Bonnie Dee (born March 1, 1961)

Bonnie Dee began telling stories as a child. Whenever there was a sleepover, she was the designated ghost tale teller, guaranteed to frighten and thrill with macabre tales. She still has a story printed on yellow legal paper in second grade about a ghost, a witch and a talking cat.

Writing childish stories for her own pleasure led to majoring in English at college. Like most English majors, she dreamed of writing a novel, but didn't have the necessary focus and follow through at that time in her life. A husband, children and work occupied the next twenty years and it was only in 2000 that she began writing again. Bonnie enjoys reading stories about people damaged by life who find healing with a like-minded soul. When she couldn't find enough books to suit her taste, she began to write them.

The Nobleman and the Spy, co-authored with Summer Devon, won a 2011 Rainbow Award as Best LGBT Historical. The Gentleman’s Madness, co-authored with Summer Devon, won a 2014 Rainbow Award as Best Gay Historical.

Further Readings:

The Nobleman and the Spy by Summer Devon and Bonnie Dee
Paperback: 246 pages
Publisher: Loose Id, LLC (September 28, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1611183669
ISBN-13: 978-1611183665
Amazon: The Nobleman and the Spy
Amazon Kindle: The Nobleman and the Spy

They once faced each other on a battlefield. Now soldier-turned-spy Jonathan Reese must keep watch over the man he's never forgotten. A close encounter reveals Karl von Binder, the count's son, also recalls the day he spared Jonathan's life.

Sparks fly between the former enemies and Jonathan begins to lose perspective on his mission. He knows he must maintain distance because the heat he encounters in Karl's touch stirs him far too deeply for his own good. He can't keep away -- especially when he suspects someone is trying to kill the nobleman.

The spy becomes a protector as Jonathan guards the man he's begun to care for. Together the men try to puzzle out who would benefit from Karl's death -- and how much they're willing to trust each other when a torrid sexual fling threatens to become an affair of the heart.

The Gentleman’s Madness by Bonnie Dee & Summer Devon
Paperback: 218 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing (December 2, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1619222744
ISBN-13: 978-1619222748
Amazon: The Gentleman's Madness
Amazon Kindle: The Gentleman's Madness

An imprisoned heart finds escape in forbidden love. No pride. No privacy. No hope. Academic John Gilliam thought being caught embracing another man was the worst that could happen. Until he agrees to "treatment" at an asylum, where a vicious attack leaves him shaken and afraid. But having all means of writing or reading taken from him... That is a serious threat to his sanity. Then a moment of kindness from an asylum attendant begins to restore his dignity. Sam Tully feels sorry for the patient everyone calls "the professor", but with a back injury that cost him his job on the docks-and without the education that would have bettered his position-he tries to keep his head down, and a tight lid on his attraction to men. As John prays for freedom, he grows closer to the gentle, innately intelligent Tully. In spite of themselves, forbidden attraction leads to touches, kisses, and more. But there's something other than curative treatments going on at the asylum. When John and Tully uncover a heinous conspiracy, their very lives are in danger. Warning: Contains heinous crimes and frightening treatments-oh, and some sweet and loving sexy times between two healthy, not-crazy men.

More Rainbow Awards at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, Rainbow Awards/2011 & 2014

Art Smith & Jesus Salgueiro

Charles Arthur "Art" Smith (born March 1, 1960) is an American chef who has worked for former Florida governor Bob Graham and Jeb Bush and until 2007 was personal chef to Oprah Winfrey. His expertise is Southern cuisine. Smith lives in Chicago, Illinois with his partner since 1999, Jesus Salgueiro, a painter. The two married at the Lincoln Memorial in 2011. They donate their time to many causes, from children's cooking classes to humanitarian aid. They adopted four children.

While attending Florida State University he completed culinary internships with The Greenbrier and the Walt Disney Magic Kingdom College Program.

Smith has published two cookbooks, Back to the Table and Kitchen Life, about home cooking and family life. He edits a monthly article on Oprah.com and contributes articles to O, The Oprah Magazine.

