Super Bowl Controversy, Books to Read, New Social Media Outlets, and Why You Should Keep a Journal
Author: Julie Levine
February 1, 2013
This Sunday the San Francisco 49ers will duke it out with the Baltimore Ravens at the Super Bowl. Just when we thought public figures realized they should keep their negative opinions about homosexuality to themselves, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver said during an interview with comedian Artie Lange that he doesn’t want any gay players in the locker room, or on his team at all. After much backlash about these comments, Culliver apologized the following evening:
The derogatory comments I made yesterday were a reflection of thoughts in my head, but they are not how I feel. It has taken me seeing them in print to realize that they are hurtful and ugly. Those discriminating feelings are truly not in my heart. Further, I apologize to those who I have hurt and offended, and I pledge to learn and grow from this experience.
For those of you who will be ignoring everything about the game besides the commercials and Beyonce’s performance at halftime (and really, it’s only because you’ve got a bet going on whether or not she’ll be lip-synching), check out Curve Magazine’s list of “The 10 Most Underrated Lesbian Books” to give you something else to do on Sunday. Topping the list is the mesmerizing cult classic : Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles, a novel about a wealthy woman who falls for a prostitute.
For more LGBT-inspired lists and other snapshots of LGBT media around the web, look no further than BuzzFeed.com’s latest installment: BuzzFeed LGBT. In addition, the editorial team is looking to publish both established and emerging LGBT voices, so be sure to send your ideas!
Meanwhile, on Huffpost Gay Voices, George Takei, best known for playing Hikaru Sulu on Star Trek, talks about the difficulties of coming out as a public figure, his thoughts about the proposed “Don’t Say Gay” bill, his new musical, Allegiance, which aims to spread awareness about Japanese Internment camps during World War II, and his new book, Oh Myyy! (There Goes the Internet), which captures his experiences with social media platforms.
Speaking of social media, with the rise of blogging websites like WordPress, keeping a private journal might seem a little passé for the new millennium, but this flavorwire.com article in which 10 well-known authors such as David Sedaris and Susan Sontag are quoted on the value of keeping a journal could make at least a few people grab a pen and a notebook.
And last but not least, now that the Davis County School District in Utah has reversed the initial ban of Patricia Polacco’s book In Our Mother’s House (about children with lesbian parents), there seems to be a growing trend for LGBT children’s literature. This time, however, author Elizabeth Kushner arguably makes things even more groundbreaking by ironically bringing religion into the mix.
In her book, The Purim Superhero, a boy named Nate feels conflicted because he wants to dress up like an alien for the Jewish holiday Purim, but the rest of his classmates are dressing up as superheroes. He turns to his two dads for advice, and they tell him that it is okay, if not admirable, to be different.
[Book cover: Two Serious Ladies]
