Scott Makes the List

I was so annoyed at the open letter to Adam Lambert in this year's Out 100 that I didn't pay all that much attention to the rest of the issue until now. The full list is a strong reflection of LGBT life this past year and includes many incredible allies as well.

I was glad to see that Scott Evans made the list, and he was even photographed with fellow honoree Adamo Ruggiero, the adorable out actor from Make the Yuletide Gay. They were put together as The Jocks in the list, which doesn't necessarily make sense but still lead to a hot picture:
I have to say, every photo I see of Scott seems to be hotter than the last! Adamo looks as cute (and as tiny) as a button, to reuse my description of him from the other day, while Scott looks like someone I would have loved to have gym class with!

How did I not know, by the way, that he was in the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic?! What sort of a fan am I?

I had zero desire to see that film, but knowing that Scott has a role in it changes everything. I checked imdb.com and was surprised to see several talented actors in the cast, people I had no idea were in the film, so maybe it won't be as bad as I'd presumed it to be. Either way, it's going to the top of my Netflix queue.

Van's True Colors

This month's edition of the True Colors Cabaret concert took place last night and was hosted by Van Hansis. It featured two Glee stars, Lea Michele and the openly gay Jonathan Groff (or maybe I should say one current and one future Glee star, since Groff hasn't debuted on the show yet).Seeing Van standing next to Lea in that picture makes me want very badly to see him join Glee! Let's not forget that he has a history with Mr. Schuster himself, too, since Matthew Morrison did a month long stint on As the World Turns a few years back. Van has done a musical, last year's Dance Dance Revolution, but I seem to remember him saying at the time that he's not really a singer. Not every character on Glee sings, though, at least not so far. Quick, someone talk to Ryan Murphy about Van!

As I noted last month, this ongoing series of monthly concerts benefits both the True Colors Fund and Broadway Impact. There isn't much I wouldn't have given to be there last night! If anyone was lucky enough to attend, please share the details.

Rage Against the Dying of the Light

Last week, I wrote about the importance of buying LGBT fiction so that the powers that be in the publishing world will continue to see it as something worth investing in. I noted that the gay & lesbian fiction sections at the bookstore I work for (a major bookstore chain) have shrunk drastically in recent years and that independent LGBT bookstores are closing at an alarming rate.

Sadly, another bookstore devoted exclusively to LGBT authors and titles is closing its doors. This time, the store is Out Word Bound, the only store of its kind in Indianapolis, Indiana. They'd been open since 1998 and will be closing after Christmas.

While it isn't of quite the same cultural magnitude as the end of a legendary store like the Oscar Wilde Bookshop, which closed earlier this year, this is still a big loss for the LGBT community in Indianapolis, and for gay literature in general. It's also the loss of a gathering place for the community, which is an equally painful subject. In many communities, such bookstores may well be the only gathering place, outside of clubs or bars, and their loss has a real impact.

The most frustrating part is that they cite the inclusion of LGBT titles in major bookstore chains, like the one I work for, as a reason for the closure, noting that it was the death knell for independent LGBT bookstores. This is especially painful since, as I mentioned, even the big chains are carrying far fewer LGBT titles.

This means that soon there may be very few places left for readers to go at all when they're looking for gay themed books. A genre of literature that sprang up and flourished over the past forty years seems to be dying a slow death now.

We can't let that happen. If you have an independent LGBT bookstore in your area, please support it by shopping there as often as you can. If you don't, then visit a chain store and purchase titles, and while you're there, let the staff know that you'd like to see a wider selection of titles.

If you don't have any way of going to a brick and mortar store to buy these works or if you're not out and don't feel comfortable doing so (believe me, I remember what that was like!) then the Internet is your friend! A lot of independent bookstores have websites you can purchase from so that you can support them even if they're not in your city.

The important thing is to speak with your wallet and let the book world know that there is still an audience out there for gay literature!

A Very Kish-y Thanksgiving

Unlike the rest of the country, the residents of Llanview celebrated Thanksgiving on Wednesday this year. Fish and Kyle were included in today's Thanksgiving episode, along with most of the rest of the cast, and they once again made me smile and sigh like a silly romantic.

Today's Kish scenes started with Fish and Layla in the kitchen, working on the dinner while a very shirtless Cristian (something that no Holiday is complete without!) talked to his mother and brother on the phone.

The conversation Cris was having with his family prompted Layla to ask Oliver if he'd called his parents. He told her that he'd left them a message and had thought they'd have called back already. Layla assured him that they'd come around eventually and I have to say that Fish only seemed a little sad about this himself. I guess being with the man he loves is softening the blow of his parents' reaction.

Meanwhile, Kyle was across town at the Angel Square Motel, getting ready to make a green bean casserole on a hot plate to take with him to Thanksgiving dinner. He ran into his BFF Roxy, who was feeling down over being estranged from her own children this year. The two of them talked and Kyle invited her to join him, Fish, Layla and Cristian for dinner, but Roxy said no, that she didn't want to feel like a 'sixth wheel' to use her expression.

Later, the casserole made, Kyle stopped on his way out to tell Roxy that his own mother, while not perfect, had loved him very much and he'd always known it. He told Roxy that she reminded him of his mom, which was sweet. Of course, one imagines that his own mother didn't lie to him constantly about his paternity, as Roxy has done with Rex.

I still really love the Roxy and Kyle scenes. They make such an unlikely but awesome pair of friends. That's one of the things that this show does so perfectly: friendships between characters. Even if they're not necessarily in each other's storyline orbit (though, this show interweaves the stories together beautifully, unlike most of the other soaps on the air), people take the time to catch up with their friends, like they would in real life.

I guess Kyle really doesn't have any family left, now that his serial killer (or, I guess I should say, accomplice and lover to a serial killer) of a sister is dead. His parents sounded so awesome when Fish told Layla about them, I'd hoped we would meet them at some point. Ah, well.

Back at the apartment, Layla asked Fish if this was going to be his and Kyle's first official date, and Oliver told her that they were saving that for later. That's about the time that Kyle arrived, and the way that Fish just lit up when he saw him at the door made my heart melt!

There was no further action in their story, really, just a really sweet shot of them holding hands and looking into each other's eyes at the dinner table during a montage of all the characters doing their thing this Thanksgiving. I love, love, love Kyle and Fish together! I know that's already obvious, but I just wanted to say it again.

Well, I hope everyone reading this who celebrates Thanksgiving has a fantastic one this year!

