ON THIS DAY
On this day in 2000, conspiracy minded Washington Times conservative
political columnist Richard Burke tells a panel at the National Lesbian
and Gay Journalists Association that the New York Times has become so
pro-gay that "on any given day, three quarters of the people who decide
what goes on the front page are 'not so closeted' homosexuals." (This is
supposed to be a bad thing?)
BIRTHGAYS (and the occasional straights)
* c. 600 - Greek poet Theognis
* 1844 - Unsung poet Gerard Manley Hopkins
* 1887 - artist Marcel Duchamp
* 1927 - Critic, poet John Ashbery
* 1929 - heterosexual style icon First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
* 1940 - Author and poet Judy Grahn
* 1958 - Author and playwright Sarah Schulman
Q.UOTE
"I was always the jock. I always got the girls. I was always put in that
real ‘masculine' limelight. But don't get me wrong—I do have my feminine
moments. You can tell I'm gay. My friends say I'm getting gayer and
gayer by the minute! But back then, I would see guys who would wear real
tight jeans and sashay around or whatever, and I would think, Good for
you. At least you are being you. That's something I've never been all my
life." -- Janice Dickinson model and "Survivor" losing contestant J.P.
Calderon
THE BEDSIDE TABLE
"The Child: A Novel" by Sarah Schulman
Acclaimed author Sarah Schulman returns with an absorbing novel about a
teenager convicted of murder after seeing his online lover charged with
pedophilia. Structured like a classic novel of legal suspense, "The
Child" explores what happens when Stew, a lonely fifteen-year-old boy,
looks for and finds an adult boyfriend online. In short order his lover
is arrested in an Internet pedophilia sting and Stew’s world is turned
upside down. He’s exposed to his family and community, leaving the
outcast to fend for himself against forces intent on his destruction.
Desperate and enraged, the confused Stew murders his nephew in a panic.
Schulman’s novel considers the impact of these events on all those
involved -- from the parents of the murdered child, to Stew’s staunchly
Catholic parents, and the attorneys working on his case. Carefully
untangling the actions of an isolated teenager denied a natural outlet
for his feelings during a critical time in his life, "The Child" is a
haunting meditation on isolation and the prejudices of culture and family.
