Book stuff and history

Yaaaayyyy! I've finished making the copy editing changes in my book and it only took two days.

Now I get to do it all over again.

Seriously though, I have given myself a deadline of February 1 for my manuscript to be fully ready to be published.

I would like to give huge props to Joe Brummer for his excellent recap of last year's events. I didn't realize that so much good was done for our community. I encourage everyone to read it.

Lastly, I received an interesting package in the mail from my copy editor. It was a book he wrote entitled We're So Glad You Asked: 52 quizzes for the Whole Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Heterosexual Family.

It is an excellent book that challenges readers to become knowledgeable on gay history.

We need more of that.

I am an African-American and the proud history of black people has been drilled in me on many occasions. My schools celebrated Dr. King's birthday long before it became a national holiday. We celebrated Black History Month when it was originally Black History Week with a schoolwide assembly in which we all participated.

The sense of urgency had by those who taught me to love my African-American heritage is something the gay and lesbian community needs.

There has been so much discussion on the similarities and differences between the African-American and gay rights movement. I have sat on the fence because I believe that both groups want to disavow or acknowledge the similiarities based on selfish reasons.

I will acknowledge that both groups are similar in one way: we have been miseducated and taught to hate ourselves.

Just as some folks want to push the idea that African-Americans and black people in general did nothing to contribute to the history of the world, some people want to deny the gay and lesbian community our rich heritage.

They want to keep us in the dark, pushing the idea that we are defined by how some of us have sexual relations.

The anti-gay industry wants to hold us back from being celebrating our orientation while they tell the world how nasty and evil we are.

We shouldn't let their ignorance stop us. We need to tell the story of Alexander the Great, who conquered much of the known world before he was 33; of Billy Tipton, who started her own jazz combo; of Bayard Rustin, who organized the 1963 March on Washington, of Egyptian queen Hatshepsut and Swedish queen Christina, both ruling as capable as a man.

The list goes on and on.

We owe to our gay children that they know these people.

And we owe it to ourselves. A refresher course in pride never hurts.