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Grace Moon
Anna Romer
Mitch McEwen
Kelly McCartney
Angela Jimenez
The L Word Pages
Twas the week of Gay Pride,
And all through the town
The straight folks are stirring–
What will go down?
The pride flags are hung
In store windows with care,
Awaiting the Queens
Who soon will be there…
About a year ago, I found myself sitting a little too close to one of my best friends. We were at a party, both drunk, although me, a little—okay, make that a lot—more drunk than she. We were having one of those cheesy girlfriend moments of slurred, “Oh, I love you so much,” sloppy hugs, and tears in the eyes. And then it turned ugly, when I thought it would be a good idea to kiss her. Luckily, she stopped me and we laughed about it later.
But it made me think, that for women, confusion about sexuality begins with female friendship. Looking back, any feelings of lust began as infatuation—there was the “special friend” I had as a child, and later on, the girl in my dorm who was just so fucking cool that my wanting to be her turned into my wanting to be with her.
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anais Nin
As trite and overused as that famous quote is, I couldn’t help but think of Nin’s words as I wandered through Jen Rosenstein’s work at the First Trans Art Show Project held May 29th through June 13th at the Gay and Lesbian Center at Ed Gould Plaza in Los Angeles.
There are few things more disarming and tender than gazing upon the naked human body. Add to the mix the soft pleading gaze of one subject alongside the defiant, haunted stare of another and all internal noise quiets within you.
All is reduced to a subtle unspoken request: Please see who I am. Now.
If you ever went to sleepaway camp, you probably have at least one memory of that super-hot, worship-inspiring counselor: the one who played guitar, told you about sex in that no-bullshit, knowledge-is-power way, who always looked good even when she’d just rolled out of bed in the morning, and tied her hair back with a pencil before dragging you off to the mess hall for breakfast. Are ya with me so far?
Branded Ann is the second novel of emerging lesbian romance novel writer Merry Shannon. The book jacket assured me that within its cover I would find swashbuckling pirates, hot lesbian captains and steamy sex scenes. We have all lusted after some member of the Pirates of the Caribbean crew, and now we have the cast of Branded Ann!
Upon picking up this book, I will admit I was skeptical. In general lesbian romance, especially of a slightly fantastic nature simply never hits my radar. I am certainly a serious sort of novel reader, and rarely find time to read a book that is purely for fun and without the equivalent literary merit of Virginia Woolf.
This year though, I have to say is monumental in terms of gay pride weekend. Never before has the East Side gotten it so together as to pull off an all day/nite agenda. Whereas people still associate gay pride with ‘West Hollywood,’ we are putting the East Side on the map as a more artsy, queer alternative. Thank GOD! Joining forces with the first ever ‘Dyke Day LA,’ www.myspace.com/dykeday, and the annual Silverlake Dyke March, we are all cross promoting together to give you the most fun, campy, queer, trans, dykey, all gay day of your life. And we are damn proud of it, because we had to struggle so hard to do it. Putting up money we don’t have, getting sponsors, praying that it will work, and then being redeemed by the fact that people want us, people need us. They want an alternative, and we are here to offer it.
By now (months after the big story) everyone has probably heard of Thomas Beatie, the transgendered man who stunned folks around the world (from Oprah audiences to right-wing talking heads) by announcing he is pregnant. If you haven’t, this is the story. Thomas, an FTM, and his wife have been together for 10 years, and decided they would like to have children, but because of medical issues, his wife is unable to conceive, so Thomas stopped taking his hormones for a while so he could get pregnant. While the anti-queer right-wingers seem to have a lot to say about this, I have come across little response from the queer community, other than general well-wishes, and murmurs about trans visibility. But I think Thomas Beatie’s pregnancy, and his decision to be an out and proud pregnant man deserves some further discussion.
Where were YOU in 1988? (I was in 3rd grade, catching all kinds of hell from my fellow 9-year-olds for listening to REM instead of The New Kids on the Block, but that’s all good—who’s laughing now, suckas?!?) But wherever you were 20 years ago, odds are it wasn’t at New York City’s first annual LGBT film festival. Chances are it was called the “gay & lesbian” film fest back then, cause the politically correct epitaph “LGBT” (or GLBT– we can never seem to agree who gets first billing) hadn’t been invented yet. Really, when was the last time you heard the overly simplistic “gay & lesbian” tag at all? Not in the newspapers. The Washington Post Style Guide as of 2006 has specifically instructed journalists not to use the phrase, as it is redundant and vague. Yep, the times they are a-changin’.
Here in 2008, you can purchase your NewFest tickets, just $13 each, right here: http://www.newfest.org/cgi-bin/iowa/index.html. With ten days of screenings, from June 5-15, there is something for evvybody in this thing, believe me kids. I am particularly juiced for Don’t Go, the pilot episode for a multiracial Melrose Place meets The L-Word, starring the ever-luscious Guinevere Turner (Go Fish) and Chutney Popcorn’s Nisha Ganatra. Go get your tix, and support queer cinema now!
This weekend was Q-Me Con’s 3rd annual huzzah, and let me tell you guys, it was one hell of a juicy fete. Queer women media-makers from all over the world converged on Ripley Greer Studios in Midtown Manhattan for a full day of workshops, panels, seminars, and a truly hard rock keynote address from perhaps the most beloved lesbian director & filmmaker of our time, Rose Troche (The L-Word, Go Fish).
by Jenny Aisenberg
Hey everyone, California’s Supreme Court overturned the ban on gay marriage. This is a happy time for all of us in the queer community. We should be in the streets cheering (some of us are.)I’m sure that by now you’ve all been googling the articles and have the facts and figures memorized and embroidered on all your tea cozies, etc. Words cannot express the happiness I feel towards this long over due step towards equality for us.So I won’t even try.Feel free, please, to write us and let us know how you feel.
—My Best, Anna Romer