Lambert Rocks The Early Show

Adam Lambert was on The Early Show on CBS today. He was scheduled to appear on Good Morning America, but after his AMA performance last Sunday, that show rather idiotically decided to cancel his concert.

I guess Good Morning America doesn't really care much for ratings. They had the perfect chance to have Adam discuss the controversy on camera for the first time, and instead they caved into pressure from the morality police.

Luckily, CBS jumped at the chance to have the most talked about person of the week, not to mention an artist whose debut CD is selling very well, on their show instead.

Adam gave a great interview in which he discussed the fact that the song he was performing is a sexual song to begin with, but admitted getting carried away in the moment. He pointed out that he's not a babysitter, though, and parents should be monitoring what their children watch if they're concerned.

He also mentioned the several potentially 'offensive' moments in earlier performances that night, from Lady Gaga's performance to Janet Jackson fondling a male dancer, and of course Eminem rapping about having a certain number of rapes under his belt, and noted that none of those moments have received the slightest bit of the outraged attention that he got.

They discussed the double standard that Adam mentioned immediately after the AMAs and Adam said that the fact that he's gay and male was the main reason behind the outcry. The interviewer tried to downplay the sexuality angle, noting that most people seemed upset by where he'd done this, rather than the fact that he'd done it at all, but ironically enough the double standard she seemed to want to deny was very much present in The Early Show's own coverage.

They blurred out the 'simulated oral sex' and the kiss between Adam and the other man, but then showed a clip of Madonna kissing Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera from 2003, with no blurring whatsoever! That's exactly what Adam was talking about!

At any rate, Adam gave a great interview in which he remained unapologetic (as well he should, in my view, since he had nothing to apologize for) but did say that in the future, he'll try and stick to how he did things in rehearsal rather than improvising in the moment.

Then, he performed two songs that happen to be my two favorites on his new CD, Whataya Want From Me and Music Again. They're both really great songs, the two that stood out for me the most as I listened to his album for the first time. Adam sounds really great on each song and I thought his performances this morning on the The Early Show served to remind everyone that while Adam can deliver with a great over the top performance like he did last Sunday, he's even better when it's just him singing with that hauntingly beautiful voice of his, without any frills or theatrics.

I hope the idiots at Good Morning America have been kicking themselves all day long.

Cover Boy

One Life to Live's Scott Evans (aka Oliver Fish) graces the cover of this month's Instinct Magazine. And what a cover it is (pic borrowed from Just Jared)!
Words fail me! He's just so damn sexy.

You can check out a preview of the story to tide you over until you buy the actual magazine (I know I'll be buying it!). It looks like a good interview and includes the following:

Highlighting the story’s impact, gay and straight viewers alike have responded in droves by writing to the daytime star. “I’ve gotten letters from people saying that my story line has helped them, that they are in the closet and don’t know what to do. It’s extremely sad,” he laments. “The writers have been doing such a fantastic job with making it so real that a lot of people can relate to it.”

I couldn't agree more. The writers have done an amazing job thus far, as have Scott and Brett Claywell.

Scott is the only openly gay man working as an actor in daytime at the moment, with Thom Bierdz having been written out of the dismal disappointment that is The Young and the Restless (where all gay stories and characters have ceased to exist, by the way), and I think he definitely qualifies as daytime's first openly gay sex symbol! I mean, just look at that cover picture.

Make the Yuletide Gay

I don't write about films nearly as much as I'd like to. Then again, I don't write enough about a lot of things that I'd like to, mostly because I run out of time before I can and then the moment has passed. For that matter, it's hard to find time to watch a film sometimes, especially when you've got a backlog of TV shows building up on your Tivo to catch up with (I'm several episodes behind on Melrose Place, for instance, even though I'm dying to see Amanda's return!).

Still, I'm going to try and write more often about the films I see, if they're worth writing about, which means that they'll either be movies I completely loved or really, really hated.

So, with that in mind, I wanted to write about a new gay themed holiday film that I've just seen, called Make the Yuletide Gay. It was written and directed by Rob Williams, and I'd seen two of his three earlier films, Long-Term Relationship and Back Soon (the third, 3-Day Weekend, is in my Netflix queue). Both of those earlier films were fairly enjoyable, but I preferred Long-Term Relationship to Back Soon. Neither of them, if I'm being honest, really set my world on fire though. Still, I've seen some truly awful gay themed films and I wouldn't include either of them in that category at all.

I'd heard good things about Make the Yuletide Gay and I'd liked Williams' earlier films enough to check it out. I have to say that I'm really glad I did, because it is an incredibly sweet film that I truly loved. I watched it last week via Netflix and liked it so much that I bought a copy for myself, which arrived in the mail today. I've now watched it a second time and I loved it just as much as I did on the first viewing.

The plot of the movie is that college senior Olaf 'Gunn' Gunnunderson, who is out and proud in his life on campus and who shares a dorm room with his boyfriend Nathan, heads home for Christmas with his parents in Wisconsin. In doing so, he also goes back into the closet, since he's never come out to them.

Nathan is supposed to be spending Christmas with his cold, upper crust East Coast parents who disapprove of his sexual orientation, but who in true WASP fashion choose to just never speak about it. At the last minute, though, Nathan's parents go on a holiday cruise without him and he decides to surprise Gunn in Wisconsin, not realizing that his boyfriend isn't out.

Nathan agrees to play along with Gunn's charade, but urges him at the same time to come out, pointing out how cool his parents are and how much they obviously love him. Gunn isn't certain how they'd react, though, and can't face the idea of losing them.

I won't give too much else away about the plot, except to say that Gunn and Nathan's relationship is incredibly sweet and completely made the film for me. There are several small moments between them over the course of the film that just made the romantic in me come to life, things like Gunn taking Nathan's hand at a party (even if he does cover their joined hands with a pillow so that no one sees!) and Nathan mouthing the words "I love you" to Gunn at a pivotal moment.

The film also has a good supporting cast, with Derek Long as Gunn's absent minded, pothead college professor of a father and Kelly Keaton as his cheery, Christmas obsessed mother. Heck, it even has Nellie Oleson herself, actress Alison Arngrim from Little House on the Prairie, as the somewhat slutty next door neighbor.
Both of the lead actors, Keith Jordan as Gunn and Adamo Ruggiero as Nathan, did a fantastic job. I'd never heard of Keith Jordan before, but he's very good and I hope we see him in many more films. He was the perfect choice to play the conflicted Gunn and his performance truly impressed me. He's also pretty hot.

