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Books of the season

Fall peppered with bounty of LGBT releases

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books, Lawfully Wedded Husband, gay news, Washington Blade
Lawfully Wedded Husband, Lawfully Wedded Wife, My Brother My Sister, gay news, Washington Blade

Several great books with LGBT themes are out this year. (Photos courtesy of the publishers)

So you’re dreaming, maybe, of a wedding coming up. Maybe it’s yours, or you can live vicariously through the pages of several great books on gay marriage that are out this year.

“Lawfully Wedded Husband” by Joel Derefner (University of Wisconsin Press) is a rompishly fun book about wooing and cooing, chapel bells, wedded bliss and all that comes with it — and more, including a reality show.

Didn’t I say it was fun?

And then there’s “Lawfully Wedded Wives,” edited by Nona Caspers and Joell Hallowell (Spuyten Duyvil, spuytenduyvil.net). In this book, you’ll read a series of vignette-interviews from lesbians who fell in love and took the plunge. This book is huge and lush with page after page of dual tales, each speaking to the romantic and the practical-minded, both. Each story is also filled with love and happiness — and if you need some great ideas for your own wedding, check out the beautiful pictures that accompany each chapter.

Local lesbian poet Kathi Wolfe has a new collection out called “The Green Light” from Finishing Line Press. She’ll read selections at Busboys & Poets (2021 14th Street, N.W.) on Sunday from 5-7 p.m. (bosboysandpoets.com) and at the Nora School (955 Sligo Ave. in Silver Spring, Md.) on Thursday. Details at nora-school.org.

Coming out to your family may have been easy, or it may have been difficult. In “My Brother My Sister” by film critic Molly Haskell (Viking), the author tells the story of her brother who reveals his long-time angst: he’s a woman trapped in a man’s body and at 60-something, he decides to make things right by going through the process to become the woman he knows he’s always been. This is a book about trans history and transsexuals in Western culture, but that’s not all. There’s grief and confusion, dealing with memories and plenty of open-hearted learning; and a story about coming to accept the people you love, all told from the point of view of a family member who watches this transformation.

Who can resist a good scare? Not you, especially when the nights get longer and darker, so you’ll want to look for “This House is Haunted” by John Boyne (Other Press), which will be out just in time for Halloween.

Boyne, author of my absolute all-time favorite books (“The Absolutist”) goes classic here with a proper British nanny who’s hired to tend two children living in a large (and remote!) estate. The kids are creepy, there are no adults around and there’s something watching her — or, at least, there’s something very malevolent lurking around.

Knowing what it is will require some sleuthing — some “don’t-open-that-door” kind of sleuthing, which means you shouldn’t read this book alone. Or in the dark. Or on a stormy night.

Sometimes, all you want is comfort reading (kind of like literary comfort food, if you will) and for that, reach back to “When Women Were Warriors – Book 1: The Warrior’s Path” by Catherine M. Wilson, as read by Janis Ian (Dog Ear Audio). This is the story of a young woman who follows in the footsteps of her mother, her mother’s mother and many of the women in her family who’ve gone to war. The girl, Tamras, begins by becoming a warrior’s apprentice.

Legend has it that Janis Ian loved this book. When Wilson found out, she met Ian and the rest is herstory. “When Women Were Warriors” was released in 2008, but this fresh audio take on the ages-old story of warfare and wisdom will surely come as a welcome fall surprise for brand-new fans of this series.

So go ahead and admit it: you’re positively gleeful on “Glee” nights. And that’s why you’ll want to look for “Drama High” by Michael Sokolove (Riverhead Books). This is the story of a real-life high school theater company and their teacher, Lou Volpe; his life, his 40 years of teaching and the thousands of kids he’s directed in plays that arguably rival that of Broadway. Going further, Sokolove — one of Volpe’s former students — follows a small group of high school actors through one year on the stage and behind the scenes.

And finally, if you’re looking for a gift for yourself or if you really want to impress someone, then look for something a little different from the publishing house of Bruno Gmunder.

The classic photography of David Vance is profiled in “Men and Gods,” due out in November, and it will surely give you some religion. Or if you’re looking for something with a little more action, look for “Tie Me Up! The Complete Guide to Bondage” by Stephan Niederwieser, which also includes how-tos, suggestions for tools to use and a guide for putting aside your inhibitions. And “Beards: An Unshaved History” by Kevin Clarke offers a history of facial hair from the gay perspective, and shows how hot a beard can make a man.

Another interesting coffee table book is the lavishly illustrated “2013 Best of Gay Erotic Art: Capolavoro di Uomo: Masterpiece of Man.” It’s $69.95 and available at capolavoroart.com.

