entertainment industry is quite like it, and its organizers deserve every praise for pulling this together each year. Following decades of persecution in which LGBT artists could perform publicly but express their sexuality only in private, the day is now here when our stars can not only be out and proud, but our appreciation of their music can be properly shown to the world. In the long history of the gay-rights struggle, these artists have given our journey a soundtrack, and tonight, we can thank them for setting our lives to harmony and rhythm.

Webster Hall is located at 125 E. 11th Street in Manhattan, and can be reached by taking a 4,5,6,L,N,Q,R, or W train to Union Square. The festivities begin with the Red Carpet at 5 PM, a Pre-show at 7, and the Awards at 8. An Afterparty will be held at the RF Lounge, in the Village at 531 Hudson Street, immediately following the show. Tickets may be purchased at the Webster Hall Box Office. See you there!

The MTA's Electric Christmas Train

2009-12-04T17:04:00.004-05:00

Every year in December, MTA New York City Transit, the agency which operates NYC's buses and subways, brings out their own electric train set for the holidays. It's the special Holiday Nostalgia Train, of fully restored subway cars from the 1930s, when the city-owned IND system began running. The old cars hearken back to another era, with their wicker seats, open ceiling fans, and incandescent lighting. It was a time before high-tech, when everything was done manually. Subway operation was a much more rugged business then. No automated train announcements, software, or computer-controlled navigation. These cars ran in the NYC subway until the 1970s, and were the last Pre-WWII trains purchased by the city.

These were the original subway cars which inspired legendary composer Billy Strayhorn to write jazz great Duke Ellington's theme song, Take The 'A' Train. Their usual assignment in those early years was on the famous train of that name, and they spent decades on that route and service. The Holiday Train will run every Sunday this month along the "V" Line (The Sixth Avenue local), between Second avenue in Manhattan and Queens Plaza. The schedule is as follows:

Departs Second Avenue at: 10:00 AM, 11:30 AM, 1:00 PM, 2:30 PM and 4:00 PM
Departs Queens Plaza at: 10:45 AM, 12:15 PM, 1:45 PM, 3:15 PM and 4:45 PM

So come on out and catch the Train To Chrismas Past! You might even meet me along the way.

Coming This Holiday Season: "The Devil's Details"

2009-11-23T10:39:00.003-05:00

This holiday season, Nathan James and Worldwide Publications are ready to chase away winter's chill with The Devil's Details, a steamy, supernatural novel that takes you on a journey through time and the intricacies of the human heart. Join collegian Joshua Dolan as he meets the Devil, who leads him on an odyssey which teaches him about the power of love and the absurdity of hatred. Along the way, Josh and his boyfriend Jeremy discover the depth of their passion for each other, even as Josh reconnects with his own dark past.

When homophobic demagogue Raymond Luddite seeks to prove himself more a servant of Lucifer than of God, Josh finds himself in a struggle to love, live, and accept himself. Angels soar and demons threaten, because the Devil really is in the Details!

Available Now For Your Amazon Kindle!

TONIGHT: Nubian Dreams/FELA!/Saturday Experience At Desire!

2009-11-14T11:06:00.011-05:00

Tonight, don't miss the fabulous FELA! Afterparty and Nubian Dreams at the Desire Lounge! It's part of the Saturday Experience, presented by The FUTURE and sponsored by Svedka Vodka.

Come on out to NYC's famous Greenwich Village, and meet the power players, beautiful people, and A-listers! It's a sneak preview of the upcoming Saturday Experience event series at Desire, brought to you by The FUTURE, the new multimedia experience for and about the gay community.

Tonight's event showcases the Broadway show FELA! and the annual Nubian Dreams Cruise. FELA! celebrates the life and work of socially-conscious composer and musician Fela Kuti, whom James Brown remembered as one of the "originators of funk". Kuti devoted himself to his music, and through this medium raised awareness of his people's plight all overe the world. The Broadway revival of his work is certain to be a hit, and you can get acquainted with the show and its cast tonight!

Also featured tonight is the legendary, annual Nubian Dreams Cruise, scheduled in 2010 from August 9-14. The legendary gay sea party will set sail aboard the Carnival Glory cruise liner. Hosted by cruise producers James Saunders and Laurence Pinckney, this oceanic delight is a summer extravaganza that's not to be missed!

So come on out tonight, beginning at 9 PM, to DESIRE, 45 West 8th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Take an A,C,D,E, or F train to West 4th Street, or PATH to 9th Street. Join us and redefine your "Saturday Experience!"

Vote Today, Or Don't Complain Tomorrow!

2009-11-03T09:03:00.002-05:00

Today is Election Day in America, when we can change history and VOTE, which is exactly what you need to do. Voting is one of the most important things you do as an American citizen, and voting is still the most powerful expression of your voice in the affairs of our government. Last year, voters made history in electing Barack Obama to the Presidency, amid the greatest voter turnout of the past 50 years. We in the LGBT community are now seeing benefits from that election, as just a few days ago, President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Act into law, granting federal hate-crimes protections to gays and lesbians. Obama became the first President to sign legislation specifically for the LGBT community, because YOU, the voter, put him in the White House to do it.

It's worth remembering that President Obama began his political career at the local level, as a Chicago community organizer. This bears out the oft-repeated (and little-noted) maxim that all politics are local. City Councilmen become State Senators, State Senators become Governors and Congressmen, Governors and Congressmen go on to become Presidents and high Cabinet officials. It all starts at the local level, which is why those seemingly "boring" local elections are of critical importance. The LGBT community in particular is dependent on local elections, especially in New York City, where four LGBT candidates are in the running for City Council seats. I will focus on the NYC election here, but wherever you live, it's always important to vote every year. Elect the candidate of your choice, as is your right.

New Yorkers are voting for most of the major Citywide offices, as well as City Council seats in Districts 1 through 18, or one-third of the Council. Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R-UES) is running for a third term, something only Mayor Koch and the legendary Fiorello LaGuardia have accomplished. LaGuardia is widely considered to be the greatest of all the NYC mayors, (he was offered a chance for a fourth term, but demurred) and both his and Koch's tenure evoked the qualities of the "quintessential New York City mayor". Despite two referendums retaining term limits, Bloomberg used the power of his high office and masive wealth to cajole the City Council into revising the New York City Charter to repeal term limits. He is opposed by NYC Controller Bill Thompson (D-Harlem).

Thompson, the city's chief fiscal officer since 2001, is running on a platform which, like his opponent's, includes a strong plank of support for LGBT community issues. However, the record shows Thompson has demonstrated a greater level of involvement and commitment with the gays and lesbians of the city. He is a frequent speaker at marches and rallies against homophobic violence, and lobbies City Hall for greater City support of the LGBT community. This is in sharp contrast to Mayor Bloomberg, who, while he has advocated legalizing gay marriage and marched in the Heritage Of Pride Parade, has been conspicuously absent from other LGBT rallies, marches and functions. Both Bloomberg and Thompson have not yet stated their position on the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) or on the afotementioned Shepard-Byrd Act. As of this writing, Thompson was said to be enjoying a 17-point lead among gays and lesbians, over Bloomberg on these and other issues of the day. Mayor Bloomberg, however, has a 15-point lead over Thompson citywide. Other Mayoral candidates on the ballot include Stephen Christopher (C-Park Slope), Francisca Villar (Socialist Liberal, West Fordham), Dan Fein (Socialist Workers, Inwood), Billy Talen (Green-Coney Island), Jimmy McMillan (Rent Is Too High, Bed-Stuy), and Joseph Dobrian, Libertarian, Kip's Bay).

The number-two office in NYC government is that of the Public Advocate. In the event that the Mayor dies or cannot fulfill his duties, the Public Advocate becomes mayor, until a mayoral election can be held. The Public Advocate is your watchdog in City Hall. Acting as a kind of ombudsman, his or her job is to call attention to issues raised by New Yorkers, and make sure the city fathers address them in a timely and correct fashion. The candidates running for Public advocate this year from the major parties are Bill De Blasio (D-Park Slope)and Alex Zablocki (R-Great Kills). Both candidates indicate strong support for such crucial issues as mass-transit improvements, strengthening the Rent Control Board, and better funding for the Police and Fire Departments. On other city issues, such as Charter reform and accountability of City officials, the candidates differ along Party lines. DeBlasio has been a consistent LGBT supporter, and is well-known for his efforts as a City Council member in pushing for greater recognition of LGBT rights, as well as better housing and senior-citizen care. Zablocki's record on LGBT issues is less clear, but he "maintains a concern for the rights and freedoms of all New Yorkers."

The final citywide office on the 2009 ballot is for Controller, the city's chief accountant. The Controller manages funding for all of the city's departments and agencies, oversees municipal bond issues, and advises the Mayor and City Council on the fiscal health of the City. With sums running into the hundreds of billions of dollars, the monster New York City budget is bigger than that of many states, and some small countries. Competing for election to this daunting task are City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) and longtime securities analyst Joe Mendola (R-Greenwich Village). Councilman Liu is a vocal proponent of fiscal reform in lean economic times, and has been pushing for greater frugality in City spending while representing Flushing in the City Council. His GOP opponent Mendola brings the experience of his long career in finance to bear in addressing the City's fiscal woes. The Controller's office is a critical post in City government, because this office affects everything the City does, from the price of a subway ride to the functioning of city services we all depend on. It's not a race to be taken lightly.

Other major elections on the New York City ballot include five judgeships in The Bronx, the Bronx Borough President, and 18 City Council races. It should also be noted that participation in government is not limited to voting. We are the government, and running for public office is also available to us. Think about this: City Council incumbent Melissa Mark-Veverito (D-Harlem) of District 8, and Leroy Comrie of District 27, as well as several other Council candidates, are running unopposed. While they both boast excellent records representing their Districts, the fact that they run alone points to a lack of interest in political affairs in that area. That's a shame, because when we don't vote, run for office, or otherwise pay attention to who is in our government and what it is doing, we often end up with the government we don't want. Today, get over to the polls and cast your vote, no matter where you live. Your government arises out of your choices, so don't let others make that decision for you!

Life Imitating Art?

2009-10-31T16:56:00.011-04:00

A couple of years ago, I wrote a novella called Check Ride , about two gay airline pilots who become lovers. In my (fictional) story, airmen Mario Freeman and Gill Savage discover their mutual attraction towards each other while flying their big 727 jet. I made it as realistic as I could, drawing on my days working at and around JFK Airport years ago. The book made the bestseller list, got excellent reviews, and even gained currency among LGBT airline professionals. I had a lot of fun writing it, and I was happy that it was even popular with the airline crowd. I thought it was a sweet little gay-lit story about two pilots who fall in love. I gave it little thought beyond my usual need to promote the book, until a week and a half ago. That's when the crew of Northwest Flight 188 from San Diego to Minneapolis, somehow overshot their destination by 150 miles. As frantic air traffic controllers and the company's dispatchers tried to contact the wayward plane, not a peep was heard from Captain Timothy Cheney and First Officer Richard Cole.

Since the first reports of this incident made the news, I have been bombarded with e-mails, phone calls, and text messages about the story. Then the two pilots changed their explanation for the error, first saying they "Lost track of time" while arguing over company policy, but later revised their statement to allude to using their laptops to surf the Web in the cockpit. That's when people started making some kind of connection (coincidental, I'm sure) between Check Ride and what was really going on aboard that plane. I was asked over and over again whether I thought this might be a case of two closeted fliers joining the Mile High Club. A person joins the "Mile High Club" when they have sex aboard an airplane flying above 5,280 feet. Did these two wayward pilots try to become members of this exclusive club?

Looking over Internet coverage of this incident, it seems the idea that the pilots were having sex on the flight deck has occurred to more than a few people. In the past wek or so, too many people have suggested the pilots read my book and decided to re-enact its plot on a real plane! This includes several airline personnel (who shall remain nameless) who are familiar with both my book and the Flight 188 incident. On closer examination, the circumstantial evidence is pretty damning for the pilots. Several elements in their story set off bells in my head like a cockpit stall warning alarm.

Usually, when airline pilots are called to account for errors or incidents that happen while flying, their first instinct is to shut their mouths until a rep from the Air Line Pilots' Association (ALPA) arrives to give them advice and counsel. Pilots under investigation do not ordinarily admit to the press their gross deviations from airline and FAA rules. Yet, in this case, both pilots almost immediately started bleating to the media, the FAA and the Minneapolis Airport Police that they were arguing, or surfing the Web, both forbidden activities for aircrew during flight. There is no way that making these statements would bode well for these men, either personally or professionally. I can only imagine their ALPA union rep and the airline's legal department must have been flipping out at these pilots' loose talk.

Given the obvious severe consequences of such admissions, I can only surmise both pilots were covering an even "worse" truth about what happened in that jetliner. The plane they were flying, by the way, was a thoroughly modern Airbus A320, which is equipped with satellite GPS links, computerized "flight management systems", and "glass cockpit" software. The plane literally "knows" where it is with relation to the flight plan, and its position over the ground. Because the actual flight plan is entered into the plane's computer, the cockpit should have been blasted by shrill alarms as soon as the plane overshot the airport. In addition to this, the air-traffic controllers were screaming for Flight 188 over the radio for over an hour. If, indeed the pilots were having sex, it must have been amazing, incredible, through-the-cockpit-roof action, because they would have had to totally ignore the hooting alarms, radio chatter, and warning tones from every navigation system on the aircraft.

