While many of us will hit some of the major summer theatrical releases, like the new Indiana Jones and Iron Man, what’s coming out in terms of gay and lesbian independent films for summer viewing? Unfortunately, while we don’t often acknowledge it, a fair bit of the films out there that would appeal to the GLBTQ community are just not well written, acted or filmed. Fortunately, there are exceptions that are worth your time and money this summer. One big change expected in marketing gay and lesbian films is a move toward simultaneous release on DVD and theaters. For those of us without a gay friendly indie theater nearby, this means the chance to see movies months before we could have otherwise.

Shelter offers a refreshingly well done look at two surfers falling in love. This gay romance is a coming out movie, but without the gay bar drama, HIV scares and other issues that mark many such films. It’s simply a story of first love, acted and written well. The trailer, and more information on Shelter, can be found at http://www.heretv.com/sheltermovie/.

Faith Akin’s The Edge of Heaven is, at its core, an east-meets-west story; however, the couple at the core of it is a lesbian couple. This multi ethnic couple is not central to the story because of their sexuality, but simply their love story and their struggles over borders and politics.

If you enjoy foreign films, the 2008 release of The Bubble may appeal. This is also a love story marked by political divisiveness. In this Hebrew film directed by Eytan Fox, the bubble of life as one of the hip in Tel Aviv bursts when Noa meets the Palestinian Ashraf and they fall in love.

Zero Chou’s Spider Lilies is another viable option for those looking for a DVD to add to their on-line queues this summer. The Taiwanese Spider Lilies is a drama, with a lesbian love story intertwined into slightly surreal cinematography. While its official release was 2006, it played at this year’s London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.

In fact, the London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival can be a good source for movie possibilities. View the list of films shown at http://www.bfi.org.uk/llgff/all_films_showing. While many of these are not new releases, perhaps you’ll see a movie or two that you have previously overlooked and find new favorites. For newer releases, see http://heretv.com/AFilmsPage.php as a possible source of what you might watch on DVD or even in your local indie theater. The LOGO owned afterellen.com and afterelton.com are a consistently good source for information about what’s going on of interest to LGBTQ individuals in the media, including books, television and movies.

Looking for a good book this summer? Many people take advantage of warm days and additional time off in the summer to do some reading, or spend some time reading by the pool or on the beach. Whether you’re looking to read one of the top new novels of the year or an old classic, summer is an ideal time to start a new book or even pick up a stack.

If you are looking for a good overall list of recommended gay and lesbian literature, take a look at jclarkmedia.com/gaybooks/recommended.html for a fairly comprehensive list. You might also check out afterellen.com/books for reviews of books with lesbian themes, and afterelton.com/books for books with gay themes. You might also review past winners of the Stonewall Book Award. While not specifically gay and lesbian oriented, many avid readers have happily taken on the challenge presented in Peter Boxall’s 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. Either of these can be a good start, particularly if you prefer your summer reading on the heavier side of things.

Some of the best possibilities for summer reading are not specifically queer themed, but are great new novels on the market. You should be able to find these in your local bookshop without difficulty, and enjoy them whether you are at home or traveling this summer. These range from novels of serial killers to young adult fantasy, from vampire stories to travel writing.

Tom Rob Smith’s Child 44 is a story of a serial killer in Stalinist Russia, and is receiving broad accolades, both from the literary community and readers as a whole. If you are of a more romantic bent, Salman Rushdie’s new Enchantress of Florence brings to life the world of renaissance Italy. Since some of us admittedly enjoy our summer reading on the lighter side, Stephenie Meyer’s new novel in the Twilight series, The Host is receiving good reviews. Christopher Paolini’s new addition to the Eragon trilogy is also due out for an early summer release.

What am I reading this summer? I suspect I’ll reread the classic Rubyfruit Jungle, and read for the first time John Barrowman’s autobiography Anything Goes, Jennifer Harris’ Pink, and Sarah Schulman’s The Child. I’d like to squeeze in Sarah Waters’ The Night Watch and finally, with some guilt that I haven’t read them before, take on Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City. I have no doubt I’ll sneak a few other books in under the wire as well while I retreat to the comfort of air conditioning on hot summer days.

This article was just fascinating. It features two young gay men aged 25, who recently were married in Boston. Joshua and Benjamin are husbands. That was fun to type… husbands not just hugsbands they would be if they were only allowed Civil Marriage.

The New York Times did an elaborate piece on the young couple. It also talked about how MTV did a show on a set of male and female couples from Massachusetts. Good Stuff. Read more about it here.

When most of us just paid our high tax bills we looked around and wondered if we get anything out of our payments to the government. Gay Marriage is a start to getting the benefits in life we deserve and the love that the straights can cherish.

If you are over 18 and have excellent writing skills and enjoy to write or blog we would love to hear from you. We are looking for a GLBT perspective on current events, politics, health, fashion, dating, and money. We are looking for more than just a typical blogger but someone who can write great newsworthy articles with a little research involved (all writings will be at least 250 words).

If you have a passion for writing and getting your voice heard then send us an email via the contact form. Send us your contact information and if you have any online (or print) articles or blogs be sure to include those. Also, please send amount you are looking to be paid per post or article.