Smith founded the non-profit charity Common Threads, which focuses on teaching children about different cultures through food and art. Common Threads has served over 750 children and served 2,000 healthy meals to children in 2006. He serves on the board of directors of “Kids Café”, a nutrition program, for children in Minneapolis. Smith owns and runs a highly successful restaurant in Chicago called TABLE fifty-two as well as Art and Soul in Washington, D.C. In 2009, Smith raised $10,000 for Common Threads as a participant on the television show Top Chef Masters, Season 1.

Smith has cooked for many celebrities and heads of state, including Barack Obama and the current King of Sweden. In addition to being chef for Florida Governor Bob Graham, he cooked for Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Romero Britto, film stars Ali Landry and Eduardo Verástegui amongst many others. He has also appeared on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Smith also appeared in a cooking segment in Lady Gaga's 2011 ABC special A Very Gaga Thanksgiving in which he and Gaga prepared a Thanksgiving meal of turkey and waffles. Months later, Smith became the head chef of Joanne Trattoria, an Italian restaurant in New York City owned by Lady Gaga's parents. He was also a celebrity judge on the second season of the reality show BBQ Pitmasters.


Charles Arthur "Art" Smith (born March 1, 1960) is an American chef who has worked for former Florida governor Bob Graham and Jeb Bush and until 2007 was personal chef to Oprah Winfrey. His expertise is Southern cuisine. Smith lives in Chicago, Illinois with his partner since 1999, Jesus Salgueiro, a painter. The two married at the Lincoln Memorial in 2011. They donate their time to many causes, from children's cooking classes to humanitarian aid. Smith has published two cookbooks. They adopted four children.

( Read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Smith_(chef)

( Further Readings )

More LGBT Couples at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance

Ben Tinker & Don Lemon

Donald Carlton Lemon (born March 1, 1966) is an American journalist and television anchor, best known as the host of the prime-time weekend edition of CNN Newsroom, based in Atlanta, Georgia. Since 2007 he is in a relationship with CNN producer, Ben Tinker (b. 1985).

Lemon was born on March 1, 1966 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He majored in broadcast journalism at Brooklyn College in Brooklyn, New York, and also attended Louisiana State University.

While in college, Lemon worked as a news assistant at WNYW (TV 5 in New York City). He has also reported as a weekend anchor for WCAU (TV 10 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); anchor and investigative reporter for KTVI (TV 2 in St. Louis); and anchor for WBRC (TV 6 in Birmingham, Alabama).

Lemon reported for NBC News' New York City operations, including working as a correspondent for Today and NBC Nightly News and an anchor on Weekend Today and MSNBC. In August 2003 he began at NBC O&O station WMAQ-TV (5 in Chicago), and was a reporter and the 5 p.m. local news co-anchor.

Lemon joined CNN in September 2006. Lemon has been outspoken in his work at CNN, criticizing the state of cable news and questioning the network publicly.

In his memoir, Transparent, released in May 2011, Lemon acknowledges publicly that he is gay and discusses racism in the black community, homophobia, and the sexual abuse that he suffered as a child.


Donald Carlton Lemon (born March 1, 1966) is an American journalist and television anchor, best known as the host of the prime-time weekend edition of CNN Newsroom, based in Atlanta, Georgia. Since 2007 he is in a relationship with CNN producer, Ben Tinker (b. 1985). In his memoir, Transparent, released in May 2011, Lemon acknowledges publicly that he is gay and discusses racism in the black community, homophobia, and the sexual abuse that he suffered as a child. Lemon won an Emmy Award.

( Read more... )

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

( Further Readings )

More LGBT Couples at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance

Bryan Batt & Tom Cianfichi

Bryan Batt (born March 1, 1963) is an American actor best known for his role in the AMC series Mad Men as Salvatore Romano, an art director for the Sterling Cooper agency. Primarily a theater actor, he has had a number of starring roles in movies and television as well. His performance in the musical adaptation of Saturday Night Fever earned him one of New York City's more unusual honors, a caricature at Sardi's. Bryan Batt lives with his partner, Tom Cianfichi, an events planner. Batt and Cianfichi have been together since 1989; they met while performing Evita in Akron, Ohio. Batt was playing Che and Cianfichi was the understudy for Magaldi. Batt and Cianfichi own a home decor and furnishings store, Hazelnut, on Magazine Street in New Orleans. (P: Greg Hernandez at http://www.flickr.com/photos/greginhollywood/. Bryan Batt at the Emmys in September 2009)