Yet, there it is. Like many who told me this was the most plausible explanation for the whole thing, I am drawn to conclude that the pilots are willing to face the severe discipline of the FAA and Northwest Airlines to protect an even more explosive secret. The FAA, in issuing its "emergency revocation" of the pilots' licenses, used the passage "NW 188 was without communication with any air traffic control facility and with its company dispatcher for a period of 91 minutes while you were on a frolic of your own", (emphasis mine) in a scathing nastygram sent to the airmen. In using a loaded term like "frolic" to describe the pilots' actions, is the FAA hinting at sex? As we learn more about this incident, it seems certain that the truth, however colorful, will eventually come out. In the meantime, my response to media queries about any possible connection between Northwest Flight 188 and Check Ride is "any inspiration these pilots may have had to recreate scenes or activities from my book [if this is, in fact, what transpired], are solely products of the pilots own imaginations." I thank God the plane landed safely, and this episode will just go down as perhaps an especially vivid example of life imitating art. Now excuse me, while I catch an Airtrain out to JFK to see if any copies of Check Ride are floating around the pilots' briefing room...

Gentlemen Of A Certain Age, Part 1

2009-10-26T08:34:00.009-04:00

OMG. When I tagged this picture of B-Boy Blues series author James Earl Hardy, author Taylor Siluwe (Dancing With The Devil), me, and Da Doo Dirty Show radio host DJ Baker and posted it to Facebook, reality hit me smack in the face. Not long after I posted it, James Earl Hardy pronounced it the "Gentlemen Of A Certain Age" photo! I was ready to run out to CVS right then and there to grab a case of Just For Men, to hide the encroaching gray hairs on my head. But then, it got me thinking, gee, I am getting older!

When I was born, Lyndon Baines Johnson was President of the United States. Barack Obama was still in diapers, and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was hard at work making it possible for Barack to one day move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The Vietnam War was in full swing, and the resulting anti-war movement was just getting started. While I was attending kindergarten, local NYC gays and lesbians started the Stonewall Rebellion to protest police harrassment of LGBT's, and the crew of Apollo 11 landed and walked on the moon.

As I made my way through grade school, the world grew up, too, facing such serious issues as the Watergate scandal which destroyed Richard Nixon's presidency, and an energy crisis that made Americans realize their precious oil supply was not entirely under their control. I remember my parents complaining about odd/even gas rationing, at a time when just about every car on the road was a gas-guzzling monster. But the '70s also brought us disco, the soundtrack of the LGBT community in that era. It appeared that gays and lesbians were finding their way into the musical "mainstream" when the gay theme group, The Village People, appeared on the scene. They ushered in a musical genre that included legendary songstress Donna Summer, the Gibb brothers, better known as the Bee Gees, and perennial icon Chaka Khan.

For a time, disco personified a carefree lifestyle, where tolerance was on the rise, and it looked like bigotry was on its way to history's dustpile. I was in junior high and just beginning to struggle with my sexuality, when Harvey Milk was elected as a San Francisco City Supervisor. Milk was the first openly gay person to be elected to high municipal office in the United States. It looked as though I might actually grow up into an era in which my orientation wouldn't be an obstacle to life. Of course, harsh reality flooded in, when Milk was assassinated, along with Mayor George Moscone, by a homophobic fellow city supervisor named Dan White. White then skirted punishment for the murders by using an outrageous legal argument that has come to be known as the "twinkie defense". I clearly remember watching Dianne Feinstein, then also a San Francisco city official, announcing the murders on television, and that White was already in police custody. I was utterly (and secretly) devastated, and this assassination was one of the reasons I stayed in the closet for years to come.

It was around my junior year of high school that reports began surfacing in the news about a disease called "Gay-Related Immune Deficiency" (GRID), which later became known to the world as HIV/AIDS. A new challenge to the survival of the LGBT community had emerged, and together with a resurgence of homophobic bigotry, would shape my life and the lives of gays and lesbians everywhere, for the forseeable future.

In Part 2 of "Gentlemen Of A Certain Age", the Eighties arrive, and with adulthood, I see changes in the world scarcely dreamed of in the Sixties of my childhood, plus the more things change...stay tuned.

Update: Rally Against Hate In College Point

2009-10-26T07:00:00.008-04:00

On Saturday, October 17, outraged members of the LGBT community gathered in College Point, Queens, to march and rally in protest against the brutal beating of gay resident Jack Price. Price, 49, was allegedly beaten into a coma by two local homophobes, Daniel Rodriguez and Daniel Aleman in an unprovoked attack which was captured by surveillance video. The suspects claimed Price "provoked" them by writing his phone number on the wall of a local deli. Price was taken to New York Hospital Queens where it was revealed he sustained multiple broken ribs, the collapse of both lungs, a lacerated spleen, and othewr injuries sufficiently severe that he had to be placed in a medically-induced coma to reduce the swelling of his battered organs.

Determined that this attack against Price and, in fact, the entire LGBT community, not go unanswered, local activists and community groups--myself included--took to the streets, in order to make it clear that homophobic violence will not be tolerated. Organized by LGBT community groups such as Make The Road NY and Queens Community House, the March brought several elected officials, including mayoral candidate Bill Thompson, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and Queens Borough President Helen Marshall out to speak. These officials were joined by Rally organizer and City Council nominee Daniel Dromm, LGBT community activist and organizer Brendan Fay, and Generation Q head Marissa Ragonese. Hundreds of gays, lesbians, and their alllies accompanied them on a march up College Point Blvd, past the 18th Avenue scene of the crime, and on to the Poppenhusen Playground parking lot, where the Rally was held.

Although Mayor Bloomberg did not attend the March or Rally, he issued a statement condemning the thuggish attack, and there was plenty of media coverage throughout the afternoon. I spoke alongside many others from city government, LGBT organoizations, and public agencies who will not stand for acts of hateful violence in our streets. We as human beings, New Yorkers and members of the LGBT community have the absolute right to walk our streets free from fear that we will be set upon and attacked because of who or what we are.

It will always be incumbent upon us to make ourselves seen and heard whenever any member of our community suffers this kind of tragic violence. There have been far too many (once is too many) beatings and killings of gays and lesbians in NYC and around the world this past year. Whenever bigotry rears its ugly head and strikes out at us, we must be ready to answer in numbers and with a strong message that homophobia is "socially unacceptable".

Saturday: Join Me In A Tribute To E. Lynn Harris!

2009-10-20T07:31:00.009-04:00

This Saturday, there will be a gala Red Carpet Tribute to an American literary icon. Everette Lynn Harris, whose untimely death this past summer at age 54 sent shock waves through the literary community, was a trailblazing author. His books, including eight New York Times bestsellers, brought black gay and bisexual characters into contemporary American literature, and made it possible for LGBT authors of color, including myself, to enter the publishing world, which had been closed to us before him. Lynn was a truly gifted man who always found time to assist and encourage other writers of the gay genre, even as his own works went on to greater and greater success. My own interactions with Lynn showed him to be a gentleman, genuinely interested in the efforts of other authors to bring our stories to the world.

Delvon Johnson, author of Love Yourself First, is hosting a tribute to Lynn, whom he credits as his inspiration. "I wouldn't have come this far if it weren't for E. Lynn Harris," Johnson notes. I think that's a sentiment shared by many of today's LGBT authors. It's fitting and proper that we pay our respects to Lynn, and honor his life and works in a symbolic and ceremonial manner.

The tribute, entitled Fulfilling His Legacy will take place this Saturday, October 24, at The Spot Lounge, 45 Commerce Street, Newark, NJ. Sponsors for this event include theNewark Arts Council, Open Doors, American Heart Association, New York City Sports Club, the National Aids & Education for Minorities, Urban Knowledge Book Store, Hoodywear Fashions, The Spot Lounge, and several other prominent groups and businesses. In addition to honoring Lynn for his literary works, the event also seeks to raise awareness of heart disease, which killed Lynn, and is a leading cause of death among people of color. After Lynn's death, seven unpublished manuscripts were discovered on his laptop. If Lynn had not suffered an early death from heart disease, who knows what other literary gems he might have graced us with?

The evening will begin at 6 PM with a Cocktail Hour and book signing for Delvon Johnson's book, Love Yourself First. Following this will be the Fulfilling His Legacy ceremony. Comedian Jonathan Martin is the Master Of Ceremonies, and live entertainment will be provided by musical guests Sushi Fresh and Orikl. Joining me in speaking tribute to Lynn will be noted publisher Karen Hunter, who edited and published Lynn's final novel, Mama Dearest, actor and screenwriter Maurice Jamal, and legendary songstress Madonna, as well as many other prominent literary, artistic, and musical figures.

Among the noteworthy invited guests attending this Gala are DJ Baker, creator and host of the award-winning radio talk show, Da Doo Dirty Show, Taylor Siluwe, author of the intriguing gay-genre novel Dancing with The Devil, and legendary author James Earl Hardy who gave us the incomparable B-Boy Blues series of books. Saturday promises to be a night to remember as we honor the man who changed the American literary landscape. If you're interested in attending, you must RSVP Delvon Johnson at Delvon.Johnson@hotmail.com. Directions to the event are as follows:

Via PATH:
PATH trains leave Manhattan from stations located at 23rd St. & 6th Ave. -or- 33rd St. & 6th Ave.
Take PATH train to Jersey City/Journal Square stop, get out there and transfer to the Newark train which takes you to Newark Penn Station.
Once you get out at Newark Penn Station
If walking out of Newark Penn Station:
Make a right and walk up Market St. until you hit Mulberry St.
Make a right onto Mulberry and walk to Commerce St.
The Spot is on your right, 45 Commerce St.

Via NY Penn Station:
Take an NJTransit train.
All trains that say EWR and/or SEC go to Newark Penn Station.
2nd stop on NJTransit.
If walking out of Newark Penn Station:
Make a right and walk up Market St. until you hit Mulberry St.
Make a right onto Mulberry and walk to Commerce St.
The Spot is on your right, 45 Commerce St.

From All Points West: Take I-80 EAST. Stay left near the exit 45 to get into I-80 EAST express lane. At exit 47A (left exit), merge onto I-280 East towards the ORANGES/NEWARK. Take the First St. exit (exit 13 - left exit also) towards the Branch BROOK PK/UMDNJ/NJIT. Make a right onto FIRST ST. Turn left onto W MARKET ST. Turn left onto MULBERRY ST. Turn right onto COMMERCE St. Address is 45 COMMERCT ST.
From All Points East: Take the HOLLAND TUNNEL into NJ. HOLLAND TUNNEL becomes 14TH ST. 14TH ST becomes NJ-139 WEST. Merge onto US-19/1 & 9/1/9 SOUTH. Take the RAYMOND BOULEVARD exit towards NEWARK. Stay straight to go onto FOUNDRY ST. Turn right onto RAYMOND BLVD. Turn left onto MULBERRY ST. Turn right onto COMMERCE ST.. Address is at 45 COMMERCE ST.

From All Points North: Take RT 15 SOUTH towards I-80 EAST. Follow directions from points west.

From All Points South: Take I-95 NORTH/NJ TURNPIKE NORTH (toll). Merge onto NJ-81 NORTH via exit 13A towards NEWARK AIRPORT/ELIZABETH SEAPORT (toll). Stay on NJ-81 NORTH. Take slight right onto US-19/1 & 9/1/9 NORTH. Merge onto NJ-21 NORTH/MCCARTER HIGHWAY towards NEWARK. Merge onto BROAD ST. Turn right onto RAYMOND BLVD. Turn right onto MULBERRY ST. Turn right onto COMMERCE ST. Address is 45 COMMERCE ST.

See you there!

March And Rally Against Hate Crimes This Saturday!

2009-10-15T07:17:00.005-04:00

In response to the vicious gay-bashing attack against Jack Price, a 49-year-old out, proud gay man living in College Point, Queens, there will be a protest March and Rally on Saturday afternoon. The March will begin at 2 PM at College Point Blvd. and 20th Avenue in College Point, Queens. The March will then proceed up College Point Blvd., past the scene of the attack on 18th Avenue, and contnue to the Rally and Speak Out site at Poppenhusen Playground on 14th Avenue and College Point Blvd.

You can reach the March via the 7 train to Main Street, then take a Q65 bus to 20th Avenue. Please bring signs without wooden sticks, your friends, and your spirit of solidarity with Jack Price. A second suspect has been apprehended by the NYPD and Norfolk, Virginia police, at a relative's home in Norfolk, where the suspect ran immediately following the beating. Watch the shocking video of the attack below, then make your plans to join me and your neighbors at Saturday's March. We will send a message to those who might think their hatred and bigotry will make us run in fear: we will not run and hide, like those who attacked Mr. Price. We will not live in fear. We are who we are, and we will never tolerate atrocities like this. Be there.

OUTRAGE!

2009-10-13T22:23:00.004-04:00

This is the horrific video footage of gay-bashing victim Jack Price being savagely beaten on 18th Avenue in College Point over the weekend. No one should ever, ever suffer an attack like this because they are LGBT. To watch this video is to be reminded that the day has not yet come when we can be out, proud, and safe in the streets of our own cities and towns.

There will be a march and rally this Saturday to protest this outrage. I'll post the information on that as soon as it becomes available.

