Lubbock, Texas: On Saturday, February 18, I had the honor of appearing on the panel discussion The View from Brokeback Mountain, here in Lubbock, at the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts. Two groups sponsored the event. One of those groups, the Lubbock Film Society, fosters local filmmaking and local interest in low budget or independent movies. The other group, Lubbock Interfaith Fellowship for Equality, works to promote inclusion and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

Though I originally guessed at well over a hundred, at least 90-100 people attended the event. Scheduled to last an hour, it went over two hours, and could have gone even longer.

I had already seen and loved the movie. To prepare for the panel, I read the book Brokeback Mountain: Story to Screenplay and explored the discussion boards at AnnieProulx.Com, EnnisJack.Com, DaveCullen.Com, Yahoo! Groups: brokeback-mountain, and Yahoo! Groups: Gay Cinema.

As with those online discussions, the panel featured a variety of views on the movie and its themes. The same continued when moderator Grace Rogers opened the discussion to the audience. While much disagreement occurred, no one disagreed with the importance of Brokeback Mountain and its themes. More importantly, I never heard anyone make a single homophobic remark! It was an engaging discussion, but still left much to say, and left many eager for more such events.

I appreciate Grace, the other panelists, and the two groups for letting me take part, and all those other people who came out to discuss this thought-provoking film. To read more about gay-related events in Lubbock, please read my Rainbow: Lubbock online newsletter.


Duane Simolke author of The Acorn Stories, Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure, Holding Me Together, and New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio

Some upcoming DVD releases of special interest to LGBTs follow: Dorian Blues, Brokeback Mountain, Unveiled, Queer As Folk Season 5 (The Final Season), Transamerica, Loggerheads, and Rent.

Science fiction fans can look forward to Babylon 5 - The Legend of the Rangers (a spin-off from one of my all-time favorite shows) and Quantum Leap - The Complete Fourth Season.

Echo Magazine, a weekly publication for gays in Arizona, reviewed my book Holding Me Together on their Web site and in issue 428. The following page will change, but the review was posted online here: Echo: Between the Covers. Or see Page 55 of the following PDF file: Echo Magazine Issue 428.

“Duane Simolke's Holding Me Together: Essays and Poems 1983-2005 (iUniverse, $17.95, pap.) is an update and revision to his 1999 book, also titled Holding Me Together. It's a curious marriage of genres, and both the poetry and the essays favor political and cultural issues. For more information about this and other books by Simolke, readers can visit http://DuaneSimolke.com.”

Jaimie of HomoMojo mentioned Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure in one of his recent blog entries and has now added an entry with a review of Degranon.

Read about LGBTs around the world!

Living Out Loud: A History of Gay and Lesbian Activism in Australia

Queer Migrations: Sexuality, U.S. Citizenship, and Border Crossings

Decolonizing the Sodomite: Queer Tropes of Sexuality in Colonial Andean Culture

The Famous 41: Sexuality and Social Control in Mexico, 1901

Defiant Desire: Gay and Lesbian Lives in South Africa

The Global Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics: National Imprints of a Worldwide Movement

Gay Archipelago: Sexuality and Nation in Indonesia

Gay and Lesbian Asia: Culture, Identity, Community

Between Sodom and Eden: A Gay Journey Through Today's Changing Israel

Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan

Two-Spirit People: Native American Gender Identity, Sexuality, and Spirituality

Two Spirit People: American Indian Lesbian Women and Gay Men

Lubbock, Texas, I’m participating in the panel discussion The View from Brokeback Mountain.

Book review: Coping with Physical Loss and Disability by Rick Ritter, MSW

Rick Ritter, MSW, has created an easy-to-use resource to help people confront a life-changing illness or disability. He could simply give good advice, relying upon his experiences as a disabled veteran, a social worker, and a competitor in events for disabled athletes. Instead, he engages the reader in answering questions, gathering support, finding resources, and taking a completely positive approach to difficult situations.

