My Boyfriend's Secret Bookshelf and What It Means to be Different

 

When I first met Fred the Ministerial Student during my sophomore year at Augustana College, I tried to determine if he was gay by examining his bookcases for books by gay authors -- I only knew about Tennessee Williams, Oscar Wilde, and Shakespeare.  I didn't find anything.

In the open, anyway.

One day a few months  after we began dating, Fred asked me to get something from his bedroom closet, and I found a secret bookshelf, facing away from view, so even if the door was ajar, you wouldn't know what was there.

Curious, I pulled a book out.  Familiar Faces: Hidden Lives: The Story of Homosexual Men in America Today, by Howard Brown.

I had never seen a nonfiction book about gay people.

"There are a few others," Fred told me.  "I have almost all of the nonfiction, I think.  Of course, it has to be hidden."

"I've never seen a gay book in a bookstore."

"Not likely.  They wouldn't stock any -- it's illegal to put them out on the shelves -- and besides, who would walk up to the counter and try to buy one?"   "It's all by mail.  You don't have to give them your name, just a money order and post office box."

With Fred's permission, I spent the afternoon going through the seven gay books in existence.
1. Familiar Faces, Hidden Lives.
2. Greek Homosexuality
3. The Homosexual Matrix
4. Is the Homosexual My Neighbor?: Another Christian View
5. Jonathan Loved David: Homosexuality in Biblical Times
6. Iolaus, An Anthology of Friendship, by early gay activist Edward Carpenter
7. A slim hardback, On Being Different: What it Means to be a Homosexual, by Merle Miller.

(Fred was actually mistaken; there were about 30 nonfiction books about gay people in print in the U.S. in 1980.)

The only author I recognized was Merle Miller.  My English and journalism teachers were always praising him:

Born right next door to Rock Island, in Marshalltown, Iowa,  a graduate of the University of Iowa, and now look at him!  A famous journalist, novelist, and historian, biographer of presidents!

Read his books for a model of good writing.

Novels like The Winter, Island 49, and The Sure Thing.

His book on the television industry, Only You, Dick Darling (1964).

And especially Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman (1973).

They didn't mention, or they didn't know, that in in January 1971, Merle Miller came out in an article in The New York Times  Magazine: "What It Means to Be a Homosexual."  

It was a response to Jacob Epstein, who wrote in the September 1970 issue of Harper's that "If I had the power to do so, I would wish homosexuality off the face of the Earth. I  would do so because I think it brings infinitely more pain than pleasure to those who are forced to live with it..and because, wholly selfishly, I find myself completely incapable of coming to terms with it."  

Merle Miller responded, “I am sick and tired of reading and hearing such goddamn demeaning, degrading bullshit about me and my friends."  Being homosexual" caused pain only because of bigots like Epstein.

His rebuttal received 2000 responses (back when you had to write physical letters), many positive, and was reprinted, with an afterward, in On Being Different,  the slim hardbound volume that I found on Fred's hidden bookshelf. It was republished again in 2012, with a foreward by conservative gay columnist Dan Savage.

More after the break

"Chelsea Detectives," Episode 1.3: Who murdered Mrs. Romano? The hot chef, the hot delivery guy, her surly son, or her wife?

 

The Chelsea Detectives (2022-25), on Amazon Prime, is a series of movies featuring murders in the posh Chelsea neighborhood of London, investigated by "will they or won't they" inspectors Max and Layla (Adrian Scarborough, Vanessa Emme).

Adrian (bum on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends) is quite different from the usual American "will they or won't they" leading man: Pierce Brosnan in Remington Steele, Tony Danza in Who's the Boss, Ted Danson in Cheers, or Bruce Willis in Moonlightning (famous accidental d*ck shot on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends).

 But if the painter is being accurate, he's got a bigger d*ck than any of them.

 I looked through all of the episodes to find one that didn't involve a husband with a dead wife or a "devoted family man," and came up with Episode 2, Mrs. Romono.  It may even have a lesbian couple.

Intro: Establishing shots of the Thames, then Max rides his bike through Chelsea, past Cadogan Hall and Sloane Square, but not Harrod's.  

He calls for Astrid, who is getting ready to go out, but all he needs is the name of her friend who deals with rare books.  He's got some first editions from Dad's shop that the dealer might like. 

Uh-oh, here comes Astrid's date, played by Michael D. Xavier.  Having been defeated by a guy with a bigger d*ck, Max retreats.  I thought they were siblings?  She must be an ex-girlfriend.

Rare books are not mentioned again in the episode, darn it.

Scene 2: Robyn Romano, influencer, author of a bestselling cookbook, and owner of the famous La Famiglia Restaurant,  has a lot of problems that could result in murder:

1. The Delivery Guy wanted to stay to the end of the month, but she wants him out now  

2. She goes to the kitchen and kisses the other Mrs. Romano a dozen times, while the chef growls (must be homophobic).  

3. The Other Mrs. Romano wants to make a big announcement, but it's too soon.  They argue.

4. She argues with the Other Mrs. Romano's son, Luca (Cayvan Coates):  "You agreed not to upset your Mum.  I'm helping you."

"Growl, growl."

In What it Means, a two-person play about Merle Miller, whose essay "What it Means to Be a Homosexual" became one of the early texts in the Gay Liberation Movement, Cayvan Coates plays the Boy from Pittsburgh.  He also stars in Alfie's Island, a short about two former boyfriends (Cayvan, Liv Ello) hoping to reconnect, and kissing a lot.  

Definitely gay in real life; presumably his character is gay, too.

Scene 3: Time for the murder.  Late at night, Robyn goes home -- to her house right on the Thames -- hears a noise, notices that the glass door to the patio is broken, and goes outside to investigate.  Dumb! A scream!  A neighbor calls the politce.

More after the break