Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The World Out There Becoming Part of the Lesbian and Gay Community by Michael Thomas Ford Ford, Michael Thomas 1969(?)– PERSONAL: Born c. 1969. Hobbies and other interests: SCUBA diving. ADDRESSES: Home —San Francisco, CA. Agent —Mitchell Waters, Curtis Brown Ltd., 10 Astor Place, New York, NY 10003. E-mail — [email protected] thomasford.com. CAREER: Novelist, columnist, author of nonfiction, and radio commentator. AWARDS, HONORS: American Library Association (ALA) best book for young adults, 1992, for One Hundred Questions and Answers about AIDS; ALA best book for young adults, Booklist editor's choice, and National Science Teachers Association/Children's Book Council (CBC) outstanding science trade book designation, all 1995, all for The Voices of AIDS; National Council of Social Studies/CBC Notable Children's Book, 1998, for Outspoken; Lambda Literary Award for best humor book, 1999, for Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me, and Other Trials of My Queer Life , 2000, for That's Mr. Faggot to You: Further Trials from My Queer Life , 2001, for It's Not Mean If It's True , and 2002, for The Little Book of Neuroses; New York Public Library Best Books for the Teen Age designation, 2000, for Paths of Faith: Conversations about Religion and Spirituality; Lambda Literary Award for best romance novel, 2004, for Last Summer . WRITINGS: NONFICTION. One Hundred Questions and Answers about AIDS: A Guide for Young People , New Discovery Books (New York, NY), 1992, published as One Hundred Questions and Answers about AIDS: What You Need to Know Now , Beech Tree Books (New York, NY), 1993. The Voices of AIDS: Twelve Unforgettable People Talk about How AIDS Has Changed Their Lives , Morrow Junior Books (New York, NY), 1995. The World out There: Becoming Part of the Lesbian and Gay Community , New Press (New York, NY), 1996. Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me, and Other Trials of My Queer Life , Alyson Books (Los Angeles, CA), 1998. Outspoken: Role Models from the Lesbian and Gay Community , Morrow Junior Books (New York, NY), 1998. That's Mr. Faggot to You: Further Trials from My Queer Life , Alyson Books (Los Angeles, CA), 1999. It's Not Mean If It's True: More Trials from My Queer Life , Alyson Books (Los Angeles, CA), 2000. Paths of Faith: Conversations about Religion and Spirituality , Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2000. The Little Book of Neuroses: Ongoing Trials from My Queer Life , Alyson Books (Los Angeles, CA), 2001. My Big Fat Queer Life: The Best of Michael Thomas Ford , Alyson Books (Los Angeles, CA), 2003. Ultimate Gay Sex , DK Publishers (New York, NY), 2004. Author of "My Queer Life" (syndicated newspaper column), beginning 1996; contributor to Instinct magazine and to Web sites. FICTION. (With others) Masters of Midnight , Kensington Books (New York, NY), 2003. Last Summer , Kensington Books (New York, NY), 2003. Looking for It , Kensington Books (New York, NY), 2004. (With others) Midnight Thirsts , Kensington Books (New York, NY), 2004. Author of young adult fiction under various pseudonyms. Also author of musical Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me . ADAPTATIONS: Selections from Ford's columns have been recorded as My Queer Life , Fluid Word, 2000. WORK IN PROGRESS: Television-script projects and screenplays. SIDELIGHTS: As the author of "My Queer Life," a syndicated column that touches on everything from Life after Viagra to the legal troubles of oft-reviled and equally admired business tycoon Martha Stewart, Michael Thomas Ford has been compared to writers such as James Thurber, and been called everything from the "gay Erma Bombeck" to the "gay Everyman." Ford has been widely applauded throughout the gay community for his dry humor, which is reflected in the titles of several anthologies of his columns: Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me, and Other Trials of My Queer Life; That's Mr. Faggot to You: Further Trials from My Queer Life , and The Little Book of Neuroses: Ongoing Trials from My Queer Life . The last book, in particular, showcases what a Publishers Weekly reviewer dubbed Ford's "delightfully inventive wit" in its tackling of such compelling subjects as "how Tiger Beat magazine made him gay" as well as providing "relationship tips for the neurotically inclined and mus[ing] … on how eBay allows us to relive our childhood by buying back our past." However, he also has a more serious side