I had heard of Adamo Ruggiero before, having read about his coming out on AfterElton. Adamo played a gay teen on the Canadian show Degrassi: The Next Generation for several years before coming out in real life. Even though I knew who he was, though, I'd never actually seen him in anything before this.

Adamo is completely adorable. I think the phrase 'cute as a button' must have been coined with him in mind. He was very likable as Nathan, perfect in the scenes that called for him to react to Gunn's comically offbeat parents. I thought he also did a great job in the few scenes that called for Nathan to show a more serious side.

The movie is full of playful puns (revolving, for instance, around things like whether Nathan or Gunn prefer the top or bottom bunk) and similar enjoyable silliness, but overall it's just an incredibly sweet movie about love. It's a film with a lot of heart.

I know that it just became a holiday classic for me!

Kish: The B Word

Today was the first Kish episode of One Life to Live that I've been able to watch in real time for months. The guys didn't have many scenes today, just three total, but I enjoyed what little we got.

Their scenes started with Kyle bringing Fish something to eat at the police station, knowing that he was working a late shift. Another cop walked by at that moment and asked Fish if his boyfriend had brought him dinner.

I didn't think there was anything all that sarcastic about the question, but Fish responded by declaring that yes, he had a boyfriend, that the other cop had seen him come out on TV and knew that Fish was gay and if his co-worker didn't like it, that was just too bad.

As it turned out, the other cop had just been going to tell Fish that there was some soda in the break room if he wanted any with his dinner. This cracked Kyle up while leading to an adorably apologetic reaction from Fish himself.

The other cop, who according to his name tag is called Flynn, told Oliver that he knew he'd been getting a lot of flack, but that his fellow cops weren't all jerks. After Flynn went back to wherever they keep the day players, Fish apologized to Kyle for going off and Kyle told him it was okay and pointed out that Oliver had just called him his boyfriend.

Fish rather nervously asked if calling Kyle his boyfriend was okay (but seriously, what gay guy wouldn't want to be called that by Fish/Scott Evans?!), and Kyle assured him that he'd liked it. Oliver noted that it would help if they could have a date that wasn't interrupted by Fish having to run off to a crime scene, but Kyle was sure that they'd get there.

Fish then invited Kyle to Thanksgiving dinner and after his boyfriend accepted the invitation Fish thanked him for bringing him the food and they shared a really sweet kiss in the (otherwise empty) hallway of the police station.

That was it for today, but they were really cute scenes. It was nice to see that Oliver is continuing to stand up for himself, especially on the job, and it's nice to see the two of them so obviously happy together at last! This being a soap, there will of course be drama ahead, but I always love quiet moments like this, between dramatic upheavals, when we see how in love two people are. It's even better when it's a fantastically written gay couple with a ton of chemistry!

I hope we get to see the two of them enjoying Thanksgiving together.

By the way, I haven't yet had a chance to get caught up with the last few months of Nuke scenes, but since I don't watch the rest of As the World Turns any more, that shouldn't take me too long. I just need to find the time to sit down and do it.

Best Gay Books, Take Two

A year ago today, inspired by a poll on AfterElton, I made a Top 10 List of what, in my opinion, were the Best Gay Books ever written. In closing, I noted "Of course, if I was to make the same list a year from now, it would probably look completely different."

Well, here we are, a year later. I've read quite a few gay themed novels and short story collections this year that were completely unknown to me last year, so I decided it was time to make a new list.

1. At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill. This is still my very favorite of all the gay themed books I've read.

2. The Object of My Affection, by Stephen MacCauley. Last year, I had this a bit farther down the list, but in thinking about it this year, I think it deserves a higher spot. All of MacCauley's novels are wonderful, he hasn't disappointed me yet! I just wish he'd publish more often!

3. The Tales of the City series as a whole, by Armistead Maupin. Same place as last year. I'm still waiting for the next book, Mary Ann in Autumn, which I haven't heard anything about in over a year now!

4. The Buddies cycle as a whole, by Ethan Mordden. Reading these five short story collections has been one of the highlights of my year. I fell in love with all of the characters and I know that they're books that I will return to again and again.

5. Maurice by E.M. Forster. A bit lower on the list this year, but still an incredibly beautiful gay novel by one of the best writers in English literature.

6. Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman. As I said last year, this is just an incredibly intense, passionate book. It was also a beautifully written one.

7. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood. Last year I said that this should be read by everyone, regardless of their sexuality. Maybe the film version will help with that?

8. The Body and its Dangers by Allen Barnett. Another discovery for me this past year. Barnett's short story collection, dealing largely with living with AIDS, is full of little masterpieces. His was an incredible voice and I can only imagine what other works he'd have given the world if he hadn't been lost so young.

9. The Boys in the Bars by Christopher Davis. Another collection of powerful short stories written during the early years of the AIDS epidemic. The title story is especially good, but the most striking for me, I think, was 'History', a piece made up of fragments that Davis started before the epidemic and continued in its earliest days. He collected them together, leaving them unchanged as a record of the innocence of the Before period and the confusion of those dark first years of the plague.

10. Joseph and the Old Man by Christopher Davis. This is actually something I just finished reading, but it was so beautifully written. It's the story of a novelist and his much younger lover in what turn out to be their final days together before a tragic accident. This is another book that I think should be read by everyone, regardless of their sexuality, because it is such an incredibly moving portrait of the real nature of grief, not just the sweeping emotions but the small, seemingly mundane details of loss.

Well, there we have it. I don't think any less highly of the books which made my top 10 last year but didn't this year. Any list such as this is bound to be heavily influenced by what I've been reading most recently, and I could probably do a Top 100 without much difficulty!

For My Entertainment

I just finished watching Adam Lambert's performance at the American Music Awards. Six months had passed since the last time I saw an Adam Lambert performance and as much as I remember loving every single one of his songs on American Idol, I'd somehow forgotten just how exciting he is when he's performing.

I have to confess that I haven't yet watched the rest of the show. I recorded it mostly just for Adam and he's all I've watched so far. I'll probably check the rest out tomorrow. Going by in fast forward mode, it looked like there were some interesting performances.

Adam certainly didn't disappoint! I hadn't realized that he was going to be the grand finale of the evening, but he definitely ended things on a high note. I really like his first single, the title track from For Your Entertainment, and the performance was deliciously Adam: sexy, theatrical, and with an S&M edge to it. All of it, of course, revolving around that amazing voice of his.

