June, 2013 - Rob Browatzke

A Secret Edge by Robin Reardon

Rob Browatzke June 9, 2013 Reviews 0 Comments

Jason Peele is your typical high school student, with one exception. He’s gay. Maybe. It’s something he’s just beginning to accept, and on this path to acceptance, he encounters both hurdles and helpers. Hurdles include jilted girlfriend Meg, a conservative and concerned uncle and homophobic bullies Jimmy and Dane. They’re balanced out by a supportive friendship with Robert and a tall, dark, handsome student named Raj.

As Raj teaches Jason about Gandhi, non-violence, and nirvana, he also teaches Jason about what it means to be gay. It isn’t easy; who is it easy for? Two things make it easier for Jason: running on the track, where all his troubles can be left behind, and the secret knife he carries to protect himself. As Jason runs the race to self-acceptance and coming out, both the track and that knife become the source of even greater problems. There are some things you just can’t run away from. The confusion and fear and uncertainty of high school is captured perfectly. Equally confusing and also perfectly captured is that parade of “firsts: first sight, first touch, first kiss, first time: innocent, excited, frightened. It’s a story very different from my own, yet the similarities are there. The actions differ, life to life, but the emotions are what we all experienced. And the lessons are ones we all needed to learn: about honesty and bravery and respect

This review was originally published on homorazzi

The Edmonton Queens: Leah Way

Rob Browatzke June 6, 2013 Who's Who 0 Comments

Who better for our first in a series of Who’s Who of Edmonton Queens than a three-time Empress and the host of this year’s Celebration on the Square? We talked to Leah Way about her time in the Edmonton drag scene and what we can expect from this year’s Pride and Coronation.

Leah Way has been involved in our local drag and bar scene since the mid-80s, and has seen a lot of changes in that time. Starting at Flashback, a club she remembers as being so far ahead of its time that she’s hard-pressed to come up with an advantage the current scene has over it, Leah was taught what she refers to as old-school drag Queens in those days had to be bigger than life. When a queen walked into a room, everyone’s heads turned. It was a true art form, and it had to be so. In those days, there was a huge political movement for equal rights, and of course, the AIDS crisis. Queens were instrumental in raising thousands of dollars for different causes, so to get people to come out and watch performances and donate the kind of money needed, drag had to be over the top. At a time where it was harder to be accepted for being gay, queens stood out, but as the GLBT community has acquired both more equal rights and more social acceptability, the need for people to be able to express themselves has changed, and the need and nature of drag has changed accordingly.

Over the years, Leah Way has held many titles, from being the last Mz Flashback (she was still reigning when the club closed so has never technically stepped down) to being the first Mz Gay Edmonton, as well as Empress 14 and 30, and one of the current Regents of the ISCWR. Each title carried with it different responsibilities but all were equally meaningful and memorable. One of the things Leah misses most about Flashback has carried over into how she reigns as an Edmonton monarch; the amazing camaraderie of Flashback taught Leah it was okay to be whomever and whatever she wanted, and now she supports others in making those same decisions.

When she was crowned Mz Gay Edmonton, it really was the thrill of a lifetime. It meant acceptance….. it meant she was accepted by the GLBT community, it meant the straight community was on its way to accepting the GLBT community, but most importantly it meant she was ready to accept herself. With the 24th Gay Edmonton Pageant approaching this Pride (to be held Friday the 15th at Flash), Leah has this to say to the aspirants: “be true to who you are, represent to the best of your ability, integrity and compassion and know that more than likely you are going to make a difference in at least one persons life and you never know who or when.”

Just a couple months after Pride and the Gay Edmonton Pageant will be Coronation, and as one of 6 Regent Monarchs this year, Leah is leading the charge to make Coronation different and more inviting, especially for the in-town guests who may not understand “court”. One of the changes she feels people can most look forward is the presentation of a production of “Lion King” instead of the traditional last walks.

We asked Leah how the current court year is going and she says it’s going well, “not without its challenges of course, but every year has its own set of those”. Although she had hoped for better communication perhaps, and for more things done as a group, she acknowledges the difficulties in having so many strong personalities in leadership roles. At the end of the day though, her proudest accomplishments are the money given away to charity, and the difference that makes in so many peoples lives.

As much as she loves the role of drag in her life, Leah admits her drag career is winding down, and that she is looking at hanging up her heels in the near future. Hosting Pride is one of the things on her drag bucket list that she wanted to give a shot, and she is very excited for this year’s Celebration in the Square. This year features a lot of different acts to appeal to a variety of tastes, some returning, some new, more drag performances than last year, and “overall a day of fabulous entertainment and spending time with old friends while making new ones”. What she is most excited about is that she gets to be a part of making Pride a great experience for everyone, whether they are long time pride supporters or pride virgins.