that has also been expressed in his award-winning books for young adults, such as One Hundred Questions and Answers about AIDS: A Guide for Young People and Outspoken: Role Models from the Lesbian and Gay Community . Interviews are an important component of all of Ford's books for teen readers; they have been particularly important in making his nonflction books on coming-of-age issues popular among a readership for whom peer identification is important. In One Hundred Questions and Answers about AIDS he talks to four teens who are HIV positive, supplementing those discussions with what a Publishers Weekly contributor noted are "concise, very candid explanations" of the symptoms and effects of the disease. Ford's 1995 book The Voices of AIDS continues to address the concerns of teens, particularly those in the gay community, by introducing a range of men and women who either have the disease, are involved with an infected lover or family member, or are educators or AIDS activists. "Ford's careful, pointed questions bring out issues related to self- esteem, stereotyping, and discrimination that make the people he's talking to seem very real," noted Stephanie Zvirin in Booklist , reflecting the view of other appreciative critics. From books addressing the most important issue facing young gay Americans—AIDS—Ford has also addressed the social issues that, to many adolescents dealing with their own homosexuality, can often feel as devastating. Outspoken does more than just present interviews with eleven gay and lesbian Americans: it allows readers the opportunity to meet eleven men and women who have allowed their differences to make them stronger individuals. Praising Ford's skill in posing "good, interesting questions" to his subjects—which include boxer Mark Leduc, actor Dan Butler, Rabbi Lisa Edwards, and artist Alison Bechdel—Christine Heppermann added in a Horn Book review that Outspoken "illustrates that there are as many different ways of coming to and participating in the gay community as there are people in it." In Booklist , Zvirin praised the book as "accessible, informative, and sensitive" to its intended audience. Continuing his focus on teens, Ford has also gone beyond issues of sexuality to address another aspect of personal identity in Paths of Faith: Conversations about Religion and Spirituality . Again centering his book on interviews, he talks with Wiccan writer Star-hawk, Catholic Archbishop John Cardinal O'Connor, and representatives of Shaker, Islamic, Episcopal, Quaker, Hindu, Jewish Reform, and Buddhist spiritual communities. "Just as good biography can bring to life an historical era, these individuals' stories provide intriguing introductions to a variety of religious faiths," noted a Horn Book contributor, while a School Library Journal reviewer dubbed Paths of Faith "a thoughtful look at contemporary religious practice in the United States." Although some critics noted that the individuals interviewed reflect predominately liberal religious views, as a Publishers Weekly contributor maintained, "Ford does an expert job of balancing discussions about the particulars of a religion with the overarching concerns common to most faiths." From his stance as a commentator on gay culture, Ford continues to strike a balance between entertainment and education in his writing. While continuing his column, he has also branched out into fiction, and his novels of gay life and love have been praised for their likeable characters and insights into romantic relationships even as they have gained a following for their sexual content. Ford also remains outspoken on serious issues within the gay community at large, particularly racial issues, drug and alcohol abuse, and depression. As he commented during an interview with Paul J. Willis for the Lambda Book Report , "What we call the queer 'community' is really an extremely diverse group of people united by one commonality—our sexuality…. Because of that one commonality, we've been brought together as a family that has to learn how to support one another and look out for one another. Until we do that, then gay rights laws and marriage initiatives and all of those things will mean very little. If the individual members of a community are not working together, then there is no community." BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES: PERIODICALS. Advocate , September 26, 2000, Edward Guthmann, "Seriously Funny," p. 73. Booklist , August, 1995, Stephanie Zvirin, review of The Voices of AIDS: