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SUMMER IN THE CITY 2019: Page turners for the beach or pool

‘Love Falls on Us,’ A Wanderer’s Love Letter’ among summer book highlights

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2019 summer books, gay news, Washington Blade
‘Love Falls on Us,’ A Wanderer’s Love Letter’ among summer book highlights. (Book covers courtesy of the respective publishers)

Looking for some refreshing page turners for the summer? Dive into these new LGBTQ novels that are light on the mind. 

Award-winning journalist Robbie Corey-Boulet takes on the LGBTQ movement in Africa and how it differs from those in the United States and Europe in his novel “Love Falls on Us: A Story of American Ideas and African LGBT Lives” (Aug. 15). 

He argues that the international LGBT activists and allies have created winners and losers within the movement. If someone from an African country identifies with the those of the global movement, then they find support. If their identity doesn’t happen to align so neatly, funding and care can be unavailable.

Especially in a world where LGBT rights are being reversed even in “developed” countries, Corey-Boulet investigates the right way to address LGBT issues in Africa. This novel is for those who care to know the difference in approach. 

Upcoming pop artist, Boy Untitled (Mark Tennyson), is releasing his first self-titled EP and accompanying illustrated book of poetry “A Wanderer’s Love Letter to the Universe” (out this month). Both the EP and book reflect a tumultuous time in Tennyson’s life over the course of two years. There are five parts representing stagnation, recognition, action, vision and evolution. Tennyson is a Los Angeles-based artist who began their career in the art scene and slowly transitioned to the sultry, electronica side of pop music.

“Diary of a Drag Queen” (out now) is exactly what the title suggests. Crystal Rasmussen takes readers through her crazy life on a daily basis over the course of a year. She spills the details about her experiences dating men three times her age, sleeping with a VIP for her journalism career, being fired by a well-known magazine and much more. If you’re looking for a new perspective on life, this is the book for you. 

Tehlor Kay Mejia tells the tale of Daniel Vargas, the top student at the Medio School for Girls in “We Set the Dark on Fire” (out now). Daniel has two options after graduation: maintain her husband’s household or raise his children. 

The only problem is that her paperwork was forged by her parents to give her a better opportunity. Although there’s a few hiccups at her graduation, she gets through the day without anyone discovering her secret. Her new challenge is to spy for a resistance group causing a shift in her newest options: hold onto the privilege her parents sacrificed for her or pursue freeing Medio and a forbidden love. 

If you enjoy the tale of King Arthur, “Once & Future” (out now) by Cori McCarthey and Amy Rose Capetta is the novel for you. The main character, Ari Helix, crash lands on Old Earth and pulls the legendary sword from its place making her the newest reincarnation of King Arthur. Merlin, who has aged backwards and is now a teenager, informs Ari that together they must break the curse that keeps bringing back Arthur. They must save humankind, defeat the oppressive government and bring peace to all. No big deal. 

“Like a Love Story” (out now) follows three teenagers impacted by AIDS. Abdi Nazimian uses the stories of Reza, Judy and Art to address the complexities of being gay during the 1980s. Reza is an Iranian boy who knows he’s gay but won’t admit it because he worries about the disease affecting him. Judy is a fashion designer who has a strong relationship with her uncle who has AIDS and is active with ACT UP. Art is Judy’s best friend who rebels against his conservative parents by photographing the epidemic and is the only out gay student at school. Somehow Reza and Judy end up dating leaving room for heartbreak and disappointment.

“Red, White & Royal Blue” (out now) is a romantic comedy by Casey McQuiston where the First Son, Alex Claremont-Diaz, and his nemesis, Prince Henry, are forced into a fake friendship to help with his mother’s re-election campaign. After a confrontation between the two was leaked to the tabloids, they were forced to truly get to know one another and their once fake friendship turns into a secret relationship. With President Claremont’s campaign picking up, Alex must make a decision on which matters to him more: his political image or the potential love of his life. 

In their first published work, Mason Deaver delivers “I Wish You All the Best” (out now). It’s a story following a non-binary (like the author) character, Ben De Backer, who has recently come out to his family. Disowned and thrown out on the street, Ben has no other choice but to go live with his sister and her fiance who, along with their therapist, are the only other ones to know their identity. Ben tries their best to get through the rest of their senior year by keeping a low profile however, Nathan Allan has other plans for them. 

In poet Ocean Vuong’s debut novel “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” (out now), he explores topics such as race, class and masculinity. The novel is a written letter from a son to his mother who cannot read. It unearths the family history of Little Dog whose roots stem from Vietnam. Written when the speaker is in his late 20s, Vuong takes readers through Little Dog’s life that includes information that even his mother has no clue about including an unforgettable revelation. 

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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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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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‘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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