glbt

Hop Against Homophobia

May 17, 2013 By Brandon Leave a Comment

International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

Welcome, today is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, and to celebrate hundreds of authors, publishers, and individuals have an extraordinary blog hop going on. There are prizes, information, and many personal stories about what homophobia is and what it does. All of this is a concerted effort to bring awareness to the plague of homophobia and hopefully, to one day bring it to an end. You will find links at the bottom of this post to direct you to other posts from blogs around the world. Enjoy, and help us spread the word. Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win an e-book copy of my JUST released new gay romance novel, Cold.

The Hidden Aspect of Homophobia – A Personal Experience

I remember a young man I was dating from a conservative Christian family who lived in a small town in Alabama. Both his mother and sister knew he was gay. They loved him dearly but… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog Hop, homophobia, lgbt, lgbt equality Tagged With: bullying, free book, gay, glbt, HAHAT, homophobia, lgbt, lgbtqai, lgbtyouth, mm romance, NOH8

Taking Risks in Lesbian Fiction

May 13, 2013 By Brandon Leave a Comment

Welcome friend and fellow author, Deanna DiLorenzo, to the blog with this special guest post about writing lesbian fiction.

When I first wrote my novel, Tell Me, I knew it took some risks. There is a certain formula that’s followed in lesbian fiction and it goes something like this:

Girl meets girl
Girl struggles briefly with inner turmoil
Girl two patiently waits
Life-changing sex scene happens by page 40
Happily ever after is achieved by page 50

My numbers may be off a little but anyone who has read enough lesbian fiction knows this is the basic formula we’ve come to expect, whether we actively seek it out or not.

But what happens when someone shakes up the formula a little? What happens when characters don’t fall into line and do what’s expected of them? Well, that’s when you end up with a book like Tell Me. [Read more...]

Filed Under: lesbian fiction, lgbt, Writing Tagged With: authors, gay love, glbt, interview, interviews, lgbt

National Give OUT Day

May 9, 2013 By Brandon Leave a Comment

Today is National Give OUT day.

This is a national campaign designed to raise awareness and funds for local and national LGBT Organizations. As you know, here around the Shire we raise funds by donating 10% of the proceeds from our books to two organizations that work tirelessly to get homeless LGBT youth off the streets.

Both of these organizations are taking part in today’s event and you can donate to them at the links below. I would like to particularly emphasize that you take note of the Lost-n-Found page. On the right they have a donation list and it tells you exactly what just a few dollars can do and how much it can mean to a homeless kid.

Both organizations work toward the same goal, if you can, please give equally.

GLBT Advocacy & Youth and Lost-n-Found

Filed Under: glbt, LGBT Nonprofit News, lgbt youth, lgbt youth organizations Tagged With: charity, gay youth, giving, glbt, homeless, lgbt, lgbt fundraising, lgbt organizations, nonprofit

LGBT Music Monday – Dylan Michael

January 21, 2013 By Brandon Leave a Comment

Today I’m talking with 24 year-old, openly gay, pop singer/songwriter Dylan Michael who currently lives in Atlanta, GA. He’s originally from Manchester, GA. which I’ve actually passed through a few times.

B: Tell me your musical past.

Dylan: I’ve always been drawn to music and performing, even as a child. A few years ago, I remember putting on all black clothing, pinning a tail to my ass, drawing whiskers on my face and making my entire family watch me as I performed a number from the musical Cats. I did marching band for 6 years and theater [Read more...]

Filed Under: LGBT Musicians, Music Tagged With: glbt, interview, interviews, lgbt, lgbt music, lgbtqai

What have you Accomplished?

December 22, 2012 By Brandon 1 Comment

change When we started this writing crusade some 18+ months ago one of my first questions was how I could make a difference concerning those issues that are important to me. Making a difference doesn’t always mean a monetary donation as some believe. A difference can be made by the offer of a kind voice, and unbiased ear, a warm heart, or a gentle embrace when it is needed most. I believe too many people shy away from what matters most to them because they fear that what they can offer is inadequate.

But when you have nothing, when there is no one to turn to, what then? What you would label as ‘inadequate’ is a goldmine to some. Knowledge, time, compassion are all commodities that have much, much more value than money. [Read more...]

Filed Under: lgbt, lgbt equality, LGBT Nonprofit News, lgbt parent, lgbt youth, lgbt youth organizations Tagged With: charity, gay youth, giving, glbt, homeless, homophobia, lgbt fundraising, lgbt organizations, nonprofit

Gay pop star Will Young – Music Monday

November 19, 2012 By Brandon Leave a Comment

Sometimes the music just speaks for itself.

Filed Under: glbt, lgbt, Music Tagged With: glbt, lgbt music, music monday

Hip Hop taking another step forward for LGBT

October 8, 2012 By Brandon Leave a Comment

You may remember that I featured the song below when it first came out and was featured on Soundcloud. Here’s the stunning and poignant video in support of LGBT life & marriage.

MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS – SAME LOVE feat. MARY LAMBERT (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

Filed Under: lgbt equality, Music Tagged With: gay love, glbt, lgbt, lgbt music, music monday, NOH8

The other side of Homophobia on Twitter

September 29, 2012 By Brandon Leave a Comment

I’ve been on Twitter for almost two years now, tweeting away about LGBT Youth, books, music, and all manner of things generally LGBTQ related. When the news about the new site that tracks the use of homophobic slurs hit the Twittersphere this week I had already seen it (and tweeted about it) before it became a huge news item on the LGBT circuit. I watched as many of the major LGBT blogs/feeds spoke about how depressed, saddened, and disturbed they were. I also noted how more than a few people repeated that sentiment on their own feeds, some of them had just a few friends and followers, and some had thousands.

What did the big news sites fail to report?

There is, and has been, just as much lgbtq-positive and anti-homophobic sentiment on twitter as there is homophobia. (See feed below.) [Read more...]

Filed Under: glbt, homophobia, lgbt Tagged With: bullying, gay youth, glbt, homophobia, lgbt, NOH8

LGBT Hip Hop Artist Lanice London

September 20, 2012 By Brandon Leave a Comment

I want to welcome Lanice London to the blog today. Watch for her name, it is fast growing in the hip-hop music scene and, from what I’ve seen (and heard) she’s not taking any prisoners.

I know, most of you are looking at this on my blog and say Whaaat? I don’t listen to that! Grow up, please. Music is a cultural revolution more than any other form of art and the one last bastions of homophobia in music is hip-hop. (Though this is rapidly changing.) The simple fact is that LGBTQ kids aren’t listening to Evita anymore people; they’re looking for music that represents how they feel right now, in this time period, and reflects what they are going through on a day-to-day basis. Hip-hop does that, poetically, sometimes harshly; but always with an understanding that the artist has lived the rhymes and can express a shared reality in their beats. That is why it is such a popular music genre.

B: Lanice, you’re from Philly, that’s a hard city. How has that influenced your music, particularly as a lesbian woman? [Read more...]

Filed Under: glbt, lgbt, lgbt equality, Music Tagged With: gay youth, glbt, interview, interviews, lgbt, lgbt music

Vote for LGBT Youth – They need your help!

September 11, 2012 By Brandon Leave a Comment

GLBTAYS is one of the organizations that I help raise funds and awareness for. We need your vote to help them secure a grant from Chase Bank. This is one of the only organizations in the Northern Alabama area serving LGBT youth and is right smack in the middle of hostile central as far as anything LGBT goes.