I love the workbook format, because it forces the reader to begin thinking about and acting upon ways to continue with a life that has become altered. Of course, altered doesn’t mean over. It just means different. Ritter avoids sugar-coating those differences or the emotional, social, and physical problems that accompany them. However, he ultimately provokes the reader into finding ways to deal with those obstacles.

Ritter ends with a brief but inspiring look at his life, followed by a variety of resources. I suggest his workbook as a great beginning for anyone facing physical loss or disability.

Gay Movie Reviews

I love Brokeback Mountain too, but how many reviews does one movie need? Instead, I’ll keep focusing mostly on less well-known movies that I suggest. Read more of my movie reviews at This Week In Texas.

Three Dancing Slaves

Review by Duane Simolke, author of Holding Me Together, for This Week In Texas.

I first saw Gaël Morel as one of the stars of the tender and sad French film Wild Reeds. More recently, he directed the movie Full Speed, and then this disturbing story of family bonds.

At times, Morel leaves much of the plot and many connections to the imaginations of viewers, relying on the beautiful setting, and the equally beautiful male cast, to keep the attention of those viewers. Most of the actors here have appeared in numerous imported films. However, newcomer Thomas Dumerchez quietly soars as a young gay man in a dysfunctional family. Part of the film focuses on him, with parts also devoted to his two brothers; in fact, Morel splits the film into three pieces, with long spaces between.

Many film buffs might find the story too disjointed, but I found it worth the effort. The movie’s title slowly explains itself, just like the motivations behind why these young men keep hurting themselves or each other.

Almost Normal

Review by Duane Simolke, author of Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure, for This Week In Texas

Early on, strained acting and lame dialogue almost destroy Almost Normal. Hopefully, viewers won’t grab the remote and hit stop, because they would miss out on a cute, clever tale. Fans of the TV series Sliders or the movies Back to the Future and Peggy Sue Got Married should take interest in this movie about a middle-aged gay man who suddenly finds himself back in high school, in an alternate reality where gay is cool and straight is sick.

Countless gay people will relate to the way this movie turns homophobia and heterosexism upside down, making the haters the hated. They will also enjoy the fun of seeing a world where gay is normal. It honestly amazes me that no one thought to make this movie sooner.

Director Marc Moody obviously has much to say about prejudice, acceptance, and love, but he says all of it in a light-hearted, imaginative way. He lets everyone see how unfairly society often treats gays, as well as the often painful experience of growing up gay, but he does both by asking, “What if gays treated heterosexuals as badly as so many heterosexuals treat gays?” Still, despite the profound satire, Almost Normal remains humorous throughout.

America Brown, reviewed for This Week In Texas by Duane Simolke, author of the West Texas fiction collection The Acorn Stories.

Though best known for their gay titles, TLA Releasing
also distributes independent films of general
interest. The best of those I’ve seen is America
Brown. Australian actor Ryan Kwanten takes on a West
Texas accent and an emotionally tortured role as
America “Ricky” Brown, a football player who goes to
New York City to meet his town’s football hero.

Directed by Paul Black, this film starts out a bit
slow and disconnected, but I kept feeling that all of
the characters would keep revealing much more about
their past, their actions, and their motivations. The
movie pays off in all of those respects. The further
the story goes along, the more Ricky and the people in
his life illuminate their pain, their regrets, and
their joy. It keeps getting more emotional, more
engrossing.

Kwanten appeared on Australian TV while growing up and
recently starred in the short-lived WB series
Summerland; I hope to see him in many more roles. The
cast of America Brown also includes Elodie Bouchez,
Frankie Faison, Hill Harper, Karen Black, Leo
Burmester, Michael Rapaport, and Natasha Lyonne.

In E. Conley’s review of The Acorn Stories, she says that “The ability to depict such a wide cross section of humanity, including details of each character's breadth of knowledge and experience, takes a talented, insightful author, and Duane Simolke is such a writer.” (Click that link to read the review, and many more.)