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Books

Chronicling disastrous effects of ‘conversion therapy’

New book uncovers horror, unexpected humor of discredited practice

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(Book cover image courtesy of Jessica Kingsley Publishers)

‘Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors’ Stories of Conversion Therapy’
By Lucas F. W. Wilson
c.2025, Jessica Kingsley Publishers
$21.95/190 pages

You’re a few months in, and it hasn’t gotten any easier.

You made your New Year’s resolutions with forethought, purpose, and determination but after all this time, you still struggle, ugh. You’ve backslid. You’ve cheated because change is hard. It’s sometimes impossible. And in the new book, “Shame-Sex Attraction” by Lucas F. W. Wilson, it can be exceptionally traumatic.

Progress does not come without problems.

While it’s true that the LGBTQ community has been adversely affected by the current administration, there are still things to be happy about when it comes to civil rights and acceptance. Still, says Wilson, one “particularly slow-moving aspect… has been the fight against what is widely known as conversion therapy.”

Such practices, he says, “have numerous damaging, death-dealing, and no doubt disastrous consequences.” The stories he’s collected in this volume reflect that, but they also mirror confidence and strength in the face of detrimental treatment.

Writer Gregory Elsasser-Chavez was told to breathe in something repellent every time he thought about other men. He says, in the end, he decided not to “pray away the gay.” Instead, he quips, he’d “sniff it away.”

D. Apple became her “own conversation therapist” by exhausting herself with service to others as therapy. Peter Nunn’s father took him on a surprise trip, but the surprise was a conversion facility; Nunn’s father said if it didn’t work, he’d “get rid of” his 15-year-old son. Chaim Levin was forced to humiliate himself as part of his therapy.

Lexie Bean struggled to make a therapist understand that they didn’t want to be a man because they were “both.” Jordan Sullivan writes of the years it takes “to re-integrate and become whole” after conversion therapy. Chris Csabs writes that he “tried everything to find the root of my problem” but “nothing so far had worked.”

Says Syre Klenke of a group conversion session, “My heart shattered over and over as people tried to console and encourage each other…. I wonder if each of them is okay and still with us today.”

Here’s a bit of advice for reading “Shame-Sex Attraction”: dip into the first chapter, maybe the second, then go back and read the foreword and introduction, and resume.

The reason: author Lucas F. W. Wilson’s intro is deep and steep, full of footnotes and statistics, and if you’re not prepared or you didn’t come for the education, it might scare you away. No, the subtitle of this book is likely why you’d pick the book up so because that’s what you really wanted, indulge before backtracking.

You won’t be sorry; the first stories are bracing and they’ll steel you for the rest, for the emotion and the tears, the horror and the unexpected humor.

Be aware that there are triggers all over this book, especially if you’ve been subjected to anything like conversion therapy yourself. Remember, though, that the survivors are just that: survivors, and their strength is what makes this book worthwhile. Even so, though “Shame-Sex Attraction” is an essential read, that doesn’t make it any easier.

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Books

How one gay Catholic helped change the world

‘A Prince of a Boy,’ falls short of author’s previous work

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(Book cover image via Amazon)

Brian McNaught, the pioneering gay activist and author of 1986’s “On Being Gay” and 1993’s “Gay Issues in the Workplace,” has written a personal account about his Catholic faith and homosexuality. It is a memoir without much substance.  

“A Prince of a Boy: How One Gay Catholic Helped Change the World” (Cascade Books) is a strong personal statement by McNaught. He helped change family relationships. He helped change attitudes about homosexuality. He helped change workplaces, but the world?

In January 2023, the Catholic News Service reported that Pope Francis announced that, “being homosexual is not a crime.” In December 2023, NPR reported that Pope Francis approved “Catholic blessings for same-sex couples, but not for marriage.” Francis died Monday at age 88. Although Catholics may not see homosexuality as a crime, they see sex outside of marriage as a sin. They see same-sex marriage as a sin.

In 2021, Gallup reported that membership in the Catholic Church had declined 20 percent since 2000. In 2025, the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study found that nearly 40 percent of Americans identified as Protestant, while the same study found that only 19 percent identified as Catholic.

McNaught devotes much of his book to his life as a gay Catholic. It is challenging to read about his personal struggle. Some readers may find it interesting. Others might find it boring. Catholic readers may find it more compelling than Protestant readers.

As the above statistics prove, McNaught has much more work to do to change the Catholic Church’s views about homosexuality. We should be glad for his contribution to the debate within the Catholic Church. We should pray for full acceptance of gays in the Catholic Church.

