I'm part of a gay book club. I mean the books are gay; they have homosexual themes and characters. It wouldn't be very PC to call it a gay book club based on its members' sexualities, I know, even though we all happen to be gay men.
Our last book was Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs, which was made into a movie of the same name. We don't go easy on the books we discuss. Personally, I only love books when they're well-written and contain interesting subject matter. Some of the other guys are more forgiving when the book is well-written but boring, or vice versa. But this book is great in style and content, and it's funny. I LOLed over and over.
Also, I appreciate that gayness is not the one major theme of the book. The main character Augusten (the author—it's a memoir) just happens to be gay. I'm not saying his sexuality is glossed over, or hidden, it just isn't a main focus. Why can't more not-necessarily-gay books have gay characters?
Speaking of queerness, there was a lady at Starbucks today being rude to the trans barista. The rude lady wasn't complaining about this barista's gender identity specifically but I think that's what she was upset about. Either way, she kept using the wrong pronoun on purpose.
As a by-stander, what should I do in that situation? The barista is obligated to keep her cool, but I'm not, so should I tell her off on the barista's behalf? Or do I ignore this lady's rudeness and move on? I would have found it emotionally satisfying to tell her off, but it's not practical to upset people, even terrible people, in the short term at least.
Would bad people be nicer if everyone stood up to them? I honestly don't know.
I feel similarly about those employees of charities who hold binders at the edge of the sidewalk, trying to ask you for money. Nobody likes them, yet some people stop to chat. Why? To feel polite? Don't they know binder people feed off attention? That conversation is their oxygen, and without it they would die, or at least stop wasting strangers' time by guilting them into conversation?
Apologies, reader, if binderperson is your occupation. I'm sure your mother finds you charming.