Twelve Unforgettable People Talk about How AIDS Has Changed Their Lives , p. 1948; July, 1996, Ray Olson, review of The World out There: Becoming Part of the Lesbian and Gay Community , p. 1783; May 1, 1998, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Outspoken: Role Models from the Lesbian and Gay Community , p. 1516; October 1, 20000, Ilene Cooper, review of Paths of Faith: Conversations about Religion and Spirituality , p. 353; November 1, 2001, Michael Spinella, review of The Little Book of Neuroses: Ongoing Trials from My Queer Life , p. 456; August, 2003, review of Last Summer , p. 1952; August, 2004, Whitney Scott, review of Looking for It , p. 1908. Entertainment Weekly , September 23, 2003, review of Last Summer , p. 158. Horn Book , May-June, 1998, Christine Heppermann, review of Outspoken , p. 358; January, 2001, review of Paths of Faith , p. 108. Lambda Book Report , July-August, 1999, Louis Bayard, review of That's Mr. Faggot to You: Further Trials from My Queer Life , p. 24; September, 2000, Paul J. Willis, "Michael Thomas Ford Tells the Awful Truth" (interview), p. 8; April, 2001, Nancy Garden, review of Paths of Faith , p. 24; May, 2004, Jonathan Harper, review of Ultimate Gay Sex , p. 29. Publishers Weekly , October 12, 1992, review of One Hundred Questions and Answers about AIDS: A Guide for Young People , p. 81; November 13, 1995, review of The Voices of AIDS , p. 63; April 5, 1999, review of That's Mr. Faggot to You , p. 226; August 14, 2000, review of It's Not Mean If It's True: More Trials from My Queer Life , p. 339; January 29, 2001, review of Paths of Faith , p. 87; October 8, 2001, review of The Little Book of Neuroses , p. 58; August 4, 2993, review of Last Summer , p. 56; April 5, 2004, review of Ultimate Gay Sex , p. 58; July 19, 2004, review of Looking for It , p. 145. School Library Journal , January, 2001, Elaine Fort Weischedel, review of Paths of Faith , p. 144. Michael Thomas Ford. Michael Thomas Ford (born October 1, 1968) is an American author of primarily gay-themed literature. [1] He is best known for his "My Queer Life" series of humorous essay collections and for his award-winning novels Last Summer , Looking for It , Full Circle , Changing Tides and What We Remember . Contents. Career highlights Current Times References Additional Sources External links. Career highlights. Michael Thomas Ford is the author of more than fifty books for both young readers and adults. He is best known for his best-selling novels Last Summer , Looking for It , and Full Circle and for his five essay collections in the "Trials of My Queer Life" series. His work has been nominated for eleven Lambda Literary Awards, twice winning for Best Humor Book and twice for Best Romance Novel. He was also nominated for a Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Award (for his novel The Dollhouse That Time Forgot ) and a Gay lactic Spectrum Award (for his short story "Night of the Were puss"). Ford began his writing career in 1992 with the publication of 100 Questions & Answers about AIDS: What You Need to Know Now (Macmillan), one of the first books about the AIDS crisis for young adults. Named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, the book became the most widely used resource in HIV education programs for young people and was translated into more than a dozen languages. The follow-up to that book, The Voices of AIDS (William Morrow, 1995), was a collection of interviews with people whose lives have been affected by the AIDS crisis. This book too was named an ALA Best Book, as well as a National Science Teachers Association-Children's Book Council Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children and a Booklist magazine Editors' Choice. Ford's next book, 1996's The World Out There: Becoming Part of the Lesbian and Gay Community (The New Press), was a handbook for people coming out and wanting to know what it means to be part of the queer world. It earned him his first Lambda Literary Award nomination in the YA category, as well as a Firecracker Alternative Book Award nomination. 