What’s Wh All the Gay Pengus? – Mm Studi at Tufts Universy

Contents:

• THE PENGU BOOK OF GAY SHORT STORI
• ‘GAY PENGUS’ BOOK STIRS NTROVERSY, IGNOR FULL STORY
• WHAT’S WH ALL THE GAY PENGUS?

THE PENGU BOOK OF GAY SHORT STORI

) Yet Florida’s Lake County School District has reportedly termed that such facts are forbidn to young children unr the state’s so-lled “Don’t Say Gay” law engeered by Florida Gov. A llectn of fictn by and about gay men featur origal stori om Larry Kramer, Edmund Whe, Christopher Coe, Michael Cunngham, and other wrers and explor the tragedi and triumphs of AIDS. GenrLGBTFictnShort StoriGayQueerAnthologiHistoril Fictn 656 pag, PaperbackFirst published January 14, 1994About the thorLeavt is a graduate of Yale Universy and a profsor at the Universy of Florida, where he is the -director of the creative wrg program.

Leavt, who is openly gay, has equently explored gay issu his work. The word "gay" as we know formerly meant happy, pleasg, optimistic, fun-encsted, joy-bedbed, that sort of thg, as the very first le of "Island of Dreams" by The Sprgfields (1963):"I wanred the streets and the gay crowd plac"Then the early to mid 1960s the new meang bubbled up om the homosexual mi-mon, maybe as a replacement for "queer" which really did need replacg.

‘GAY PENGUS’ BOOK STIRS NTROVERSY, IGNOR FULL STORY

But now my dghter Geia (aged 13) tells me that one very mon phrase ed at school is "that's really gay" or "that's so gay" - and the tend meang is nothg to do wh homosexualy, bee now jt means "that's really bbish" or "that's so feeble". I daray the latt meang has grown out of the well-attted strint homophobia of certa typ of workg-class Brish boys, but now s e has floated ee of s orig, as ed the send meang did of s own - the stori this volume, whilst rarely gay (first meang) are very fately not gay (third meang). But they are gay (send meang).

*********Even 1972 Gilbert O'Sullivan a song about beg left at the altar was sggTo thk that only yterdayI was cheerful, bright and gay(Alone Aga (Naturally))but he was a b of a throwback.

Lawrence, Isherwood vers lser known nam); their approach to story-tellg (old-fashned round plot, vigte, agments, jargon-filled dialogue); their settg (the park, the stle, the field, the bedroom, the bathroom, the party, the hospal, the prison); their pots of view, voic, attus; their narrators (the gay man, the gay iend, the straight man of the gay iend, the straight woman of the gay iend, the wife, the observer, the teenager, the fay man); etc etc "gay" short story n be as heartbreakg, as heartwarmg, as amg-charmg-distrsg-betiful-strange, as dreamlike or lifelike as any other short story. They are all tertg and also a great way of seeg the evolutn of the gay world over the last century. Warng though, not all of the thors are gay - which would probably be a big "no no" today's world, but not so much the early '90s.

WHAT’S WH ALL THE GAY PENGUS?

Leavt the troductn touch on the whole qutn of what is a 'gay' story and acknowledg the plexy he do say:'.. A gay story has been fed as one that illumat the experience of love between men, explor the nature of homosexual inty, or vtigat the kds of relatnship gay men have wh each other, wh their iends, and wh their anthology lims self to twentieth century fictn origally wrten English... Gay/homosexual characters appear both but more as ex machas for the actn - which both s is not about gay people.

Leavt had wanted a Brish boardg school story that was about and spoke to gay men then Patrick Gal 'Old Boys' would be far better.

Greene, would have been a b of unpleasant homophobic riture. There is nothg particularly 'gay' or 'queer' the story and I n't help feelg that pays more tribute to Sally Bowl as a gay in om the film 'Cabaret' then her lerary antecents. Shaw's story 'Queerba' (om Robert Drake's excellent anthology 'His') were to young 'queer' boys take on and upset a load of 'gay' dis queens a Kansas gay bar - is brilliant and funny and pots to a future were 'gay' are ntug and changg and are not tied to the past - eher that of their gay elrs or the heterosexual sum up - loy anthology but s ntents are excellent.