Worth Every Minute, Every Mile: National Equality March

2009-10-12T16:35:00.008-04:00

Yesterday, I traveled to Washington, DC, to participate in the National Equality March. More than just a mere cry for legalizing gay marriage, we came to our government's doorstep to seek an end to our lives of subjugation, persecution and second-class citizenship. I rode to DC aboard a (free!) bus organized by Broadway Impact, a group of Broadway theater people who are passionately committed to LGBT rights. I would be remiss if I didn't publicly thank them and the cast of the Hair musical for the fantastic job they did in bringing us all there and back. I rode a lightning-fast bus, on which I even won a few prizes playing trivia challenge. They even paid all of out DC Metro fares to and from the March and Rally. Do go see the revival of the Broadway musical Hair as soon as you can. The cast and crew are something special.

Arriving in DC, we reported to the Assembly Area, which quickly became mobbed with thousands upon thousands of LGBT people and their supporters from all over the United States. I felt a tremendous sense of awe at the sight of so many gays and lesbians proudly preparing to march through a Southern city, in numbers never before seen for the LGBT community in DC. Among those who turned out to make a statement yesterday was U.S. Army Lieutenant Dan Choi, a gay West Point graduate, Arabic linguist, Iraq veteran, and decorated soldier who was forced out of the Army for daring to reveal his sexual orientation. Lt. Choi represents the absurdity of our military's official policy of homophobia, known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT), first put into practice by President Clinton. That the military, engaged in two foreign wars, and desperately in need of qualified, special-skills sailors, airmen and soldiers like Lt. Choi, could fire them because of their sexulality, is barbaric and not in the best interests of our national defense.

I spoke with Lt. Choi, and he made it plainly clear that he felt the DADT policy was a shameful travesty of everything he learned at "The Point" about duty, honor and country. "So many other servicepeople--just like me--are forced out of the military every day, because they are gay or lesbian," Choi says. "We want to fight for our country, but our country fights against us." It's astonishing that Lt. Choi earned his bars for his excellence, but was stripped of them for his gayness. Nor is this kind of discriminatory practice limited to the military: it's still legal to fire gays and lesbians in 29 states, for no other reason than their sexual orientation. You can still be evicted for being gay in states like Utah, and there are, at present, no federal laws to mandate that all 50 states end such homophobic practices.

As we marched past President Obama's home at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, we shouted "this is what democracy looks like!" In a powerful message about the progress the LGBT community has made in the 40 years since the Stonewall Rebellion, over 100,000 gays, lesbians and their allies visited the White House, a scene that wouldn't have been possible even ten years ago. We've come far, and although we marched from the White House to the Capitol, we needed to make enough noise for Congress to hear us, too.

So, we gathered on Congress' front lawn for the Equality Rally, where we heard stirring words from such luminaries as Lady Gaga, NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Jamaican-born lesbian author and activist Staceyann Chin. Ms. Chin raised the crowd to its feet with her cry for "Equality, equality. equality!", as she described her shock and dismay at having escaped the rampant homophobia of her native island, only to discover it alive and well here in America. The Keynote address was given by NAACP chairman Julian Bond, who proclaimed himself and the NAACP as allies of the LGBT community in our struggle for human rights. He confirmed that LGBT rights "are civil rights", and invoked the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King's 1963 March On Washington, and recalled that a black gay man, Bayard Rustin, "brought us here that day, and made it all possible". His was a rousing, memorable speech, made more so by the fact that he publicly acknowledged that the black community needed to do "much more" to help all gays and lesbians achieve our rights, just as he and Dr. King worked so heard to do for people of color, in the 1960s.

I rode home with a sense of optimism and fulfillment, feeling privileged to have taken part in a moment which will go down in American history. But as you'll see in my post below, that optimism was shattered when I got home, and the realities faced by all of us came flooding back in...

Gay Man Of Color Beaten Into A Coma In Queens

2009-10-12T16:11:00.004-04:00

While we marched and sang at yesterday's National Equality March, an out, proud gay man of color was fighting for his life after being beaten within an inch of his life by a pair of rabid homophobes who hurled slurs at him during their attack. 49-year-old Jack Price was beaten so severely he suffered a broken jaw, ruptured spleen, every one of his ribs were fractured, and his lungs both collapsed. He languishes in a coma, on a ventilator, in a city hospital as the NYPD hunts down the second of Price's two attackers.

Price's assailants reportedly taunted him in a deli near his home, then deliberately chased him, cornered him, and attempted to murder Price. Witnesses quoted one of the two thugs as screaming "My father's a C. O. [NYC Corrections Officer]! Nothing will happen to us!", echoing similar rants made by transwoman Carmela Etienne's attackers in St. Albans last summer. This prevailing sentiment that people can injure and kill gays and lesbians, and get away with it because we are "less than" our attackers, or that our mere existence is justifiable provocation, is increasing. The Anti-Violence Project's Kim Fountain told ABC News, "It's not just that people are being shoved or punched. It's that their lips are being split or they're ending up in the hospital or they're being murdered."

Public apathy towards these brutal incidents is nowhere more clearly reflected than in the silence of our political leadership, both here and on the state and national level. Another gay man of color hovers near death in the hospital, a victim of his rightful choice to be out and proud in his neighborhood, and I have yet to hear a peep about this from Mayor Bloomberg, his opponent Bill Thompson, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, or even Queens DA Richard Brown. What a way to return from marching in Washington for our right to be treated fairly and decently as human beings.

What Happens In Vegas...Ends Up On This Blog!

2009-10-02T12:56:00.010-04:00

Yup, that's the High Heel Car, one of the more delightful sights from my recent trip to Las Vegas and the Dallas, Texas area. My trip was a fascinating one, in which I discovered how the LGBT community lives and thrives in a notoriously homophobic state (Texas), and in a city (Vegas) where almost anything goes. The Dallas-Fort worth area made news last summer when the the Rainbow Lounge Gay Bar in fort worth was raided by police, leaving one patron severely injured. In the aftermath of this raid, Fort Worth police used the "gay panic" defense" to justify their actions. So the Rainbow Lounge was definitely a place to visit, and so I did.

There was a big show of solidarity among the normally discreet LGBT community here. Texas is a state where, although the Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas that states may not prosecute gay sex between consenting adults, homosexuality is still criminalized. This particular raid, which left a patron fighting for his life in a Fort Worth hospital, galvanized area gays and lesbians to rally, making sure this incident would not be repeated. Homophobia is rampant in this part of the country (I was reminded by several people not to walk holding hands with another man, definitely no gay public displays of affection, and my host emphasized particularly no wearing of Pride or LGBT-related clothing, unless I wanted to provoke a beating, or worse, arrest under Texas' notorious "public decency" laws.

Even with all of that, I came away with the impression that Texas' and the DFW area gay community is steadfastly determined to overcome the homophobia of their neighbors. Everyone I spoke to said they would keep fighting the good fight until true equality and freedom was won. I think, like all great struggles for LGBT equality, from Harvey Milk to Stonewall, to today's other LGBT struggles, the gays of Texas will gain their well-deserved freedom from persecution.

After a few days in DFW, where I did a lovely book signing before a very enthusiastic crowd, and visited the Sixth Floor Museum, overlooking Dealey Plaza, site of the assassination of President Kennedy, it was on to Las Vegas, where my family lives, and home of the world-famous Strip. Besides being an entertainment center where people go to lose their money, Las Vegas is also home to one of the engineering wonders of the world, Hoover Dam. During the Great Depression, an artificial lake was created on the Nevada-Arizona border, Lake Mead. This lake was situated on the Colorado River, and is the source of the dam, a structure so massive that concrete is still curing in it, over 70 years after its completion.

The dam now provides the Las Vegas area with hydroelectric power, and Lake Mead is the source of Vegas' drinking water. I'm used to New York City tap water which is known to have psychiatric drugs in it, so Vegas' tap water always tastes funny to me. But this project made the modern city possible, so I tip my hat to the thousands who worked--and gave their lives--to "make the desert bloom". Vegas does have a considerable LGBT community, with an LGBT Center just like the one here at home. Like Hoover Dam, a city like Vegas would not be possible if not for its gays and lesbians, who literally operate the city's many casinos and entertainment venues. Of course, we need our own entertainment as well, and so I walked around the corner from the Strip, onto Sahara, to check out The Entourage Gay Spa, which is so much more than just a "gay gym". They even have private rooms for rent, and the staff works extra hard to make the experience a pleasurable and unforgettable one!

After all, the thing to do in Vegas is MISbehave! The Entourage was another highlight of my trip. (Look for an upcoming review of the spa in a future blog post!) I would be remiss if I didn't mention the great casinos and hotels along the Strip (Las Vegas Blvd.), including the Bellagio and its "Dancing waters" display out front, as pictured above. There's also the fabulous Wynn and Encore, a mammoth twin-tower casino and hotel at the north end of the Strip, whose elegance and style must not be missed. I just about broke even playing penny slots and a few hands of Blackjack, so I was cool with that. It was with a heavy heart that I headed home to NYC, after spending time with my family and relaxing, but the miles traveled were worth the experiences!

"All Our Circuits Are Temporarily Tied Up!"

2009-09-24T19:24:00.002-04:00

I came across this whimsical bit of street art today on the corner of E. 14th Street and Fifth Avenue. Verizon pay phone service there is just a wee bit tied up at the moment. Interesting statement on corporate America.

Fall Reading: Authors Of Color In Modern Gay Lit

2009-09-21T10:03:00.011-04:00

As we go from a too-short summer into the transition of autumn, it's a good time to pause and take a look at some of the black gay literary voices which are shaping American literature today. SGL men of color have always been a powerful force in American writing, in every genre and style. The richness of their words and the passion of their stories defines us as a culture. The writings of such giants as James Baldwin and Langston Hughes awakened the world to the struggles of people of color in the mid-to-late 20th century. They found expression through their words, as gay men, people of color, and as artists enriching the American experience.

Writers like Baldwin, Hughes, Robeson and Rustin also set the stage for later gay writers, who revolutionized the gay-lit genre. The first modern black gay author to gain widespread acclaim was Everette Lynn Harris, whose first book, Invisible Life, taught American publishers about the possibilities of gay literature. Harris created plausible, human gay characters, and raised awareness in "Mainstream America" about some of the issues gay men face in their lives and relationships. Following the runaway success of Invisible Life, Harris went on to author eleven more novels, eight of which made the New York Times bestseller list. At the time of his unfortunate death this past summer, Mr. Harris was about to option his first novel with Tracy Edmonds as a Hollywood movie. He is widely considered to be one of the "gateway authors" of modern gay literature.

Another "gateway author" in the company of E. Lynn Harris, is James Earl Hardy, well-known as the man behind the phenomenal B-Boy Blues series of novels. Hardy is an unabashed proponent of the edgy, uncompromising prose style so familiar in gay literature today. With this groundbreaking body of work, Hardy explored in depth the dynamics of relationships among gays of color. His writings continue to enjoy accolades from readers all over the country, who often credit Hardy with giving a voice to their feelings. Gay lit often finds an intersection between sexuality, life, and social commentary. The myriad issues of gay life, social conflict, and the challenges peculiar to gay men of color has given rise to the works of prominent individuals who have helped shape the ongoing discourse on gay life in the 21st century.

Where real-life issues and gay black men meet, you'll often find writers like Keith Boykin, who served in President Clinton's cabinet, and currently comments on items of the day for both MSNBC and CNN. In his current-affairs book, Beyond The Down Low, Boykin took a hard look at closted gay men who live double lives, for fear their sexuality will result in their ostracism from society. During the years Boykin was an active, vocal advocate for the LGBT community, his writings challenged people to re-examine their attitudes towards gays and lesbians with sober, fearless prose. Courage is almost a prerequisite for gay authors, and this is especially true when you're a gay pastor. The division between gays, lesbians and their churches is a long, sad litany of hatred and bigotry perpetrated in the name of God. Reverend Kevin E. Taylor, pastor of the Unity Fellowship Church of New Brunswick (UFCNB), is such a courageous man. With his works, Jaded and Uncluttered, Rev. Taylor comes upon us to let the world know that God does not hate His chikdren, gay or lesbian though they might be. Without apology, Rev. Taylor shows us that we are all welcome under God's roof, statements to the contrary from less enlightened churches and clergy notwithstanding. Taylor teaches us to accept ourselves and our fellows, even in matters at the heart of the gay experience, the way we express love and sexuality.

Gay love and sexuality are the defining attributes of our community, and it is to these concepts that our literature most often speaks. We live, we love, and we share our intense passions in our stories. Bringing our sexuality to life is the province of authors who write gay erotica, one of the most challenging areas of the gay genre. Erotica deals with, as its name implies, the sexual aspect of relationships between people. Sexuality is inextricably linked to gay life, and erotica in gay literature is an important expression of who we, as a community, are. Explorers of gay erotica, such as Taylor Siluwe (Dancing With The Devil, Best Gay Erotica '08), Lee Hayes(Passion Marks, A Deeper Blue, The Messiah, Flesh To Flesh Anthology), and Stanley Bennett Clay (Looker, In Search Of Pretty Young Black Men), each bring out the beauty, wonder, and delight of our love lives in fine form and substance.

Sometimes, social issues find their way into erotic writing, as Nathan James reminds us in The Devil's Details, which combines the unbridled passions of its characters with a strong statement on the absurdity of hatred.

In every way, all of our contemporary gay writers of color describe our world with joy and clarity. Modern American literature is enhanced by the addition of the gay genre, and all who set pen to paper today stand on the shoulders of giants, and strive to reach even higher levels of expression tomorrow. Get to know them as autumn becomes winter, and the time to curl up with a few good books draws nigh.