There have been sacrifices over the years, but Leah has gotten so much more out of drag than she has had to give up; It has been well worth every sacrifice. She loves Edmonton’s community. Even though she has seen infighting, backstabbing, and bitchiness that are often hard to deal with, and worse, often directed towards novices or outsiders, Leah is proud that Edmonton’s community is one of the best for supporting each other, offering assistance, and being there in times of need.

To the younger generation of gays and lesbians, Leah Way has this piece of wisdom to offer: “live your life for you make yourself happy and don’t worry about what others say. Those who try to rip you down are only unhappy with themselves. Live your life honestly, with integrity and always give back to others where you are able. As we acquire more equality and its safer to go out and enjoy our lives in the mainstream never ever forget where we as a community have come from and the fights we have had to go through in order to enjoy these freedoms.”

Originally published on QMagazine

The Evolution of Ethan Poe by Robin Reardon

Rob Browatzke June 4, 2013 Reviews 0 Comments

Ethan Poe is an outlier. He doesn’t feel he fits in with any groups at his school, partly because of his Goth appearance (inspired by his distant relative Edgar Allan), partly because he’s gay. The only person that knows the latter though is his friend Jorja, a fellow outlier, and one who is constantly praying that Ethan will stop being gay. As Jorja becomes even more intense about her religion, Ethan’s brother Kyle too seems caught up in a religious fever, and in his case, it is becoming disturbing indeed.

If that’s not complicated enough for a sixteen-year-old whose parents are recently separated, life takes an interesting turn in the person of Max Modine, beautiful and mysterious, and apparently as attracted to Ethan as Ethan is to him.

Ethan, his family, his friends, and Max soon find themselves caught up in a turmoil that is dividing their small town: the debate over whether or not to include Intelligent Design into science classrooms. Although Ethan doesn’t want to become involved, preferring instead to keep his outlier status, he finds that he has to make some choices and take a stand. After all, the religious groups using blind biblical faith to justify their ID are the same groups who would condemn being gay, and as his relationship with Max intensifies, Ethan knows that there’s nothing unnatural about what they are feeling.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love this Robin Reardon book as much as all the rest, but as a character, Ethan gets under my skin. He’s a teenager, I know, so his centre-of-the-world oblivious-to-everyone-else my-feelings-matter-more-than-anyone-else attitude shouldn’t frustrate me like it does. As in life though, that self-centeredness is tempered by the experiences he undergoes, as he grows and begins to realize that other people have their own thoughts, their own feelings, and their own pain.

It’s a rich book, filled with flawed characters that fail and succeed, and it forces you to look at some big issues: the pros and cons of the pack mentality, what it means to have religious freedom, and where lines must be drawn to protect it, the importance of not being so caught up in our own “stuff” that we become blind to what’s going on around us.

All in all, another hit from Robin Reardon!

This review was originally published on homorazzi

The Revelations of Jude Connor by Robin Reardon

Rob Browatzke June 3, 2013 Reviews 0 Comments

It’s the story of a boy, growing up evangelically Christian, and fervently believing in his religion, and how he reconciles that religion to the growing realization he is gay. At the same time, he is dealing with being orphaned and left in the care of his older brother; being deserted by his childhood friend after learning that the feelings he had for him were reciprocated; becoming friends with a non-believer classmate Pearl; and finding dual father figures in Reverend Amos King, his godfather whose infectious religious rhetoric cloaks a secret of his own, and in Gregory Hart, a bachelor caring for his wheelchair-bound sister whose good heart cannot make up for the near-certain suspicion in this small Idaho town that Gregory is a homosexual.

As in his other books, Reardon perfectly captures the arrogant egocentrism of adolescence, that unassailable confidence, that smug and false superiority. In the case of Jude Connor, those already innate teenage tendencies are exacerbated by his belief that God has placed him in a position to judge and teach the non-believers around him.

One of the most beautiful and momentous scenes of the book occurs when Jude finally has That First Time. We all know how confusing and complicated that moment can be, even without a voice in our head spouting God’s condemnation. Reardon addresses the moment perfectly:

It was all wrong, and it was all perfect. It was dynamite and Hell opening up but also fireworks and shooting stars. It was Satan’s trap closing on me and the answer to all my prayers at once. It would kill my soul, and I couldn’t live without it

This book deals with the difference between the blind adherence to doctrine and the genuine expression of faith. It is a journey so many of us have taken. The Churches so many of us grew up in, supposed to be places of love, acceptance, and healing, take on a dark power to harm us as we begin to not only accept our sexuality but also just to think and question for ourselves. There are different roads we can take, and this book shows a few of the different results. We can repress and lie and deny, constantly fighting against such a vital part of our being. We can admit who we are and what we feel, but deny an act that is so natural and needed in an effort to balance orientation with doctrine. Or we can embrace our sexuality and ourselves, and find a way to have a faith that includes the message that at the end of it all, gay or straight, Christian or not, “our souls will be fine…as long as we bring love into the world whenever possible.”

