DVD:
Wild Tigers I Have Known - An edgy and disorienting coming-of-age film
Fag Hag - Does anyone out there remember the guy who played Wesley on Star Trek? He’s still working!

CDs:
Robert German “Sirens of Brooklyn” - A haunting cross between folk and jazz

Nonfiction:
“The Most Significant Years of My Life”: The Lived Experiences of Gay Undergraduate Men – Jeffrey S. McKinney - An education thesis of gay men at college.

Time on Two Crosses: The Collected Writings of Bayard Rustin – edited by Devon W, Carbado and Donald Weise - A perfect companion to the documentary Brother Outsider, the writings of Bayard Rustin reveal the thoughts of the gay black man who organized the 1963 March on Washington

Transparent: love family, and living the T with transgender teenagers – Cris Beam - A winner of the 2007 Lambda Literary Awards that probes into the lives of trans teens.

Rent : Book, Music, and Lyrics – Jonathan Larson Interviews and Text by Evelyn McDonnell and Katherine Silberger You saw the movie. Maybe you even saw the musical. Now you can read the book.

If you love the Lambda Literary Foundation, you can now become a fan! The Lambda Literary Foundation is the country’s leading organization for LGBT literature. And now you can follow them on your newsfeed.

DVD:
Adventures of Felix - A gay arabic frenchman on a quest to find his long-absent father

NonFiction:
You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation - The fascinating gender differences in the way we speak
Roman Conquests and Stud by Phil Andros - Two books of gay male erotica
Open Secret: Gay Hollywood 1928-2000 - which of your favorite stars is in or out?
How Loathsome - A post-modern genderqueer transgender genderfuck goth comic
Outlaw Representation: Censorship and Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century American Art - a rich history of censorship in modern art, and the portrayal of same-sex desire

Since 1999, Bluestockings has been a women’s collective bookstore, dedicated to feminist materials, and more recently LGBT issues as well. Bookslut has an exclusive interview with one of the Bluestockings’ owners, Kimmie David.

Just the fact that it didn’t stay a strictly women’s bookstore is inclusive in not just the gender issues and the transgender issues but with all people that are underrepresented and oppressed. Because all six owners are in these movements, we know from personal experience how they’re shifting and what they’re shifting towards. Because of our history as a feminist and as a women’s bookstore our strongest sections are on gender, transgender, and feminist issues. Of course you want to get books that are representative of history but are also speaking toward current analyses or trends of any movement. The movements that are happening now are reflected on our shelves.

The Book of Daniel

(5 out of 5 stars)

Simply put, this is the best show you never saw on television. The Book of Daniel was a short lived series that aired on NBC for a mere three episodes before it was canceled. The complete series spanned seven episodes altogether, the final four were filmed, but never had the chance to air. Why was it canceled? I could go on for pages in regards to my own personal opinion as to why such an intelligent, witty, funny show could meet such a quick end, but to sum it up: It simply offered a view of religion that struck a nerve with many of the Religious Right. It offered compassion, sympathy, understanding, and open-mindedness…and sadly, those traits have no place in some people’s views on religion. For some, those are empty words that are spoken, never practiced.

The Book of Daniel stars Aidan Quinn as Daniel Webster, with a family only a man of God could have the patience for. From his alcohol dependent wife, to his drug peddling daughter, to his adopted horn ball and gay republican sons, the good Revered certainly has his hands full. As if that’s not enough however, Daniel himself has an addiction to painkillers, his father is cheating on his wife (with a female Bishop no less), and his church is partnered under the table with the mob.

Did I mention that on occasion, Daniel also sees, and speaks, to Jesus?