No doubt Aaron Hicklin will disapprove of the fact that Adam danced with and fondled female dancers during the performance, but he also lead a couple of half naked men around on leashes, danced with male dancers, and gave a full on, open mouthed kiss to a keyboard player who I think was male, though it was a bit hard to tell.

In other words, there was nothing safe or low key about it. Adam doesn't have to tone it down or worry about a voting audience any more. He is most definitely here for our entertainment, and I hope he continues to push the envelope and deliver performances like this for a long time to come.

His first CD comes out tomorrow, by the way. I can't wait!

UPDATE:

I live on the West Coast and the moment in the performance where Adam shoved a male dancer's face in his crotch, simulating oral sex, was edited out. We got a shot of the drums at that moment instead!

So, I had no idea until today, the day after, about that moment. It seems to be garnering a lot of attention, along with the (confirmed) male/male kiss. Just reading the gay blogs and the comments on them this morning, things seem to be about half and half, with one side loving Adam for pushing the envelope and the other finding it everything from 'tacky' to 'a setback' for the image of gays.

I find that completely ridiculous, by the way. First of all, the kiss Adam gave his male keyboardist is a stunt along the same lines as the Madonna/Britney kiss a few years ago, and Adam himself noted that there is a double standard when it comes to what two women are allowed to do as opposed to two men:

"I do feel like there's a bit of a double standard in the entertainment community, on television, on radio. I feel like women performers have been pushing the envelope, especially, for the past 20 years. And all of the sudden a male does it and everybody goes 'Oh, we can't show that on TV.' For me, that's a form of discrimination and a double standard. And that's too bad."

Adam is helping to break down that double standard, you have to admit that at least! I also think the fact that Adam is openly gay lends to the homophobia behind the reactions. When two straight female pop stars do something like this, it's titillating. If a straight male pop star had done it, there would still be a backlash, but I doubt it would be as extreme. Homophobes know Adam likes to kiss boys in real life, so they feel especially insulted that he did so on TV.

As for the 'simulated oral sex', I think it fit the tone of the performance. I think we Americans in general are far too prudish about such things. It's not like it aired during the dinner hour, either, it was nearly 11 p.m.

Adam certainly knows how to get people's attention. Even during American Idol he seemed to be someone that people either loved or hated, and that will obviously be the way it is throughout his career.

Speaking of Books

Tales From The Reading Room, one of my favorite book blogs, has a fantastic new post up entitled Reasons for Buying Books. Here's a sneak peek at a few of the reasons:

2. If you already enjoy reading then it’s important at this particular juncture of history to be evangelical about it. Numbers of young people reading are dropping fast. Half of the American population between 18-24 has never read a book. On average an American citizen reads four books a year (and those are not necessarily fiction). I couldn’t find online statistics for other countries, alas, but I’m sure they are similar. It’s essential that we promote reading as much as we possibly can as there is a genuine risk of it becoming an eccentric hobby, and as I mentioned above, there are essential personal reasons why we do it.

3. But there are also cultural reasons. Buying a book is like placing a vote for a certain way of life. Books ask us to think deeply about the reasons why we do things, they challenge us and they reflect back to us the kind of society we create for ourselves. A culture with a strong literary component is one that considers contemplation, critique and creativity essential factors in the life of its citizens. It’s a culture that is not afraid to question what it does, and that welcomes subversion as being essential to vitality and growth. It’s a culture that doesn’t want to encourage sheep-like compliance or self-centred, short-sighted demands. It’s the culture I’d like to live in.

4. It isn’t necessarily the culture we do live in, and the atrocious state of the publishing industry is testimony to that. Publishing is currently in crisis and much as that may in part be due to the industry’s own excessive expectations following the creation of all those huge multi-media companies in the 90s, we have to support it if we want it to continue, and therefore gain the benefits of a vibrant book culture. Cutbacks in publishing do not lead to only the best-written books making it onto the marketplace, as we know. Instead, frightened publishers churn out celebrity biographies and Dan Brown-alikes. So, support the industry before we lose it, or lose any chance of intervening in its future. Buy the books you would most like to see published. Buy the kind of books you would like to write, if you feel that way inclined. Buy wall-to-wall Jilly Cooper and children’s annuals, if that’s what pleases you; bestsellers make it possible for publishers to risk other types of books and maintain a diverse list.

I really enjoyed this entire post (and wholeheartedly endorse it!), so check it out. I say this not only because I happen to work in a bookstore and owe my job to those who purchase books, but also as someone who loves books and worries a lot about their future.

I myself buy books constantly, way more than I probably should. I buy them at work with my employee discount, I frequent the used bookstores in my town and I buy a lot online, too, usually at Abebooks. My apartment looks more like a library than anything else. I often think of the first time a friend of mine came to my apartment, and her opening comment was an awed "Look at all the books!" Most people just asked if I've read them all, as if they think one person can't possibly read that much.

I also make use of libraries (university and public), but now and then I end up buying a book I've checked out from the library because I loved it so much that I want my own copy. Sometimes I think I'd buy books over food if I ever had to make the choice, though hopefully it will never come to that!

My friends and family, even the readers among them, tend to think this pretty eccentric of me, but I can't help it. I value my books above pretty much everything else I own, even though they're far from being first editions that would ever be worth much in terms of monetary value. To me, though, they're a part of who I've been, who I am now, and who I'd like to be. I do sometimes sell a few that I'm certain I'll never read again, but for the most part I can't imagine parting with them.

Reading truly is increasingly seen as a less than worthy pastime, though, and that worries me so much. At the very first LGBT meeting I ever went to on my campus I was talking to this really nice guy who was the head of the university LGBT group. I mentioned working where I do and he asked me, in a voice that was suddenly full of condescension, if I liked to read.

I felt as though I'd just admitted to something that made me strange or a bit silly in his eyes, and the worst part is that his attitude is increasingly the most common one. I tend to forget that sometimes, working in an environment where most of the people I come into contact with are book lovers, too.

I personally read a wide variety of books, but I want to mention that I think it's especially important to support LGBT literary fiction. When I started working at the store where I'm employed, our Gay Fiction and our Lesbian Fiction sections filled an entire large bookcase by themselves. Granted, that wasn't a huge amount of books, but compared to the state of things at the present moment, it was a plethora of choices. By my most recent count, our gay fiction section now consists of seven titles and our lesbian fiction has about twenty titles. Together, what once filled an entire bookcase, now fills less than a full shelf, and most of what we have isn't literary fiction but genre fiction and erotica.

