Chaz Bono (born March 4, 1969)

Chaz Salvatore Bono (born Chastity Sun Bono; March 4, 1969) is an American advocate, writer, and musician. He is the only child of American entertainers Sonny and Cher, though each had children from other relationships.

Bono is a transgender man. In 1995, several years after being outed as lesbian by the tabloid press, he publicly self-identified as such in a cover story in a leading American gay monthly magazine, The Advocate, eventually going on to discuss the process of coming out to oneself and to others in two books. Family Outing: A Guide to the Coming Out Process for Gays, Lesbians, and Their Families (1998) includes his coming out account. The memoir The End of Innocence (2003) discusses his outing, music career, and partner Joan's death from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Between 2008 and 2010, Bono underwent female-to-male gender transition. A two-part Entertainment Tonight feature in June 2009 explained that his transition had started a year before. In May 2010, he legally changed his gender and name. A documentary on Bono's experience, Becoming Chaz, was screened at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and later made its television debut on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

Bono is the only child of Cher and Sonny Bono of the pop duo Sonny & Cher, stars of a TV variety show on which the young child often appeared. Bono was named Chastity Sun Bono after the film Chastity, which was produced by Sonny and in which Cher (in her first feature film) played a bisexual woman.

Bono came out to both parents as lesbian at age 18. In Family Outing, Bono wrote that, "as a child, I always felt there was something different about me. I'd look at other girls my age and feel perplexed by their obvious interest in the latest fashion, which boy in class was the cutest, and who looked the most like cover girl Christie Brinkley. When I was 13, I finally found a name for exactly how I was different. I realized I was gay."



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Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaz_Bono

( Further Readings )

More LGBT History at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Persistent Voices

Bob Hattoy (November 1, 1950 – March 4, 2007)

Bob Hattoy (November 1, 1950 – March 4, 2007) was an American activist on issues related to gay rights, AIDS and the environment.

Hattoy worked in the White House under American President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1999. He also served as chairman of the research committee of the Presidential Commission on HIV/AIDS, having himself been diagnosed HIV positive in 1992. He won renown as an outspoken critic of presidents Clinton, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush for their policies on issues such as conservation, the response to HIV/AIDS, and the ban on gay or bisexual men and women serving openly in the U.S. military. According to the New York Times Hattoy was "the first gay man with AIDS many Americans had knowingly laid eyes on."

In 2002 he started working for the California Fish and Game Commission. He was appointed president of the commission in February 2007, shortly before his death from AIDS-related causes.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Hattoy

( Further Readings )

More LGBT History at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Gay Classics

Luke Sutherland (born 1971)

Luke Sutherland (born 1971) is a Scottish novelist and musician. A full-time member of two independent bands and an occasional member of Mogwai, he has also published a number of written works.

Sutherland was a main member of Scottish post-rock band Long Fin Killie, who were active from 1993 until 1998. He then formed Bows, the band releasing three albums. Since 2000, he has been an occasional and touring member of Mogwai, playing violin and more recently guitar. He also sings on and has a writing credit for the track "Mexican Grand Prix".

Sutherland's debut novel, Jelly Roll, was nominated for the Whitbread Prize in the first novel category in 1998. His novella Venus As A Boy (2004) talks extensively about Sutherland's own childhood in Orkney, where he was the sole Scots-African.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Sutherland

Further Readings:

Venus as a Boy by Luke Sutherland
Paperback: 164 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (March 21, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0747569053
ISBN-13: 978-0747569053
Amazon: Venus as a Boy
Amazon Kindle: Venus as a Boy

In a room in Soho, a man is turning gold. His flesh, his organs, even his beautiful eyes, are being transformed by some shocking human alchemy into precious deadly metal. And the path to this curious and frightening predicament has itself been filled with incredible moments. It began on South Ronaldsay amongst the singing seals and ancient ruins of Orkney. There a lad grew up with a rare gift for loving - something that proved much trickier than it sounds. He encountered misunderstanding, bullying, loss and heartbreak. And yet the physical heights he reached - and to which he brought others - went far beyond any normal sensual pleasure. This led to the sort of sex that made people see angels. This remarkable story about the power of love veers from stratosphere to gutter, from visions of Heaven to the all-too mortal yearning below for even just one glimpse of it.

More Spotlights at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, My Lists/Gay Novels

It Happened Today: March 4

Bob Hattoy (November 1, 1950 – March 4, 2007): http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/1445950.html

Bob Hattoy (November 1, 1950 – March 4, 2007) was an American activist on issues related to gay rights, AIDS and the environment. In 2002 he started working for the California Fish and Game Commission. He was appointed president of the commission in February 2007, shortly before his death from AIDS-related causes. According to the New York Times Hattoy was "the first gay man with AIDS many Americans had knowingly laid eyes on."