Dex Star G's Party: You're Invited!

2009-09-10T12:48:00.006-04:00

It's Dex Star G, The People's Photographer's birthday, and everyone's invited! Dex is known throughout the NYC LGBT community as a celebrity, nightlife, and documentary photographer extraordinaire. His work has been featured in Next Magazine, the fabulous Bleu Magazine, LGBT journal Kuttin Edge, and he has shot countless NYC nightclubs, most recently Mr. Black. Dex has immortalized such lunminaries as French Vogue model and runway coach Andre J., headliner and gay rapper Baron, LGBT author and public advocate Nathan James and transsexual entertainer Amanda Lepore.

Saturday's party for Dex Star G, Adventures Of Disco Trash will be held at Mr. Black, 35 E. 21st Street, between Broadway and Park Avenue. The reception and exhibit of Dex Star's amazing photos begins at 10 PM. RSVP to DexStarGisAwesome@gmail.com before noon on Saturday. Take an R or 6 train to 23rd Street. See you there!

Sights 'N' Sounds Was A BLAST!

2009-09-06T17:02:00.006-04:00

On Friday, August 28th, the Sights 'N' Sounds End-Of-Summer Bash was held at NYC's Mocca Lounge, hosted by Rebel Starr, Good Wood, Royalty Media Group, DJ Sucio Smash and DJ Polarity.

Needless to say, it was AWESOME! Among the notable guests were Rugged 'n' Raw, Elizabeth Rothschild, Raydar Ellis, David Matthews and the members of the Gentleman's Book Club, and celebrity shutterbug DexStar G, The People's Photographer.. Media executrix Lynne Rene (who took these pictures) was on hand, as was my good friend DJ Baker. As a birthday gift from Likwuid, Back Wordz and Lynne, I was treated to chilled champagne, and truly tipsy did we become! Thanks to all who came out and made my evening a memorable one!

Only in NYC: Pizza Fight!

2009-09-06T16:30:00.003-04:00

While spending the afternoon with DJ Baker and Swanny River, we stopped for lunch at the Two Brothers Pizza Shop in NYC's Chelsea. Suddenly a pizza shop food fight broke out, and I dutifully recorded it on my phone. No one was hurt, but several pizzas met an untimely demise, their tomato-sauce remains splattered all over the walls.

Only in NYC. We now return you to your previously scheduled Labor Day weekend.

Who Would Jesus Execute?

2009-09-01T10:39:00.004-04:00

From Towleroad comes a disturbing report on Phoenix, Ariz. pastor Steve Anderson. In an interview with talk show host Michelangelo Signorile, the off-his-meds pastor stated he "would not call someone who shot a group of gays and lesbians with a machine gun a murderer." In further comments, this "Man Of God" said he wouldn't "condemn any person who killed President Obama", and, in fact, wished brain cancer on both the President and Signorile. Anderson joins the ranks of other hate-filled clergy, including Fred Phelps and Ken Hutcherson, whose rabid homophobia have poisoned the hearts and minds of countless parishioners.

That Anderson can openly espouse the machine-gunning of gays and lesbians, while still professing himself as a spiritual leader, is corrosive to the body of Christianity. That he can find willing ears to listen to his bigotry is an affront to the principles of our country. But here it is, in all its ugliness. During his interview with Signorile, Anderson called all gays child molesters, advocated the execution of gays, lesbians, abortionists, and the President Of The United States. You can see the video of Anderson's interview with Signorile (who, by the way, is gay) here, as well as the full audio.

It's perhaps worth noting that bigots like Anderson's words are more than just the mere rantings of unbalanced individuals. These are public figures in leadership positions, whose exhortations of hatred and violence encourage others to act on their words. That's why one of Anderson's flock, Christopher Broughton, took an AR-15 rifle with him to an Obama town-hall meeting in Phoenix last month. Now, that little fact should scare us all.

How Dare I Suggest That?

2009-08-22T09:43:00.002-04:00

I awoke this morning to a report describing the opposition, by some prominent Black clergymen, to the proposed repeal of the Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA). The Rev. Dr. LaSimba Gray was also quoted in the New York Times as saying he, and members of his Black Coalition Against Gay Marriage, were against the repeal of DOMA, and equality for gays and lesbians. “In all my 40 years of civil-rights work, I’ve never seen a gay water fountain and I’ve never seen a gay entrance to a building.” In a post on political blogger Taylor Siluwe’s website, further commentary indicates that Gray’s members were “offended” by the idea that the “black and gay communities are somehow connected”.

Now, I have written in the past that the LGBT and black communities were not only connected with one another, but that both owe each other all the benefits they enjoy today. For this, of course, I have been flogged unmercifully, as if it were set in stone somewhere that blacks and gays were mutually exclusive, and never the twain shall meet. At the risk of more public flogging, I stand by my position, and I enlist the historical record to aid in my defense. I think that the record speaks very well for itself.

It’s 1955. Rosa Parks has defied Jim Crow and refused to give her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white person, as the law required in those days. In response to her arrest, the local black community turned to a 26-year-old minister of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, Martin Luther King, Jr. Meetings are held to devise a plan of action. Seeking guidance and direction on how to find the most effective means of protest, Rev. King looks to one Bayard Rustin, a black, gay advocate and strategist whose writings on nonviolence have impressed the young preacher. The fact that Rustin is gay, does not discourage King one iota. King knows that Rustin is the go-to man in matters of protest and petition.

Rustin travels to meet with King that year, and the counsel King receives from a gay man of color is crucial to the birth of the modern civil-rights movement, and establishes nonviolence as the means of protest. Rustin thus changes the course of history, and all people of color who live today, free of Jim Crow’s awful depredations, may add Rustin’s name to those to be thanked for their efforts.

Two years later, American literary icon James Baldwin writes and publishes the homoerotic novel Giovanni’s Room, establishing himself as a gifted writer of early gay lit. The book is banned from publication in the United States, but becomes a wild bestseller in Europe. Baldwin becomes known as both a gifted author of color and a gay man. These facts, however, do not deter Rev. King from seeking out and including Baldwin prominently in the civil-rights struggle during the 1960s. The FBI, in an attempt to separate King from men like Baldwin and Rustin, quietly warns King that both men are gay. King replies “I will not refuse the help of such wise and gifted men. As much as anyone, they have given our cause meaning and direction.” When his words are picked up by the Associated Press, the nominating committee for the Nobel Peace Prize begins to understand that here is a man worthy of their accolades.

These are matters of undeniable fact, available for research by anyone with an Internet connection and an interest in the historical record. In spite of this, people continue to have the attitude that I speak heresy, whenever I cite the record. It is a mystery to me why so many people of color are “offended” by the idea that blacks and gays might ever share commonalities in their history. Gay men and women of color have contributed so much to the advancement of all people of color, that they are inextricably linked to the shared history of both. Conversely, people of color, through their tenacious and diligent struggles for equality, have opened the doors of tolerance for the LGBT community which would have remained locked, perhaps indefinitely.

In my studies of the art and literature of the civil-rights era, I find so many contributions to black history by gays and lesbians of color, it’s amazing. The great examination of the black experience of those days comes alive in the works of Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, and numerous others. Their cries for social justice, together with the activities of Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, Rosa Parks, and the whole roll call of the era, all suggest a great need for acceptance of diversity. The sexual orientation of any or all of these great people was not an issue. Achieving the equality promised by our Constitution was the issue.

So, “how dare I suggest” a common history between people of color and the gays and lesbians among them? What issue do I address that is so uncomfortable to some? Perhaps there has never been a “gay water fountain”, or a “gay building entrance”. Yet there were barriers to equality for gays every bit as formidable as the legal and structural barriers faced by blacks under Jim Crow. There was a time when sodomy laws forbade homosexual activity in all but two states. There was a time when homosexuality was considered a mental illness by the American Psychiatric Association. There were no visible, structural barriers for gays because gays were considered to be deviant, criminal, and antisocial by their very existence, regardless of their color.

As people of color suffered under Jim Crow’s reign of subjugation and terror, gays of color suffered those hardships, plus the added stigma of being black and gay. To this day, debate rages over the need for, and type of, legal protection gays and lesbians should receive. This brings me back to the beginning of this essay. Legislation such as the Gender Employment Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) and the repeal of DOMA are needed to afford the Constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law. For people of color to wish denial of these protections to a subset of their own community, is appalling. Some people are quick to deny the struggle, perseverance and triumph of those who came before them, and whose history they all share. In so doing, they diminish the value of the whole enterprise. How dare I suggest that!

Flesh To Flesh: The Series Casting Call

2009-08-18T10:03:00.005-04:00

The Flesh To Flesh anthology which includes my novella, Thickness, is being developed into a film series! Editor and acclaimed black gay author Lee Hayes will be holding a Casting Call for the first episode, Swingin', Saturday, August 29. Details are as follows:

Flesh to Flesh- An Erotic Series is a thriller that takes a bold and unapologetic view at the real lives of African- American gay men and lesbians. Episode 1, Swingin', focuses on a male couple in a long-term relationship who decides to spice up their sex life and the consequences that follows.

CHARACTER BREAKDOWNS:

ANTHONY DIX, African-American male, late-twenties, clean-cut, good looking; a bit conservative;

JAMAL PHILLIPS, African-American male, mid-twenties, masculine with tattoos on his arm, handsome; not afraid of taking chances, slightly manipulative and sexually adventurous;

AHMAD ARMSTRONG, African-American male, late twenties, good-looking, sophisticated and very polished; carries himself in a haughty manner;

MONICA RANDALL African-American female, beautiful, edgy and stylish, in her mid-upper twenties; very personable;

ERIC STEWART African-American male, late twenties, with a toned and solid body, a bit unpolished/rough around the edges;

MARCUS JOHNSON, African-American male, mid-thirties, very distinguished-looking and charming, good body;

JAYCENT TUPPER, African-American male mid-thirties, very attractive with a beautiful smile;

ZANDAR PAIGE - African-American male, early-mid twenties, extremely good-looking and masculine; walks with a bad boy swagger and knows what he likes.

DATE: August 29 -30, 2009
TIME: Saturday, 11 am - 7 PM; Sunday, 11 am - 3 PM
LOCATION: Washington, D.C.
MORE: All auditions will be by appointment only. Please submit Acting Resume and Photos to: fleshtofleshcasting@gmail.com.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing how this project develops, and I'll keep one and all updated on its progress. Lee is advancing to new horizons, and I hope he enjoys every success!

Latex Ball 2009: Vegas Fab!

2009-08-17T17:46:00.003-04:00

This past Saturday, all the Ballroom Houses in NYC came out to the 19th Annual Latex Ball at the famous, fabulous Roseland Ballroom. This unforgettable event, produced by Gay Men's Health Crisis, was a spectacular success. The House Of Latex Project was created by GMHC to address the growing issue of HIV/AIDS within the ballroom community. Using the Latex Ball as a vehicle for prevention/education efforts, GMHC offered educational tabling and on-site HIV testing at the Roseland during the Ball.

As the videos below demonstrate, positive, creative ways to help our LGBT community stay safe and play safe are at once effective and encouraging. Kudos to all who worked so hard to make this yearly extravaganza a blast!

Baron never fails to please the crowd!

Luna Show Synopsis Of The Latex Ball

J'Sun Mugler on the runway...

There were 24 Ballroom Houses competing in the Latex Ball, and all of them scorched that runway with their own fierce inner fire! Can't wait for next year!

The Party's ON!

2009-08-16T13:24:00.006-04:00

Let's go, one and all, to NYC's Mocca Lounge on Friday, August 28, for the Sights and Sounds End Of Summer Bash! Joining me as Special Guest Hosts are hip-hop artist Rugged-N-Raw, Doug, and Dork U. Presented by the incomparable hip-hop duo Rebel Starr and The Nook Party, Sights And Sounds will feature DJ Sucio Smash and Raydar Ellis. This promises to be an unforgettable, star-studded shindig! There will also be a LIVE video showcase by Noisemaker Media, and a special appearance by DJ Polarity! So make your way to Sights And Sounds, the fun begins on August 28th at 10 PM, and goes on until the riot squad arrives. Admission is free before midnight, and there'll be drink specials, too, all night long. Oh, by the way, I'm celebrating my birthday at this fine event. Gifts, feather boas, and fedoras are all optional. See you there!

A "Down Low" Detective Gives His Perspective

2009-08-07T16:10:00.005-04:00

Over the years, much has been written, said, and debated about the "down low", men who are outwardly straight, but secretly have sex with other men. Widely reported as a destructive double-life deception, the "down low phenomenon has gained plenty of currency in "mainstream" straight media as a hidden cause of HIV/AIDS, a despicable, cowardly way to live one's life, and the subject of numerous books, such as those written by J.L. King and news commentator Keith Boykin. These are "expose"-type books that do try to shed some light, albeit critically, on the "down low" phenomenon.

Well, while returning from a meeting today, I ran into someone I know, who has been on the "down low" for many years now. We had a fascinating discussion about this as he drove me back home from Manhattan, and it certainly got me thinking about the whole evolution of the "down low" subculture amongst gay and/or bisexual men. A little background on my friend should begin to shed some light on the reasons why he insists--with some real justification, I might add--that the "down low" is a monster created by society, and that prudence, not cowardice, keeps him (and countless others like him) in the closet. My friend "Deion" is a man of color in his late thirties, married, three kids, house on Long Island, and a detective specialist with the NYPD. He was raised right here in Queens, in a middle-class home by a well-educated, professional couple. Discovering his attraction to other men during his high school years, he says he needed absolutely no prompting in deciding to stay in the closet. His lifelong ambition was to become a member of the NYPD's Emergency Services Unit (ESU), and he understood clearly that the letters "G-A-Y" and "E-S-U" did not, and probably never would, go together.

