The Washington Post (9/26, 9/27, 10/3, 10/4) has had an extraordinary series on gay teenagers on its front page. Two of the four focused on an Oklahoma boy, Michael Shackleford (a self- described ‘redneck’) and the other two describe the life of Felicia Holt, a Newark, NJ, lesbian teen. The series goes into considerable depth about Shackleford’s problems in the Bible Belt and Holt’s situation in the inner city. Both teens were recorded by teams of reporters over the period of a year.
The Economist (10/2-8) has an obit of Nigel Nicolson. This Englishman was best known for his 1973 biography of his parents, Portrait of a Marriage. Those parents were Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicholson, both members of the famous Bloomsbury literary circle. After his mother’s death he found notebooks and letters confirming love affairs with many women including Virginia Woolf. His father also had same-sex affairs but the parents in an amicable English fashion stayed together. ‘Portrait …’ told all but in a civilized manner.
The NY Times (10/3) reports some odd realignments in the Episcopal church over gay issues. Some U.S. churches such as St. James of Newport Beach, Calif., have decided to have as their regional head the Bishop of Uganda, 9,000 miles away rather than the more liberal Bishop of L.A. This is directly due to the consecration of a gay man, the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, as Bishop of New Hampshire and also the sporadic defense of same-sex unions here and there among Episcopal congregations. The African church is vehemently anti-gay.
The Chicago Reader (10/8) has a major story on the more than alleged sexuality of wannabe senator, Alan Keyes’ daughter, Maya. Posted on her own blog and highly noticed by other bloggers is evidence of the 19-year-old’s lesbianism. Keyes himself is evading the issue by blustering and the major media are tip-toeing around it, says the Reader.
The NY Times (10/7) writes of an interesting interpretation of some 2000 census data: according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Black lesbian and Black gay male couples are raising children at nearly twice the rate of their white counterparts. In fact the majority of lesbian households (61%) are raising kids. Whatever happened to good old anti-family promiscuity?
Check out a couple of new movies. The NY Times (10/8) reviews Stage Beauty. Billy Crudup plays one of the last male ‘actresses’ on the 17th century English stage while Claire Danes plays one of the first actresses. Over-the-top but enjoyable. Outing Riley will premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival says the Chicago Reader (10/8). It is full of ‘strong language, nudity, and men kissing.’ It stars its own (heterosexually married) director, Pete Jones (who couldn’t find another lead) who has said, ‘I can’t lie, making out with another guy is thrilling.’