Audre Lorde, a self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,” remains a celebrated figure in our community for her contributions to gay culture through her published works and activism. Read the rest of this entry »

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Authors Terrance Dean, Stanley Bennett Clay and James Earl Hardy joined together to pen a tribute book in honor of E. Lynn Harris. Harris, credited for the emergence of black gay literature into mainstream, passed away July 2009 from a sudden heartache.

The tribute novel, titled Visible Lives: A Tribute To E. Lynn Harris, consists of three stories that celebrate the trailblazing author.

Visible Lives is set to release on May 25, 2010.

Click HERE to pre-order your copy.

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Known for her music and fashion sense, pop singer Rihanna is ready to add yet another title to her credits — author. Yes, the singer is set release her first book, titled “Rihanna: The Last Girl On Earth,” mid-year. The novel, proposed to be released June 29th (according to Amazon.com), will feature contributions from artist Simon Henwood. Henwood was the creative director on RiRi’s recently released Rated R album and is expected to be the artistic brain behind her forthcoming world tour.

No other details have been released about the forthcoming book, except Read the rest of this entry »

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Out magazine has released its Class of 2009 honorees representing those outstanding and inspiring figures in the LGBT community.

So who made the list?

Lee Daniels made the list as “Most Likely To Win An Oscar,” Wanda Sykes as “Entertainer of the Year,” Kehinde Wiley & Bebe Zahara Benet as “Promoter & Director,” Pam Spaulding of Pam’s House Blend as “Most Likely to Be In The Computer Lab,” Nick Cave as “Most Artistic,” Tina Mabry as “The Fighter,” The Hetrick-Martin Institute and Harvey Milk High School as “The Real Class of 2009.”

Check out the photos after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

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Scholastic Books has decided to  change its decision to ban Luv Ya Bunches from its school book fair after receiving over 4,000 calls from Change.org members in the past two days.   Luv Ya Bunches, a children’s book that includes a character with same-sex parents, will now be included in the Scholastic books fairs for spring.  The global book publisher claims commitment “to a review process that considers all books equally regardless of their inclusion of LGBT characters and same sex parents.”

Check out Scholastic’s full statement after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

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Scholastic Books, a global children’s publishing and media company, has banned children’s book “Luv Ya Bunches” from its school book fairs. Luv Ya Bunches, authored by Lauren Myracle, is the first book in a a four-book series, about four elementary school girls with little in common other than being named after flowers, and the friendships that develop. The thing Scholastic takes issue with is that one of the characters, Milla, has two mommies. No, not a natural mom and step mom, but same-sex parents.

Not only does Scholastic have a problem with the presence of same-sex parents in the book, the company sent Myracle’s editor a letter asking the author to change the plot line to include a heterosexual couple. Myracle, however, was not having it.

“A child having same-sex parents is not offensive, in my mind, and shouldn’t be ‘cleaned up.’” says Myracle, adding that the book fair subsequently decided not to take on Luv Ya Bunches because they wanted to avoid letters of complaint from parents. “I find that appalling. I understand why they Read the rest of this entry »

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Former Lakers player and businessman Magic Johnson has written a soon-to-be published book titled, “When the Game was Ours,” co-authored with former Boston Celtics player Larry Bird. While the book mainly focuses on the former rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics, it also includes claims by Magic that former friend Isiah Thomas questioned Magic’s sexuality after he was diagnosed with HIV. Thomas, the former Knicks coach who recently relocated to Florida to coach at FIU following a federal jury’s findings he sexually harassed a colleague, is angered and hurt by the criticism from someone he believed to be a friend.

“I really feel taken advantage of for all these years,” said Thomas. ” I’m totally blindsided by this. Every time that I’ve seen Magic, he has been friendly to me.”

The NYDN reports, in the book, Magic claims that Thomas made calls to various NBA contacts after Johnson was Read the rest of this entry »

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The world lost a literary great with the passing of author E. Lynn Harris, however, his work lives on and new works continue to be released to the public. Harris’ final novel, Mama Dearest will launch today (September 22) at the legendary gay bookstore, Outwrite Books in Atlanta, GA. There will be readings by Eric Jerome Dickey, Clarence Nero, RM Johnson, Tina McElroy Ansa, Tracie Howard, and Laura Gilmore. The event is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.

Several authors have also decided to honor the memory of Harris with a tribute tour. The tour will take place in over a dozen major cities across the U.S. on Friday, September 25, which they have claimed as “E. Lynn Harris Day.”

Get tribute dates and locations after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

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