1998 saw the release of two books, the first being OutSpoken (William Morrow), a collection of interviews with gay and lesbian people that was again aimed at young adults. The book was widely praised for its candid discussions of queerlife, and it was named both a National Council of Social Studies-Children's Book Council Notable Children's Book in the field of Social Studies and a Booklist magazine "Top of the List" selection, and received a Lambda Literary Award nomination, Ford's second in the YA division. Ford's second book to come out that year was Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me (Alyson Books), the first of what has come to be known as the "Trials of My Queer Life" series. The book was based on the columns Ford had been publishing for several years in his syndicated newspaper column, "My Queer Life." The book received a Lambda Literary Award for Best Humor book, winning out over titles by lesbian comic Kate Clinton, columnist Dan Savage, and cartoonist Alison Bechdel. Ford followed the success of Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me with That's Mr. Faggot to You (Alyson Books, 1999). Slightly more acerbic than its predecessor, Mr. Faggot brought Ford a whole new audience hungry for a voice they could relate to. Again the book soared to the top of the bestseller charts, and once again Ford walked away with a Lambda Literary Award, edging out previous winner comedian Bob Smith. That same year he began recording his weekly radio show for the GayBC Radio Network. The third in the "Trials of My Queer Life" series, It's Not Mean If It's True (Alyson Books), arrived in stores in 2000. Following in the footsteps of the first two, the book was an instant bestseller, and Ford was once again nominated for a Lambda Literary Award for best humor book. Although he lost to comic superstar David Sedaris, the attention earned Mike the notice of Michael J. Rosen, director of the James Thurber House and editor of the prestigious "Mirth of a Nation" series of Best American Humor Writing. As a result, two of Mike's essays were included in the second Mirth collection (Simon & Schuster, 2002) and featured on a CD read by actor Tony Roberts. Also coming out in 2000 were two other projects. The first was Ford's first audio recording. My Queer Life (Fluid Words), featured Ford reading some of the most popular pieces from his three essay collections. The recording also contained two songs from "Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me," a musical project for which Ford wrote the lyrics and performed the narration. A full-length recording of the musical, performed by the Lehigh Valley Gay Men's Chorus, is also available on CD. My Queer Life received rave notices in audio media journals, and was named one of the two best humor audio books of the year (the other being David Sedaris's Me Talk Pretty One Day ). In December 2000 Ford released Paths of Faith: Conversations about Religion and Spirituality (Simon & Schuster). Written for young adults, the book was a collection of interviews with leaders from a wide range of spiritual traditions and included the last interview given by former Archbishop of New York John Cardinal O'Connor. The book returned Ford to the genre in which he first became well-known, and like his previous books for young adults this one was unanimously praised for its insightful take on an often delicate topic, being named a Booklist magazine Top 10 Religion Book of the Year, a Booklist Editors' Choice "Top of the List" selection for YA Nonfiction, and a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. In October 2001 Ford's fourth essay collection, The Little Book of Neuroses , hit bookstores and like the previous three collections became an instant favorite with readers, immediately shooting to #1 on numerous regional bestseller lists. Also like the others, in February 2002 it was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, giving Ford an unprecedented four consecutive nominations in the category of Best Humor Book. The summer of 2002 found Ford embarking on yet another adventure as This Queern Life , a stage production based on his work and penned by him, premiered at the Loring Playhouse in Minneapolis. An insightful and riotous collection of scenes drawn from his essay collections, the play wowed audiences and is currently being considered for production by numerous regional theaters. Also in that year, his short story "Night of the Werepuss" was published in the Lambda Literary Award-winning collection Queer Fear II and was nominated for a Gaylactic Spectrum Award for best short fiction. In 2003 Ford entered a new phase of his career with the release of his first novel for adults. Published by Kensington Books, Last Summer centered around the character of Joshua Felling, who escapes to Provincetown for a few days of reflection after discovering that his lover is having an affair and then finds