This isn't just our store or the company I work for, either. Independent LGBT bookstores have been folding and publishing companies are putting out fewer and fewer LGBT titles, and those they do publish tend to be erotica, mysteries, and romantic titles, rather than literary works.

So, I think it's important to speak with your wallet and purchase, as the author of Tales From The Reading Room wrote, the kinds of books you want to see published. What has been happening to LGBT fiction in recent years demonstrates how quickly publishers and stores will drop something if they don't think there's enough money in it. Before long, it could happen to books in general.

WTC View

If you're in NYC next Sunday, you may want to check out the reading of the play WTC View at Player's Theatre in Greenwich Village.

Michael Urie, who plays Marc on Ugly Betty and who originated the lead role in the play back in 2003 and starred in the film version a few years after that, will be reprising his character. Jason Tam, who plays Markko on One Life to Live and who completely blew me away with his audition for the role of Paul in the revival of A Chorus Line and who went on to win that role, will also be in the cast.

I saw the film version on DVD a couple of years back and I thought that Urie was very good in it. It revolves around a traumatized New Yorker trying to find a new roommate in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.

I'd love to see what Jason Tam could do in this play, even in a reading. It looks like they're planning to mount a new stage production in 2011 as well, so maybe this weekend he'll be reading a role that he could end up playing in a full production.

Can't Adam Just be Adam?

I really hadn't paid much attention to the controversy surrounding Adam Lambert's recent cover story in Details Magazine, at least not until today. I certainly saw the pictures, which included Adam touching tongues with and caressing the naked breast of a female model, and which were the cause of a mild uproar in the gay community, where some felt like he was trying to head back into the closet.

They were attractive, artistic photos and Adam is an openly gay man. I didn't and don't see what the fuss was all about. Get back to me when Adam starts actually dating women instead of just doing photoshoots with them, and I'll be outraged then.

Adam doesn't seem to have the best of luck with magazine cover stories in general. He's included on the cover of the new issue of Out Magazine, for the annual Out 100 issue, and the Editor in Chief of the magazine, Aaron Hicklin, used the opportunity to write an open letter to Adam, chastising him for the way 'his people' are handling him.

"We’re curious whether you know that we made cover offers for you before American Idol was even halfway through its run. Apparently, Out was too gay, even for you. There was the issue of what it would do to your record sales, we were told. Imagine! A gay musician on the cover of a gay magazine. What might the parents think! It’s only because this cover is a group shot that includes a straight woman that your team would allow you to be photographed at all -- albeit with the caveat that we must avoid making you look “too gay.” (Is that a medical term? Just curious)."

I can easily believe that Adam's management team may want to minimize the whole 'gay thing'. There has never been a star of Adam's magnitude who was openly gay at the beginning of his career, so it's completely new territory. The people handling him are no doubt used to keeping their gay stars deeply closeted.

Adam himself, however, doesn't seem to be avoiding anything. If he'd wanted to downplay his sexuality, he could easily have used the old 'I don't discuss my private life' card and never officially come out. He chose to be honest about who he was, though, and that is a pretty amazing thing.

Hicklin's letter goes on to say:

"You’re a pioneer, an out gay pop idol at the start of his career. Someone has to be first, and we’re all counting on you not to mess this up. You have to find your own path and then others can follow. We just hope it’s a path that’s honest and true and that you choose to surround yourself with people who celebrate your individuality."

Adam certainly is a pioneer, but he doesn't owe the world, or the gay community, anything but the music he chooses to make. It really bothers me to have someone like Hicklin tell Adam that 'we're all counting on you not to mess this up', as if the Editor in Chief of Out Magazine speaks for the gay community as a whole. It's also interesting to see him write about celebrating Adam's individuality while chiding him for appearing on the cover of Details with a naked woman. Isn't that part of Adam's individuality, too?

We all bemoan the fact that more gay celebrities don't come out of the closet, but it would seem that they're not only up against a system designed to reward them for being- or seeming to be- straight, but also a gay community waiting to put pressure on them to conform to some crusading gay ideal the minute they do come out. Adam has already paved the path for others to follow him, simply by coming out. Whatever he does next is about being Adam Lambert, not about being gay and out.

The most amazing thing about the gay community is its diversity, since LGBT people come from all walks of life. There's no right or wrong way to live your life- or run your career- as an openly gay person. Yes, we should all be supportive of each other and of our community. I'm sorry that Adam (or, more likely, his people) didn't agree to do a solo cover story for Out, but he's clearly not avoiding the gay press since he did give the magazine an interview and posed for the cover in the group shot. Let's also not forget that he's at a stage in his career when he needs to reach as large an audience as possible, gay and straight, or there will be no career for Out Magazine or anyone to follow.

I guess what bothered me the most about the letter was the sniping about the Details cover, as if a gay man is letting down the community by posing in such a way with a woman. If Hicklin had left that out, I would have been more sympathetic to his overall point, which is that openly gay celebrities seem to have less to do with the gay press than straight celebrities looking for an edge do. That's certainly not the way it should be.

Oh, on a final note, Joe Vogel has a very funny take on this whole matter at The Huffington Post that's worth checking out.

From Here to [Censored]

Novelist Kaylie Jones, daughter of the late author James Jones, has revealed that her father's famous novel, From Here to Eternity, originally included scenes in which one of the (straight) characters had sex with gay men to pad his income.

The novel, which won the National Book Award in 1951, was published without any of these scenes included after the publisher insisted that Jones remove them.

Jones tried to fight the cuts, writing that:

"...the things we change in this book for propriety's sake will in five years, or 10 years, come in someone else's book anyway … and we will wonder why we thought we couldn't do it. Writing has to keep evolving into deeper honesty, like everything else, and you cannot stand on past precedent or theory, and still evolve … You know there is nothing salacious in this book as well as I do."

Kaylie Jones notes that her father had a very progressive attitude about gay issues:

"...[He] believed that homosexuality was as old as mankind itself, and that Achilles, the bravest and most venerated fighter ever described, was gay, and to take a younger lover under your wing was a common practice among the soldiers of the time. He also believed also that homosexuality was a natural condition of men in close quarters, and that it in no way affected a soldier's capabilities on the battlefield. What would have amazed him is that the discussion still continues to this day, cloaked in the same hypocrisy and silence as it was 60 years ago,"

Gore Vidal's The City and the Pillar had been published in 1947, of course, but with the New York Times famously refusing to review any of his subsequent books for years afterward, there was still clearly a bias against anything too gay being included in mainstream literature, even if the characters being written about were just 'gay for pay'.