Chaz Bono (born March 4, 1969): http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/4239885.html

Chaz Salvatore Bono (born March 4, 1969) is an American advocate, writer, and musician. He is the only child of American entertainers Sonny and Cher. Bono is a transgender man. In 1995, several years after being outed as lesbian by the tabloid press, he publicly self-identified as such in a cover story in a leading American gay monthly magazine, The Advocate. Between 2008 and 2010, Bono underwent female-to-male gender transition. Bono worked as a writer at large for The Advocate.

David Plante & Nikos Stangos: http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/4240382.html

The novels of David Plante (born March 4, 1940) examine a variety of homosexualities, their male characters ranging from openly gay to sexually ambiguous. His most recent book is a memoir of Nikos Stangos, his partner of forty years, The Pure Lover (2009). The papers of his former partner, Nikos Stangos (1936-2004), are in The Princeton University Library, the Program in Hellenic Studies. Plante lives in London, Lucca Italy, and Athens Greece. He has dual citizenship, American and British.

Howard Greenfield & Tory Damon: http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/4240442.html

Howard Greenfield's companion from the early 1960s to his death was cabaret singer Tory Damon; Greenfield died, aged 49, in Los Angeles, California in 1986 from complications due to AIDS. He was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills). Damon died from AIDS complications just a few days later. Tory Damon died just 26 days after Greenfield and is interred in the wall crypt to his right. Damon's epitaph reads: Love Will Keep Us Together..., Greenfield's continues: ... Forever.

Jean O'Leary & Lisa Phelps: http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/3165476.html

Jean O'Leary (1948 - 2005) was an American gay and lesbian rights activist. She was the first openly lesbian delegate to a national political convention, attending the Democratic convention in 1976, and served on the Democratic National Committee for 12 years, 8 of those on the Executive Committee, another first. She was survived by her partner of 12 years Lisa Phelps, their daughter Victoria, their son David de Maria, his life partner James Springer, and David and James' son Aiden de Maria.

Luke Sutherland (born 1971): http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/4241134.html

Luke Sutherland is a Scottish novelist and musician. A full-time member of two independent bands and an occasional member of Mogwai, he has also published a number of written works. Sutherland's debut novel, Jelly Roll, was nominated for the Whitbread Prize in the first novel category in 1998. His novella Venus As A Boy (2004) talks extensively about Sutherland's own childhood in Orkney, where he was the sole Scots-African. Since 2000, he has been an occasional and touring member of Mogwai.

Sunny Moraine (born March 4, 1984): http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/4240886.html

Sunny Moraine lives just outside Washington DC with a husband and two cats. Line and Orbit, co-authored with Lisa Soem, won a 2013 Rainbow Award as Best Gay Sci-Fi / Futuristic, 2nd place, and Best Gay Debut, 3rd place: Adam Yuga, a rising young star in the imperialist Terran Protectorate, is on the verge of a massive promotion…until a routine physical exam reveals something less than perfection. Struggling to adapt to his new life, Adam discovers his illness hides a terrible secret.

2014 Rainbow Awards Submission: An American Memory

Gay Anthology / Contemporary General Fiction
An American Memory by George Seaton
Published February 26th 2014 by Wilde City Press
ISBN13 9781925031836

From the discovery and acceptance of our queer selves within the purely American landscape of the ‘50s, from the Big Party engendered by Stonewall, to the scourge of AIDS and on to present day, the heroes of these stories are ourselves, still robust after all these years, still understanding the truths gathered from our pasts. If Denver in the ‘50s was awash in mediocrity, Hollywood became in the ‘70s a phastasmagoria of licentiousness. If the ‘80s and ‘90s became the boogieman’s haunt, the resulting enforced discovery of the worth of love and commitment of each of us to the other became the new reality of our lives.

Charities Donation program progress:
25$ Lost-n-Found Youth: www.lost-n-found.org/
25$ Lambda Legal: www.lambdalegal.org/
25$ YouthCare: www.youthcare.org/
25$ Point Foundation: www.pointfoundation.org/
50$ Wes for Youth: wesforyouth.privacemail.com/
83$ COLORS: www.colorsyouth.org/
107$ Galop: www.galop.org.uk/
125$ Cancer Research Institute: www.cancerresearch.org/
140$ SAGE: giveto.sageusa.org/
160$ UCAN: www.ucanchicago.org/
300$ Ali Forney Center: www.aliforneycenter.org/
TOTAL: 1065$*

* more than 150$ is a direct donation from a supporter of the Rainbow Awards who isn't submitting; while some authors were more than generous, arriving to donate 5 times the suggested amount, being the submission fee a non mandatory and voluntary direct donation, we were struggling to raise the same amount as last year and there is who decided to cover part of it. I thank you for all you are doing, and if you wish to donate to the above links, please drop me a note with your donation and I will update the total.

2014 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/4162490.html

New Release: Werecat: The Glaring by Andrew J. Peters

Werecat: The Glaring by Andrew J Peters
Publisher: Vagabondage Romance (March 1, 2014)
Amazon Kindle: Werecat: The Glaring

Jacks is back in a new enlivened adventure!