himself caught up in the lives of the people he meets there. The book was an immediate hit, earning rave reviews and comparisons to Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City. Publishers Weekly described the book as a "brimful first novel about life, love and self- discovery" and praised the "crisp prose and snappy, contemporary dialogue," while Entertainment Weekly lauded Ford's prose, calling it a "winner" and "addictive." This new book was a huge favorite with fans, and won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Romance Novel. Also appearing in 2003 was Sting , an unusual and haunting vampire novella included in the book Masters of Midnight , and My Big, Fat, Queer Life , a best-of collection compiling the most popular essays from his "Trials of My Queer Life" series. Both books received Lambda Literary Award nominations. In early 2004 Ford surprised fans with the arrival of Ultimate Gay Sex , a beautifully photo-illustrated guide to sex and relationships for which he wrote the text. Drawing on his years of experience writing the "Sexpert" and "Sex Adviser" columns for gay men's magazines FreshMen and Men , he created an indispensable manual covering topics ranging from coming out to aging, sexual health to sexual positions. Ford's second novel for Kensington Books, Looking for It , was published in the summer of 2004. Centered around the lives of a group of gay men living in a small upstate New York town, the novel was heralded by Booklist as an "engaging page-turner of lives within lives, an insightful and entertaining read about what we seek, and what answers we find within and without." Like its predecessor, Looking for It reached the top of gay bestseller charts and quickly became the hottest gay book of the summer. Ford's second vampire-themed novella was featured in the 2004 Kensington Books collection Midnight Thirsts . Set against the background of a weary American Midwest during World War II, Carnival is the story of midway ride mechanic Joe Flanagan, who finds his quiet life disrupted by the arrival of the mysterious Mr. Star and his traveling freak show. 2005 brought the publication of The Path of the Green Man: Gay Men, Wicca, and Living a Magical Life (Citadel Press). Drawing on Ford's interest in religion and spirituality, the book set forth a blueprint for gay men interested in exploring pagan spirituality from a uniquely gay viewpoint. Praised as an eloquent meditation on pagan thought and beliefs, the book brought Ford his tenth Lambda Literary Award nomination. In it, he revealed that between 2001 and 2002, he wrote the Wiccan-themed, YA Circle of Three series under the pseudonym Isobel Bird. Also in 2005 came Tangled Sheets , a collection of erotica Ford had written under various names over the years. Long-asked-for by fans of Mike's nom-de-porn, the book was welcomed as a literary exploration of sensuality, desire, and self-discovery. In 2006, Ford released the much-anticipated novel Full Circle . Called by one reviewer "the Great Gay American Novel", the book chronicled the lives of two men—best friends born a day apart in 1950—through six decades. In effect a history of gay life, the book was also a profound statement about the friendships that exist between gay men. Upon its release, the book went to the top of numerous regional bestseller lists. Changing Tides , Ford's fourth novel for adult readers, was released in August 2007. Exploring the themes of family and self-discovery, the novel centers around a marine biologist in Monterey whose quiet life is turned upside down by the arrival of his estranged teenage daughter and by his attraction to a graduate student in English who comes to California to research what might be an unpublished John Steinbeck novel about a Cannery Row worker coming to terms with his love for another man in 1940s America. The novel won Ford his second Lambda Literary Award in the Gay Men's Romance category. In October 2008, Ford returned to his young adult roots with the publication of Suicide Notes (HarperCollins), the blackly comic story of a young man forced to come to terms with his emerging sexuality after a failed attempt at ending his life puts him in a psychiatric hospital. In 2009 Ford released his fifth novel with Kensington, What We Remember , a portrait of a family torn apart when the father, believed to have committed suicide, is found to have been murdered. As the mystery around his death is unraveled, so too is the tragic history of a family that isn't what