Note: You must be a legal resident of the US, UK, or Canada.

It’s up at Pulp Magazine’s site.

I’m working on a submission for Best Lesbian Erotica 2008. I’m currently at 1600 words.

A call for submissions via BeyondMasculinity.com:

Deadline extended until May 31st!

Gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer men’s gender identities often exist somewhere outside the traditional categories of “masculine” and “feminine.” Sissies, drag queens, and leather daddies alike play with gender in a way that cannot be accounted for in traditional understandings of maleness. This collection — part blog, part anthology, part audiobook — aims to shatter traditional understandings of maleness and point towards a new understanding of how queerness and gender intersect.

BEYOND MASCULINITY is looking for contributions in four key areas. Contributors should not feel bound by these categories – they should rather be seen as potential prompts:

• Identity Intersections: How do race, ability, class, and other kinds of identities and experiences intersect with gender and queerness — and how do these intersections complicate our relationship to traditional understandings of “maleness?”

• Feminism, Gender, and Politics: How can feminism inform our understanding of queer male gender? Can queer men be feminists? How can we use our queerness as a political tool? What does male privilege look like for queer men?

• Bodies, Desire, and Pleasure: What kinds of male bodies are desired? Fetishized? Where does sexual desire intersect with queer gender and how are these politics mapped out on our bodies?

• Queer Male Communities: How are our identities produced through our communities? How do the gender norms and politics of gay/bi/trans/queer male communities both liberate and constrain us?

We’re looking for queer male writers to step up and contribute their thoughts to this online project. This is not your typical bookstore anthology. It will be only available online – and it will be completely free of charge to the public. With its unique implementation of media, this anthology aims to change the way queer non-fiction is done.

I love what this anthology is about. And I love the idea of making audio recordings of contributors reading their essays available even more. So much so that audio recordings of Femmethology contributors reading their pieces may appear in the future!

So if you’re a “straight” woman who is reading this queer blog and sleeping with other women you can find out what Rachel wants to talk about here. And don’t worry, you can be anonymous; there’s no danger of losing your “straightness.”

I’m still accepting submissions for my next book, Visible: A Femmethology, an anthology of writing on queer femme identity. You can read my call for submissions here.

And for some femme around the Web, check out:

• Darrah’s words on sluts and virgins in her most recent “Femme in the City” column
• Ethereal’s interview with Go Rainbow Radio, in which she discusses music, the GLBT community, politics, femme identity and her short story that appeared in my first anthology, Queer Shorts
• “Trans, Cyber and Valentine’s Day,”a piece by femme writer who chatted with Allenina, a “former porn star, turned stripper, aspiring actress, and ‘one name’ performance artist,” about some of her online dating experiences:

  One year ago, she met Lon on MySpace. After messaging for a while, they decided to rendezvous.”I wanted to meet where it was bright and safe… Also, as a transwoman, there is an insecurity that someone may be repulsed.”

  Lon wasn’t. Days after their first date, Allenina invited him to her home. The mutual attraction led to a back massage. “Just to make sure he knew I was trans, I asked him if he had read my profile,” Allenina reveals. [He asked] “Why, is there some thing that I should know?” From the look on his face, Allenina sensed there was a problem and told Lon that perhaps he should leave. He agreed saying he would phone later. She never spoke to him again.

  “Sometimes I think people just don’t read cyber profiles. I always put in my profile that I am trans. I do put it at the end, however, as I don’t think that is all I am. I also wonder if my profile on MySpace is too sexy. Maybe people relate transsexual with sex and nothing more,” Allenina says.

  (Send 1ofakindfeminatrix at MySpace a friend request so you can read the rest of “Trans, Cyber and Valentine’s Day” at her blog.)

• I Heart Brooklyn Girls is looking for 12 queer femme Brooklynites for their upcoming 2008 calendar.Send your bio and couple of photos (a close up and a full body shot) to castingcall AT iheartbrooklyngirls DOT com by March 20th.

Transparent: Love, Family, and Living the T with Transgender Teenagers by Cris Beam was released last month by Harcourt. In Transparent Beam introduces four teen trans girls whose lives she found herself deeply involved with when she decided to volunteer at a Los Angeles school for gay and transgender kids.

You’ll find an excerpt after the jump.

I’ll have a review copy of Transparent soon. More after I finish it. And maybe an interview with Cris Beam, too.

Read more »

Hiding in Hip-Hop: Confessions of a Down Low Brother in the Entertainment Industry, a book by former MTV producer Terrance Dean, has been sold to Atria Books, a division Simon & Schuster, and is expected to be published next year.

Pink News reports the book will expose “[t]he author’s life as a closeted homosexual working in the film and music industry and his relationships with other closeted homosexuals—film stars, rap artists, and music producers.” While the book will not name any of the film stars, rap artists or music producers, an Atria spokesperson said those who know the hip hop world will be able to identify the people in Dean’s book.

Already published popular “down low” titles include:

On the Down Low: A Journey into the Lives of ‘Straight’ Black Men Who Sleep with Men