Queer Stories reading in Philly

For those of you in Philadelphia or its environs, Doug McKeown and some of the writers of Queer Stories for Boys will be doing a reading/signing at Giovanni’s Room bookstore, at 12th & Pine Streets, at 7:30PM on Saturday, June 18th.
It’ll be a good night of story-telling, no doubt.

That Time of the Month

No, not that time of the month – but the time of the month to donate to help support the message boards and my blog. If you like what you see here, please consider donating whatever you can to help keep us going.

Overheard in NY

I added a website to the “Very Various” section of links today – it’s a website that blogs conversations “overheard in NY.” From what I’ve read, they’re very authentic, funny reading, and a nice little insight into my favorite town.
Overheard in New York
One of my favorite recent entries – and quite relevant – is this one:
Chick: I think the difference between a blog and a website is that a blog is something you can set up without doing any of that website shit.
(Thanks to Lynne W-U for this one!)

Reader Privacy

Rep Bernie Saunders of Vermont is once again going to try to get the Freedom to Read Amendment passed. The Amendment would cut off funding for library and bookstore searches that came with the USA Patriot Act.
You should contact your House Representative and urge him or her to vote yes on the Freedom to Read Amendment. You can find your Rep by checking the House’s website.
For more information, check the boards, and these organizations.
American Library Assocation
American Booksellers Association
Association of American Publishers
PEN American Center.

www.readerprivacy.org
for more information.

Think-Tank

Tonight Betty and I did a presentation on trans/GLBT issues for an emerging lefty think-tank. It was formed just after the last presidential election, formed out of frustration, anger, and a sense of outrage – not just at who won, but at how the right had stolen words like “morality” (by which they really mean heteronormativity), “family” (again, only heteronormativite families need apply) and “family values” (when they meant, keep those freaks out of my neighborhood).
A lot of the conversation was just trans 101, which Betty and I rushed into and interrupted each other and circled around and back and forth. (The poor guy keeping notes gave up at some point, I think.) We got some of the basic points across, and of course the group got to meet Betty – not your average tranny, but who is?
One of the pertinent questions asked – and this is a smart group – was Where are the Surveys? Where’s the equivalent of the Kinsey Report on trans stuff? and, in a more tactical sense, How many are you, and how do we count you?
There weren’t any good answers for these good questions. Aside from Lynn Conway’s numbers on the prevalance of transsexualism, which doesn’t include crossdressers or drag kings or any of the rest of the gender-variant community, I don’t have any. How many of us are there? More importantly, how many of us are there who will stand up and be counted? What are our issues? Who will lead us? Who are our allies, and to what other (non-trans) causes can we lend our weight?
These are only some of the questions currently being discussed on the message boards, of which I’m very proud.
Come join the dialogue.