Kaylie Jones did mention that if and when a new edition is published, the original gay scenes will be included, so we have that to look forward to. Maybe they'll be included in any future movie remake, as well!

Erika Slezak Interview

You can't be a soap fan without hearing great things about Erika Slezak, who plays Viki Lord Banks on One Life to Live, so long before I started tuning in to the show I'd heard that she was incredibly talented.

I quickly found this to be the truth when I started watching the show a few years back. I really wish I'd been watching during Viki's split personality storylines, because the few glimpses we've seen of her alters Niki Smith and Jean Randolph in the last couple of years in fantasy sequences have been awesome.

Even just playing the everyday stories as Viki, though, Erika Slezak demonstrates that she's probably the single most talented actress working in daytime TV. She's earned six Emmys for her work as Viki, and from what I've seen so far, every one of them must have been well deserved.

Having already admired her as an actress, it pretty much made my day when I read the new interview with her on Advocate.com. The first thing they discussed was the use of gay rights in the Mayoral election storyline, and Erika had this to say about the issue:

I thought it was brilliant how head writer Ron Carlivati used the gay vote as a pivotal part of the election!
When they introduced the gay story, and the fact that Oliver Fish was in the closet this whole time, and Kyle was a little bit, and then they bring Nick in who is working for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Llanview ... I thought it was brilliant! Nick forces the other two to force their hand and say, “Tell us who you are.” I watched last Friday’s episode when they started the same-sex weddings, and it was terrific! The world is populated by all kinds of people, so let’s show it. What pissed me off in Maine ... my God, what did they do up there? To repeal gay rights for same-sex marriage ... it’s idiotic! Who cares what people do together as long as they are happy? I don’t get the big difference between marriage, civil union, and living together, and I am Catholic. Marriage means you commit to each other and there is a piece of paper that says, “I want to be with you forever,” or as long as we love each other.

It’s not only the symbol of marriage but that same-sex couples should have legal domestic-partnership rights.
Marriage is the only thing that can really do that, although there are some states that will recognize civil unions and give partners the same rights and health benefits, etc. But marriage sort of seals it, and if you want to get married, you should. I am very liberal there. I was so upset when I picked up the New York Post recently and read that a cab driver had two guys who were partners in his cab around 10:30 at night. This was down in the East Village. These guys were at a friend’s house for dinner and they were going home. He went two blocks and the cab driver looked in the rearview mirror and saw the two guys hugging. And he stopped the cab and told them to get out! And he said, “There is no hugging in this cab.” They were just appalled, and thank goodness they lodged a complaint because that is so illegal, and it's just narrow-minded thinking.

It's a great interview, though there are some spoilers included, so beware! The interviewer was clearly a fan of the show, so he asked some pretty good questions.

Defying Gravity

Last night, after what felt like several months but was in reality only a few weeks, Glee returned with a new episode. I've never not liked an episode of Glee, of course, but this one has to stand out as one of the best yet.

First, the musical numbers were fantastic. I completely loved Artie's Dancing With Myself and the final number, Proud Mary, was a nice surprise since it wasn't included in the soundtrack that was released last week.

Best of all, though, was the 'Diva-off' between Kurt and Rachel, with each singing Defying Gravity so that the rest of the kids in glee could vote on who should sing it at Sectionals. I'd heard their duet of the song from the soundtrack, but I really loved hearing them each do it solo. Lea Michele was as amazing as she always is, but I particularly loved Chris Colfer's version and was glad to see that it was available on iTunes.

The stories are just as great as the music on this show. Kurt standing up for his right to sing a song that is traditionally a woman's song, with the backing of his blue collar dad (played again by the wonderful Mike O'Malley), was a surprisingly moving story, especially when Kurt ended up throwing the competition in the end after he saw how upset his Dad was by an anonymous phone call telling him that his son was a fag.

I liked that Kurt's father, though worried for his son's safety, didn't for a second try to get him to back off of following his dream of singing the song. The best part was that when Kurt told his father he'd lost on purpose, he also said that he wasn't going back in the closet for anyone, that he was proud of who he is, but that he loves his father more than he loves being a star. I got a bit misty eyed, I have to say.

It's also interesting to know that this story came out of Chris Colfer's own personal experience. Last week he was on The Bonnie Hunt Show and told her that every year in high school, he'd begged to be allowed to sing Defying Gravity but was never allowed to because it was a 'girl's song' and people were uncomfortable with that.

Seeing Artie and Tina's characters developed a bit more finally was also a highlight of the episode. They were the only two of the original characters who haven't really been given much of a back story yet and I think we've all been waiting for it.

The most surprising thing, though, was that Jane Lynch's Sue Sylvester also brought a tear to my eye when we saw that she does indeed have a heart. I, like Mr. Schuster, was dreading the outcome of Sue letting a student with Down Syndrome onto her Cheerios squad. What horrible thing could she be plotting?

As it turned out, Sue has an older sister with Down Syndrome, whom she visited and read to at the end of the episode. If Jane Lynch doesn't get an Emmy for playing Sue, there is no justice in the world. Who else could give such a stellar performance week after week as the tough as nails Sue Sylvester and then turn around and in one scene give us a completely different picture of the same character while making it absolutely believable?

This show just has everything: great musical performances, talented actors and actresses, it's hysterically funny, and it has real heart at the center of it all.

Family Ties

Now that I'm caught up on Kish, I'm finally able to read stories about them online without fear of having something that happened a month ago spoiled for me before I can see it!

It turns out that his brother Chris isn't Scott Evans' only well known relative. His uncle is United States Congressman Michael Capuano, who is currently running to fill the Senate seat of the late Edward Kennedy. Capuano's sister Lisa is Scott's mother, who recently played his onscreen mother, Barbara Fish, as well.

I had no idea about any of this until I saw the link to the Boston Herald's interview with Scott on AfterElton. The interview itself is pretty good (Scott talks about how being in the closet was never an option for him in his career, noting that “Before I was ever an actor, I was a homosexual. I hope it won’t affect my career, but it probably will. I hope people will open their minds. At this point, it’s working out for me.”) and there's even an online companion piece devoted completely to Kish and to how great One Life to Live in general is at the moment.

Which it really is. That's why I couldn't fast forward through my accumulated episodes and just watch the Kish scenes. I would have missed so much great soap!

