Top 100 Marriage Equality Blogs

At Gay Dating Blog, Joseph Atkins blogs about LGBT relationships and dating, suggesting links to his readers. He recently added links for the Top 100 Marriage Equality Blogs, in no particular order.

Science Fiction Adventure

I've posted a new Chapter 1 Draft for Sons of Taldra. The people of Valchondria face danger from their protector and from an alien race of shapeshifters.

The Dark Place

Blaise Embry (WEEDS) and Eddy Rioseco (PARENTHOOD) will join JUDAS KISS stars Timo Descamps and Sean Paul Lockhart for the thriller THE DARK PLACE. Read about the upcoming gay-themed film at TheDarkPlaceMovie.Com.

Reposted SciFi Adventure Book Review

From a review of Degranon: "It’s a very good story. That’s the most basic thing you should want to know if you’re thinking about reading a book. I have found that within the scarce realm of science fiction written by gay writers, a great deal are quite heavy-handed with the gay aspect at the expense of the story." Read more at I Must Be Dreaming.

New Superman HD Movie Trailer.

The new trailer makes Man of Steel look even more promising than the teasers or Zack Snyder's references to the film.

Star Trek: Into Darkness Trailer.

I posted the Japanese version because of extra footage. Is that villain Khan?

Red Panda Surprised by Zookeeper.

Here's a funny animal video to share!

Want more laughs? Visit bn.com for a Free Comedy eBook.

This month, the Goodreads group Readers Against Prejudice and Racism is hosting online discussions of Ronald L. Donaghe’s gay-themed novel Common Sons, Elie Wiesel’s Holocaust-themed book Night, Shirley Sterling’s Native American-themed book My Name Is Seepeetza, and Dr. Seuss’s war-themed picture book The Butter Battle Book.

Readers Against Prejudice and Racism describes itself as follows.

“Hello everyone! This is a group dedicated to people who want to see a more peaceful world and who enjoy learning about other cultures with respect and gratitude. Feel free to join this group if you believe in peace and harmony.

“The goal of this group is to understand about the dangers of prejudice and racism around the world and hatred can come in many different forms. Anyone who believes that prejudice against homosexuality, different cultures, different races, people with disabilities, or anyone who are different from society is wrong, are free to join this club to discuss about how we can prevent racism and prejudice from spreading across the world.”

Gay DVD Review: The Doctor’s Wife.

Summary:

In this inspiring documentary, Australians Jonathan Duffy and Dr. Vincent Cornelisse move from Brisbane to the small town of Mundubbera. They find surprising acceptance as they immerse themselves in the community.

Text:

Two gay men fall in love and share a home in Brisbane, Australia. One of them, Dr. Vincent Cornelisse, wants to accept a position that will help pay off his bills from medical school. The complication? It means practicing medicine in the small Queensland town of Mundubbera.

His partner, Jonathan Duffy, is an actor who not only agrees with the life-changing decision but also decides to direct a film about the adventure. Despite warnings from his best friend about closed-mindedness in rural locations, Duffy looks forward to new challenges.

Once there, Cornelisse works around the clock, while Duffy becomes increasingly bored and lonely. Eventually, Duffy decides to become just as involved in the local community as his doctor partner.

The more both men give to Mundubbera, the more they find it embracing them. Despite any fears of a backwards and homophobic town, they quickly become irreplaceable.

Throughout the film, Duffy reflects on how becoming so involved turns being gay into a nonissue. Everyone just sees them as people, with Duffy filling the traditional role of “The Doctor’s Wife” much better than anyone could expect. Even the closeted gays in the area begin seeing their openness as a model.

In a few places, The Doctor’s Wife looks more like a music video than a documentary, because of some experimental filming techniques. However, those moments help Duffy communicate his feelings and the film’s themes.

More importantly, he treats the other subjects of his documentary with the same respect he asks of them. Instead of portraying them as rednecks or country bumpkins, he sees them as the interesting people he would never have met if not for the unlikely opportunity of moving to Mundubbera. That positive tone comes through in this inspiring and often funny story.

The site and the DVD extras also reveal Duffy’s task of promoting an independent film without an advertising budget.

Thanks for visiting my blog! My comical story FAT DIARY is now available as a free eBook.

Gay Movie Review: Beauty.

Summary:

In this award-winning South African film, a homophobe becomes obsessed with a young man who sees him as a mentor. Francois (Deon Lotz) can’t control his desires, or his violent temper.

Text:

Francois (Deon Lotz) seems distant both as a father and husband, despite his success as a businessman and his apparent concern for his wife and daughter. He refers derisively to gays and people of color. On the side, he takes part in a secretive sex group that only includes white men.

Francois acts coldly towards his wife, who might also be seeking sex outside their marriage. He scolds and complains about his daughter, rarely showing affection to her.

At the beginning of the movie, Francois sees the son of an old family friend. Christian (Charlie Keegan) has grown into a strikingly handsome and charming young man who considers Francois his mentor. Francois quickly becomes obsessed with Charlie.

Besides the other revelations, we also receive hints that Francois once had some sort of angry episode and still needs a doctor’s attention to control his temper. Everything keeps leading to the idea that Francois will soon make some terrible decisions. However, the film hardly becomes predictable.

The camera sometimes seems to linger too long before and after scenes, and parts of the movie left me wondering what had happened. All of that might reflect cultural differences in film-making, or just Oliver Hermanus’s individual style as a director. Regardless, I still kept thinking about the film after watching it.

Hermanus and a talented cast present a picture of bigotry, both how it hurts society and how it hurts the people who hold bigoted views. While the film also looks at the dangers of hiding secrets or ignoring mental problems, the ugliness of hatred destroys Francois even more than his drinking and his anger. Deon Lotz gives a haunting performance in the lead role and helps make Beauty a brutal but memorable tragedy.

Beauty is in Afrikaans and English, with English subtitles. It won the Queer Palm D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and it was South Africa’s official selection for the 2012 Academy Awards.

Thanks for visiting my blog! Please read about my books The Acorn Stories and Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure.