The Mummy, the Squirrel, and the Honest Truth: Bread Isn’t Gendered!
Prism & Pen Weekly Digest 21 July 2024
By James Finn and Tucker Lieberman
This week, Prism & Pen offers a kaleidoscope of queer voices— from one of President Obama’s former Secret Service protective agents who declined (out of rational fear) to be interviewed on a conservative news outlet about the Trump assassination attempt, to a queer filmmaker who looks at the good, bad and neutral of reality TV dating shows, to a look at the Christian Post and anti-scientific promotion of conversion therapy.
Also, a P&P writer warns against GOP propaganda, reminding readers that it’s impossible to be queer and vote Republican. Another writer examines what look like passionate gay love letters from famed composer Frédéric Chopin.
And, did you know Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta is one of North America’s best but least-known queer vacation destinations?
Plus, we feature queer aging issues, speculate about gender of bread, and offer up a diversity of fiction — from a gay detective and a mummy, a squirrel called Death, a lesbian witch and a demon, and a pair of same-sex lovers in the distant future who aren’t even members of the same species.
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* Discover P&P Diversity in Three Stories *
‘Reparative’ Therapist Claims Banning Conversion Therapy is Discrimination
The Christian Post is hosting a series of articles … defending the practice of … “conversion therapy.” There are three articles so far in this series.
In his first article, [Andrew] Rodriguez declares himself the “boogeyman” that “haunts” 2SLGBTQ+ people’s dreams. He sounds proud of the fear he engenders in us.
In his third article, Rodriguez argues that SOGICE “is not coercive.” … Rodriguez claims that outlawing SOGICE is “discrimination … against the people seeking help.”
Palm Trees and Pride Flags: Get To Know Gay Puerto Vallarta
I’m passionate about the Spanish language. I majored in it in college, and I now work as a Spanish medical interpreter. After finishing my undergraduate degree, I also lived in Uruguay, which strengthened my fluency. So, I’m always eager to explore places where Spanish is the primary language.
As Former Secret Service, I Protect My Family By Saying No to Anti-Gay News
Following the assassination attempt on former President Trump, I was inundated with interview requests from media outlets across the world, asking me to weigh in on what happened and, more importantly, how it happened.
As a former Secret Service Agent and a very public one following the release of my book, Breaking Free, in 2023, the requests weren’t wholly unexpected …
Then I received an email asking me to appear (that very day) for a well-known conservative outlet.
* From the Publisher *
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* This Week’s Essays & Creative Non Fiction *
I Briefly Stepped Into This Single Gay Man’s World
We leaned on the railing of the bridge and chatted a bit, most of the time it was me trying to think of questions to ask. I asked him where the Norwegian forest was, and he looked puzzled. I said it was a book by Haruki Murakami. He said he only knew the Beatles’ song. I awkwardly laughed and said I hadn’t heard it. He didn’t respond, just smiled gently and quietly watched the small river.
I Feel Ashamed For Not Producing ‘Enough’ Queer Content During Pride Month
When I fail to produce content, I feel that I’m “failing” my community. … I have to remind myself how it isn’t healthy to get carried away with flogging my aura.
Discussing Gay Vanity and Aging
Aging and the “conditions” that accompany it can be very isolating, frightening, and debilitating. I am one of those who does not like to “air my laundry” in public, and there are very few people with whom I choose to discuss my conditions.
Recently, however, I have realized that in the spirit of my writing, I am letting others know they are not alone in the world.
“I Don’t Believe Bread Is Gendered”
Lsjaffee (Writer, Educator, Over-Thinker)
Helping myself to a corned beef sandwich, she admonished me, “Don’t take the skinny bread? That’s for ladies. Get the real rye bread.”
A Trans Woman Melts Down across the Street from a Gender Reveal Party
The wombo-combo of estrogen, progesterone, finasteride, and biotin has done a number on my baldness. Scalp flushed with peach fuzz, every week brings a touch more thickness and colour.
I have so much further to go.
Escaping The Cage of Gender Roles
As a teenager, I ran away from home at 16 to unconsciously protect my authenticity, unable to save my mother when she escaped the patriarchal culture only to fall into the trap of a subculture. Leaving a toxic context was also a way to break free from the cycle of transgenerational trauma that had been passed down through my family.
A History of Subtle Femme-Shame on Gay Reality-TV Dating Shows
Of course, these [reality TV] shows usually had just one queer person in the ensemble.
Meanwhile, reality TV dating shows would exclude gay people altogether, out of necessity. Contemplating the innumerable, formulaic reiterations of the heterosexual reality dating show literally makes my head hurt.
That said, I will happily dip my toe into a genre I detest if it promises a bit of gay representation. And luckily, there were a small handful of reality TV dating shows that centered — or at least featured — gay people.
