Rainbow Book Fair: The Male Muse at 50+ and Politics as Experience/Experience as Politics

3:00-4:15

The Male Muse at 50+                     

The Male Muse, A Gay Anthology, edited by Ian Young and published by Crossing Press in 1973, was the first openly gay anthology of poetry ever published. Other veiled, covert anthologies had been released, but nothing like The Male Muse, a bombshell in the poetry world. Panelists include Ian Young, poets Walter Holland, Philip Clark, Perry Brass, Felice Picano, and Bryan Borland, reading from and discussing this landmark collection. Moderated by Perry Brass, 6-time Lambda Literary Finalist and founding coordinator of the Rainbow Book Fair.

4:30-5:45 

Politics as Experience/Experience as Politics

For LGBT people, the line dividing politics and experience is very thin: to live our lives the way we want to, we’ve always had to organize, demonstrate, and make political demands. And as queer people have become a part of the larger political landscape, we bring a wealth of knowledge with us that are unique to our lived experiences. From the Homophile movement to Gay Liberation to ACT UP to the current movement for trans rights, we have shaped and been shaped by the political environments in which we live, work, and resist. Panelists include Paisley Currah, Professor of Political Science, Brooklyn College CUNY, author of Sex Is as Sex Does: Governing Transgender Identity, Laura A. Jacobs, psychotherapist and editor of Surviving Transphobia, Boon Lin Ngeo, Pastor, New York Metropolitan Community Church, author of Gay is OK! A Christian Perspective, Douglas Sadownick, Psychologist, author of Healing Gay Sex and Love: Group Therapy, Plato, and All of Us Strangers Come Together, Lauren Melissa Ellzey an autistic self-advocate, social justice influencer, and author of YA novels, most recently Gimmicks and Glamour.”