Batt was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of Gayle (Mackenroth), an amateur actress, dancer, and civic activist and John Batt. His family founded and ran the Pontchartrain Beach amusement park. He attended and graduated from Isidore Newman School, a preparatory school in New Orleans and Tulane University where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. Although Batt played a closeted character in Mad Men, the actor is openly gay. He has played gay roles on film (Jeffrey and Kiss Me, Guido) and stage (La Cage aux Folles). In 2005, Batt told Playbill that he used to worry about the effect of coming out on his career:

When I played the lead in Sunset Blvd., the movie of Jeffrey was coming out, and I was petrified. Back then, every agent told you that if you want to play a straight role, you don’t come out. This was before Ellen [DeGeneres] came out. But now I couldn't give a rat’s ass. It’s normal to be gay.

In 2010 Batt published a memoir about his mother entitled She Ain't Heavy, She's My Mother; she died in December 2010. In 2011 Clarkson Potter published his second book Big, Easy, Style which focuses on interior design and home furnishings.


Bryan Batt is an American actor best known for his role in the AMC series Mad Men as Salvatore Romano, an art director for the Sterling Cooper agency. Bryan Batt lives with his partner, Tom Cianfichi, an events planner. Batt and Cianfichi have been together since 1989; they met while performing Evita in Akron, Ohio. Batt was playing Che and Cianfichi was the understudy for Magaldi. Batt and Cianfichi own a home decor and furnishings store, Hazelnut, on Magazine Street in New Orleans.



Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Batt

( Further Readings )

More LGBT Couples at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance

Dora Carrington & Lytton Strachey

Dora de Houghton Carrington (29 March 1893 – 11 March 1932), known generally as Carrington, was a British painter and decorative artist, remembered in part for her association with members of the Bloomsbury Group, especially the writer Lytton Strachey. (P: ©Lady Ottoline Morrell (1873-1938)/NPG Ax141540. Dora Carrington; Ralph Partridge; Lytton Strachey; Oliver Strachey; Frances Catherine Partridge (née Marshall), 1923 (©4))

The daughter of a Liverpool merchant, she was born in Hereford, England, and attended the all-girls' Bedford High School which emphasized art. Her parents also paid for her to receive extra lessons in drawing. She went to the Slade School of Art at University College, London where she subsequently won a scholarship; her fellow students included Paul Nash, Christopher R. W. Nevinson and Mark Gertler. All at one time or another were in love with her, as was Nash's younger brother John Nash, who hoped to marry her. Gertler pursued Carrington for a number of years, and they had a brief sexual relationship during the years of the First World War.

From her time at the Slade onwards, she was commonly known simply by her surname. She was not well known as a painter during her lifetime, as she rarely exhibited and did not sign her work. She worked for a while at the Omega Workshops, and for the Hogarth Press, designing woodcuts.

Carrington was not a member of the Bloomsbury Group, though she was closely associated with Bloomsbury and, more generally, with "Bohemian" attitudes, through her long relationship with the homosexual writer Lytton Strachey, whom she first met in 1916. Distinguished by her cropped pageboy hair style (before it was fashionable) and somewhat androgynous appearance, she was troubled by her sexuality; she is known to have had at least two lesbian affairs (with Henrietta Bingham and Lady Ottoline Morrell). She also had a significant relationship with the writer Gerald Brenan.


Lytton Strachey with Dora Carrington and James Strachey
Giles Lytton Strachey was a British writer & critic. Dora Carrington was a British painter and decorative artist, remembered for her association with the Bloomsbury Group. Though Strachey spoke openly about his homosexuality with his Bloomsbury friends, it was not widely publicised until the late 1960s, in a biography by Michael Holroyd. In 1921 Carrington agreed to marry Ralph Partridge, not for love but to secure the 3-way relationship. She committed suicide two months after Strachey's death.