This review was originally published on homorazzi

Thinking Straight by Robin Reardon

Rob Browatzke June 3, 2013 Reviews 0 Comments

Coming out is hard enough. Coming out when you’re family is conservative and Christian is even harder. When Taylor Adams’ parents find out their son is gay, they ship him off for a six-week stay at “Straight to God” in the hopes that he can be saved.

Now Taylor had had no problems with balancing out his sexuality and his faith. His love for God was in no way affected by his love for his boyfriend Will. Still, to please his family, he is willing to endure this separation from the boy of his dreams. At “Straight to God”, Taylor is forced to try to put away all former images of his sinful life, easier said than done. The other kids in the program, whether there for drugs, violence, disobedience, or inappropriate lust, are a mixed bag. There’s some Taylor feels a connection with, some he doesn’t. First impressions aren’t always right though, and that’s only the first lesson Taylor learns at S2G.

As Taylor interacts with his roommate Charles, with the sexy Sean, with the secretive and confusing Nate, as well as the other boys and girls and the facilitators and pastor, he is forced to really look at himself. Not to question his sexuality or his faith, but to better understand the balance between them, and what it means to be both gay and Christian.

This book admirably deals with some timely issues. How do we deal with those who misinterpret Scripture to condemn and to hate? How do we balance pride with humility? How do we stay strong in the face of almost overpowering rejection and condemnation, and how do we help others to do the same? Does the definition of sin change over time?

Through Taylor’s eyes, we see what real sin is: the absence of love.

This review was originally published on homorazzi

A Fool Among Fools by John Terracusso

Rob Browatzke June 1, 2013 Reviews 0 Comments

It’s a year in the life of an ad exec in mid-1980s New York. Twenty-nine is a tricky year – you’re too young to be old, but you’re too old to not have accomplished SOMETHING. You have your family, sure, and your relationships with them are good, mostly. You’ve had a boyfriend, but now you’re single. You have a job, but it’s not satisfying you (and you supervisor is certifiably insane). You’ve got friends, and thank God for that. They get you through the days, through the nights, through the ever-present awareness of the virus that has been sweeping through everywhere.

Michael Gregoretti (MG for short) can’t believe he is turning twenty-nine. His job as a secretary turned junior copywriter isn’t getting him anywhere. The play he is writing, about life in an ad agency, isn’t going anywhere. His love life since his ex Tim moved to California to pursue his acting career is definitely not going anywhere. His most immediate problem, though, as he starts his thirtieth year, is summed up in two words: Gwen Hammond, his supervisor at Malcolm & Partners Worldwide. Gwen’s controlling and creatively-dead work is suffocating MG.

While working under her (and buckling under what he sees as her complete incompetence), MG meets the handsome Craig Connolly. Craig and MG hit it off, and although the sex is great, and his intentions seem honorable, Craig’s availability soon has MG questioning if they’re after the same thing.

The author’s time as an advertising copywriter clearly comes through. He captures the frustratingly mindless tedium of a creative person being forced to give ground on every point of every campaign, to satisfy conservative clients who, in MG’s mind, wouldn’t recognize a genuinely creative concept if it bit them on the ass. While sometimes the minutia of the various campaigns MG is working on seem to bog down the plot (even as they are bogging down his life), days in the advertising world are broken up by nights with his friend Irene, his roommate Anthony, and the now-hot, now-cold Craig.

MG is an average gay man, with the campiness, cattiness, self-awareness, and self-doubt that characterizes the species. At times you want to smack him across the face and tell him flat out: if you’re not happy with your life, change it already! Somehow his friends stand by him through the whining and waffling as his job and relationship reach their inevitable conclusions. As he turns thirty, a bit of a deus ex machina ending gives MG the chance to make his life what he wants it to be.

This is John Terracusso’s first novel, and although not perfect, it has moments that stand out: humorous, painful, beautiful. Perhaps the lesson it leaves us with is to seize any birthday as a chance to allow ourselves to be reborn. We may not have control over many things in life, but our happiness is the one thing we can always choose for ourselves.

This review was originally published by homorazzi

A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham

Rob Browatzke June 1, 2013 Reviews 0 Comments

This is the story of three people who make a life together. Three friends who become a family. This is the story of Jonathan and Bobby, friends, brothers, lovers, and Clare, the woman who shares their hearts, their bed, and bears their baby.

