The feisty comic settles a few scores, celebrates the friends and mentors who helped her claw her way to the middle, and shares insider gossip about celebrity behavior—the good, the bad, and the very ugly. She also reveals intimate details about her life before and after she made it to the big time. We’re buying it for the title alone. Sept. 8. —Preview: Suzie Lynde
Editor’s note: see next month’s issue of OutSmart magazine for an interview with Kathy Griffin
Forget health care. Forget the economy. Forget Jon and Kate plus the eight overexposed product of their loins. The biggest story to hit the headlines this month is Texas conservative Tom DeLay being chosen as a contestant on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars.
Noted gay and lesbian leaders Harvey Milk and Billie Jean King were among the 16 recipients of the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom. America’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom is awarded to individuals who make an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.
Caleb is a small southern boy at a Washington private school. Lonely and isolated, he comes into his true self when he discovers the art of Andy Warhol, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and the people who were always there, but not previously seen. Darkly humorous › and nicely plotted, Pop Salvation is an insightful look at becoming who we truly are. Don’t let the fact that gay coming-of-age stories are all the rage right now keep you away from this right-on story. —Review: A.C.
On July 23, 2009, the Department of Defense authorization bill, which contains the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act (bill number S.909), passed in the U.S. Senate.
John Cheever (1912–1982), Pulitzer Prize-winning chronicler of suburban angst, was the very model of a postmodern, self-loathing, closeted, alcoholic bisexual who viewed his sexual orientation as “some enormous bruise.” In 679 pages, his biographer titillatingly traces Cheever’s 70 sad years as an “imposter” in 20th-century society, including how, in Berlin, gay Texan Paul Moor rebuffed Cheever’s advances. —Preview: Donalevan Maines
More than 25,800 people have been tested for HIV as a result of a routine screening program for Ben Taub General Hospital’s emergency patients. Last year, Harris County Hospital District (HCHD) began testing all patients, ages 18-64, who arrive in Ben Taub’s emergency center and require blood lab work. The screenings have detected 178 newly diagnosed HIV-positive cases, representing a .65 positive rate since the program was implemented in August 2008. The testing program also reconfirmed the HIV status of 323 people who had not sought care for the virus.
I love fictional memoirs—they allow writers to share the heart of a story while allowing them to protect the innocent. In Café Tempest, Sarah agrees to direct the local Greek townspeople in a production of the The Tempest. Everything you would expect from such a setup ensues. This book has it all—a magnificent sense of place, wonderful characters to care about, and some of the best dialogue I’ve read in a while. I’m trying hard not to hold the publisher’s apparent homophobia (we’re told it’s a gay book by a mis-cut little piece of paper inserted in the reader’s copy) against this excellent debut novel. —Review: Angel Curtis
On September 30, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act is set to expire. Sounding the alarm for public support, local HIV/AIDS service providers say millions of Americans living with HIV/AIDS are dependent for their medical care on the Ryan White programs, making it vital that the act is reauthorized by Congress.
The Houston Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Political Caucus met August 5 to endorse candidates in the 2009 Houston municipal elections as well as Houston Independent School District board of trustee elections.
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