"Deion" stayed on the "down low" all through college and into the Police academy. Following the strict, homophobic culture of New York's Finest, "Deion" maintained a very straight "public" appearance. He was keenly aware of the professional and societal pressures bearing on him to conform to accepted "norms of sexual orientation", on his quest to win a coveted detective's gold shield. He professed to a life that would meet with the approval of his parents, siblings, and NYPD colleagues and supervisors. A cop's life is closely watched, especially when the officer is known to be seeking advancement to higher levels within the department, and homosexuality is not to be tolerated. Openly gay cops have been investigated, brought up on false charges, and fired by the department, as gay former policeman Jai Aiken discovered not too long ago.

To succeed in this homophobic environment, "Deion" made a veru conscious decision to try to balance his professional life with the need to satsfy his attraction to other men. This extended to marrying and fathering children, whom he admittedly loves, but also confesses they help to cement his image as a "normal, straight husband and father". He is absolutely convinced that this facade helped him to eventually get promoted to detective. In the NYPD, there are two types of detectives. Detective Investigators are exactly what the name implies; they go out and do the traditional gumshoe work, like Briscoe and Green in Law & Order. Then there are Detective Specialists, like "Deion", who possess some critical, special, or unique skill that makes them suitable for one of the many specialized units of the NYPD. The overarching fact, is that regardless of whether you're an investigator or a specialist, the promotion to detective rank is an appointment. Unlike the management careeer ladder, in which you can earn higher rank and pay by taking a series of civil-service exams, to become a world-famous New York City Detective, you must be appointed by the Police Commisioner. As my friend notes with irony, "you can have questionable shootings in your jacket, and get by, but being gay will cause you problems." Of course, these reflect themselves as "substandard performance", rather than "gay cop".

Hence, the decision "Deion" made to stay on the "down low". While there is no shortage of people--gay, straight, and bi--who might say that "Deion" is little more than a coward living a lie, I am of the opinion that his choice is--wait for it--prudent. Now, before you start stuffing my comments with flame attacks, think about it: Given the overwhelming evidence that "Deion's" chosen profession was rife with homophobia, and that his life outside the NYPD would have been equally precarious as an out, gay, man of color, his reasoning seems understandable to me. "But what of his wife, his kids," people will point out, "Don't they deserve better than to live with someone whose life with them is a sham?" Yes, they do, but consider: the "down-low", again, is a monster we as a society created, by teaching the "wrongness" of homosexuaity to people starting at an early age. We teach it at home, in our schools, most definitely in our churches, and at our places of business. We hammer into everyone's head that gays and lesbians are "socially unacceptable", but yet we complain when someone like "Deion" copes with this onslaught of hatred by hiding what he really is?

If we'd embraced understanding and realized that gays and lesbians are contributing members of our society who deserve the respect and value every person should be accorded, and were finally awarded fundamental human rights like marriage, then maybe the "Deions" of this world could wear their gold shields and their sexuality prouldly. Let the debate begin!

What's A Twitterholic To Do?

2009-08-06T10:02:00.005-04:00

It appears that the hugely popular, highly addictive social networking site Twitter is, as they used to say on TV back in the day, "experiencing technical difficulties". The three-year old site, founded by Evan Williams and Biz Stone, is a micro-blogging site on which members answer the question "What are you doing" in "tweets" of 140 characters or less. Its runaway success is partly due to the many applications that make it possible for people to Tweet from cell phones, other websites, and multimedia venues. Many celebrities, public figures, and corporations use Twitter as a medium to reach their "followers", and as an effective marketing tool.

Twitter has even become an active participant in world affairs, as witness the use of the site to tell the world about the turbulence following Presidential elections in Iran last June. "Twitter addiction" has itself become so widespread, there's even an urban slang term for it: "twitterholic". Well, hurry back, Twitter! I need my fix.

UPDATE: The Twitter Status site confirms that Twitter is indeed down, and now Facebook is offline as well. Early reports suggest a distributed denial of service (dDOS) hacker attack as the likely cause. Stay tuned. I'm off to my Facebook/Twitterholics Anonymous emergency meeting...lol!

Performing At Jubilation Today!

2009-08-02T08:30:00.003-04:00

If in NYC, come on out to Jubilation, New York City's Black Pride, this afternoon from 12-8 PM, and enjoy performances by me and a great gathering of fantastic artists from the LGBT community of color. It's at the Helen Mills Theater at 137-139 W. 26th Street (Between 6th and 7th Aves.) Take the 1,2,3, D, F, or PATH train to 23rd Street. See you there!

At Bloggers' Conference, A Revealing Moment

2009-07-29T13:01:00.004-04:00

"If we're going to be damned, let's be damned for what we really are."--Patrick Stewart, as Capt. Jean Luc Picard, Encounter at Farpoint (Star Trek: The Next Generation, 1987)

Last night, I attended a meeting given by a New York City mayoral candidate's campaign for local bloggers. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce us to the candidate, and to encourage us to blog about him, so that he would gain greater presence on the Internet. LGBT blogger and radio host DJ Baker brought me up to the meeting, and we sat down to hear what the candidate's image makers had to say. After a brief introduction, the hosts went around the room, asking each attendee to say a little about themselves and their blogs. When my turn came, I said, without fear or faltering, "My name is Nathan James. I'm a novelist, activist, and blogger. I write a blog for and about the LGBT community, and the issues of interest to us."

No sooner had I uttered the words, "for and about the LGBT community", than one of the two young hosts at the head of the table did an epic face freeze. It was as if his face was about to crack open as I said those words. In that priceless, devastating moment, the thin veneer of tolerance was lifted from him, and the revulsion he harbored towards the concept of gayness was revealed. For me, it was an instant reality check , reminding me that even among those who profess acceptance of all (even if only to get their votes), there is still a radioactivity attached to the words "gay and lesbian" that cannot be hidden, covered up, or ignored.

It was at that moment that the campaign lost me. Up until then, I'd actually believed this candidate was gay-friendly, at the very least, open to the needs of our community. Perhaps I was foolish to mention that my blog was LGBT-oriented, in a room full of (ostensibly) straight men and women. But, as Patrick Stewart's quotation at the beginning of this post makes clear, I wanted to state myself without shame. Boy, was I mistaken in thinking there were adults in the room. As the host's face fell, so did the expressions of several other people in the room.

Retired FBI Agent Joe Navarro has written a book about body and facial language, the premise of which is that our faces and our bodies often broadcast much more than our words do. To say that I saw Navarro's principles in action last night would be an understatement. It was at once revealing and upsetting for what it reminded me about the average person's feelings about gays and lesbians, at the close of the 21st century's first decade. I admit, I do rant about the continuing bigotry our community finds in society, but yesterday's experience was something else.

In what I consider a true "teachable moment", I learned that even among educated, professional political operators, there are times when the mask slips off. True, it's back on again in a moment, but once that facade is cracked, there is no undoing it. What I found especially galling, is that several people in the room also reacted the same way our host did, at the mention of the letters "LGBT". Now, I understand that people aren't perfect, and some of my fellow bloggers may even be excused their brief lapse into their true colors--they weren't up there representing the campaign, after all--but the host gets no such free passes from me.

When political operatives host conferences such as these, especially when addressing those who report via the Internet to thousands, even millions of people, they know their words and expressions are being scrutinized. When you get a glimpse of what such a person's true image of you is, and it isn't pretty, then it reveals something about the candidate and his campaign, as well. If the senior staff of an important political organization reveal themselves as revulsed by the community you're there to represent, that lets one know what the tone of the campaign is. That's why they lost me last night, but I do value the sobering reality check they gave me. The journey towards equality and acceptance is far from over. Our work is not nearly done.

Rally In Queens Against Transgender Hate Crimes

2009-07-27T09:01:00.007-04:00

Yesterday, I participated in a protest rally in support of two transgendered women, Leslie Mora and Carmella Etenne, who were brutally attacked during the past month in the borough of Queens. The rally, organized by local LGBT leader Brendan Fay, drew other LGBT leaders such as Melissa Sklar, openly gay City Council candidate Daniel Dromm, plus City Councilman and Public Advocate candidate Eric Gioia. All voiced their ongoing support for an end to violence against transgenders, gays, and lesbians. Other important speakers inclided FIERCE founder and transwoman Julienne "June" Brown and representatives from Make The Road, a Bushwick LGBT-rights organization.

Thanks to DJ Baker, here are videos of some of the Rally speakers, and their important message to STOP THE HATE, NOW!

Julienne Brown speaks:

Make The Road:

I interviewed Julienne "June" Brown for The Rainbow Collective

Stay tuned. There will be more on this developing story later today. Thanks to all who came out to help end the senseless violence against our LGBT community.

Everette Lynn Harris, 1955-2009

2009-07-24T18:21:00.004-04:00

Everette Lynn Harris, the groundbreaking, New York Times bestselling author, has died at age 54. Harris was a black, gay writer whose novels transformed the landscape of modern American literature, beginning with his Invisible Life trilogy, which established him as the voice of the black gay genre, in a time when American publishers wouldn't touch such books. He went on to write eight more books after that, most recently Basketball Jones, which he was on tour promoting when he passed away. Mr. Harris is widely considered to be a "gateway author" of the gay literary genre, opening the publishing world to many modern gay-lit writers, including me.

I first became aware of Lynn and his work when I began my own serious attempts at getting published. I got in touch with him for advice on navigating the publishing minefield, and he was always, always ready with words of encouragement and support. It is largely because of him, that I stuck with it and wrote the books people know me for today. Lynn's struggles with his own sexuality are a recurring theme in his books, and certainly his characters have given life to the parallel struggles gay men everywhere face in our often homophobic society.

Lynn was staying at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills when he was stricken last night, according to published reports. He had suffered a fainting spell aboard an Amtrak train yesterday afternoon, but appeared to be fine, witnesses said. Despite his complaints about his worsening health, and the stresses of a whirlwind book tour that would have taken him to 10 cities in a little over a month. In a statement this morning, Lynn's publisher Doubleday Random House, Executive Director Alison Rich said, “We at Doubleday are deeply shocked and saddened to learn of E. Lynn Harris’ death at too young an age. His pioneering novels and powerful memoir about the black gay experience touched and inspired millions of lives, and he was a gifted storyteller whose books brought delight and encouragement to readers everywhere. Lynn was a warm and generous person, beloved by friends, fans, and booksellers alike, and we mourn his passing.”

Funeral arrangements for E. Lynn Harris have not yet been announced. I cannot adequately express my shock and sadness at the passing of this literary icon, who was a friend, fellow author, and proud, gay, black man. We will miss you, even as you live on through your words.

Things To Come Reflected In The Past?

2009-07-23T20:46:00.001-04:00

Interesting MTV ad reminding us what bigotry and fear leads to.

"Less Than"

2009-07-22T15:05:00.005-04:00

Recent events around the country remind me that we of the LGBT community are still very much regarded as "less than" the "normal, well-adjusted" members of society with whom we must co-exist. It appears, for example, that gay-bashings and killings are increasing, as witness the assault against my transgendered neighbor, virtually at my very doorstep, or the murder of gay Navy sailor August Provost, or the pair of gay-bar raids in Texas that left one Fort Worth patron in a coma and the cops using the ubiquitous "Gay Panic Defense" as justification for slamming the unfortunate patron headfirst into a wall.

That the "Gay Panic Defense" is in use at all, and more to the point, that it actually actually works with juries much of the time, is more than a little disturbing to me. It spells out in unmistakable fashion, the degree to which gays and lesbians are still looked upon as "deviant", disgusting", "abnormal", and "less than", or inferior, to those who need some person or group they can feel superior to. Consider that Fort Worth police chief Jeff Halstead co-signed his officers' use of force and the "Gay Panic Defense", says a lot about the comfort level public officials have with this justification for violence against the gay community.

As I've noted before, the rules of society with regard to gays and lesbians are often crystal-clear: Do not express yourself in any way as gay or lesbian. For sure, do not show any display of public affection towards your gay or lesbian partner. Do not wear any clothing which even suggests you're gay or lesbian, or as is relevant to me specifically, don't dare express your sexuality through creative means such as writing books, acting, or creating works of art showcasing LGBT life. Any violation of these strict societal restrictions is considered a valid justification for beatings, harrassment, even murder.

Lift the veil of ostensibly "gay-friendly" overtures by elected officials, corporations, and the religious groups, and a darker, uglier truth receals itself: institutionalized homophobia is alive and well in 21st-century America, and still widely condoned. Even in the up-to-the-minute issue of heathcare, gays and lesbians find themselves abused and ignored. New York City's Public Advocate, Betsy gotbaum, recently released a report detailing how gays and lesbians must contend with a healthcare system that is "heterocentric and gender-normative", and further states the obvious, that "LGBT individuals experience hostility and discrimination in care". I've experienced that myself, on several occasions.

Indeed, in all areas of people activity (a phrase coined by black advocate Frances Cress Welsing, who, ironically, is anti-gay, even as she cries for an end to anti-black discrimination[!]), I find that homophobia is getting worse, not better. WE like to comfort ourselves as a society with platitudes like, "We've elected a black President, see how unbiased we are?" But that's missing the point. A person of color is almost always visibly so, and most rational people at least pretend to acceptance while in their presence. Not so gays and lesbians. For us, our whole world is often one big "don't Ask, Don't Tell" zone, and we are invisible as a result.

