The Pridelets Files for September 26

On this day in 1994, Frank Cremeans, an Ohio Republican congressional candidate, is quoted in a full-page ad in the Capital Hill newspaper Role Call, declaring he "don't" as the 50s song goes "know much about history." Says Cremeans the cretin, "The Greeks and the Romans were homosexuals. Their civilization did not stand. Did they come into contact with a social disease like AIDS? I don't know the answer."

BIRTHGAYS (and the occasional straights)
* 1601 - King Louis XIII, of France
* 1791 - French painter Jean Louis Andre Theodore Gericault
* 1888 - poet, dramatist, and literary critic Thomas Stearns Eliot
* 1907 - Burgess-Maclean spy case "4th man" art historian and museum curator Sir Anthony Blunt
* 1922 - National president of the Daughters of Bilitis, Shirley Willer
* 1942 - Latina author Gloria Anzaldua
* 1946 - "Our Blood" author, radical feminist Andrea Dworkin
* 1956 - Author Scott Heim
* 1962 - "Ellen" actor (and so much more) Patrick Bristow

Q.UOTE
"Why be nice to ignorant hicks? My advice to all of you gay boys that live in a horrible town is: be a BITCH and you'll never be afraid of walking down the hall. Be strong. Never let stupid people make you ashamed of who you are!" -- Chad, quoted in XY Magazine

THE BEDSIDE TABLE
"Wide Awake" by David Levithan

In the not-too-impossible-to-imagine future, a gay Jewish man has been elected president of the United States. Until the governor of one state decides that some election results in his state are invalid, awarding crucial votes to the other candidate, and his fellow party member. Thus is the inspiration for couple Jimmy and Duncan to lend their support to their candidate by deciding to take part in the rallies and protests. Along the way comes an exploration of their relationship, their politics, and their country, and sometimes, as they learn, it's more about the journey than it is about reaching the destination.
Only David Levithan could so masterfully and creatively weave together a plot that's both parts political action and reaction, as well as a touching and insightfully-drawn teen love story.

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.