Charles Alexander
Parting Glances: We got soup to purrrrrr for
"Freaks of nature, odd crimes, shocking deaths, devastating disasters, bloodcurdling rites, crazy conspiracies & much, much more …" Golly. Gee! Who could resist the "Ultimate Book of Bizarre Lists: fascinating facts and shocking trivia on [...]
Parting Glances: Get stuffed, Rosie!
As a kid growing up after World War Two, I was fascinated by two women living on the fourth floor of our Peterboro apartment building. Each had short-cropped hair. Each wore slacks. They were always friendly, and – nascent gay lad that I'm sure I [...]
DVD partners embrace in faith
DETROIT – Two ten minute, thought-provoking DVD videos, "Embracing Inclusion in Communities of Faith" and "Come As You Are," premiered in Detroit last week, co-sponsored by the Arcus Foundation and the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and [...]
Parting Glances: Is your restroom SAVED?
This just in from Wacco TX. Headline: Undercover cops make Sunday surprise restroom arrests. Source: Lone Star Police Gazette & Badge Polisher. Mark your activist desk calendar… …While thousands were inside the Hallelujah Handclap of Hope [...]
Parting Glances: Three arfs for BARK!
A pre-Obama administration federally funded study by the Bureau of Animal Record Keeping finds that "persons of rainbow personality make the best dog owners but have little influence on cats." Anticipating outcry from gay activists who own feline [...]
Parting Glances: Holy douchebags.com!
A century ago Mark Twain popularized the saying, "There are three kinds of falsehoods: lies, damned lies, and statistics." As far as LGBTs are concerned – and often persons of non-Christian faiths – these categories are a sinister trinity of [...]
Parting Glances: Slava! Il sodoma!
My favorite coming-out story is about Dennis, a friend and computer wizard who, before his retirement a few years ago, brought expertise to a nationally known local publishing company of research and library compendiums. When in his mid-20s, Dennis [...]
Parting Glances: Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hide
To diddle an old saying: You can't judge a gay author – or his book – by the cover. Case in point: Groundbreaking 1951 sociological expose, "The Homosexual in America." Gay nom de plume: Donald Webster Cory. Real name: Edward Sagarin. Outed [...]
Parting Glances: Telling it like it (now) wasn't
There were two newspaper stands in once-busy downtown Detroit in the 1960s – one situated at Grand Circus Park; the other at Campus Martius, across the street from the still-standing 1877 Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Each month I'd stop at [...]
Parting Glances: Whap! Thud! Shazam!
O, the simple 10-cent pleasures of days long gone by! The Saturday joys that a shiny quarter could bring. A coke. A box of popcorn. A cowboy movie. A Roy Rogers serial. Way back when … I was an only child. But I didn't mind at all missing out on [...]
Parting Glances: Remembering Jack. (Vividly!)
I met Jack Whitehead about 50 years ago at the Birmingham home of the publisher of "Impresario Magazine," a popular monthly of the seven arts I was freelancing for. Jack was early 20s, strikingly handsome, soft spoken, vibrationally gay. (Our [...]
Parting Glances: Life's a drag, then you...
In the 50-some years I've been out, I've seen more female impersonators than you can shake a rhinestone tiara at. If I never see another gay deceiver – let alone play drag queen bingo with one – that will not be a failure on the part of my [...]