it seems. What We Remember won the 2009 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Men's Mystery. In December 2009 Ballantine released Ford's Jane Bites Back , the first of a three-book series about Jane Austen, who still exists as a vampire bookshop owner living in the New York suburbs, who has to deal with two suitors and a dark figure from her past. In May 2010 Ford published The Road Home , his sixth novel for Kensington Books. The Road Home is the story of a photographer who, following a car accident, reluctantly moves in with his father. As he recuperates, he becomes intrigued by the story of a local man who fought in the Civil War, and his interest leads to uncovering some surprising truths. Current Times. In September 2010 HarperCollins will release Ford's next YA novel. Titled Z it tells the story of Josh who finds that his involvement with a virtual zombie killing game is much more than it seems. Related Research Articles. John Preston was an author of gay erotica and an editor of gay nonfiction anthologies. Alex Sánchez is a Mexican American author of award-winning novels for teens and adults. His first novel, Rainbow Boys (2001), was selected by the American Library Association (ALA), as a Best Book for Young Adults. Subsequent books have won additional awards, including the Lambda Literary Award. Although Sanchez's novels are widely accepted in thousands of school and public libraries in America, they have faced a handful of challenges and efforts to ban them. In Webster, New York, removal of Rainbow Boys from the 2006 summer reading list was met by a counter-protest from students, parents, librarians, and community members resulting in the book being placed on the 2007 summer reading list. 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This area is known as the Fruit Loop for its cluster of gay-oriented businesses. While more famous retailers across the country, such as A Different Light and the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop, have closed as LGBT literature has gone “mainstream,” Get Booked has survived for more than 27 years. Part of that reason is that, as gay author Michael Thomas Ford has pointed out, “There’s more to be found in a gay store than just something nice to read.” Just walking into a gay store can be an act of liberation, and such shops often serve as welcoming space for the queer community in otherwise hostile environments. R & R Assordid Sundries. In the years before Stonewall, gay literature was unavailable in Nevada outside porn shops, and there were few commercial bookstores willing to stock such material. The first establishment in Las Vegas to offer LGBT merchandise and to advertise openly as a gay shop, was R&R Assordid Sundries. R&R opened February 14, 1984 at 4637 Paradise Road next door to Gelo’s nightclub, then closed in November 1985. R&R was ahead of its time, was more gift shop than bookstore, and was not much patronized by the Las Vegas gay community. Opening at the outset of the AIDS epidemic in Nevada didn’t help. It would be several years before the chain bookstores in town such as B. Dalton, Waldenbooks, and, later, Barnes & Noble and Borders, began stocking gay sections. Bright Pink Literature. But in 1987 Rob Schlegel, publisher of the Bohemian Bugle and one of the community’s greatest activists, opened Bright Pink Literature, the city's first specifically commercial LGBT bookstore. Schlegel's interest in opening such a store was born when he visited A Different Light in Los Angeles and wondered why Las Vegas couldn’t have something just as wonderful. It could — on December 11, 1987 Schlegel opened Bright Pink in a small office space connected to the Body Shop bar at 4310 South Paradise Road. Schlegel came up with the name Bright Pink Literature and its pink triangle logo as an homage to the book, The Men With the Pink Triangle , about Nazi persecution of gay men. Schlegel kept over 200 gay titles in stock and particularly tried to carry a wide selection of lesbian literature. He filled a bowl on the counter with free condoms as part of the community's fight against HIV. Bright Pink was a welcome addition to the growing Las Vegas gay community. Bright Pink’s location next to the Body Shop, however, was problematic: patrons wandering in from the bar spilled their drinks on the merchandise, and cigarette smoke turned the books and t-shirts yellow. In July 1988, Schlegel moved Bright Pink Literature to Paradise Plaza at 4640 Paradise Road, next to the Buffalo