At this point, you may be skeptical about my earlier claims that this show offers compassion, understanding, etc., you may instead think you’ve stumbled onto the review for some kind of sordid soap opera, well let me back up and explain. The Book of Daniel tugs at your heart strings, as it takes a topic as sensitive and as controversial as religion, and spins it on his head. In a society such as ours today, it’s so rare to see religion used as a tool to comfort and inspire, as opposed to a weapon of discrimination. Sure, when you’re introduced to the show you’re a bit in shock by how “out of control” some of these characters seem, but as you are welcomed further and further into their lives, you start to see the good that lies underneath. It’s hard to judge the daughter for possessing marijuana when she’s also giving her house’s nanny (who has a severe pain disorder) a drug that provides her with much needed relief. You find yourself grieving and in pain right along side of Daniel and his wife when you come to see that their addictions to painkillers and alcohol, respectively, have come as a result of losing their son to cancer only a couple of years ago. You can’t really judge Daniel’s father for falling in love with the Bishop, when you see his heart breaking every second he spends with his wife, who’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and doesn’t even recognize him anymore. As for his sons, his adopted son Adam is your typical horny teenager, but your heart will break for him all the same as he’s met with prejudice and discrimination on the basis of his ethnicity, by members of the very church he attends. You’ll shake your head in disbelief as he’s barred from seeing his girlfriend, simply because his parents, who are suppose to be “people of God”, don’t want a “mixing of the races” under their Christmas tree someday. As for Daniel’s other son, Peter, this is the plotline that really brings it all together for me (and I’m sure, was sadly the main complaint of conservative viewers.) Witnessing Daniel interact with his son Peter really gave me hope that someday religion and homosexuality could walk hand in hand. Seeing Daniel and Peter joke about his sexuality so casually, and to discuss it so openly among the family really leaves you in awe at first, and as you watch the show flashback to the day’s when Peter’s twin brother was still alive, you start to understand how Daniel and his family came to accept Peter for who he is in spite of their strict religious affiliation. The story of Peter’s coming out, and of his twin brother’s death (which spans two episodes, and sadly never got to air on television,) will have you on the verge of tears. Be forewarned, Daniel’s daughter Grace (played by Alison Pill), will sing “Time After Time” at some point in these episodes, and send chills down your spine.

I can not stress enough how badly everyone should watch this show. If only it had somehow survived the barrage of complaints of those too narrow-minded to understand the potential this show had to redeem organized religion in the eyes of mainstream society. Those who complained this show mocked religion should have taken a closer look, and realized there was no mockery, only an attempt to humanize the cold stereotypes many Christians have unfairly received as a result of extremists. Please run down to the GLBT library and pick it up today. Laugh, cry, and grow with the Webster family, then pray to whatever God you believe in that we’re lucky enough to see a show this insightful grace our lives again.

Important Reminder:

Gay Travels in the Muslim World editor Michael Luongo is coming to Bloomington tomorrow to read from his ground breaking new book. Thursday, July 10th, Luongo will be doing a reading at Rachel’s Cafe from 6:30-8:30 (300 E. 3rd Street, corner of Lincoln).

And if you can’t make it to Rachel’s Cafe, you can hear him being interviewed on BloomingOUT, Bloomington’s own Midwest GLBT Radio Show at 6pm.

This edited collection journeys where other gay travel books fear to tread–Muslim countries, telling Muslim and non-Muslim gay men’s stories of traveling in the Middle East during these difficult political times. The true, very personal tales include gay soldier Jeff Key’s story of Iraq; the editor’s story of Afghanistan; Parvez Sharma’s making of Jihad for Love; a forward by Afdhere Jama of Huriyah magazine; among many other stories. This intelligent book goes beyond 9-11 and the cultural divides to illustrate the real experiences of gay men in trouble zones.

by Carol Anne Douglas.
San Francisco: ism press, 1990.
363 p., illus.

In her book Love and Politics, Carol Anne Douglas makes a commendable effort to delineate the sometimes overlapping and confusing discourses of “traditional” radical feminism. Focusing on various points of contention between different schools of thought, from women’s lib-era critiques of gender to the late-80’s battles over pornography, Douglas offers a balanced, unbiased survey of differing views on a variety of important feminist issues.

Clearly, this book was originally a contemporary account of recent feminist debates, though its focus on somber “old school” 70’s theorists now reveals its age. Readers seeking current information should be aware of the book’s not-so-recent publication date (1990). Though some of the discourses she covers retain currency today, Douglas devotes only one chapter to several issues (S/M, pornography, etc.) that now would each require separate chapters. She was unfortunately not privy to more recent (and more fun) debates, offering no coverage of issues such as bisexuality, the riot grrrl movement, transgenderism, identity and visibility politics, or sex-positive feminism. A picture of the current state of radical feminism this book certainly isn’t.

Nevertheless, for readers seeking a comprehensive and readable overview of the divergent voices of radical and lesbian feminism from the 70’s and 80’s, look no further. This volume would make excellent background material for anyone with an interest in Gender Studies, the women’s movement, or feminism in general.

Reviewed by Elizabeth Bridges.

This Review and more can be found on the GLBTSSS Library Website.