Free from Benoit, the man who made him a shifter, twenty-two-year old Jacks tries to get on his own two feet while crashing with Farzan, the only person who knows about his werecat nature. It will take a grueling schedule of off-the-books jobs and a steady mantra of self-control.

Then a raid on a bodega pushes Jacks to transform into his mountain lion self to fend off a group of gun-wielding gangbangers.

Jacks scrambles to disguise the truth, but the incident leaves a thundering wake of questions. The police want to know what really happened to a freaked-out young thug in custody. Farzan, who has been crushing hard on Jacks since they met, begins to doubt that it?s safe to have Jacks living with him. Jacks wants to know where he belongs: with the man who took him in when no one else would or among his own kind. As he searches for answers, Jacks is confronted by a secret shifter society The Glaring. They have come to avenge the death of Jacks? maker and to claim a powerful item that Benoit left behind.

Werecat: The Rearing by Andrew J. Peters
Publisher: Vagabondage Press LLC (May 27, 2013)
Amazon Kindle: Werecat: The Rearing

Discover the origins of the story: Werecat: The Glaring (Book 1)

For Jacks Dowd, a college senior who feels ungrounded from his family and life in general, an alcohol and sex-infused weekend in Montrëal sounds like a pretty good escape. But meeting an admiring drifter Benoit with startling green eyes launches Jacks on a terrifying and erotic journey beyond his imagination.

About the author: Andrew J. Peters likes retold stories with a subversive twist. He is the author of The Seventh Pleiade, about the legend of Atlantis, and the gay paranormal Werecat series. A former Lambda Literary Foundation Fellow, Andrew has written short fiction for many publications. He lives in New York City with his husband and their cat Chloe.

Enter to win a copy of Werecat: The Glaring!

Just leave your e-mail in the comments below and answer the question: What's your favorite big cat?

An UnSpoken Compromise: A Spiritual Guide for LGBT People of Faith by Rizi Xavier Timane

I'm not a particular religious person, so, I didn't identify with Timane's profound trust in God, but I understand it was important and an essential part of this life journey.

Born woman in Nigeria, Rizi Xavier Timane always felt he was a boy; that what he said to his father when he was only a child, but everyone always told him it was a phase; when the phase didn't pass, while he found ostracism from his relatives, he found some sort of support from his friends, but basically they always told him he was a lesbian, that if he liked girls that meant he was a lesbian, no one ever supported his feeling of being a man trapped in a woman body. And that was Rizi Xavier Timane's feeling, that he was trapped, and never once he felt comfortable with his woman body.

I really liked one answer Rizi Xavier Timane received by one of his female cousins, that she supported him even if she didn't understand, cause being a woman was something important to her; but she was supporting, cause one thing is what you are and feel and a totally different thing is what others feel and are.

Sincerely this is more a chronicle than a "story", meaning that, while honest and sincere, Rizi Xavier Timane is not a writer, and the style is very simple, not embellish by any skill an established author learns due to his profession. Rizi Xavier Timane is not trying to write fiction, he is chronicle his personal experience, maybe to help someone else going through his same experience. Very important also being able to read this experience from the first point of view of someone who was born in Nigeria, and so with a starting point that seemed so far from the ending one.

Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 2 edition (October 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1492804371
ISBN-13: 978-1492804376
Amazon: An UnSpoken Compromise: A Spiritual Guide for LGBT People of Faith
Amazon Kindle: An UnSpoken Compromise: A Spiritual Guide for LGBT People of Faith

More Reviews by Author at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Reviews

A Shot at Forgiveness by Cardeno C.

I know this is only a novella, and that it was well played to make you dream without considering any realistic implication, but well, I really liked it. Isaac is so sweet and tender, like a big, very big teddy bear, that I almost felt bad for him when Rafi, even if rightly, was treating him with cold shoulders.

Rafi has every right to hate Isaac, but indeed, if you picked the innuendos, it was clear that Isaac was bullying him in high school cause he was denying his own homosexuality; Rafi was out and proud, no one has every questioned his coming out, and he had a supporting family. Isaac instead wasn't supposed to be gay, he was the sport hero, the high school jock, also for him there were expectations, and those expectations didn't allow him to be gay.

In a way, Isaac is more sensitive than Rafi, he is able to link with his emotions in a better way than Rafi; Rafi remained attached to his hate for high school Isaac, and he would not change, if not for Isaac's persistence in having him seeing the different side of the story. Yes, I like Rafi, but I love Isaac, and the only fault I find in this story is that it was too short.

Paperback: 220 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (January 10, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1627984879
ISBN-13: 978-1627984874
Amazon: Home Again & A Shot at Forgiveness
Amazon Kindle: A Shot at Forgiveness

More Reviews by Author at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Reviews