bar. Schlegel had been there only a month when the Gipsy nightclub across the street burned down, which robbed the Bohemian Bugle of its biggest advertiser; it was advertising revenue from the Bugle which subsidized the bookstore. Faced with having to close Bright Pink, and perhaps shut down the Bugle as well, both were saved when real estate investor Ed Uehling gave Schlegel $5,000 to keep the bookstore - and the renamed Las Vegas Bugle -- going. When Uehling and his lover, Marlon Tinana, bought the Gelo’s nightclub shopping center across the street from Paradise Plaza, Schlegel moved Bright Pink into the storefront where R&R Assordid Sundries had been. Bright Pink's grand re-opening on February 11, 1989 featured an autograph reception by famed author Sylvia Pennington. In 1990, Schlegel moved the bookstore into more spacious quarters in a renovated cinderblock duplex behind the Gelo’s shopping center. Bright Pink filled 1400 square feet with more than 5,000 books, had a rainbow flag hanging outside the door and rainbow windsocks fluttering in the breeze. Schlegel expanded his inventory to include queer-themed stationery, cards, t-shirts, buttons, jewelry, and other merchandise. Bright Pink Cinema. In association with Bright Pink Literature, Schlegel established a gay and lesbian film festival he named Bright Pink Cinema, which debuted on April 20, 1991 and ran for six weeks at the Metropolitan Community Church. Among the films Schlegel presented were many which have become classics of LGBT cinema: Before Stonewall ; Billy Turner's Secret ; Fun Down There ; and the gay African-American documentary Tongues Untied . After Bright Pink Cinema, Las Vegas would not have another LGBT film festival until the annual Neonfest, first presented in 2004. Target for Harassment. The more successful Bright Pink Literature grew, however, the more of a target it became for the straight community. When Schlegel agreed to sell the book Las Vegas Post Mortem --a sensational exposé about the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department -- Metro cops began harassing Bright Pink’s patrons and threatened Schlegel. And when Ed Uehling and Marlon Tinana revealed plans to turn their property into a “gay district,” neighbors in apartment complexes behind the area, who already hated the nearby gay clubs, told the Clark County Commission that Bright Pink was a porno shop. Uehling’s and Tinana’s plans were rejected. That rejection forced Bright Pink in August 1991 to move out of its spacious duplex and into a much smaller storefront around the corner at 4643 Paradise Road—the county gave Schlegel less than a week to do so. Even then, harassment from the county didn’t stop: a large vacant lot next door to the shopping center, which the gay community used as a site for overflow parking, was fenced off. Business at Bright Pink dropped dramatically. Bright Pink limped along another year and a half before Schlegel decided to sell it to Marlon Tinana and Wes Miller, who had moved to Las Vegas from Ohio in 1990. Get Booked officially opened its doors on May 15, 1993. Tinana and Miller expanded the shop, added jewelry, gifts, and videos (yes, the VHS kind), and enhanced the book and magazine inventory with the help of New Yorker Raul Mangubat, whom the two met while all were at the March on Washington in April 1993. Raul moved to Las Vegas from New York in November 1994 to run the bookstore. By 1995, Miller had become sole owner. Sting Operations & the name Get Booked. When Wes Miller and Marlon Tinana took over Bright Pink Literature, they changed the name to Get Booked in honor of Wes Miller’s 1992 arrest in a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police sting operation that targeted gay men along Paradise Road. Sting operations against gay men in Nevada had long been a favorite tool of threat and harassment, particularly so long as the state’s sodomy law was still on the books. During the summer of 1992, the Metro vice squad set up several such operations in the Las Vegas Valley, leading to the arrest of gay men in the Las Vegas Athletic Club, Jaycee Park, and Nellis Air Force Base. Schlegel published a story about these vice operations in the July 1992 Bugle warning the community how to protect itself from Metro. The Paradise Road sting involved undercover vice cops trying to maneuver gay men around the Fruit Loop intersection into a sexual liaison, and then busting them on charges of soliciting for prostitution or infamous crime against nature. Wes Miller