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Emerson’s Manifesto, Thoreau’s NatureThis article is only a portion of the full article. If you are already a premium subscriber please login. If you are not a premium subscriber, please subscribe for access to all of our content.

Sep 1, 2023 | glreview.org | MItchell Gould |Mitchell Santine Gould |Byron’s Taste

RALPH WALDO EMERSON’S 1841 essay “Self-Reliance” contains one of the most stirring coming-out challenges ever written. This is not the traditonal reading of the great American essay, to be sure, but I believe that “Self-Reliance” must be understood in the context of Emerson’s awareness of unconventional sexual desire, bolstered by his intimate friendship with Henry David Thoreau. Emerson was born in Boston in 1803 and died in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1882.
Splendor on the PatioThis article is only a portion of the full article. If you are already a premium subscriber please login. If you are not a premium subscriber, please subscribe for access to all of our content.

Sep 1, 2023 | glreview.org | Andrew Holleran |Byron’s Taste

MOBY DYKEAn Obsessive Quest to Track Down the LastRemaining Lesbian Bars in Americaby Krista BurtonSimon & Schuster383 pages, $28.99KRISTA BURTON was a self-described “lesbian joke machine” with a blog called Effing Dykes when an editor at Simon & Schuster called to ask if she would like to write a book for them.
Community of the DispossessedThis article is only a portion of the full article. If you are already a premium subscriber please login. If you are not a premium subscriber, please subscribe for access to all of our content.

Sep 1, 2023 | glreview.org | Hank Trout |Byron’s Taste

KIDS ON THE STREET Queer Kinship and Religion in San Francisco’s Tenderloinby Joseph PlasterDuke Univ. Press. 368 pages, $28.95JOSEPH PLASTER’S Kids on the Street is an in-depth sociological study of “throwaway kids”: abandoned and runaway queer youths marginalized by their sexuality and/or gender identity, who forged informal networks of mutual support to navigate and survive on the streets and alleys and in flophouses in the vice-ridden districts of America’s major cities.
No Way, They Were Gay?

Aug 8, 2023 | glreview.org | Lee Wind |Byron’s Taste

I admit it: I’ve got some issues with history. Growing up, history was presented as just the stories of white, straight, cis, able-bodied, rich, Christian men from Europe. It was endless names and dates to memorize. It had nothing to do with me or my life, and that made me feel even more alone. It made me feel like I was the first guy to ‘like-like’ another guy, ever. The exact moment I figured out I was gay still sparkles in my memory.
Review of Nelly & Nadine

Aug 1, 2023 | glreview.org | Cassandra Langer |Byron’s Taste

Nelly & NadineWritten by Jesper Osmund and Magnus GerttenDirected by Magnus GerttenOf the many films unearthed recently depicting the remarkable, courageous women from the second World War, none is more astonishing than the story of Nadine and Nellie, discovered by French lesbian/feminist Suzette Robishon during her research into the Shoah. It is a true lesbian love story. I first learned of Nadine Hwang while researching my biography of Romaine Brooks.
Why My Father Called Me Son, Daughter, He, She and It

Jul 27, 2023 | glreview.org | Rachel Matlow |Byron’s Taste

My father and I were in Starbucks about a year after he learned he had Alzheimer’s when he looked me up and down with his judge’s eye and said to the barista, “This young — ahem —man will have a latte.”I laughed, not sure if he was joking. Until that moment, I had always been his daughter. Granted, I was never a typical daughter.
Love and Regret in Gay Bars

Jul 19, 2023 | glreview.org | Les Wright |Byron’s Taste

Even after the first years following Stonewall, Albany’s gay subculture was still distinctly closeted. Chapters of Gay Liberation Front (GLF), Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), and Gay Maoists had started up on campus my freshman year, where a few men were out, but most, like I, were closetedWhen I first walked into G.J.’s Gallery, a neighborhood bar in Albany, NY, I found myself in the bohemian underworld I had longed for.
On Writing Black Queer Fiction

Jul 4, 2023 | glreview.org | Mecca Jamilah Sullivan |Byron’s Taste

“So, your mother is a Black feminist? No wonder your writing is so queer!”I gave a quiet chuckle over the rim of my drink and nodded. I was with a new friend at one of Washington DC’s many chic Black bar restaurants. Stylish couples lined the walls, hair done, shoes on point, radiant in their summer best. All the couples, as far as I could tell, seemed straight. My friend and I, both Black, queer women, guessed that the host, the server, and the smiling manager who came to greet us were all family.
But Were You Gracious in Your Suffering?

Jul 1, 2023 | glreview.org | Anne Charles |Byron’s Taste

MARINA TSVETAEVATo Die in Yelabugaby Vénus Khoury-GhataTranslated by Teresa Lavender FaganSeagull Books. 140 pages, $21. THE FIRST SENTENCE of Vénus Khoury-Ghata’s biographical novel reveals the book’s unorthodoxy. The use of the second person here and throughout suggests a tone of probing intimacy designed to offer insight into the thoughts and feelings of the subject, renowned Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva.
The Spark That Lit the Gay Publishing Boom

Jun 18, 2023 | glreview.org | Dennis Altman |Byron’s Taste

ON CHRISTOPHER STREETLife, Sex, and Death after Stonewallby Michael DennenyU. of Chicago Press. 360 pages, $22.50Editor’s Note: The late Michael Denneny, author of the book under review, is memorialized in this issue. This review was written prior to his death on April 15th.