Those Others for Kindle

Those Others: Navigating the "Riddle of Homosexuality" in 1965 is now available on Kindle.

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Here's the beginning of a scene where Michael first begins to read the articles from the Washington Post, alone in his room. Remember, this is 1965.

After dinner, he returned to his room, poured himself a glass, and pulled the Sunday newspaper from beneath the mattress where he had hidden it in fear that someone would see it. He began reading.

Those Others: A Report on Homosexuality

This series of articles would not have been written five years ago. Then, a frank and open discussion of homosexuality would have been impossible. It was a topic not to be mentioned in polite society or public print because it could be distasteful, embarrassing and disturbing.

“This is supposed to make me feel better about myself?” he questioned himself out loud.

In the first few paragraphs, homosexuality was compared to mental illness and venereal disease, and referred to as the problem of homosexuality, yet offered Michael some hope by admitting that myths and misconceptions cloud any discussion of the “problem,” and that it might be time to reappraise our laws and attitudes.

He read that some homosexuals lead double lives and marry and have children, and thought of the senator from out west who had given him the paper he was holding. He continued reading.

One isolated homosexual experience doesn’t make a “homosexual” just as one drink doesn’t make an alcoholic.

He looked at the glass of scotch in his hand and asked himself “what about two isolated experiences? Or two drinks?”

He poured another glass.

Those Others Up for an Award

Those Others is being considered in the Gay Debut Fiction category in the 23rd Annual Lambda Literary Awards for works published in 2010.

Gay Debut Fiction

There is stiff competition among the 16 current submissions, and more are to come.

Awards will be announced in 2011.

Lambda Literary

Book Signing Event

I will be reading, taking questions, and signing books in Nashville, TN at Outloud Bookstore, 3:00 on October 9, 2010. Books will be available, or bring your own. Hope to see you there.

Outloud Books

Review of Those Others

A new review by Sebastian Fortino has been published in the South Florida Gay News.

The writing is sensitive. Michael does not “come out,” as we would know the term today. Instead, by realizing his sexuality, finding someone to build a life with, and later becoming aware of and a part of the struggle for civil rights—the National Voting Rights Act of 1965 is an underlying theme—he comes to accept himself and realizes he should have the same rights as everyone else.

Openshaw writes in a particularly beautiful passage: “He was totally immersed in the rapturous moments that led, for the first time, to a feeling of ease with his developing sexuality. Lying in bed, exhausted and naked, when he should have felt most vulnerable, he felt completely accepted and at peace.”

The review also notes the historical aspect of the book.

The historical aspect of the novel coincides with a groundbreaking—however dated by today’s standards—1965 series of articles that appeared in the Washington Post by Jean M. White. They open by saying that bringing up the topic of homosexuality in “polite society or public print” in 1965 would not have been possible in 1960.


Read the entire review here.

Those Others: The Video

Those Others: the video. This should answer any questions.

Those Others now available

Those Others: Navigating the "Riddle of Homosexuality" in 1965 is now available for purchase.

To purchase the book from Amazon, click here.

I have a limited number of copies and you can purchase one directly from me, at a discount, and signed if you wish, on a first come basis.

If you don't live nearby, you can still get a signed copy, for the same low price plus shipping. Contact me, or click the "Buy Now" button to the left.

If you are a retailer or librarian, the book is available through most book distributors and the CreateSpace Expanded Distribution Channel.

Those Others takes place in the Spring of 1965, and since this is the 45th anniversary year for Bloody Sunday, the Selma to Montgomery March and the first gay rights picket in Washington DC, events which play a role in the book, I decided to release the title early so that people might have it to read as they commemorate the events.

Those Others is based in part on a series of newspaper articles from the Washington Post in 1965.

This article was on the front page of section E on Sunday, January 31, 1965.

Here are the articles that appeared over the five day period.

The book not only tells the story of how a young man's perception of himself might have been influenced by these articles, but with the inclusion of reprints of the articles reveals that with gay equality, in spite of the tremendous gains made over the last five decades, we still must fight the same battles and misconceptions that were were present in 1965.

Michael also learns about equality from Civil Rights leaders as he becomes a part of that movement. Martin Luther King, Jr., Bayard Rustin and Viola Liuzzo provide insights that help him develop a different view of himself.

The articles from the Washington Post, hidden among the archives of the paper for decades, and King's speech at the conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery March, are included as part of the book.

Those Others

Those Others
Navigating the "Riddle of Homosexuality" in 1965.

This is the preface to my book, which was announced here. Email me if you want to be notified when the book is released.

Preface

Between January 31 and February 4, 1965 a series of articles regarding homosexuality was published in The Washington Post. The articles dealt with homosexuality from many aspects, including the social, medical, psychiatric, employment, legal and religious aspects. Most likely this was the first publication in the mainstream media that presented homosexuality in what at the time could be a fair and balanced way.

These articles are reproduced at the end of the story. The reader may want to read them first, to gain an understanding of the times. Or, they may be read in the appropriate place as they come up in the story, just as the character in the book might read them.

Regardless, the series was bound to have affected many who read it in 1965. Some would be shocked to open their Sunday paper and see the headline:

Those Others: A Report on Homosexuality

They may have been more shocked to read about the controversial behavior of some homosexuals or the severe punishments that were handed down to those unfortunate enough to get caught practicing their behavior.

It may have been their first introduction to what the Kinsey Report said about the subject. That, in turn, could have led to questions about themselves; or their spouses.

On the other hand, the articles could have given encouragement to homosexuals living in the Washington, D.C. area. They might have read for the first time that homosexuals could lead a normal life and that at least one state had exempted homosexual acts from legal penalty. And they might have learned that a local group, the Mattachine Society, was working for their rights in their city.

Some, however, may have been left confused by the articles, especially in the reports on the possible causes and treatments of homosexuality.

Now, almost forty five years later, private consensual homosexual acts are no longer criminal in this country. While advances in medicine, psychiatry and science have increased our knowledge of the origins of sexual orientation and so called “ex-gay” therapies have been discredited, we find ourselves still having to debate the same issues of employment discrimination, violence, religious acceptance and partnership recognition that existed in the 1960s.

The year 1965 was historic, in that civil rights and social unrest in general led to massive demonstrations. The Selma to Montgomery March occurred that year, as did the first large scale anti-Vietnam War protest in Washington, D.C. In addition, the first gay rights protest in Washington, D.C. occurred in front of the White House, where about 10 picketers marched with signs demanding equality in the workplace.

But let’s go back a few months, back to January of that year, when a young man, confused about his life, began his discovery.