Brandon Shire's Blog, page 22

LGBT Music Monday – Ray Curenton

Great artist, great voice, and this song in particular (below) asks a pertinent question. Check out his CD CARDIAC ARREST at BandCamp

Beloved Murderer! – LGBT Film

For the most part I abhor seeing LGBT characters only being portrayed as complete demons, doormat pacifists, or squeaky-clean goody-two-shoes. Those depictions are not what I know, or have lived. The rainbow is too complex for that. I came across this short film while researching and it struck a chord.

The hardest lessons

“You can’t save everyone.”

These were the hardest four words I ever heard in my life and they were given to me by a spiritual mentor who picked me up from the floor and held me after I heard the news of the suicide of a very close personal friend. I have never gotten over the death of my friend, but her death prompted change in my own life and in the lives of others that were touched by her presence.

This month, Lost-n-Found was informed of the death of a young man who approached them for help,...

This is what homeless LGBT kids wake up to every day

Last year Lost-n-Found shared a video of a ‘squat’ for homeless lgbt youth. People seemed shocked at how these kids lived and even more shocked at what they had to do to survive. One year later Lost-n-Found returned to the squat to see what had changed for these kids. As you can see from the video, not too much has changed despite the heroic efforts of LnF. Is it because they haven’t tried? No. If anything, the volunteers are more dedicated, more active, and pushing harder to make changes.

And...

Body Shapes and Stereotypes

Welcome author Richard Pearsonwith an excellent post about our detrimental habit of stereotyping the bodies of gay men. ~ B.

So when you hear these words:“You should meet my friend Richard, he’s in his early 30s, an attorney, an actor, and an author, oh, and he’s gay,” what mental image do you have?

Something like this?

What if I told you he actually looked like this?

Not what you were expecting? Why is that?

For the record, the first one is Djordje Bogdanovic, a runway model, the second one, is m...

This is what Success Looks Like in Battling LGBT Homelessness

Often people ask what happens to my donation? How does it affect the lgbt kids you support? Who are these kids? Lost-n-Found, like most youth-serving organizations, is very protective of the kids that seek them out for help. Often, you never see the faces of those that you help. These brave young souls have been through hell, but they also got off the street because of people like you who have donated and given them hope for a better future.

Lost-n-Found has helped over 200 lgbt kids to get of...

Character Model come to life. Meet ‘Anderson’

As many of you know, I went looking for character models for both Lem and Anderson before I started to write what turned out to be my best-selling gay romance novel, Cold. I thought I needed these to help me build the characters correctly and strengthen their draw for potential readers in a prison setting. Of course, in doing this, I never told the models I used what I was doing or asked for any of their input.

Recently I reached out to the character model for Anderson and surprised him with t...

Sometimes You Have to Make Your Own Light

Welcome friend and MM Romance author DP Denman to the blog with an important post about finding hope.

I read a story recently on a new website called YouthResource.org. Ok, so they’re not exactly “new” but they’re new to me. The online resource run by LGBT youth for LGBT youth isn’t flashy or impressive but it addresses the basics from how to come out to your parents and topics like HIV. It also has sections where youth involved in the peer program can share their stories. One of them ended a...

Heart of Timber Cover Reveal (MM Romance)

I’ve heard from enough of you to know that you’ve been waiting for the cover of the next book in the gay romance series, Cold.I must admit, I’m flattered by the response. I am also very happy to share the cover for the next segment in the saga between Lem and Anderson, Heart of Timber.

Special thanks go to Kat McCarthy of Aeternum Designs. She waded through all my nitpicking with a smile and gave us this great book cover.

Heart of Timber (available Fall 2013)

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When fear grows fat on homophobia

We often talk about the changing landscape in LGBT issues. A lot has changed, but there’s also quite a bit that hasn’t.One of the hardest things for me when I see injustice based on homophobia is controlling my anger. I have, unfortunately, been a witness to the extremes of homophobia and it is no small feat for me to control myself when it materializes in front of me.

The talk below about fighting with nonviolence, is something I believe in wholeheartedly and I thought I would share it with y...