©Dora Carrington (1893–1932)/NPG 6662. Lytton Strachey, 1916 (©4)

( Read more... )

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dora_Carrington

Giles Lytton Strachey (1 March 1880 – 21 January 1932) was a British writer and critic. (P: ©Lady Ottoline Morrell (1873-1938)/NPG Ax140336. Lytton Strachey, 1911-12 (©4))

A founder member of the Bloomsbury Group and author of Eminent Victorians, he is best known for establishing a new form of biography in which psychological insight and sympathy are combined with irreverence and wit. His 1921 biography Queen Victoria was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

Strachey was born on 1 March 1880, at Stowey House, Clapham Common, London, the fifth son and the eleventh child of Lieutenant General Sir Richard Strachey, an officer in the colonial British armed forces, and his second wife, the former Jane Grant, who became a leading supporter of the women's suffrage movement. He was named "Giles Lytton" after an early sixteenth-century Gyles Strachey and the first Earl of Lytton, who had been a friend of Richard Strachey's when he was Viceroy of India in the late 1870s. The Earl of Lytton was also Lytton Strachey's godfather. The Stracheys had thirteen children in total, ten of whom survived to adulthood, including Lytton's sister Dorothy Strachey.

When Lytton was four years old, the family moved from Stowey House to 69 Lancaster Gate, north of Kensington Gardens. This would be their home until Sir Richard Strachey retired twenty years later. Lady Strachey was an enthusiast for languages and literature, making her children perform their own plays and write verse from early ages. She thought that Lytton had potential to become a great artist so she decided that he would receive the best education possible in order to be "enlightened". By 1887 he had begun the study of French, a culture he would admire during his entire life.


Rosamond Lehmann with her brother John and Lytton Strachey

( Read more... )

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

Frances Catherine Partridge CBE (née Marshall; 15 March 1900 – 5 February 2004) was a long-lived member of the Bloomsbury Group and a writer, probably best known for the publication of her diaries. She married Ralph Partridge (1894 – 30 November 1960) in 1933. The couple had one son, (Lytton) Burgo Partridge (1935–1963). (P: Writer Raymond Mortimer, Frances Partridge (then Marshall) and Dadie Rylands.)

Born in Bedford Square in London, she was the youngest of six children of William Marshall, an English architect. She lived in the square until she was eight when her father retired and they moved to the countryside. She was educated at Bedales School and Newnham College, Cambridge.

Working at a London bookshop owned by David Garnett and Francis Birrell, she became acquainted with Lytton Strachey, Dora Carrington and Ralph Partridge. In 1921, Ralph Partridge had married Dora Carrington, who was in love with Lytton Strachey, a homosexual who was himself more interested in Ralph Partridge. An added complication was Dora Carrington’s intermittent affair with one of Ralph Partridge’s best friends, Gerald Brenan. Carrington, Partridge, and Strachey shared a Wiltshire farm-house, Ham Spray, in a complex triangular relationship that was recorded in the 1995 film Carrington, with Alex Kingston playing Frances.

Ralph Partridge now fell in love with Frances. They lived in London during the week and repaired to Ham Spray at weekends. After Dora Carrington committed suicide out of grief in 1932, shortly after Lytton Strachey’s death, Ralph and Frances married on 2 March 1933. They lived happily at Ham Spray until Ralph’s death in 1960.

They had one son, (Lytton) Burgo Partridge, who was born in 1935 and named for Strachey. In 1962, Burgo married Henrietta Garnett, daughter of Angelica Garnett and David Garnett,[2] with Henrietta already pregnant with their daughter. He died suddenly of heart failure on 7 September 1963, only three weeks after the birth of their baby, Sophie Vanessa. He had already been noticed for his writing ability, and had published one well-received book, A History of Orgies (1958).

Frances sold Ham Spray and moved to London. Her writings, her membership of the Bloomsbury circle, her great personal charm and the energy that she retained into extreme old age together ensured for her a degree of celebrity towards the end of her life.

She was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Millennium New Year Honours.

