The Pridelets Files for September 18

On this day in 1954, "TV Guide" asks "When Will Liberace Marry?" They're not completely in the dark, as they say the foppish easily mocked entertainer is "A perpetually grinning matinee idol, slightly pudgy, who seems for all the world to be an overgrown little boy dependent on his mother." (As if that was a bad thing.)

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BIRTHGAYS (and the occasional straights)
* 1848 - Composer/musician (Benjamin Henry) Jesse (Francis) Shepard AKA writer Francis Grierson
* 1883 - Composer, painter, novelist, aristocrat Baron Berners (XIV), Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson
* 1905 - the amazing Greta Garbo
* 1913 - "Homosexual in America" author "Donald Webster Cory" AKA City University of New York Professor of Sociology and Criminology Edward Sagarin, a vocal conservative critic of the modern gay movement
* 1976 - Regional TV morning show producer, improv actor, Oasis columnist & Pridelets reader Troy Diggs

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Q.UOTE
"The church says we should get down on our knees and repent! Well, excuse me, but didn't being on my knees cause most of my sins?" -- Bob Smith

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THE BOOK BAG
"Tough Love: High School Confidential" by Abby Denson
Inspired by shounen-ai manga (melodramatic Japanese comics by girls about gay boys) "Tough Love" is a teen romance and coming-out story about a shy boy named Brian. More realistic than Japanese manga, this story centers on the relationships Brian develops with the boy he likes, Chris, and Julie, the girl who befriends him. Serious issues like gay bashing, suicide, and coming to terms with one's own sexual identity are depicted with an honest, gentle touch. Socially relevant, fun, immediately accessible, and a bit of a soap opera, "Tough Love" helps gay teenagers to be more comfortable with themselves and less troubled, especially when they're feeling alone and misunderstood.

This work is copyright© 2006 Thomas Allen Heald, all rights reserved. Contact the author at tom@idontgetit.org and the latest column are always available at www.Pridelets.com.