When Jonathan and Bobby become friends in middle school, it is to the chagrin of Jonathan’s mother, who sees Bobby’s hand in Jonathan’s pulling away from her. Jonathan’s father sees this simply as natural adolescence, and although he is right, he is not as intimate with the boys’ lives as is Alice, the mother. She has spent hours in Jonathan’s room, listenting to albums, smoking pot, dancing. She bonds with Bobby almost against her will, and their home becomes a second home for him, an oasis away from the tragedy and dysfunction of his own.

In the meantime, boys will be boys, and Jonathan, gay, and Bobby, not gay but not straight, have experimented and explored their budding sexuality. Alice catches them with their pants down, and this event, traumatizing for all of them, ends the friendship between mother and son and surrogate son.

After the boys graduate, Jonathan moves from Cleveland to New York for college while Bobby stays. When he loses father and home to a fire, he moves in with Jonathan’s parents. When Jonathan’s dad’s declining health causes them to move to Arizona, Bobby heads to New York moves in with Jonathan and his roommate Clare. There, they all find a sort of love, Jonathan with a man named Erich, and Clare and Bobby with each other. Jonathan’s dad’s death and Clare’s pregnancy leads them to leave New York City behind and move upstate, where they open a small restaurant and raise little Rebecca together the three of them, in their home at the end of the world.

This novel takes on our definitions of friendship and of family, of gay and straight and what it really means to love another person. It is the story of escaping from “our convoluted, neurotic lives” and finding those places, quiet, simple, and perfect, where we can learn life’s little secrets. How some things end, how some endure. How we think we’ll have more time, how we don’t. Things move along at a comfortable pace, tragedy strikes, illness befalls, and things move along at a different pace, one you still must become comfortable with.

The world is filled with cities that are themselves filled with hustle and bustle and chaos, but there are also pockets of peace and affection and truth. Likewise, your bookshelf might be filled with books that are themselves filled with action or humor or romance, but there are also pages of beauty and reality and truth. This is one of those.

This review was originally published by homorazzi

Trouble Boy by Tom Dolby

Rob Browatzke June 1, 2013 Reviews 0 Comments

Some of the most surprising and enjoyable reads I have had lately have been the result of simply walking into my local bookstore, heading over to the gay fiction, and seeing what cover strikes my fancy. The Trouble Boy, by Tom Dolby, was one of these.

It was a quick read, relatable, entertaining, and one that resonated with me on a lot of levels. It’s the story of Toby Griffin, 22-year-old boy-next-door, fresh-faced college graduate, who moves to New York City knowing he’s going to conquer the world with his charm. His dream of writing a screenplay that gains him recognition and fame are very familiar to anyone who, like me, enjoys writing. His dream of finding that perfect boyfriend is also very familiar to anyone who, like me, has never given up on that love-at-first-sight happy-ever-after ending Disney taught us all to expect.

Life doesn’t quite work out the way Toby hoped though. His quest for a boyfriend is interrupted by interludes with Real World Boy, Goth Boy, Loft Boy, nameless faces that could be anyone but end up being no one. His quest for that award-winning screenplay (and the front-page notoriety that would inevitable come from it) is cut short when he realizes that it isn’t just that easy, that dues must be paid, that it takes more than a good idea and a lot of wishes. Still, he doesn’t give up on either dream, even as he is distracted by booze and coke and the various troubles of his group of friends.

It was very real, the way Toby went from crisis to crisis, sometimes assisted by his friends, sometimes assisting them in their own crises. The book touches on a lot of more serious issues, without belabouring the point or becoming too preachy: safer sex, substance use, HIV, pregnancy. As Toby lives his life, his friends live theirs, and they intersect for moments of camaraderie and compassion, before diverging again. About halfway through the book, you find yourself slapped in the face by a surprising twist. There you are, enjoying a tale of a naive youth flirting with a glamourous celebrity-filled world, and then BAM, like a car into a crowd of pedestrians, everything changes. This forces Toby to look at his circumstances, to really evaluate some of his priorities, and he emerges stronger, maybe not making all his dreams come true, but at least getting closer to realizing some of them.

I also quite enjoyed the guy Toby ends up with. It’s weird how sometimes someone that has been on the periphery of your life, never involved but always there, on the sidelines, can suddenly get centre stage. It’s even weirder how sometimes, you do the same thing in their life. I guess that brings me back to that love-at-sixteenth-sight happy-ever-after ending.

This isn’t a coming out novel, and even though it does tackle some heavy subject matter, it stays quick-paced and clever. Its happy ending is realistic; not everything is resolved (nothing in life ever really is after all). It’s a good read though, so when you’re looking for a book to read by the pool this summer, filled with characters and situations you can probably relate to from Saturdays at the club, pick this up.

This review was originally published on homorazzi

Month: June 2013