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

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
CreateSpace Store: https://www.createspace.com/4910282
Amazon (Paperback): http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500563323/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZG0VHY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

John Boyle & Oliver Baldwin

Oliver Ridsdale Baldwin, 2nd Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (1 March 1899 – 10 August 1958), known as Viscount Corvedale from 1937 to 1947, was a British politician who had a quixotic career at political odds to his father, three-time Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. The front page of the Daily Mail for Wednesday 5 August 1931 was dominated by a news story claiming that Oliver Baldwin, the Prime Minister's elder son, was living with a man named John Boyle. (Oliver Ridsdale Baldwin, 2nd Earl Baldwin by Planet News, vintage print, 14 February 1949, 9 5/8 in. x 7 3/4 in. (245 mm x 198 mm) image size, Transferred from Evening Standard Library, 1983, Photographs Collection, NPG x184172)

The story said:

We do not know if Mr. Oliver Baldwin and Mr. John Boyle are indulging in unnatural vice, but if they are committing criminal acts the police should be informed and a criminal prosecution brought. The fact that Mr. Baldwin is a son of the Prime Minister should not allow him to escape the law.

That afternoon a very angry Stanley Baldwin gave a press conference on the steps of 10 Downing Street. With him were Lucy, his wife, and Oliver. He said that Oliver had the love and support of himself and his wife. They knew that he and John Boyle were close friends and were living together. What they did in their personal lives was no one's business and certainly not a matter for the law. He said that Lord Rothermere had descended to the gutter in publishing that story. He would appoint a Royal Commission to investigate the laws relating to Sexual Offences.


Oliver Ridsdale Baldwin, 2nd Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, known as Viscount Corvedale from 1937 to 1947, was a British politician who had a quixotic career at political odds to his father, 3time Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. Baldwin was homosexual, a fact well known within the family but not to the public (his mother was again supportive and both parents acknowledged his long term relationship with John Boyle). In 1948 he was appointed Governor of the Leeward Islands and took John Boyle with him.

( Read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Baldwin,_2nd_Earl_Baldwin_of_Bewdley

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
Amazon: Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

George Harris & Jack Evans

Jack Evans was fired from Neiman Marcus in Houston for being gay, and George Harris was thrown out of the CIA in Northern Virginia. “I came to Dallas in ’56,” Harris says, “and it was locked down tight. There wasn’t any gay movement that I knew about.”

Five years later, in 1961, Evans and Harris met by coincidence at a bar and then again a few days later, at a mutual friend’s going-away party. As a couple, they became a force, working side by side in their real estate business for 38 years, founding what would become the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce, and starting The Dallas Way, a project aimed at presenting the history of the GLBT community in Dallas. They were married (finally) in March 2014.

“Of course, this was symbolic,” Evans says. “It’s not legal in the state of Texas yet.”

Over five decades, Evans and Harris, who are both in their 80s, have seen marked changes in Dallas’ gay community. They saw people get arrested in the ’60s at house parties. They saw people circle the block in the ’70s before entering Metropolitan Community Church for fear of getting arrested. They saw more than 100 friends die of complications from AIDS in the ’80s.

“Our real focus has been our legacy for the community, that our whole lives have been trying to improve, to encourage the young people to make a difference,” Harris says. “They think they can walk down Cedar Springs holding hands, and it’s just automatically come to that, but there was a lot of struggle to get there.”


George Harris & Jack Evans at their home in Oak Lawn
Jack Evans was fired from Neiman Marcus in Houston for being gay, and George Harris was thrown out of the CIA in Northern Virginia. Five years later, in 1961, Evans and Harris met by coincidence at a bar and then again a few days later, at a mutual friend’s going-away party. As a couple, they became a force founding what would become the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce, and starting The Dallas Way, a project aimed at presenting the history of the GLBT community in Dallas. They were married (finally) in March 2014.

( Read more... )

Source: interactive.dmagazine.com/content/the-dallas-40/jack-evans-and-george-harris/ (By: Cristina Daglas)

( Further Readings )

Jean, bishop of Orleans & Raoul II, Archbishop of Tours

In 1100, Ivo of Chartres, who became bishop of Chartres in 1090, complained bitterly in a letter to Pope Urban II about a certain promiscuous youth named Jean being made the bishop of Orleans despite his reputation for sexual looseness and the fact that he was underage.