In a recent conversation with my friends DJ Baker and DexStar G, both lumiaries in New York City's gay community, I was asked whether I characterized myself as "multiethnic gay", or "gay multiethnic. I replied that I was gay multiethnic. When pressed about that choice, I replied that I would be excoriated by others for being gay even before the color of my skin was considered. I believe the level of hatred towards gays and lesbians is that severe. Even communities of color, who should know and understand the importance of tolerance and understanding, slammed me for suggesting a link between black gays and the Civil rights movement. How dare I use something as inconvenient as historical fact!

I'm STILL banging my head into the wall over this...

Gay In America: Color Lines Across Rainbow Skies

2009-07-16T19:08:00.004-04:00

Last month, I marched in the annual NYC Heritage Of Pride March, the largest Gay Pride Parade in the world. I was joined by Xem Van Adams, a young actor, writer, and filmmaker. After the March, we returned to our daily lives, with thoughts of our day of pride still fresh in our heads. Yesterday, Mr. Adams released his four-part documentary, Gay In America: Color Lines Across Rainbow Skies.

In this insightful film, Adams tackles a prickly subject: Even though the flag of the LGBT Pride movement is a rainbow, meant to highlight our unity and the idea that we are all together in harmony, gays and lesbians in America still segregate themselves along racial and ethnic boundaries.

Even as we celebrated our wonderful, multi-hued diversity along Fifth Avenue, the floats, bands, and even the political statements we made, as Xem's interviewees point out, mask a sadder, darker truth. As a community, we as gays and lesbians still remain deeply divided in our associations, partner choices, attitudes toward other gays and lesbians of different ethnicities, and in our responses to homophobia in the society we all live in.

Xem makes the telling observation that before we as LGBTs can overcome the persecution we face in larger society, we must first overcome our own issues of tolerance and understanding. We are still "divided under the rainbow".

In this groundbreaking documentary series, Xem Van Adams and the people who share their stories and thoughts raise new imperatives and provocative issues for the LGBT community to address. Forty years after the Stonewall Rebellion, this film teaches us we've still got a ways to go. Full equality for our LGBT community won't happen until we overcome the inequalities within ourselves. Hats off to Xem Van Adams and company for bringing us a much-needed wake-up call!

Gay-Bashing At My Gates: Transgendered Woman Attacked, Onlookers Do Nothing

2009-07-15T09:06:00.006-04:00

This is my neighbor, Carmella Etienne. She lives nearby in our St. Albans, Queens neighborhood. St. Albans is a highly residential area with well-kept homes and quiet tree-lined streets. It's a community of home-owning professionals, suburban character, and a church on almost every corner. In fact, the largest black congregation, Allen A.M.E. Church, has been a St. Albans fixture since the 19th century. It's one of the largest megachurches in New York State, and its pastor, former Congressman Rev. Floyd Flake is well-known as a political heavyweight in local and national politics. Both President Clinton and Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton made campaign stops at Allen AME, and St. Albans, testimony to the area's political significance.

So what does all of that have to do with Miss Etienne, a 22-year-old transgendered woman who moved to St. Albans from Haiti six years ago? Well, a week ago today, she was horribly attacked by two homophobic thugs who threw rocks and bottles at her, all the while screaming anti-gay slurs and making death threats against her. "If you ever walk this block again", one of her attackers warned, "we'll slit your throat." As I told fellow blogger Rod McCullom, a large crowd had gathered at the corner of 116th Avenue and 199th Street to watch the attack. That's exactly what they did. They watched. They didn't intervene to stop the attack. They didn't dial 911. They just watched. Encouraged by the apathy of my neighbors, Etienne's two alleged attackers, Nathaniel Mims and Rasheed Thomas, told Etienne "Go ahead, call the police. They don't care about people like you", as she tried to reach the NYPD on her cell phone.

Cops from the NYPD's 113 Precinct, which arrested the two bigots, quoted Thomas as saying "I called her a bunch of names. I called her a [deleted] but she didn't see me throw anything." Not "I didn't throw anthing", but, "she didn't SEE me throw anything". Imagine that. Etienne was treated for lacerations and bruises at a local hos[pital, and now says she is afraid to leave her home.

Now, in the week that has elapsed since this vicious attack, only one public official--Queens District Attorney Richard Brown--has made a statement on the assault. Says Brown, "Everyone should understand that these cases, whether they involve ancestry, age, gender, or sexual orientation, will be very vigorously prosecuted, not only because of the effect they have on individuals, but on the community generally." He is the lone voice condemning the attackers and their crime. Not one word of protest or disgust has been uttered by my neighbors, clergymen, or other public officials in regards to this hate-fueled assault. Rev. Flake hasn't said anything. Nor has our local State Senator, Malcolm Smith, whose public offices are just steps from the site of the attack. We haven't heard from City Councilman Leroy Comrie, whose home is also near the attack site. I can only surmise that beneath this quiet suburban facade that is my neighborhood, there lies a deeper, uglier truth: you will be tolerated, as long as you do not publicly identify yourself as LGBT. Cross that line, and you might get hurt, and we, your neighbors, and elected officials, will not do or say anything to help you. We'll watch you get beaten down, blame you for "behaving provocatively", and hose your disgusting, gay blood off our streets when it's over.

This is what my neighbors, local clergy, and elected representatives are telling me by their concerted lack of words or action. They are telling me I cannot be out, proud, and safe on the streets of the neigborhood where I live. I am seriously considering moving away, and leaving the people of St. Albans to live with themselves and their hatred.

Row Over Black Prides In NYC: Updates

2009-07-13T21:57:00.012-04:00

This afternoon, I received an announcement written by Lee Soulja announcing a New York City Black Pride event to replace the defunct annual POCC Pride In The City weekend. People Of Color In Crisis (POCC) canceled last year's Pride In The City event amid a cascade of legal and organizational problems. POCC has since shut down altogether. Original NYC Black Pride founder and charter holder James Saunders had been organizing NYC's Black Pride event since 1998. With the abrupt cancellation of last year's Pride In The City and Blackout Arts Festival (pictured, I was supposed to be a panelist at that event), it was an open question whether there would be a Black Pride event at all this year.

Then came this afternoon's announcement, from Lee Soulja in which he deigns to "set the record straight" about Black Pride events for this year in NYC. Soulja says that James Saunders, the holder of the legal rights to the NYC Black Pride event and name, was now associated with his new "Jubilation" project. At the time of this writing, I was unable to discover any websites or links to this new, heretofore unknown event, scheduled for July 31-August 2, according to Soulja's announcement. A telephone message left at Soulja's contact number went unanswered, and I reached out to Lawrence Pinckney and James Saunders, looking for verification of the event. Their reply was, in part, "We have NOTHING to do with any Pride events. Why Lee Soldier [sic] would write something using James Saunders name like that without his permission is deplorable. I have been answering this question all day".

The drama continues. Whither Black Pride events in New York City for 2009? Stay tuned.

UPDATE: James Saunders, of Black Pride NYC, Inc. has posted a statement on his website about Lee Soulja's "viral letter". In his statement, Saunders reiterates that he and Black Pride NYC, Inc. are not involved with events "in the first two weeks of August", citing "Jubilation", "Pride In The City", and "Fire Island Black Out". Saunders states further, "I have asked the author of the email to send a retraction to clarify many of the untruths of his email." More updates on this developing story, as I get them.

UPDATE 2: The Jubilation Black Pride website is up and running, complete with details on events and venues. There is also a Facebook Group with links and contact info. Stay tuned.

My interview on "Maurice Runea: The Show"

2009-07-13T09:35:00.003-04:00

Nathan James Summer Reads from The Rainbow Collective on Vimeo.

Thanks to Maurice Runea, Romeo Redwine, and Sekiya Dorsett of The Rainbow Collective for having me on Maurice Runea: The Show.

Was Michael Jackson Gay?

2009-07-09T16:23:00.004-04:00

It's been just two weeks since the King Of Pop, Michael Jackson, passed away, and already there's a book in the works which claims the singer was a gay cross-dresser. The book,
Unmasked: The Final Years Of Michael Jackson by Ian Halperin, describes Michael as "having a taste for young men, not boys", and that the singer had a secret lover in Las Vegas. According to Halperin, this secret lover signed a "confidentiality agreement" with Jackson, before becoming intimate with the pop icon. Halperin also alludes to Jackson's cross-dressing at his Neverland Ranch estate in Los Angeles. While not exactly a surprising revelation about Michael Jackson, these claims, if true, would cast a new light on the singer's life.

If Michael was, in fact, living on the "down low", this would amplify, not diminish, his greatness as a musical genius and philanthropist. For all that Michael struggled in his life with, for all his suffering, if it were shown that he revolutionized pop muusic as we know it in spite of the adversity he faced, this would make his success all the more epic in scope. Struggling with issues of sexual orientation in a largely homophobic society can be a crushing, even fatal ordeal for many of us. That there are plenty of people already vilifying Halperin for daring to even suggest Jackson was gay speaks to this ongoing climate of bigotry and intolerance with which the LGBT community must contend. The attitude is, how dare anybody "besmirch Michael's name and reputation as an American icon", by suggesting this?

What these people don't understand is, if Michael was gay, that's not something against him. In fact, his sexual orientation, as is true for so many LGBT artists, actors, writers, and musicians, might have been the very thing that gave his musical genius its expression. Creativity and homosexuality have long been understood to be deeply connected, and this would doubtless hold true even in Michael's case, if Halperin is borne out by other revelations of fact concerning Michael's life and sexuality. It's a fascinating glimpse into the possibilities behind the unmistakable power of MJ's talents. One day, perhaps, it will no longer matter whether a performer is gay or straight. There will just be the artist and his or her art. But until then, it's worth remembering that if an artist be gay or lesbian, sometimes it's that very aspect of themselves that makes them shine, makes them great. It's not hard to imagine this being true of Michael, too.

Almost Too Furious To Type: Black Children Barred From Phila. Pool

2009-07-08T18:09:00.006-04:00

I came across this news item about a group of black summer camp kids who were barred from a Philadelphia swimming pool because its owners and upscale white clientele were "concerned that the [campers] might change the atmosphere and complexion of our club", according to Valley Swim Club President John Duesler. THe sixty black children, all part of North Philadelphia's Creative Steps Day Camp arrived at the pool in accordance with the $1900 fee the camp paid Valley Swim Club for the use of the pool. Although the club is privately owned and operated, its membership page does not specify any restrictions on who may join. The day camp had satisfied the club's requirements and paid its fees in full.

But when the grade-school-age kids arrived at the pool for the first time, chaos ensued. According to numerous witnesses, all of the Caucasian children (the only ones in the pool when the campers arrived) immediately got out of the water. The staff at the pool admonished the camp couselors that "minorities weren't permitted at the pool, and [the black children] needed to leave immediately." Through my tears of fury as I read accounts of this disgusting episode, I was reminded of the 1960s amusement park, Fun Town, which was cited by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his 1964 speech. It's the park his kids always wanted to go to, but couldn't, as it did not admit blacks, per the Jim Crow laws of the era. Well! Here we are in 2009, and Jim is still alive and kicking.

Not only that, but the operators of the Valley Swim Club seem perfectly comfortable in keeping Jim Crow alive, and tormenting children who will bear the memory and pain of this episode for the rest of their lives. How dare they? This is a crime against the very concept of humanity. "Why", said the bigots who run (and patronize) the Valley Swim Club, "should we have to show the slightest degree of decency or adult behavior?" They took the further step of carefully teaching their own kids how to hate. Certainly people who can afford memberships to such an exclusive swim club, are of sufficient education and intelligence to have some grasp of history. In choosing to repeat some of the darkest chapters of the twentieth century here in the twenty-first, they've raised ignorance and bigotry to new levels. I'll bet they drained the pool after the black kids left, too, and changed the water out. Sickening. The members and owners of the Valley Swim Club should forever hang their heads in shame for their behavior.

This Made Me Smile: Lesbian Teens Voted "Best Couple" At Bronx HS

2009-07-06T09:24:00.007-04:00

Sometimes the kids get it. Defying the often homophobic society we live in, students at Mott Haven Village Prep High School in the South Bronx, have chosen a pair of lesbian students as the school's "Best Couple". The seniors, Vicky Cruz and Deione Scott, got four times more votes than the two straight couples competing with them. This is a first, both for the school, and, according to NYC's Department Of Education, the entire city, with the possible exception of Harvey Milk High School, the city's "safe haven" high school for LGBT teens.

It's wonderful to see ignorance defeated too. It certainly appears these girls are well-liked and respected by their peers, and that their sexuality hasn't diminished this one bit. It does give me a glimmer of hope that the LGBT community will find more acceptance in our society in the years to come. Mott Haven's students are teaching us all a lesson in understanding today, and as they graduate and go forth into their adult lives, perhaps they will impart their wisdom onto the rest of us. If the gay and lesbian community is to enjoy better tomorrows than our yesterdays have been, the achievement of these dreams will come from this young generation. Hats off to Vicky, Deione, and the Class of '09 at Mott Haven. You made me smile today.

Living Room Sessions III Tonight at Red Bamboo!

