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Do gay protagonists exist? ( Web Comics and Novels AND MUSIC help )
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Northstar too, but he's somewhat less notable (Alpha Flight, Nation X)
Thanks for this. I'd never heard of it but I'm digging it so far :mrgreen:
this is the text for the short story of Brokeback mountain. Very sad, but a beautiful story nonetheless.
If you have any way of getting to an arthouse or indie theater, try and find a showing of A Single Man. Again it is quite sad but achingly beautiful.
I'm sort of blanking on this though. I can't really think of any songs other some ones I like that are gender neutral.
like:
Sea of Love
and Summertime Clothes
I'm a gay dude and I find both of those songs pretty sweet, and neither of them bring up gender.
oh and here's a very nice fan made music video for a grizzly bear song. It's a lovely song also. Plus one of the musicians in grizzly bear is gay! The song doesn't swing either way, but the fan interpreted as a gay love song.
http://vimeo.com/5904993
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OH7NhwZlj4
:whistle: so come and dance with me michael :whistle:
Christopher Rice's stuff isn't bad. His first two books were decent, although not really something I would necessarily read again. I agree with supporting LGBT authors and such, but if it's not as good as a book about "straight" people, then I don't know.
Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris are two excellent gay authors (who are actually quite well-known in the mainstream), if they haven't been suggested. Sedaris' stuff is more comedy-themed, but he does talk about his partner in a number of stories. Augusten may or may not be partnered right now, but is a very engaging storyteller, although some of his stuff is more shocking than humor. He definitely talks about relationships, however.
LGBT music... Do you mean music by LGBT groups? Or just pro-LGBT?
LGBT there are plenty... Pansy Division, Pet Shop Boys (one of my personal favorites), R.E.M, Rufus Wainright, Queen...
There's multiple websites that list a lot of them:
http://www.rainbowsauce.com/music.html
Pro-LGBT there are even more, but that site should help you for now.
While I understand your rant about the bookstore, they stock what sells.
Do you subscribe to any LGBT magazines? The Advocate and Out regularly have reviews of Queer music, novels, plays, movies, etc that would be of interest to you - and no, they aren't smut, they are actually things of substance (It's easy to find smut, right). The Advocate is usually more political, but both magazines have reviews and information about non-politically related things.
Having grown up in a rural and anti-gay area of the country, I had to rely on magazines and such for a number of years as well.
I could keep going.
For... quite a long time.
So you can IM or PM me if you have any more questions, as I don't check H&A too often. =)
You are not seeing what gay/bisexual/lesbian/transgender people go through.
As such, you shouldn't make blanket statements about how their lives are not different.
At best, you are simply wrong.
At worst, you sound ignorant and/or insulting.
For a heterosexual couple, do they have to consider if they are even legally allowed TO GET MARRIED?
Does a heterosexual couple have to worry about laws if their partner goes into a coma or dies that may prevent them from seeing their loved one?
Does a heterosexual couple have to worry about the fact that many peoples' wills have been contested by the person's family and their partner ends up getting nothing based on the fact they were gay/bisexual/lesbian?
So please, PLEASE educate yourself before making statements like this. I assume you didn't mean this in an insulting way, but that's just the problem:
a lot of people simply do. not. understand. all the problems that may affects LGBT people that simply don't even appear on a heterosexual person's radar.
You don't have to "get" how it is different to be gay... because you aren't.
But in many, many ways it is very different.
I'm not seeing where any of these worries have anything to do with what you find in entertainment. That's the part that doesn't make sense with me.
It's the same thing as going "You know I'm looking for a book where the main character is a woman." Ok cool. I read a lot of books where the main character is a woman. It doesn't mean I'm a woman or that I feel I need that.
I don't goto the book store to read books that are about white men because I am a white man, I read books because in general they entertain me and that's enough. If it isn't for anyone else then ok fine, go find the book you want. I'm just saying I don't let the shitty stuff in my life dictate what kind of books I want to read, or the kind of music or movies I want to listen to.
I listen to bands I like because the music is good, not because they have someone in the band that is a certain gender or a certain sexual preference.
I'm tired of being argued at because of this topic. I'm just saying I like stuff because I like it, and I don't NEED it to be about a certain thing to like it.
But if you NEED that, then fine.
Nice. Real nice.
I will just ask for the sake of the integrity of this thread that the conversation about why someone would read something with a gay protagonist in it be brought to a halt.
notice how I said my life. I've had shitty stuff happen to me too. I'm not gonna comment any further because this isn't really the place for it.