But among the few I can think of, there is a frustratingly consistent trend.
Chopin’s (Not So Obvious) Queerness Contrasts with His Biographies
I don’t find it vital for us to absolutely prove whether they were lovers or not, or if they shared intimate lives together or simply a platonic relationship. But words have meaning, and in the same way Chopin’s relationships were said to have been heterosexual up to this point, why not show how there’s a completely different way to look at them?
A Gay Senior Looks at His Death
In previous essays, you may have read about MICHAEL’S MUSEUM: A Curious Collection of Curious Treasures, a permanent exhibit at Chicago Children’s Museum on Navy Pier since 2011.
Since then, I have continued collecting and, in the end, have turned my condo into MICHAEL’S MUSEUM: Condo Collections Campus of Evanston. It is not open to the public, but I do share tours with friends, family, and neighbors.
A Hollywood Icon Turned Tricks a Few Blocks from My Hollywood Home
Joe Guay — Dispatches From the Guay Life!
If you’re into old-time Hollywood, you may not be able to put it down.
Full Service by Scotty Bowers and Lionel Friedberg arrived on the scene in 2012 and I have to admit, this tell-all written by the then 88-year-old Bowers blew my innocent little mind wide open.
Stunned speechless. Jaw on the ground.
Not only about the overwhelming power of image and the Hollywood dream factory, but also my thorough brainwashing about the place of sex in the world from a conservative society and the Church.
Can We Stop Gatekeeping Womanhood?
A trans woman isn’t obligated to disclose her identity when she’s only in the beginning stages of dating. Especially not a first date because withholding her truth can ensure that she gets home safely that day.
Conversations Between a Transgender Woman and Her Dead Mother
Years before I was diagnosed as transgender, a friend who was patiently listening to me complain again about my mother, sat back and she said:
“You know that you are the daughter your mother never had.”
You Can NOT Be Queer and Vote Republican
The 2024 Republican National Convention attempted to pull the wool over America’s eyes, pretending that the GOP is becoming more welcoming and inclusive to LGBTQ+ folks.
Please, please, please, do NOT fall for this smokescreen! Let me be clear… You can NOT be queer and vote Republican!
By sending the president of the conservative gay organization Log Cabin Republicans out to shill on network television, Republicans would have us believe …
* Fiction Shorts *
The Gay Detective: The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb
The museum had done the ‘Dark Pyramid’ proud. The main hall was hung from ceiling to floor with desert-sand-colored banners. Each bearing hieroglyphic symbols and a larger-than-life depiction of the old gods.
In the lower gallery, subdued lighting flickered on crimson draperies. The polished basalt of the sarcophagus with its intricate bas-relief carvings glowed on its massive, dark marble plinth.
Waitstaff bearing trays of exotic drinks were garbed in long, pleated linen robes and black wigs. And dramatic, kohl eyeliner. Very “Cleopatra.”
Death Squirrel: A Gay Horror Story
I spun around, expecting to see one of Adam’s relatives. Instead, I saw Death. He didn’t even need to introduce himself…
He didn’t look like what you’d expect, though. He wasn’t some cloaked skeleton with a scythe. Instead, he was a giant squirrel, with bulging black eyes and massive yellow incisors …
“You know,” he said slyly, “this hospital is filled with the terminal. You should hear the moans. I’m only scheduled for one pick up today, though.” He stretched out his words, as if he was baiting me.
“Why does it have to be Adam?”
“It doesn’t.”
* Fiction Series *
The Medellan Conspiracy
This novel, part of a continuing sci-fi series that is both explicitly queer and thoughtful queer allegory, is winding down. But excitement is ramping up!
With a grave look, Andreesen spoke again. “Our only demand is to hold the leadership of the Society of Sevens accountable for their actions. They are the ones who orchestrated the destruction of the Grand Council Hall and have time and again threatened those of us who sought the truth. Keep this in mind when you vote in the upcoming election.
“People of Med’nor, let us bring them to justice and unite as one world.”
When the display went blank, silence descended in their living room.
Read Episode 83: Entreaty
Read Episode 84: Fulmination
Her Witch, Her Demon
She inhaled and exhaled slowly. She was just here to return an unwanted gift. What did she care if women were practically throwing themselves at Nyx? Besides, was this even surprising? Nyx was stunning, wealthy, and powerful. She was also a demon, and everyone knew how overly sexual demons were. Whatever Nyx did was none of her business. She would return the gift and get the hell out.
After her internal pep talk, she sauntered towards the demons. But then she halted in her tracks when the redhead kissed Nyx passionately on the lips ... Meredith’s eyes stung.
That’s it for this week!
Happy reading! Keep shining the love, and send your stories to Prism & Pen.
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