2009-07-01T12:44:00.004-04:00

Tonight, Rebel Starr presents Living Room Sessions III at Brooklyn's Red Bamboo Restaurant. This latest in the popular poetry/spoken word series is the first time it's been held outside Manhattan. What makes the Living Room Sessions particularly unique is its engage-the-artists format. After each artist has performed his or her work, the audience is encouraged to open a dialogue with them about the work. It's a fascinating way to discover people's individual impressions about the art presented. Hosted by Likwuid (Queen Of The Queendom), and Back Wordz, the past two Sessions were a huge success. It is amazing to be amongst so many creative people, and partake of the wonderful artistic energy that such a special event generates. I'll be reading new original poetry alongside some truly gifted artists and writers from all over the city.

Immediately following the session, there will be a Reel Soul presentation of the classic Diana Ross film, Mahogany, also at the Red Bamboo. So there you have it, poetry, spoken-word, good food and company, and classic cinema to top it all off!

The Red Bamboo is located at 271 Adelphi Street in Brooklyn, near DeKalb Avenue. Take the C train to Lafayette Avenue, or the G to Clinton-Washington Aves. Living Room Sessions III begins at 6 PM.

On Stonewall Anniversary, Police Raid Texas Gay Club

2009-06-30T06:03:00.007-04:00

While we commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion here in NYC, police in Fort Worth, Texas, were turning the clock back those 40 years. Just after midnight Sunday, Fort Worth Police and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents raided the Rainbow Lounge. While the Fort Worth cops maintain this was a "routine alcohol-enforcement inspection", patrons and other witnesses say the police arrived prepared for a "raid", complete with plastic handcuffs usually used for making mass arrests. According to the cops, seven people were arrested for "public intoxication".

At the heart of this incident are questions about how 23-year-old patron Chad Gibson eneded up in a Fort Worth hospital with severe head injuries. The police insist Gibson was intoxicated and "grabbed at [a TABC agent's] groin", then "fell and hit his head". The official story sharply contradicts witnesses' accounts of the chain of events at the Rainbow Lounge. Are Ft. worth police going to use the "gay panic defense" if video of this raid gets out? We'll see.

Meanwhile, members of the Fort Worth City Council have called for an investigation into police activities during this incident. It certainly appears that the Rainbow Lounge has become the new Stonewall, a sad commentary on the fact that 40 years of progress in LGBT rights can be so easily overshadowed by 1960s police tactics and mores. Texas, where homosexuality was illegal until recently, seems to be stuck in the past where gays and lesbians are concerned. Look for Texas Governor Rick Perry to rush into print and "reassure" gay Texans and visitors to the state that this was an "isolated incident" and that Texas remains "committed" to LGBT equality and rights.

Tell that to Chad Gibson as he struggles to recover from injuries he should never have sustained.

UPDATE: A second Dallas-Fort Worth area gay bar has been raided by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Numerous reports indicate that the The Dallas Eagle Bar was raided during its grand re-opening last Friday night, ostensibly "to verify its address" according to Dallas police.

This comes one day after two gay men in El Paso, Texas were asked to leave a taco restaurant after they kissed each other. El Paso police admonished the men that "homosexual conduct--such as two men kissing--was illegal. Between these two incidents, and the Rainbow Lounge raid and assault reported above, I wonder what's going on in Texas. Are anti-gay laws still being enforced there, even though the Supreme Court ruled them "unconstitutional" six years ago? The upward trend of homophobia in the United States continues...

The NYC Heritage Of Pride March

2009-06-29T14:21:00.005-04:00

The 2009 New York City Heritage Of Pride March commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion was a booming success. I had the distinct honor and privilege to march once again with New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the first openly gay Speaker of the NYC Council. Her record of leadership in city government, as well as within the NYC LGBT community, is long and distinguished. I heartly encourage all readers of this blog to vote for Speaker Quinn as she runs for re-election to the Council this fall. She is a true friend of the rainbow.

Here I am with Hollywood actor, witer and blogger Xem Van Adams, who joined us for the march down fabulous Fifth Avenue, all the way to Greenwich Village. Xem marched as part of his NYC trip, to make his bold statement of Pride before the world. It was a pleasure to have him with us. Other notables who marched with us included Da Doo Dirty Show hosts DJ Baker and Swanny River , NYC Socialites CEO Eric Parker, and promoter Giovanni Centurione.

Stay tuned, lots more pics and NYC Pride news coming real soon!

Double Pride Panic Was Awesome!

2009-06-27T11:04:00.003-04:00

On Wednesday, I traipsed through the rain (when has it NOT been raining in NYC lately?) to the Nowhere Lounge for writer Charlie Vazquez' presentation of Double Pride Panic. It's a recurring literary series showcasing the work of LGBT writers and artists from around the NYC area.

The house was packed as we got down to business. All of the writers were fantastic, and all recieved enthusiastic responses from the crowd. Special thanks to Charlie and Nowhere for making the evening a memorable one. I'll be posting video of this event soon, so stay tuned!

Dancing In The Streets In Tribute To Michael Jackson!

2009-06-26T21:35:00.002-04:00

While waiting for Rebel Starr's Listening Party to begin at Negril Restaurant on West 3rd Street last night, Rockin' Ray pulled up in his loudspeaker-equipped, psychedelic Crown Vic. Instantly the street became a song-and-dance tribute to Michael Jackson.

...then the NYPD arrived and broke it up. But it was AWESOME! I felt like I was in high school all over again. A bittersweet farewell to the King Of Pop.

We March With Pride This Sunday!

2009-06-26T11:28:00.005-04:00

On this, the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, comes the annual Heritage Of Pride March down New York City's Fifth Avenue, along the Lavender Line! I'll be marching with New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, with whom I had the privilege of joining for the Brooklyn and Queens Pride Parades. Also marching with me will be Da Doo Dirty Show hosts DJ Baker and Swanny Rivers, plus Bone Intell and the members of his Out Mobb band, and up-and-coming Hollywood actor, writer, and collegiate speaker Xem Van Adams. Adams is flying in from Los Angeles for NYC Pride weekend, and he's raring to go. Here's a video of him talking about NYC Pride and his upcoming gigs:

In addition to all these luminaries, the New York City Gay And Lesbian Independent Democrats will be among our group of marchers. So come one, come all, to NYC's storied Fifth Avenue or anywhere along the March Route below:

The March steps off on Sunday at 12 Noon, from E. 52nd Street and Fifth Avenue, and follows the route all the way to Greenwich Village, right past the Stonewall Inn, where it all began, and ends at the fabulous Pridefest. Pride Weekend in NYC is jam-packed with events, many of which are listed here. So get your rainbow flags and hot pants, and come out proudly to the biggest LGBT weekend of the year! See you there!

Michael Joseph Jackson 1958-2009

2009-06-26T08:55:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was one of those days in history on which you will remember where you were, what you were doing when you heard the news. I was on my way to seeRebel Starr at their Listening Party. I was on an el train when suddenly, everyone's cell phones began to ring, including mine. Michael Jackson had been rushed to UCLA Medical Center in cardiac arrest. An ambulance crew was seen to be performing CPR as they wheeled Michael into the ER. All the passengers were riveted to their phones as updates came in. Finally, as we approached the Williamsburg Bridge, it was confirmed that Michael Jackson had, in fact, pased away at age 50. A collective outpouring of grief swept through our little subway car. A musical icon we'd known and listened to all our lives, was gone.

Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana. His musical career began in 1969 when Michael and his brothers formed the Jackson 5 and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. In 1971, a year after the Ed Sillvan appearance, Michael released his first solo album (pictured). This was the beginning of a career in which he would go on to record the biggest selling album in history, Thriller, with an accompanying 20-minute music video which rocked the world, and was a milestone in the then-new genre of music presentation. Michael redefined the style and substance of pop music and became a globally recognizable entertainer. In 1978, he starred with several iconic personalities, includingDiana Ross, Richard Pryor, Nipsey Russell, and the incomparable Lena Horne, in the movie adaptation of Broadway's "The Wiz". During 1979, Michael earned even greater fame with Off The Wall followed by Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, HIStory Book I, Blood On The Dance Floor, Invincible, and his final album, Number Ones, released in 2003.

In the years following the release of Thriller, Jackson's life became turbulent, as he underwent radical changes in his appearance and behavior. His numerous legal troubles dogged him until the end of his life, but Michael didn't let that stop him. At the time of his death, he was preparing to embark on a 50-show comeback tour in London, UK. A parallel release of a new album was also scheduled for next month, but all that changed when the music stopped for us and for Michael Jackson. An American icon has passed from among us. I will remember him as very definitely an important part of the soundtrack of my life. Rest In Peace, Mike.

"Gay Exorcism" At Conn. Church...More Hatred From The Pulpit!

2009-06-24T14:25:00.002-04:00

From Bridgeport, Connecticut, comes chilling news that a church there has performed a "gay exorcism" to "drive out the homosexual demons" supposedly afflicting a 16-year-old parishioner. The Manifested Glory Ministries Church in Bridgeport, Connecticut, posted a video of the ritual on YouTube, which has since deleted the footage.

Now, I'm all for freedom of religion, but here I believe the Church in question has clearly crossed the line from the free expression of religious belief, to the teaching and encouraging of hatred and homophobia. By demonizing homosexuality as something satanic, needing to be "driven out" of a person, the implicit message is that being gay or lesbian is wicked, horrible, evil, and makes you a danger to your fellow man. This is the preaching of hate. Imagine an impressionable person seeing this "exorcism", this endorsement of bigotry, taking it as "permission to hate". Would he then consider it God's will, to go out and beat up some defenseless gay person?

This abominable incident recalls other anti-gay pastors who have turned their pulpits into instruments of hatred, like Rev. Ken Hutcherson, whose diatribes against the LGBT community are well-documented. I wonder if any of these churches and men of God ever think of the Biblical teaching, "what you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me". If we are to be rewarded for, and encouraged to do acts of benevolence towardss our neighbors, what does it say about a "gay exocism" in a Church which holds love and our walk with God so dear?

Shameful.

Check Me Out At Double Pride Panic TONIGHT!

2009-06-24T12:56:00.002-04:00

If in NYC, come on out and see me, Charle Vasquez, Taylor Siluwe, and other great LGBT authors at DOUBLE PRIDE PANIC, a Pride Week literary event celebrating LGBT artists and authors of color! It's at the Nowhere Lounge in the East Village. Don't miss it!

Gov. Paterson Calls Special Session For 3 PM Today, Gay Marriage At Top Of Agenda

2009-06-24T10:41:00.004-04:00

New York State Governor David Paterson will put the pending gay-marriage bill to a vote when he calls today's Special Session of the State Senate at 3 PM. This is the up/down vote on Senator Thomas Duane's pending bill, S. 4401, that New York's LGBT community has been waiting for. If you live in New York State, you can help to get this bill passed. Call your local State Senator and let him or her know how important it is that this bill be passed. With the Senate split 31-31 along party lines, it is crucial that your Senators hear from YOU.

If you cannot reach your Senator, Call the New York State Senate Switchboard at (518) 455-2800. The time is now!

UPDATE: Homophobic Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr. (D-South Bronx) threatens to "do something big" if gay marriage is voted on today. Although the Senator's two brothers are gay, he continues to preach his anti-gay views everywhere, especially in Senate chambers. Stay tuned.

Justicia, Si! Homofobia, No!

2009-06-23T19:27:00.007-04:00

Last Saturday, I participated in the GLOBE/Make The Road NY Pride March Against Hate Crimes. The weather could not dampen our resolve to demonstrate against hate crimes that have plagued the LGBT community in Bushwick and around the city. We made our presence known so that everyone could see that we are united in our determination to free our community and society from bigotry and ignorance. Recent incidents includethe beating of two lesbians in Brooklyn by NYPD officers yelling anti-gay slursoutside a Brooklyn club, the near-fatal beating of a man thought to be gay by his attackers, recalling the murder of Jose Sucuzhanay last December in Bushwick, by two men who though he and his brother were gay. The picture below is from the Vigil and March organized by GLOBE (Gays And Lesbians Of Bushwick Empowered) in response to that horrific tragedy.

I was privileged to take part in that vigil. Again, weather, in this case, the cold of winter, did not hamper our will to refute hatred and homophobia. GLOBE has been a powerful force in raising awareness of homophobia and its impact on the LGBT community and society at large.

At Satuday's March, about 160 participants braved the elements (I'm in the center of the top photo, in the blue poncho) and thundered through the streets of Bushwick. I was joined by DJ Baker, Swanny River, and NYC Socialites promoter Eric Parker. Our Cry was for justice, not homophobia, for understanding, not hate, and it was a rousing success. The people of Bushwick came out of their homes and businesses along our route to encourage and support us. Justicia, Si! Homofobia, No!

Paterson: "Gay Marriage On Table In Special Session"

2009-06-23T09:41:00.004-04:00

New York State Governor David Paterson has confirmed he will bring the pending gay-marriage bill to the floor for a vote. Using his special statutory authority as Governor to force the State Senate to return to Albany for a special session, Paterson vowed to "get the people's business done." State troopers can use force to bring Senators back to Albany if they refuse the Governor's order, but the Senate is still split, 31-31, making it uncertain if any legislation will actually be passed. Besides gay marriage, there are several other bills pending in the Senate, including budgetary issues and mayoral oversight of the NYC Board of Education.

Observers note that virulently homophobic Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. (D-South Bronx), has vowed to defeat gay marriage in New York "Now and in the future". Gay-marriage bill author Sen. Thomas Duane (D-Chelsea) has been trying all kinds of things to get his bill passed, incliding "dialoguing" with Republicans following the parliamentary coup that split the State Senate.