Glad you found some books, sorry I don't completely understand the situation.
later
Im not reading books with a gay protagonist in them cause ive been gaybashed or ostracized.
Im reading them because i relate more easily to a gay character than a straight one. I can see myself in their shoes more easily.
You repeatedly completely miss the point.
Also the way you keep phrasing it.. you act like my sexuality is some horrible tragedy, rather than the events that transpire around the fact that i am gay. I really dont like that at all.
I highly recommend Augusten Burroughs' books. His writing is engaging and fascinating. He's also a really nice guy, who I've met once! And he wrote back when I wrote him an e-mail after reading Running with Scissors. (I tend to make it a point to e-mail authors when I like their books.)
Anyway, I would start with Possible Side Effects. It's a "day in the life" book of a gay guy, and it's hilarious and awesome and I love it.
3DS (Animal Crossing): 3668-8130-1273
By Robert J Sawyer
While the main human character is not gay, the main characters from the Neanderthals are bisexual, actually the entire species is.
oh good call. definitely check out david sedaris. his is a similar (in my opinion better) "day-in-the-life" memoir style of writing but he's extremely funny.
in particular me talk pretty one day and when you are engulfed in flames. he's a phenomenal writer.
http://www.pinkkryptonite.com
In particular, you might find the GLBT character of the week series from last year interesting.
3DS (Animal Crossing): 3668-8130-1273
Other stuff I can think of right now:
The Chosen by Ricardo Pinto
Iron Council by China Miéville
Neither of them pay any special heed to the homosexual characters, they just happen to have sex with the same gender rather than the opposite.
The homosexuality isn't mentioned at all until near the end of The Chosen, and I haven't read the sequel, so it might not be what you want. But it's great stuff anyway.
Spare Scrolls for trade
Look into The Magnetic Fields. Some of the songs are ambiguous, but quite a few are clearly about gay relationships.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yMTeu3Y1sQ
Im well into book 2 at the moment.
I want to thank you all once again for your contributions to this thread. If you come up with anything else please add it to the list.
This has most certainly made my week, if not my entire month! ^_^
I prefer Sedaris's books in general, since they tend to be humorous stories, which is more my thing.
Augusten's stuff is very good, but at times very draining, especially his book about trying to stop being an alcoholic. It was just very emotional to read, although definitely worth it.
I have never emailed an author, maybe I should. I do enjoy reading.
Sedaris also has a very memorable voice.
I've seen him three times in person for a reading (which is really, really fun) and now when I read, I hear everything in his voice, which only improves things.
"Me Talk Pretty Someday"
So far its funny as hell.
I relate to the speech therapy story way too well ( i was mostly deaf as a child ). Thankfully though i think i had much better speech therapists.
Also... i dont think they gave a shit that i talked and sounded like a girl until i hit puberty. In which case my voice dropped half an octive, and i started sounding more like my mother.
Also, if you like Sedaris, he is often a contributor to This American Life. They just featured him in the podcast christmas special.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNxzFPTA1y4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvxxVihPGFk
3DS (Animal Crossing): 3668-8130-1273
Jay Brannan.. got it. After seeing that video... just wow. That song was beautiful, and his voice was so serene.
Also... maybe its just me.. but i wouldnt mind being a housewife either. That would probably be a blissful existence.
Women in the 1950s really had it made didnt they?
Also, what im "sigh" about... is i have like no money for nothing now. Most of my christmas money got swept away in Steam Sales and getting a new couch for my study. And now that i have all these new books and stuff....
Sigh. I gotta beg my mom for 10 bucks now to get that album.
>_>
One of the first novels with a gay protagonist who isn't punished for being gay, and Vidal was blacklisted for a few years after its release.
Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode... Then stuff like madonna and bette midler.
I'm unsure of your total gay education here.
3DS (Animal Crossing): 3668-8130-1273
3DS (Animal Crossing): 3668-8130-1273
I still havent seen The Wire. I got HBO just recently so... damn.
And i dont have money for expensive dvd boxsets.
The Kinks -- Lola
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRopmfinsWk
MGMT - Kids (Electro stompy stuff)
The Smiths - This Charming Man (British aternative from the eighties)
I hate that song.
I don't know why. Maybe because there was a two month period here where it was played on the radio every 15 goddamned minutes.
3DS (Animal Crossing): 3668-8130-1273
I THINK with an HBO subscription you can go into HBO Go online and watch all their old stuff.
And the Czars considering John was from that band.
His music is somewhat to do with his drug and alcohol addiction from being gay.