was arrested on June 25, 1992 when he was approached by a vice cop posing as a married tourist in Las Vegas for a “chef’s” convention and wanting to explore his “gay tendencies.” Miller suggested the man visit one of the nearby bars, Angles, and agreed to walk with him. Before they got to the bar, two Metro squad cars raced out of side streets; the undercover cop disappeared, Miller was handcuffed, taken to jail, and “got booked.” When the cops examined Miller's personal effects they discovered he had only $1.75 in his pocket and realized he was not soliciting for a hustler. Nevertheless, they threw him in a holding cell with several other gay men arrested that night from whom Miller found out what was going on. Miller’s friend Denise Thompson bailed him out, he recorded an interview with several leaders from the gay community including lawyer Kevin Kelly, and all went to Metro the next day with evidence in hand. Then-sheriff John Moran claimed he knew nothing about the vice squad's activities. But with Miller's interview in hand exposing Metro's blunder, and Miller’s willingness to go to open trial and expose what Metro was doing, the group convinced Moran the operation had to stop. Despite Miller's willingness and hope to go to trial and expose Metro's unsavory practice, all the charges against Miller were dropped, and Metro has never again conducted such harassing stings. It is important to note that nearly 30 years later, Get Booked and Miller enjoy a pleasant and positive relationship. A Safe Haven. The embarrassment of that and similar incidents for members of the community convinced Wes that Get Booked needed to be a safe haven, a place gay people didn't have to worry about vice officers lurking in the shadows to entrap and arrest them. Get Booked needed to be a place where members of the community could obtain resources beneficial to the growth and development of self esteem. Get Booked became an anchor for the Las Vegas gay community where artists, writers, performers, musicians and political figures gathered for autograph receptions, concerts, art shows and other social events. Among those hosted at Get Booked in the 1990's and into the 2000's were Robbi Sommers of Naiad Press; gay ex-FBI agent Frank Buttino; famed impersonator Frank Marino, who signed his autobiography, His Majesty, the Queen ; Leslea Newman, author of Heather Has Two Mommies ; Dr. Charles Silverstein, who wrote The Joy of Gay Sex (and who became a regular visitor and guest) ; historian Karla Jay; and famed novelist Patricia Nell Warren, author of one of the best known gay novels. The Front Runner . Get Booked has flourished under Wes Miller and Raul Mangubat, outliving several competitors and at the time of this writing remains one of gay Las Vegas's most important resources. Miller and Mangubat understand that the ability to “adapt” and “change with the times” are the secret to ongoing success. For that reason, the Get Booked of today barely resembles the Get Booked of the 90‘s and 2000’s. They both recognize that books are now ordered digitally online and read on your Kindle, DVD’s are watched on your phone, and magazines and greeting cards are essentially relics of a bygone era. Today, the store is a cutting-edge clothing boutique featuring many of the brands and styles favored by men of forward fashion. With a healthy respect for their past and a keen eye towards the future, Wes and Raul are always committed to ensuring Get Booked remains a relevant and vital contributor to the community. Michael Thomas Ford (Ford, Michael Thomas) More editions of World Out There Becoming Part of the Lesbian and Gay Community: World Out There Becoming Part of the Lesbian and Gay Community: ISBN 9780156584234 (978-0-15-658423-4) Softcover, Harcourt Brace* Co The World Out There: Becoming Part of the Lesbian and Gay Community: ISBN 9781565842342 (978-1-56584-234-2) Softcover, The New Press, 1996. German. Founded in 1997, BookFinder.com has become a leading book price comparison site: Find and compare hundreds of millions of new books, used books, rare books and out of print books from over 100,000 booksellers and 60+ websites worldwide. Books on Queer Lifestyle & Culture. The content within the LGBT lifestyle and culture section is so broad it's hard to sum up in a sentence or two! We have everything from books about community events, to astrology books, party guides, queer cookbooks, gay travel guides, community studies and much more! 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