Whither gay marriage? With a split Senate, and no clear majority, it looks doubtful that gay marriage will become law in New York State. I would like to believe that our Senators will put aside their differences and pass legislation on gay-marriage and other issues, but Albany has outdone itself this year. The acrimony and infighting has eclipsed our hopes for any lawmaking. We shall see.

Perez Hilton In Dustup With Will.I.Am In Toronto Club

2009-06-22T12:02:00.008-04:00

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton got into a fracas with rapper Will.I.Am while in Toronto, Ont. to be a presenter at The Much Music Video Awards. In a series of Twitter Tweets last night, Hilton stated he was assaulted by Will.I.Am, and requested his followers to call Toronto Police to the scene. Hilton was reportedly photographed by police at the club, for a contusion on his left eye. In a detailed video statement this morning on his blog, Hilton maintained that after Will.I Am accosted him in Toronto's SoHo Metropolitan Hotel club, he attempted to leave, but was followed by Will.I.Am and his manager and assaulted. In a video rebuttal, Will.I.Am gives his version of events. Inasmuch as Hilton "blogs about other people's drama", he is incensed at the drama which has entered his own life.

Attorneys for both sides have declined comment on the incident, and Toronto detectives are said to be investigating Black Eyed Peas manager Polo Molina as a suspect in the assault. Hilton is recovering in Toronto. Meanwhile, debate rages across Twitter and other blogs and sites as to what transpired between Hilton and Will.I.Am. Feel free to continue the debate here!

UPDATE: TMZ.com is now reporting that Black Eyed Peas' manager Polo Molina has been charged with assault by Toronto police in the attack against Perez Hilton.

UPDATE 2: IN Perez Hilton's video account of his dustup with Will.I.Am and Black Eyed Peas' manager Polo Molina, posted to his blog yesterday, Hilton states he said "you're a faggot. You're gay". This morning, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) people demanded Perez apologize for using the F-bomb in such a derogatory way. Hilton admits he intended to "say the worst possible thing that thug would ever want to hear." Well, referring to a man of color as a "thug" in public isn't so bright either, Perez. Stay tuned.

Gentlemen's Book Club Celebrates Fifth Anniversary

2009-06-22T11:06:00.006-04:00

Taylor Siluwe joins me and another fine author at GBC

Dave Matthews introduces the authors

Last Wednesday, June 17, I had the privilege of participating in the Gentlemen's Book Club Fifth Anniversary party at New York's HK Lounge. The Gentlemen's Book Club is a group for and about gay men of color, dedicated to exploring literary works in a diverse range of genres. The club's ultimate aim is to promote and encourage reading and appreciation of the writings of LGBT authors. Each month, the club meets in a cafe or member's home to discuss the selected book of that month. I got to know club organizers Dave Matthews and Daniel Mejia, who work diligently to move the club forward. I was introduced to the Club's members as an author by Mr. Matthews, who spoke very highly of me. The members were enthusiastic and welcoming, and I encourage everyone who reads this blog to join this fine group.

67 Men in Saudi Arabia Face Whipping For Dressing In Drag

2009-06-22T10:30:00.004-04:00

Over the weekend, comes news that 67 men in the Kingdom of Saudi arabia have been charged with cross-dressing and display of homosexuality. The Filipino men were attending a party and were discovered by Saudi authorities, officials there said.

OK, whenever we here in the United States think we have difficulties as gays, lesbians, bisexuals, or transgenders, we need only to look to other places around the world, which make our own problems look trivial in comparison. The human rights abuses (thinly disgused as "Laws of the State") in the Kingdom and countries like the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, and Burundi, are horrific. Gays are executed, beaten, whipped, sentenced to hard labor, or subjected to mob vigilantism in these and quite a few other countries where the LGBT community is subjugated, persecuted and vilified, just for being who they are.

There is precious little outcry from the American LGBT community on this, even as we rally for equal rights and same-sex marriage here at home. Too often we do not see (or avert our eyes to) the "legal" persecutions of LGBTs all over the world. Even as we mark the 40th anniversary of New York City's Stonewall Rebellion, we need to think about the millions of our brothers and sisters who cannot "rebel" against their persecutors, let alone have the freedom to "come out of the closet". During this month when we show our Pride as LGBT's, let's also take a moment to reflect on ways we can address the awful plight of those overseas who cannot do so. The world is watching.

Get on the Kuttin Edge!

2009-06-15T19:56:00.004-04:00

Get to know Kuttin Edge, an online magazine for and about the LGBT community of color. Discover news, editorials, features, music, Pride events, and the Kuttin edge Store, all in one place--the Kuttin' Edge of all things LGBT! Enjoy interviews with today's hottest LGBT authors, artists, musicians, and other notables, plus timely articles on issues of importance to our community, written by me and other fine LGBT writers. Check it out at www.kuttinedgeonline.com today!

Brooklyn Pride 2009

2009-06-15T10:59:00.007-04:00

Even through the rain, the colors of our rainbow shone brightly at Brooklyn Pride 2009, with performances by LGBT artists, speeches and appearances by public officials, and, of course, the Brooklyn Pride Parade from Prospect Park up Seventh Avenue in Park Slope. Here I am marching in the Parade with (above) New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and aide Erik Bottcher. It was great to step off and show our Pride!
Speaker Quinn was, as always, real trooper. We marched between the raindrops all through Park Slope, and the crowds were out in full force. No clouds could darken our Pride!

This is Xavier Raye, who put on a stellar show at Brooklyn Pride. He was a crowd pleaser, belting out several songs with a vibrant, dynamic performance!

Here's Maurice Runea and Pride Show co-host Stefon Royce at the Brooklyn Pride edition of The Maurice Runea Show. I was loving that Rainbow tie!

I had a blast at Brooklyn Pride, weather notwithstanding. It was wonderful to once again celebrate our Pride and diversity with the NYC LGBT community as Pride Month rolls along! This event was kickin' all along Prospect Park West, with vendors of every description adding to the festivities. Always proud, always Brooklyn!

Countdown Friday On "Da Doo Dirty Show"

2009-06-12T17:36:00.004-04:00

DJ Baker's Da Doo Dirty Show is off the chain today! We had a great time taping it in the studio yesterday. When Reginald Barnes took off his shirt (he said it was "hot" in the booth) I couldn't believe he actually did that! I went into the booth to see if he'd really gone through with it...you can see the video at http://www.dadoo-dirtyshow.com/ I'm so silly for a hot, sexy guy...Check out the whole show, featuring interviews with Pegg Starr, Out Mobb, Tim Dillinger, Reginald L. Barnes, and News by Nathan! Enjoy the show.

Da Doo Dirty Show Wins Esteem Award For Best Podcast!

2009-06-11T17:57:00.005-04:00

Da Doo Dirty Show, on which I do a weekly news segment, has been awarded Windy City Pride's Esteem Award for Best LGBT Podcast!
Our show, which is broacast from 5PM to 7PM Eastern, is hosted by DJ Baker and DJ Swan, and features the best of today's hip-hop and R & B music, plus in-depth interviews with artists, writers, actors, and other LGBT and straight notables! I am proud to be a part of this ground-breaking, award-winning show, which you can hear on http://www.qnation.fm/, or at the show's site, http://www.dadoo-dirtyshow.com/!

War On The Floor! NY Senate democrats Fracture, GOP Gains Control Of Senate, Gay Marriage Dead?

2009-06-08T17:40:00.003-04:00

Gay marriage may be dead in the New York State senate, as the GOP gains control of that legislative body from the Democrats. Here's a little of my pending article on this:

More shenanigans in Albany! At this hour, the New York State Republicans are announcing that "Hiram Monserrate and Pedro Espada Jr. - are poised to announce that they have decided to cross the aisle and caucus with the Republicans out of anger at Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith." Dean Skelos, a Republican, has replaced Smith as Senate Majority Leader. This from the NYT, NYDN, GOP, AP, and WNBC, as further reports indicate the floor fighting has broken out over two key issues: the removal of Sen. Neil Breslin (D-Albany) as Senate president. He was replaced, 32-30, by Sen. George Winner, (R-Utica), which shows that 2 Dems (Moserrate and Espada) are voting with the GOP.

The second issue is, of course, gay marriage, which was to die in committee if not voted on before the end of the session on June 22. Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr. (D-South Bronx), the most vociferous opponent of the gay-marriage bill, was said to be considering changing parties if Sen. Smith (D-St. Albans) brought the bill to a vote. With the bill beginning to gain undecided votes, Diaz was pulling out all the stops to prevent its passage, along with Sen. George Onorato (R-Astoria).
I still strongly suspect, as do some media pundits around NYC, that there was a back-room deal between Smith and Diaz NOT to put the gay-marriage bill up for a vote. But if Smith saw a clear mandate from the Senate to bring a vote (and made a motion on the floor), Diaz would declare Jihad on the remaining Senate Democrats.

This after a HUGE turnout of registered voters in support of gay marriage at Pride events in Staten Island, Queens, Hudson Valley, and Utica (!) over the weekend. I personally marched with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Chelsea) in Queens Pride to show my support for this issue.

Sure enough, Monday morning came, and fireworks went off in Albany. As I see it, gay marrige is a dead issue in New York for the time being, with these developments...did gay marriage fracture the Democrats?

Marching, Loving, Playing At Queens Pride!

2009-06-08T10:12:00.014-04:00

A Very Special Day!

I marched in yesterday's Queens Gay Pride Parade with the Hon. Christine C. Quinn (D-Chelsea), Speaker of the New York City Council, and a tireless champion of LGBT rights. Speaker Quinn is the first openly gay Speaker of the City Council, and she led the City Council contingent in the Parade PROUDLY, with great energy and enthusiasm. It was a privilege to march with the Speaker. Her staff and my fellow marchers were friendly, polite, and full of PRIDE!

These three sweethearts pleased all with their lovely regalia!

DJ Baker, host of http://www.qnation.fm/ Da Doo Dirty Show, with Speaker Quinn

Da Doo Dirty Show co-host DJ Swan and Rashawn Chisholm with Speaker Quinn. The Speaker got a rousing reception from the crowd along 37th Avenue.

Me and DJ Swan with London, whose eye-catching outfit made all the people stand up and NOTICE! It was fierce!

This is my friend, Maurice Runea, host of the Maurice Runea Show on The Rainbow Collective (http://www.therainbowcollective.com/) looking fab and ready to party!

Nothing makes a splash like those feathers and glitz!

Up against the wall, it's Queens Pride!

Always hot actor Manny Torres, posing as only he can!

Pink feathers and sunshine...irresistible!

This year's Queens Pride, organized by City Council candidate Daniel Dromm, was packed with throngs of people from all over NYC. a central theme this year was the pending Gay Marriage Bill, which has yet to be voted on by the New York State Senate. There were plenty of petitions circulating, urging our Senators to vote for the passage of this historic legislation. It was great to see the LGBT community turn out in such huge nimbers to enjoy the festivities and declare their PRIDE! There were stage performances, all kinds of vendors at the Pride Festival, delicious food, and, of course, all the fantastic people who comprise the LGBT Rainbow!

Living Room Sessions II Was A Blast!

2009-06-08T09:17:00.013-04:00

The second Living Room Sessions show was held yesterday at Madame X in SoHo, NYC. Hosted by Rebel Starr hip-hop duo Likwuid and Back Wordz, Living Room Sessions is an "anti-performance" event, unique in its style and format. Each artist performed his or her poetry, music or rap, and after each performance, the other artists and audience members engage the performer in dialogue, feedback, and critique! There really is nothing I've done quite like it!
It's a wonderful experience to get together with such vibrant, creative people, listen to their latest work, and just enjoy the energy and passion that is part of any artistic endeavor.

The artists share their work without inhibition or fear. It's a relaxed, friendly gathering where different perspectives, viewpoints, and styles come together!

I read my poem, Every Day, to very positive feedback from those who engaged me about the piece. It was fascinating to hear everyone's thoughts on the poem, and how it touched them.

Each artist presented a different theme or genre. Evereyone built upon the words and rhythms of the performers. I think these Living Room Sessions are a great way to grow and develop as an artist, not least because the creative community is right there with me, sharing, speaking, dreaming...

It's the power of the spoken word, letting yourself be free, expressing your feelings, daring to be vulnerable...

We declaim, we espouse, we create...

We bring our work out in our own little Living Room. Madame X, at 94 W. Houston St., NYC, is a cozy little lounge with a delightfully garish motif. All red velvet couches and salacious paintings, it was a great lace for the avant-garde to congregate and defy conventional thinking.

It was deep, it was joyful, it was angry, it was ebullient, it was loving, it was passionate...

The words of the human heart are powerful indeed. Life creates art, which enriches life!

It was a privilege and a pleasure to take part in Living Room Sessions II! I am grateful to Likwuid and Back Wordz for having me, Madame X for hosting the show, Noisemaker Media for filming bit (I'll post the link when the video is ready) and to all who came and made it such a memorable evening!

Staten Island Pride!

2009-06-07T07:24:00.006-04:00

Button, button...

Crowd pleaser!

Marching proudly on the streets of SI!

Yesterday's Staten Island Pride Parade and Festival was a real blast! I marched in the parade, met interesting people, and enjoyed the performances of local LGBT artists. It's always great to see our vibrant, colorful LGBT community celebrating diversity, passion, and Pride!