A Whole Lotta Kish

Being sick in bed for a few days had one benefit: I was finally able to get close to being caught up with my backlog of One Life to Live episodes. Close enough, in fact, that I've been able to finish catching up in the days since. For the first time in about six weeks, I'm completely current with the show as of tonight!

I wish I hadn't fallen behind and had been writing about the incredible Kish episodes as they aired. This is the best LGBT storyline daytime has ever seen and having marathoned over thirty episodes of the show in a week's time, there's no chance of me writing up each Kish episode individually, as I would have liked.

So, I'll provide an overview of what's happened since I last wrote about Fish & Kyle and then hopefully stay current enough from this point on to once again write about each of their episodes as they air.

When I'd last left the guys, Oliver had just come out to his far from approving parents and Kyle was dating Nick, the cute teacher he'd met at the gym.

The show dealt with the aftermath of Fish coming out to his homophobic parents in a very realistic way, I thought. Instead of having Papa Fish go psycho and invite Kyle on a killer camping trip, or rushing to some sort of heartfelt happily ever after resolution, the show had Fish's parents leave town, with the lines of communication between them and their son strained but still open.

At first, Oliver's dad was already telling people that he no longer had a son, but Mrs. Fish went back to visit Oliver the morning after and made it clear that while she didn't understand or approve of his 'lifestyle', she still loved him. Before they left town, she even got her husband to stop in to say goodbye, thereby acknowledging that he did indeed still have a son.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the future between Oliver and his parents, but I was impressed by the fact that they opted for such a realistic turn of events as the aftermath of Fish coming out to George & Barbara.

Having told his parents, Fish also came out to his mentor at work, Detective John McBain (who actually already knew, having run into Oliver's Dad while he was still in his 'I no longer acknowledge my homosexual son is alive' phase), and also let Kyle know about what he'd done.

Kyle was proud of Fish, but still focused on his relationship with Nick. Even when Oliver, with Cristian's encouragement, told his ex how he still felt about him, Kyle shot Fish down, explaining that they were in different places. Fish was newly out and still not comfortable being completely open, and after years of waiting around for Fish, Kyle had finally moved on and needed someone out and proud like Nick.

Around that time, things took an interesting turn thanks to city politics, with longtime rivals Dorian Lord and Victoria Banks running against each other in the Mayoral race. After Vicki made it clear to Nick (who, in addition to being a teacher, also turned out to be a key player in the city's LGBT organization) that she fully supported marriage equality and had LGBT staff members working in key positions on her campaign, Dorian decided to take things a step further to win the LGBT vote.

First, Dorian hired an out lesbian (Nick's friend Amelia Bennett) as her campaign manager, and then, when her pledges of support for marriage equality were greeted with skepticism, Dorian announced that she had fallen in love with Amelia and would be marrying her in a symbolic ceremony just before the election to highlight the lack of marriage equality in Pennsylvania.

Dorian, of course, is not really a lesbian, but I was still pleased with how this whole story worked out. They could have played it for laughs, but they didn't, and Dorian, in spite of mainly wanting to win the election, did also care about equality.

The very fact that a daytime soap would even make the issue of marriage equality a front and center storyline is impressive. Soaps, including One Life to Live, used to tackle relevant social issues as they were happening, but those days have seemed long gone in recent years. This story, though, proves that this doesn't have to be the case.

Amelia was more than willing to go along with the sham marriage, as long as it served the fight for equality. She and Nick arranged for the ceremony to be about more than just Dorian when they convinced her to make it a mass ceremony for all the LGBT citizens of Llanview who were being denied their right to marry the person they loved.

That was when Nick proposed to Kyle (just in time, of course, for Fish to walk in and see). Kyle was wary of making such a decision so early in their relationship, but Nick reminded him that it was a symbolic gesture since they couldn't legally marry in their state and that it was part of the fight to ensure that they could marry legally one day, if they wanted.

Just before the ceremony, Amelia convinced Dorian to take things a step further and announce that if she was elected Mayor, her first act would be to issue actual marriage licenses to everyone who'd participated in the group wedding.

At the ceremony, Fish was assigned to help keep the assembled protesters under control, which of course put him on the scene to watch the love of his life marry another man, symbolically or not.

For his part, Kyle clearly had reservations about marrying Nick after just a few months of dating, especially when he heard the part about getting an actual marriage licence if Dorian won the election.

When some of the protesters assumed that Oliver would much rather be on their side of the line, rather than with the 'pervs', and when he overheard a fellow cop expressing just that opinion, Fish had finally had enough. Oliver came out loudly and proudly, not only to the assembled protesters and participants, but to all of the television cameras:

Fish: What is wrong with you? What are you so afraid of? Are you afraid of me? Because guess what? I'm one of those 'pervs'! That's right everybody, I'm one of those queers. I'm gay! And I'd rather be over here with people who love each other than standing over here with all of you people who thrive on hate! I'm gay! The same guy who you just thanked for protecting you. Do you hate me now? Do you?

Protester: We don't hate you, we pity you.

Fish: Don't, don't! Do not, God, do not pity me! Pity yourselves! I used to be just like you, I used to be afraid. But you know what? I'm not afraid any more. I'm proud. And I'm proud of all of these people who love each other so much that they're willing to stand up and fight for their right to marry. And you know what? I'm proud to be one of them. And I don't really care what you think is wrong. You know what, I don't really care much about what you think of anything. Because some day, I want to marry the person I love. And I hope, no, God, I pray that I'll be able to do that.

Pretty powerful stuff, if you ask me!

Kyle seemed decidedly impressed by this, and right after the commitment ceremony started, he brought things to a halt, apologizing to Nick and telling him that he couldn't go through with it. In an incredibly romantic moment, Kyle turned to Oliver in front of the entire crowd:

Kyle: I know I said that it's over between us. But here I am at a wedding, in a tux, surrounded by all these people who are just proudly sharing their love with one another. And I just keep thinking that I'm standing with the wrong man because all I want to do is share my love with you. So what do you think? Do you want to give it another shot?

Fish: I do.

Kyle: I love you, Oliver. I always have.

They sealed it, of course, with a kiss. I was moved to tears (though, I think I did have a fever at the time!) as their own voices broke with emotion. Both Scott Evans and Brett Claywell were fantastic in these scenes.

I was cheering for them, but also feeling really sad for Nick, who ran out looking like his heart had just been cut out. Poor Nick! He was a sweet, sexy, romantic guy who not only got his heart broken, but had it happen on his wedding day, in front of television cameras that were apparently broadcasting it globally. I hope they keep the character around and give him a love interest of his own.