Jean’s sexual affairs had brought him such notoriety, in fact, that he had gained the nickname Flora, after a well-known local courtesan, and had become the subject of a number of lewd street songs.

In an attempt to head off Jean’s elevation to bishop, Ivo had previously sent samples of the lurid lyrics of the songs to the archbishop of Lyons, the papal legate, but to no avail.

The installation of Jean, bishop of Orleans, consecrated on March 1, 1098, had been arranged by Jean’s then lover, Raoul II, Archbishop of Tours from 1086 to 1117, who had obligingly crowned Philip I King of France (23 May 1052 – 29 July 1108) on Christmas Day in defiance of a papal interdict placed on Philip for “immoral behavior.” In exchange for the favor, Philip agreed to arrange a bishopric for Jean, who it so happens had also been a previous lover of the king.

Philip, himself, had boasted of the affair to Ivo.

Oddly, Ivo’s objections seem to have had less to do with Jean’s sexual activities than his youth.

Pope Urban, however, did not consider this as a decisive fact: Jean ruled as bishop for almost forty years, and Raoul continued to be well known and respected.


Tomb of Philip I King of France
Jean had being made the bishop of Orleans despite his reputation for sexual looseness and the fact that he was underage. Jean’s sexual affairs had brought him such notoriety, in fact, that he had gained the nickname Flora, after a well-known local courtesan, and had become the subject of a number of lewd street songs. The installation of Jean as bishop of Orleans had been arranged by Jean’s then lover, Raoul II, Archbishop of Tours. Jean ruled as bishop for almost forty years, and Raoul continued to be well known and respected.

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
CreateSpace Store: https://www.createspace.com/4910282
Amazon (Paperback): http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500563323/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZG0VHY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

Tommy Tune, Michael Stuart & David Wolfe

Thomas James "Tommy" Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won nine Tony Awards and the National Medal of Arts.

In Tune's 1997 memoir Footnotes, he writes about what drives him as a performer, choreographer and director, offers stories about being openly gay in the world of theatre, his partners, stage manager David Wolfe ("On December 25th, 1994, David died at 4.00 a.m. Thank you, God, for answering my prayer. Thank you, David, for sharing your life with me." David Wolfe, aka Dave Wolfe (March 1, 1915 - December 25, 1994) of New York City was an American film actor from 1949 to 1954), who died of AIDS in 1994, and was his lover for 10 years, and actor and costumer Michael Stuart (1943-1997), with whom Tune lived for seven years. He also talks about his days with Twiggy in My One and Only and meeting and working with his many idols.

Tune was born in Texas to oil rig worker, horse trainer, and restaurateur, Jim Tune, and Eva Mae Clark (the family name was shortened from "Tunesmith"). He attended Lamar High School in Houston and the Methodist-affiliated Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas. He studied dance with Patsy Swayze (mother of Patrick Swayze) in Houston. He also studied dance with Kit Andree in Boulder Colorado. He went on to earn his Bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1962, and take graduate courses at the University of Houston. Tune later moved to New York to start his career.


Tommy Tune is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. He has won 9 Tony Awards and the National Medal of Arts. In Tune's memoir Footnotes, he writes about what drives him as a performer, choreographer and director, offers stories about being openly gay in the world of theatre, his partners, stage manager David Wolfe ("On December 25th, 1994, David died at 4.00 a.m. Thank you, God, for answering my prayer. Thank you, David, for sharing your life with me.") and actor and costumer Michael Stuart (1943-1997).

( Read more... )

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

( Further Readings )

More LGBT Couples at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance

Statistics: February 2015

Here are the 3 months statistics for the visits on my website and 2 journals:

Site	December 2014*	January 2015*	February 2015
elisarolle.com	544.492	633.131	646.927	2,2%
reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org	22.164	22.190	18.471
elisa-rolle.livejournal.com	23.192	40.513	41.465
Total	589.848	695.835	706.863	1,6%
*on a 28 days basis

there was an increase of the 2,2% on the visits on the website, and of 1,6% on the total number of visits for all three locations.



I decided to remove the ad banners from the website, thank you so much to all publishers who contributed the past year.