“A Prince of a Boy” becomes more interesting when McNaught describes his work as an educator on LGBTQ issues. He has had an impact on workplace policies, academic programs, and public education, and his lectures, books, and other materials are widely used. 

Based on my experience in the federal government and volunteering with LGBTQ organizations from the Bay Area to Washington, D.C., I believe McNaught’s work as an educator has improved LGBTQ lives, careers, and families. During the Clinton administration, I gave many copies of “Gay Issues in the Workplace” to personnel directors. I felt their staff could benefit from reading it. I thought it would help the lives and careers of my federal LGBTQ colleagues.

McNaught’s “A Prince of a Boy” was released in December 2024. Anti-gay crusader Anita Bryant died the same month. Bryant campaigned against a gay rights law in Florida. She began a national campaign against gays.

When Bryant successfully reversed a gay rights ordinance in Dade County, Florida, McNaught wrote the important essay “Dear Anita, Late Night Thoughts of an Irish Catholic Homosexual.” The essay is not in “A Prince of a Boy”; however, McNaught mentions Bryant.

In his training programs, McNaught describes homosexuals as journeying from confusion to denial to acceptance to pride. “Anita Bryant and AIDS brought Gay people to identity pride very quickly,” McNaught writes. San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk (1930-1978) and other activists reached similar conclusions about Bryant’s vicious anti-gay campaign.

McNaught helped change the LGBTQ world and brought pride to many people’s lives. McNaught walks in pride, works in pride, and educates others in pride. 

“A Prince of a Boy” is a disappointing book. It provides small details about Brian McNaught’s large, proud life. A meaningful biography about this great gay leader is long overdue.

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Books

‘Pronoun Trouble’ reminds us that punctuation matters

‘They’ has been a shape-shifter for more than 700 years

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(Book cover image courtesy of Avery)

‘Pronoun Trouble’
By John McWhorter
c.2025, Avery
$28/240 pages

Punctuation matters.

It’s tempting to skip a period at the end of a sentence Tempting to overuse exclamation points!!! very tempting to MeSs with capital letters. Dont use apostrophes. Ask a question and ignore the proper punctuation commas or question marks because seriously who cares. So guess what? Someone does, punctuation really matters, and as you’ll see in “Pronoun Trouble” by John McWhorter, so do other parts of our language.

Conversation is an odd thing. It’s spontaneous, it ebbs and flows, and it’s often inferred. Take, for instance, if you talk about him. Chances are, everyone in the conversation knows who him is. Or he. That guy there.

That’s the handy part about pronouns. Says McWhorter, pronouns “function as shorthand” for whomever we’re discussing or referring to. They’re “part of our hardwiring,” they’re found in all languages, and they’ve been around for centuries.

And, yes, pronouns are fluid.

For example, there’s the first-person pronoun, I as in me and there we go again. The singular I solely affects what comes afterward. You say “he-she IS,” and “they-you ARE” but I am. From “Black English,” I has also morphed into the perfectly acceptable Ima, shorthand for “I am going to.” Mind blown.

If you love Shakespeare, you may’ve noticed that he uses both thou and you in his plays. The former was once left to commoners and lower classes, while the latter was for people of high status or less formal situations. From you, we get y’all, yeet, ya, you-uns, and yinz. We also get “you guys,” which may have nothing to do with guys.

We and us are warmer in tone because of the inclusion implied. She is often casually used to imply cars, boats, and – warmly or not – gay men, in certain settings. It “lacks personhood,” and to use it in reference to a human is “barbarity.”

And yes, though it can sometimes be confusing to modern speakers, the singular word “they” has been a “shape-shifter” for more than 700 years.

Your high school English teacher would be proud of you, if you pick up “Pronoun Trouble.” Sadly, though, you might need her again to make sense of big parts of this book: What you’ll find here is a delightful romp through language, but it’s also very erudite.

Author John McWhorter invites readers along to conjugate verbs, and doing so will take you back to ancient literature, on a fascinating journey that’s perfect for word nerds and anyone who loves language. You’ll likely find a bit of controversy here or there on various entries, but you’ll also find humor and pop culture, an explanation for why zie never took off, and assurance that the whole flap over strictly-gendered pronouns is nothing but overblown protestation. Readers who have opinions will like that.

Still, if you just want the pronoun you want, a little between-the-lines looking is necessary here, so beware. “Pronoun Trouble” is perfect for linguists, writers, and those who love to play with words but for most readers, it’s a different kind of book, period.

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