Fifteen years ago this week, I picked my eldest up from school. She arrived at my car sobbing, clutching what could only be a Mother’s Day art project, a gift wrapped with lots of construction paper, held together with even more scotch tape. When I asked her what was wrong, she explained between tears and hiccups that she only had time to make the one present. “But I have two mommies!” She whimpered. My heart broke into a million pieces. Gently, I took the gift from her hands and unwrapped…

sound over of conversation lips smacking against cigarette filters giggles rustling of plastic bags full of pills childish needless flinty flicks of lighters all culminating in squeals of girls who saunter up to the bathroom with their lovers to dose to swallow the necessary amount of water in the cheap plastic cups and upon doing so collapse onto sofas together in a heap of hair and rumpled clothing 

then fade in on where I’m sitting alone 

she has witch…

Self-proclaimed nerd, BrookLyn Scott, is an eighteen-year-old high school senior in upstate New York who has never held a boy’s hand let alone one’s interest. She has some friends at school and church but is never far from the watchful eye of her abusive parents. BrookLyn’s plan is to escape the abuse by excelling in high school and running safely to college just as her older siblings did. Her plan is derailed after she’s invited and attends her first party. By the end of the night, BrookLyn…

Warwick Valley High School junior, Graye Moon, strolled innocently through the hallways at school in the shadows of her older sister, Sylver, and had never been interested in dating. Her parents strictly enforced their no dating before eighteen rule discouraging her from seeking more than friendships. Graye was focused on hanging with her best friends, doing her homework, playing sports, and staying away from the pranks her sisters Sylver and Blu conjured up.

Out of nowhere a…

Warwick Valley High School junior, Graye Moon, strolled innocently through the hallways at school in the shadows of her older sister, Sylver, and had never been interested in dating. Her parents strictly enforced their no dating before eighteen rule discouraging her from seeking more than friendships. Graye was focused on hanging with her best friends, doing her homework, playing sports, and staying away from the pranks her sisters Sylver and Blu conjured up.

Out of nowhere a…

Kerry pens LGBT and has a passion for it…as appreciated in her stories.

See her here: http://kaydeeroyal.blogspot.com/2011/12/kerry-freemen-all-about-kerry-and-what.html

She’s giving insights as to why this genre and also she chats about her newest release What We Deserve. Kerry has an end-of-tour giveaway.

Be ready for a great visit with…

Trigger Warning

A few years back, I participated in a project specifically designed with LGBTs in mind.  The intention was to ask for volunteers willing to be fully honest with the organizers.  These anonymous contributors were encouraged to share the stories of their first sexual encounter with a member of the same sex.  The intention was that these anecdotes would be compiled into a booklet given away for free at Pride, which was then several months away.  It was hoped that…

In 1970, famed pop artist, dabbler, and amateur film producer Andy Warhol embarked upon his latest project. Entitled Women in Revolt, it was a deliberate counter-attack on radical feminist Valerie Solanas, Warhol’s would-be-assassin, whose assault with a handgun nearly killed its intended target. A parody of the hot button issue of its time, Women’s Liberation, the film gets in a few digs at its expense. Members of the movement endlessly rake men over the coals,…

In some ways, I suppose I had been rather old school. I chose to strategically carry on my affairs with men in another city. Businessmen in a different decade opted for this route. This was for two reasons. The first was a concession to my homophobic family. I didn't want them finding any evidence in whatever form it took. The second was because of the unique character of the queer community in the place where I grew up. One learned very soon that its numbers were very small and its…

Starting at a young age, I was taught to seek strictly medical explanations for individual problems.  My father had worked for a time counseling alcoholics and addicts, and he placed full reliance upon a combination of prescription medication and time spent on the therapist’s couch.  However, my life challenges have been structured in ways that defied this logic.  It is true that bipolar disorder can be treated successfully with medication.  However what I was not told in the beginning is…

The house looked otherwise unremarkable.  The orange-pink color of the kitchen walls was unique, but could be explained as an attempt to be distinct.  Two huge pairs of high-heeled shoes stood at the foot of the stairs.  These were shoes seemingly on steroids, far larger than would have ever been made for the typical woman.  These did stick out.  One wondered if a superhero wore these shoes, and if so, if there were others like it in her closet.    

My roommate is a drag queen,…

I wrote this column for the Feministing Community earlier today.

_____________________

I normally don’t watch much television.  This is a conscious choice on my part because many commercials and programs are sexist, anti-feminist, or advance otherwise unhealthy perspectives. But, flipping through channels yesterday, I found that the gossip website TMZ now has a television platform to peddle its wares.  One…

It’s been a long time,

baby

years and years since

I flabbergasted

flustered

frustrated

set tongues

waggling

found that

should you not

shut the closet door behind you

someone will gladly do it

unprompted

your active rebellion

sanitized for public consumption

knowing this

how do I maintain even

two…

Though it’s been a while since my last update, I’ve been sharing with you the course of my treatment.  Specifically, I was diagnosed with hypogonadism in November.  Treatment has taken many twists and turns in nearly nine months’ time, and the most recent discovery has left me frustrated and weary.  I’m tired of being sick, plainly put, and I want to be well.  Though this is embarrassing to admit, I discovered last week a lump next to my right testis.  My PCP…

I regularly think about the movie Victim, which was the first English language film ever to mention the word "homosexual".  Released in 1961, it captures a time where male homosexual conduct was criminalized in the United Kingdom, meaning that rogue blackmailers were free and able to extract money and concessions from gay men.  Not wishing to risk the social scandal as well as the possibility of jail, queer men paid whatever was asked and kept silent from…

One of my father’s good friends was a conservative Republican. There are even pictures of him affectionately holding me in his lap when I was a toddler. A few years later, he was extremely kind and helpful to my grieving mother when her father died. She still speaks highly of him for the reason to this day. Mom was only a couple years older than me when Grandfather died. I can’t imagine losing a parent now. Earlier in life, I lost both of mine for a time, but that story…

I had just about reached a point where matters of self-loathing, doubt, and anxiety were no longer overwhelming. I had just about been able to embrace genderqueer, to be able to go there and stay there without a need to resurface in desperation, like a person holding his or her breath underwater. I had thought that the pain I felt within myself was nothing compared to that of the outside world. I had read the stories of others and begun to think I might escape unscathed in…