Some queer book recs!

My BFF gave me this wonderful book, "Self Evident Truths: 10,000 portraits of Queer America" by iO Tillet Wright. An awesome tome of black and white photos spanning 10 years and many different places in the US. I got lost in this for a while and will get lost in many more times for years to come.

Interview with the creator, also featuring some pictures:

https://www.them.us/story/self-evident-truths-io-tillet-wright-interview

Cross-posting my Goodreads review of the graphic novel "Flamer" by Mike Curato.

Absolutely incredible book. The art is stunning-- mostly black and white, but then some things in red, orange, and yellow, the color of the campfire flames lighting up the night at Aiden's boy scout camp.

Aiden loves boy scout camp and feels more free and accepted there than he does at home or school; he loves being outside and clowning around with his friends. But he experiences almost constant homophobia, and sometimes racism, from his fellow scouts. He has body image issues. His home life is not great: his dad constantly yells. He likes church, but has been taught that being gay is a sin.

Aiden learns archery, orienteering, basket weaving, and other skills at camp. He forms a crush on a popular boy and begins to realize that he's gay. Confusing dreams, fights, and other events-- all portrayed with the heightened emotions of adolescence-- culminate in a brush with suicide, which he survives.

Aiden is 14 in 1995; the same age I was then.

This is an important book about growing up gay in a hostile world. The beauty of the art accentuates an intensely emotional journey. This is bravely told.

Some queer movies!

Victor/Victoria - 1982; source: local library. Starring Julie Andrews.

Not sure how/why I waited so long to see this. At least quarantine has been allowing me to catch up on movies.

I am amazed and pleased at how super queer this movie is. The opening scene has two men waking up in bed together. One goes to dresser and takes money out of the other's wallet. The setting is 1939, Paris; many of the scenes take place in queer-friendly cabarets.

The story is a truly funny farce with lots of great one-liners, comebacks, and gags. The protagonists have a refreshing lack of homophobia. I'm just amazed that this was a mainstream movie in the early 80s, with big-name actors, and it won awards. There are no gay bashings, though there are some anti-gay slurs used.

My one complaint/content note is that in one scene, late in the film, someone intentionally smashes another person's finger, and it's played for laughs. There were a couple other somewhat uncomfortable moments, but overall, the tone is light and playful, one might even say Gay!

The Boys in the Band - 2020 - Netflix.

This is a remake of a 1968 play and movie about a group of gay men who gather to celebrate a birthday. The cast of this film is the same as the Broadway revival; it features actors who are openly gay and includes Zachary Quinto, Jim Parsons, and Matt Bomer.

I felt like I was missing some cultural context for this. To me it just seemed like these "friends" didn't actually like each other that much, and were being mean to each other for sport. I suffered through the last half of it, mostly to watch Zachary Quinto chew scenery while wearing a green velvet suit. I'm glad I saw it, though, for cultural reasons. I also watched the short documentary about the film, in which the playwright, Mart Crowley, was interviewed.

I was pleased to learn that two of the actors in the piece, who play a couple, became a couple IRL and are now together. That's some fan fic shit right there.