Roxy, Kyle's BFF, tried to get the guys to join in the commitment ceremony, but they agreed that they weren't ready for that yet and should probably go on a date first!

Overall, even though Dorian was only pretending to be a lesbian, I thought this story was incredibly well done, especially for a daytime soap, where having marriage equality and gay rights as a focus of a major storyline like this is definitely a first.

After the ceremony, the guys spent the entire night up on the roof of Kyle's motel, talking about their past, present and future, and decided to take things slowly, starting out with a real date since Oliver hadn't ever actually been on one with a guy before.

As it turned out, their first date didn't quite go as planned. Right after Kyle arrived to pick Fish up, the station called and Oliver had to go investigate a little grave robbing incident. Kyle waited for him, though, and after Fish came back and took a quick shower, the sight of him in his towel had Kyle suggesting that they could just stay in instead.

These scenes, by the way, were smoking hot! Both of these men are incredibly sexy all on their own (and it only gets hotter whenever Scott is shirtless, revealing that trademark Evans hairy chest!), but their chemistry together is off the charts!

The guys were well on their way to making up for lost time when Layla and Cristian returned home early. After the interruption, Kyle and Oliver talked and decided to take things a bit more slowly to start with, and they ended the evening on a double date of sorts with Cris and Layla, the four of them watching a movie together in their living room.

Seeing Kish go from scalding hot to incredibly sweet in just a few scenes convinces me beyond a doubt that this is a classic soap couple in the making.

Word is that the guys will be making love before the New Year, so there's no worry that we're going to veer off into Nuke territory, with the show finding a million ways to keep them chaste. The only real question is how much of their love scenes will end up onscreen.

I knew that when OLTL, as written by Ron Carlivati, did a gay story, it would be the best daytime had ever seen, but this is proving to be beyond what I'd hoped for. Fish & Kyle have the most amazing chemistry together and their story has been so incredibly well told so far! I can't wait to see what happens next and I'm so glad I can finally watch in real time again!

A Bit of Music

I've been suffering from Glee withdrawal and have taken to my sickbed these past few days. Well, at least that's what I'm choosing to blame being sick on!

Luckily, the first volume of the soundtrack was released this past week and it included a few songs that haven't been performed on the show yet, so that helped bridge the gap a bit. For the record, I love Kevin McHale's Dancing With Myself and especially Chris Colfer & Lea Michele's take on Defying Gravity. I can't wait to see them on the show! The latter song is clearly going to be related to a big moment for Kurt.

Speaking of music, AfterElton has a look at Adam Lambert's first music video. It's not for the first single from his upcoming album, but rather for Time for Miracles, a song he did on the soundtrack of the new movie 2012. Honestly, this particular song doesn't impress me all that much, but having loved every one of Adam's performances on American Idol, I'm very excited for his album (which is called For Your Entertainment) to be released in two weeks. I think his own album will be more... well, Adamesque than this particular song is.

He looks and sounds great in the video, though, even if it is more about promoting the movie than anything else.

Gay Apartheid

Last weekend, I was in a wedding. Since I do not live in one of the five states that currently have marriage equality for same sex couples, it should go without saying that this was a heterosexual wedding, though it could by no stretch of the imagination be called traditional.

There were a lot of moments in this particular wedding that will probably be talked about for years by those who were in attendance, but in the midst of all the fun there was a moment that struck a sour note for me.

The person marrying my friends (who was not a minister by profession) started his remarks by noting that "Anyone can get married, but..." I was standing there, beside the happy couple, and the thought that such a day may not be able to happen for me, at least not legally, for a very long time was already on my mind, of course.

To hear those casual words was a sharp reminder of not only my lack of rights but of the fact that even the most well meaning of straight people take marriage completely for granted. I'm not saying they shouldn't, mind you, it's just that I'd like to be able to take it for granted, too!

I'm very upset by the results of the vote in Maine yesterday, and that moment from the ceremony, along with the thought of all those LGBT couples in Maine who won't be able to have the ceremonies they'd been planning for themselves, has been very much on my mind all day.

Gay Rights Activist David Mixner had some very powerful words to say about the subject:

"...call this campaign against us what it is - Gay Apartheid.

Refuse to allow any of our fellow Americans, President Obama or our allies to view this as a political issue who time hasn't quite come. America is in the process of creating a system of Gay Apartheid. We will not quietly sit and accept it. All over the place, this nation is creating one set of laws for LGBT Americans and another set for all other Americans. That is the classic definition of Apartheid. Either our political allies are for Gay Apartheid or against it. If they are against it, they must fight with us and no longer duck like President Obama did in Maine and Washington. There is no half way in fighting Apartheid.

Today many will claim that we must surrender the word marriage or accept some sort of separate but equal arrangement. It didn't work in the African-American struggle for freedom and it doesn't work for us. We want full equality with the same rights, benefits and privileges as all other Americans now."

It's easy to become depressed when faced with results like we saw yesterday, but the fight is far from lost and Mixner's words reminded me that we won't be cowed by the results of any vote, that when equality is lacking, it's not given at the ballot box but fought for and won, no matter how long that takes.

Even our so called friends in power are busy relegating LGBT issues, such as Don't Ask Don't Tell, to some future time when all the other issues that seem to be more important to them than our equality have been dealt with. Clearly, we rank higher on the priority list of those who are against us than we do of those who are (supposed to be) our allies.

The National Equality March doesn't seem to have lit enough of a fire under those in Washington who have benefited from our votes and our contributions, so maybe it's time to give those votes and contributions to others.

Yesterday wasn't all bad news on the LGBT front, of course. Gaypolitics has a rundown of some of the openly gay and lesbian candidates who were elected in record setting numbers across the country.

Setback in Maine

It looks like we've suffered another setback in the fight for marriage equality. I'm talking, of course, about Maine, where last May the state legislature passed a law allowing same sex marriage. The law was put on hold until voters had their say on it, though, and today they went to the polls. The latest projections seem to indicate that 53% of those who voted today did so in opposition to equality.

As certain as I am that you cannot halt progress forever, that we'll get to full marriage equality throughout the country eventually, it still hurts when people go to the polls and vote to deny basic rights to a huge segment of the population. It hurts not only because I am a part of the group being denied their rights, but because that's just not the America that we're supposed to live in. In the America that they teach us about when we're growing up, the very idea that someones right to get married could even end up on the ballot would be unthinkable.